War

by R. S. Broadhead

  I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and shivered. Fuck me. She’s so damn sexy.

  A primal instinct overtook me. Muscles bunched. I closed the book and tossed it aimlessly. Where didn’t matter at this point. I crawled across the large bed on my hands and knees, eager to have her join me in it. My feet hit the floor. Only a few feet separated us now. With each step I took in her direction, I fought the predator within me. It wanted to take her where she stood. But that wasn’t what she deserved. She deserved so much more. Slow pleasure that made her eyes roll in the back of head as she screamed my name over and over again. I growled as her scent intensified the closer I got to her. It filled my lungs, branding me as hers here, now and forever. I stood toe to toe with her, watching as her pupils dilated.

  “Sorry we didn’t get to this earlier. I’m here to make it up to you,” she said in a low voice full of desire.

  “Oh yeah?” My eyes dropped to her lips. “How?”

  She grasped my hand and pulled it up close to her mouth, which I had yet to take my eyes off of. Her tongue slid out, and starting at the bottom of my finger it traced it to the tip. I gasped, heat spreading over me like fire. She closed her lips around it and sucked. The urge to touch her grew overwhelming. I leaned down and dragged my tongue across her peaked nipple. Her body reacted to me the way I wanted it to by arching toward me as she moaned.

  “I’m not promising I’m going to be gentle with you, but I do promise to worship your body the way it craves,” I murmured as my lips grazed her skin. One hand went to her waist while the other gripped her hip. I yanked her to me and lifted. Without hesitation, she wrapped her legs around my waist. The fucking heat between us was scorching.

  “Ollie,” she called out, her hips undulating.

  Every part of me reacted to way my name sounded coming from her mouth. “Tell me what you want, baby,” I whispered, my lips grazing across her ear. Adrenaline surged through my body as the anticipation built. My blood pumped harder waiting for her response.

  “You.”

  That single word undid me.

  I bent at the waist when my thighs hit the mattress. Carefully, I laid her down. Her eyes darkened as my fingers went to the button of my jeans. I pushed them down, freeing the part of me that had been rock hard since she took off her robe. I placed one hand on her thigh and rubbed upward, while bracing myself above her with the other. She ran her fingertips over the muscles cording around my frame.

  “I love you.”

  Her breath hitched. “I love you too.”

  My mouth fused against hers. Our kiss was soft and slow. Hot waves of pleasure passed over me as my tongue slipped past and intertwined with hers. She tasted like everything I needed. Life. Love. Forever.

  Her legs wrapped around me, pulling me closer to her core. She opened her mouth more, deepening the kiss. I shifted to rub myself against the place that was ready for me. She groaned and arched her back, breaking what little restraint I had left. Her breath caught as I entered inch by inch. She fit me perfectly, just the way I remembered. She gazed up at me, her swollen red lips curling as she ran a hand through my hair and yanked back enough to make me thrust faster.

  I took a step back. “Turn over.” My voice was hoarse.

  The way she looked at me was extremely erotic. She pulled in her bottom lip and batted her long lashes slowly before shifting over to her stomach. “Like this?” she asked, looking over her shoulder and rocking back in my direction.

  Snarling, I bent over her. My tongue traced her spine from the top of her perfectly round ass to the right side of her neck. I nipped the skin there and then placed a small kiss. Kicking her knees open with one of mine, I pushed inside her again.

  She clawed at the sheets, ripping them from the bed.

  I moved faster and faster, holding her hips in place so I could fill every inch of her.

  “Oh my… Ollie,” Reese cried out at she found her release.

  I drove into her once more, pulling her hips back at the same time. I convulsed as I came unglued. Still inside her, I leaned over and placed a kiss between her shoulder blades. She collapsed and I followed suit, wrapping her body with mine.

  “You get a few minutes. Then it’s time for round two,” I growled, biting her skin.

  She pushed her tangled her back and looked up at me. “Promise?”

  “Forever.”

  37

  Reese

  The hue of morning light came all too early. No matter how much I didn’t want to, I somehow managed to peel my lids apart and take in the sight of our bodies tangled beneath the sheets. Steele’s arm pinned me down, holding my curved position against his bare torso. My gaze wandered over his face taking in the way his long lashes curled and the slight part between his soft lips. All too easily I recalled the way his features had twisted in pain as he’d died in my arms. My heart clenched tight within my chest. There was no way I would ever be able to go through that again. It would be too cruel to do that to someone. I needed to shake those fears. The war was over. We had won. No one would take him from me again.

  With my fingertips, I traced the contour of his jaw. Even though I could reach out and feel his warmth, I still had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that he was here. He had come back to me. Despite his fellow reaper, Cade, not wanting to help with our fight, somehow Steele had made sure they had. There was no doubt in my mind I would never get enough of this man.

  Several seconds passed. With each exhale of breath he blew, I knew our time was getting close to ending. Any moment Edi would burst through that door and force me up. If only I could lie here in his arms all day. But that wasn’t possible. At least not right now. Today, I would officially take over Plamethia. I would rule a fucking realm. How insane was that? I could hardly manage my own life, let alone an entire land.

  “Reese.”

  I jumped at the sound of my name.

  Steele’s gray eyes met mine and creased in the corners as a smile pulled at his mouth. “So many mornings I wanted to wake up next to you.” He placed his lips against mine, melting all the worry at once. The familiar heat flooded my insides as I moaned softly.

  “Time to rise,” a cheery voice bellowed. We jerked apart, both snatching at the sheet to make sure we were covered. Edi laughed. “Nothing I haven’t seen before, believe me.”

  I licked my lips, willing my heart to regain a normal beat. “We really need to talk about you knocking before you come in.”

  She ignored me and neared my side of the bed. Eyeing my hair, she made a clicking noise with her tongue. “This is going to take some time to get these tangles out. And I thought Nabea’s hair was bad after a night with Fuzzaran. Those two had nothing on you.”

  I closed my eyes, unable to process what she had said. Gross. That was the only way to describe how I felt about it. The bed slightly bounced and without seeing him, I knew Steele was getting a good laugh off it.

  “Can you not ever talk about Fuzz getting some ever again around me?” When I pried my eyes open, I found her staring down at me with a puzzled expression.

  “But why? Lovemaking in a natural thing.” Her lips pursed. “Some just obviously do it more aggressively than others.”

  My face burned. I wanted the bed to swallow me up so it would shield me from having to deal with this. Here I was, still naked with her rattling off a conversation I didn’t want to be having. “Please hand me the robe and leave me alone. I’ll be out shortly to do whatever it is you have planned before the ceremony.”

  She clapped her hands together. “Perfect.” Darting across the room, she opened a drawer and pulled two robes out. “One for the each of you.” She placed them at the foot of the bed and disappeared through the door.

  I sighed and stared up at the ceiling. Rules. Rules would definitely need to be placed if she was going to continue working with me.

  “She’s not used to the way humans are,” Steele said as if reading my mind. His voice was laced with humor as an arm
slid over my waist. “But apparently I’m more aggressive than Fuzz in the sack.”

  My stomach rolled. “Never bring that up again. I don’t want to think about him boning anyone.”

  Steele chuckled and pressed his lips to the side of my neck. “Although I hate to see you leave, you should probably do as she wants otherwise she’ll be back.”

  I knew he was right and as much as I hated it, I rolled out of the bed. After I donned the robe left for me, Edi appeared out of nowhere and whisk me from the room before I even had a chance to tell Steele goodbye. The morning was full of beauty treatments ranging from an hour-long bath to body wraps.

  “Well, look at you. You look a lot like the girl I found half dead in Fulton that night,” Fuzz said coming into the room behind me.

  The girl painting my nail blushed and looked away. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. Maybe Fuzz could have another shot at love if he wanted it. Now that he wasn’t needed to train anymore, he would have a lot of spare time on his hands. He deserved it. I thought for sure I had lost him when Nabea stabbed him, but he was tough.

  “Funny thing is, I’m actually starting to feel a lot like her too.” I breathed out, not realizing the truth to those words until I said them out loud. For the first time I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. There was no impending doom waiting to pounce on me. No one vowing to end my life or those that I loved. I could be normal now.

  The girl sat back and admired her work. “There. All done.”

  I held my hand up close to examine the intricate designs she had painted. “Perfect job. Don’t you think, Fuzz?”

  “Huh? Um, yeah. I guess.” He rubbed a hand over the nape of his now splotchy skin. My brow quirked as I glanced between the two of them and smiled. Maybe she had a shot. What was her name again? Donnah? Yeah, I think that was it.

  “I need to find Edi. She said as soon as I was done here, I needed to get down to the dressing room to put my dress on.” Before he could offer to walk with me, I left the two of them alone in the room and shut the door behind me. Without making a noise, I leaned against the frame, straining to hear. Come on, Fuzz. Don’t let me down. He said something too low for me to hear that earned a high-pitched laugh. Warmth filled me.

  Completely proud of myself, I walked through the hallway and took the stairs up to the dressing room. I entered the large room only to be brought to a dead halt when my eyes landed on the dress hooked against the wall directly in front of me.

  “Come in. Come in,” Edi said rushing over to me. She placed one hand on my elbow and pulled me toward the work of art. “Bosli has been working like a mad man all day trying to finish this up for you. I hope we have the right measurements.”

  There were no words to adequately describe it. I whistled low under my breath. “Wow.” The fabric felt smooth as I ran my fingers over it. “This is something else. Just gorgeous.”

  She covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes glistened with tears. “I’m so glad you like it.” I dressed and stood back to gaze in the mirror. The sight was something else.

  The door opened and Savannah peeked inside. “Wow. You look…just wow.”

  I glanced down and ran my hands over the dress. “Thanks.”

  “Bet you’re ready to get this whole thing over with so you can get back home, huh?”

  My mouth went dry. With those words, I knew she had no idea what this ceremony was all about. I gripped the fabric of the dress and let it ground me. This was going to be hard to do. Why hadn’t I stopped to think this was something I needed to tell all of them? Somewhere deep down, I’d hoped Fuzz would have done it for me.

  “Yeah, I don’t know about that.”

  Her brows slashed inward. I could already see the wheels turning and judging from her expression, she didn’t want to hear what I was about to tell her.

  A twinge of guilt gnawed at my insides. I stopped, my feet becoming heavy. Closing my eyes, I fought the urge to completely fall apart. I took a deep breath, pulling it to my toes. I needed all the courage I could muster for this. I had the feeling Savannah wasn’t going to like what I had to tell her.

  She turned around with wide eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not going back.”

  She shook her head as her forehead creased the deeper her frown grew. “What?”

  “There’s no place for me there,” I tried to reason with her. “I’ve fought the war I was meant for. Now my time there is over. Plamethia needs a new ruler.”

  Savannah swiped her nose with the back of hand. “Why can’t someone else step up and do it? I can’t let them have you. I already lost Shayla.”

  My heart hurt at those words. I smoothed a hand over my trembling friend’s hair. This was hard for both of us. But there was no other way. “You’ll be fine. Marry Lance, have some kids, and live a normal life. No one can do that better than I know you will.”

  She nodded and turned. “Can I at least walk with you to the ceremony?”

  “Of course.”

  Together we walked to the highest level of the castle. She kissed me on the cheek and left me with Edi to join the others below.

  “Reese,” Steele whispered as he approached. He ran a hand over his mouth as his gaze wracked over every inch of my body. “The only way you’ve been more beautiful than now is when you’re naked in bed with me.”

  Heat burned at my cheeks as I shoved his shoulder. “You would say something like that right before I have to walk out in front of an entire crowd of people.”

  “Why does it matter?” His brows rose. “Did I just get you all hot and bothered thinking about last night?”

  Shuffling from foot to foot, I couldn’t meet his gaze. If I did, this ceremony would be the last thing on my mind. He hooked a finger underneath my chin and pulled up. The corners of his mouth tipped up at my reaction. “Time to take your rightful place, Lordess.” I hooked my arm in his and together we walked out onto a balcony overlooking a massive crowd below.

  “I present to you, your Lordess Reese!”

  I glanced across the crowd as each one smiled up at me, clapping. I stopped at Lavarus with Fuzz beside him. The man who had made me what I was. I would’ve died without him. He would never know how grateful I was to have him in my life. He gave a small nod, and I returned it with a smile.

  Next, I stopped on my friends, Payne and Dax. Life without them was going to leave a hole in my heart. We had been through hell and back. It didn’t seem right that we wouldn’t be together any more. We were friends before allies. My lips pursed. I couldn’t cry. This land needed a strong leader. I would give them that.

  Jace locked eyes with me. His eyes glistened with tearful pride. To the sides of him were strangers. People of this land who I was sure I would some get to know. Shayla should have been there, not them. My heart ached for him. What he was dealing with was unbearable. I knew from personal experience.

  I blinked, my gaze roaming to movement to his right. Savannah hugged Lance and gave me a thumbs up before bursting into tears.

  Standing a few feet from me were my guards, men I knew would lay down their life for me, Harley, Freeman, and Zeke. My mind raced to all those that weren’t here in physical form, although I was sure they were looking down on this day from wherever they were. I would never forget Sim, Tommy, Brandon, Raven, Shayla, and even Ben. They were heroes who had died before their time.

  Taking a deep breath, I looked out over the land. This was my home now. I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. I had finally made it home.

  THE END.

  About the Author

  R.S. Broadhead is the author of the Realms of Darkness Series, the Reaper Series, and the Urban Legends Series. When she's not hard at work writing you can find her ghost hunting, taking a nap, or surfing the web for creepy stories for inspiration on her next novel. R.S. writes New Adult Paranormal and Supernatural Thrillers.

  She lives in Alabama with her husband and two daughters. She lov
es to chat with readers!

  www.rsbroadheadbooks.com

  Also by R.S. Broadhead

  Realms of Darkness Series

  Unveiled

  Reckoning

  Torment

  War

  The Reaper Series

  Defiance

  The Emerald Coast Series

  Fearlessly Yours

  The Urban Legends Series

  Chosen

  Double