The Pact of the White Blade Knights

by Barbara Russell

  A thrill and a chill crept along her back. They were talking about her.

  Power? She stared at her hands. What did Aleximanus mean by that? She touched her skin. It was softer than she remembered, and the scent of jasmine wafted stronger than before. She cupped her breasts. They were heavier and aching for a touch, and the throb between her thighs beat again. She stilled.

  Her power. She was supposed to be dead. A lusty need consumed her . . . The world spun.

  She’d been turned into a lust-breather.

  A headache pounded behind her eyes, and her heart jumped in her throat. It couldn’t be. She should’ve become a sin-eater, not a sin-breather.

  Aleximanus’s and Tyon’s voices lowered, but their tones rang sharp and snappy.

  If she’d been shot to death, and Tyon couldn’t have turned her without his knights, then Aleximanus had done it. A pull tugged at her core, a pull towards Aleximanus.

  Master, the word whispered in her head.

  Anger and lust frothed inside her, spreading in her veins like poison. How could they have done this to her? How could have Tyon allowed this?

  She thudded down the stairs, not caring that the sash of her dressing gown had almost untied itself. Her hair bounced over the small of her back as she stomped into the dining room.

  Aleximanus and Tyon turned towards her, falling silent. The moment their male scents hit her nostrils, lust uncoiled with explosive strength in her gut, pushing down her anger. Their gazes raked over her heated body, and the sensation intoxicated her. She wanted them to stare. The more they stared the more her lust frothed, the more powerful she felt.

  Swatting the lapels of her dressing gown behind, she revealed more of her newly flawless skin and batted her eyelashes. “Care to explain what happened?” She’d meant to inject some anger in her voice, but it came out breathy and husky, and the smouldering glance Tyon shot her set her on fire.

  She swayed her hips towards him, carrying wrath and an aching need that consumed her. It was confusing. She didn’t want to sway her hips. She wanted to slap the two speechless men. “Tyon?”

  His big body tensed when she pronounced his name like a whisper.

  “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “You were dying. I asked Aleximanus to turn you into a sin-breather.”

  A nagging feeling in the back of her head urged her to retort he should’ve left her to die then, but the need of him overcame everything else. She untied the strings of her nightgown and sucked her bottom lip. They could have sex first and discuss later, the lust inside her suggested.

  He clasped her wrists in those big hands she wanted on her body, or inside it. “Hazel—”

  “Take me.” She rubbed against him, her skin tingling. “Now.”

  “All right, enough.” Aleximanus strode towards them, his dark blond hair swishing about his jaw. “Tyon, I need a moment alone with her.”

  “The hell you do.” Tyon’s grip on her tightened, and a thrill ran along her spine.

  Yes, she wanted more of his roughness, of his wildness. She wanted him to be ferocious with her.

  No, the side of her that was still Hazel yelled. He’d allowed this. She should be furious, not wanting to ravish him.

  She licked her lips, not knowing how much her body acted on its own accord. Every sane thought scattered out of her head, leaving only burning desire behind. Nothing else mattered. The fact that she was now a sin-breather didn’t matter. Only her need counted. After she’d satiate the lust, she’d scream at Tyon and be mad with him.

  “Tyon, leave,” Aleximanus said, waving towards the door.

  “Make me,” Tyon hissed.

  A side of her gloated at Tyon’s jealousy, another shivered in fear.

  Aleximanus narrowed his gaze. “I have to bind her to me, before she becomes a rogue. If I control her, she’ll feel better. She’ll be safer. Her lust will be under control.”

  Hazel snuggled closer to Tyon’s heat. She didn’t care about who her master was and what would happen to her. For now, she wanted Tyon. She rocked her hips against him.

  Tyon’s body reacted immediately, his erection pressing against her belly. He groaned deep in his throat. Yes! Hazel giggled.

  “Tyon.” A warning rang in Aleximanus’s voice. “Leave us now.”

  “You can bind her in front of me,” he croaked.

  “You don’t want to see this.”

  Tyon spun, his shoulders becoming somehow broader. “What do you have to do to her?”

  Aleximanus held up his hands. “I should bed her to do it properly, but a kiss and a blood exchange would suffice.”

  “You aren’t going to touch her.” Tyon’s muscles contracted under her hands.

  She relished the feel of his taut body, of his fierce jealousy, and the need clenched her harder. A loud moan escaped her, and she rubbed her thighs together. “Take me, please.”

  “If I don’t do this,” Aleximanus said, “she’ll run away, searching for the first man to fuck. Is that what you want? Is that what Hazel would want?”

  Tension built between her thighs again, the need now painful. “Please.” She scrubbed against Tyon’s hard length. “Please.” She wasn’t sure if she meant for Tyon to service her or for Aleximanus to bind her. It was hard to concentrate on the conversation while this need pounded through her.

  His arms relaxed a fraction. “Be quick.” He brushed past her, paused, his back to her, then he marched out.

  The door closed with a loud thud that thundered in the room, or perhaps Hazel’s ears were more sensitive than usual. She squeezed her thighs together. She wanted Tyon, but if he wasn’t here . . .

  She turned to Aleximanus and sauntered to him while he unsheathed his obsidian dagger. At each step, the fire inside her burned harder. When only inches separated them, she ran her hands over his hard chest. Disgust and horror filled that part of her that was unaffected by the lust. The urge to scream and punch something to vent her wrath only fuelled the lust more.

  “You don’t want to do this.” Aleximanus took her hands and lowered them. “If it weren’t for your bursting power, you wouldn’t spare a glance at me.”

  “The need is driving me crazy.” It was like two different Hazels were sharing her body.

  “I’m going to take care of that.” He prickled the tip of his finger until a ruby drop of blood blossomed. “I’m binding you to my will.” He offered her the finger, and she sucked it greedily, swirling her tongue around the pad.

  His breathing increased, and an erection pressed against his trousers. Her lust was affecting him, and a smile of victory stretched her lips. His blood tasted like wine and dark spices. She sucked harder.

  “You’re bound to my will.” He slid his finger out of her mouth, put a hand on her nape, and pulled her closer.

  Their mouths crushed. He parted his lips, and she thrust her tongue inside his mouth. It wasn’t enough. She pressed her breasts against him. Only the thin fabric of her dressing gown and his shirt separated their skins.

  Her lust laughed in triumph, but a piece of her shrank in disgust. It was wrong. She didn’t desire this man. Her heart cried out for Tyon, but the lusty beast inside her didn’t care. Aleximanus’s lips were firm and gentle, but they weren’t Tyon’s. She grabbed his hand and slipped it under her dressing gown and over her aching nipple. The rough skin of his palm scratched the hard peak, and she closed her eyes.

  He snatched his hand back, still kissing her, and drew the lapels of her robe closer. Her lust snarled in anger.

  He broke the kiss and muttered something in a coarse language. She went to kiss him again when the fire inside her quenched, the lust still throbbed, but in a slow hum and receded in some corner of her body.

  “I order you to chain your lust.” Aleximanus’s commanding voice couldn’t be ignored.

  Her lust curled into a tight fist in her chest, and it was as if chains were lifted from her body. She panted, heat flooding her cheeks. The need was there, but her mind was clearer, in control
again. She tied her dressing gown with shaking hands and averted her gaze from Aleximanus.

  “Y-you should’ve let me die.” She choked on the words and almost ripped the sash when she tugged at it with too much strength. Hot tears flooded her vision. “I didn’t want this.” Awful gagging sounds came out of her mouth.

  He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. The small contact started a pulse low in her abdomen. She glanced at his finger, the one she’d sucked, and wetness pooled between her thighs. But the lust didn’t rock her off her feet like before. She could ignore it if she focused.

  “Tyon was desperate.” He forced her to stare at him. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t agree, but he was out of his mind with grief and guilt.”

  She whipped her head out of his grip. “I’m a monster. All I can think of is . . .” Fuck someone. She bit down a sob of desperation.

  “I know exactly how you feel.” His eyes glinted with fury. “It’s the same way I feel. Every damn day. But you’re a sin-breather now, a reluctant one, but one nevertheless. With time, you’ll learn to control your power, and the urge will subdue. For now, I have to be your control. Before you bed random chaps, and Tyon goes into a killing spree.” He smiled, a boyish smile that smoothed the lines on his forehead. “The most important thing is to rein your urge to take a soul. Becoming a sin-breather is only the first step. Once you kill with your power, your soul becomes corrupt, and then there isn’t much I can do to help you.”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks as fear, disgust, and fury formed a flammable mix in her veins. Taking a soul, corrupting herself, killing. What had she become?

  “Hey.” He wiped a tear with his thumb. “You’re alive. Tyon couldn’t live without you.”

  Hazel wiped her face with the sleeves of her dressing gown. “I’m still angry with him.”

  “Of course you are.”

  “I want to slap him for what he did.”

  “That’s the spirit. Be my guest.” He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “Be patient with him.”

  He swung the door open, paused on the threshold, and left.

  Brief words were exchanged between him and Tyon in the corridor then Tyon trudged inside, his golden eyes smouldering like coal set on fire.

  She shot him a glare, clenching her fists tightly. “How could you?”

  “I’m sorry.” He shuddered.

  His voice was like the stroke of his tongue right between her legs. Her nipples hardened painfully as the lust surged with head-spinning speed. It floated from her body, soft like a breath, lethal like a bullet. But something snapped inside her, and the lust was pulled down as if it were a dog on a leash called back by its master. It was Aleximanus’s control over her. He kept her lust in check.

  She squirmed. Anger still rushed through her. “You should’ve left me to die.”

  The hurt etching his handsome face was a stab to her heart. “I couldn’t, and there wasn’t time to think about another option.”

  “I’m a sin-breather,” she shouted. And I want you.

  “I’ll find a way to reverse it. Once I can contact the Monk again, he’ll turn you into a sin-eater.” He stepped closer, and his presence became a hard thump right on her wet core.

  Anger and lust chased each other into an endless circle, and she stood in the middle, shoved this way and that. She hated to not be in control of her actions, to be a puppet in the hands of her lust.

  “Am I still able to activate the hallow?” she asked, glad the bond with Aleximanus gave her the chance to be almost normal.

  “We’ll find out soon.” He inched forwards. His tongue darted over his bottom lip.

  Both the Hazels agreed that ravishing him was a bloody good idea.

  “I’m mad at you.” She should leave and tell him she needed some time to be alone, but it’d be a lie, and not just because of her lust that rooted her there.

  “You have every right to be, but I couldn’t lose you.” He caressed her cheek, and her body wilted under his touch.

  She moved closer, the lust pounding against her chest, rose on her tiptoes, and kissed him. His lips were firmer than Aleximanus’s and stronger, and simply better.

  She pressed against him, and he put his hands on her hips. Their tongues caressed each other in a slow kiss, but inside, Hazel was melting fast. Her lust roared to consume him whole. It savaged her chest, clawing it, and she couldn’t resist. She pulled his shirt from his trousers and slipped her hands underneath it, feeling the hard planes of his abdomen, then she guided her hand lower until she cupped his hard shaft.

  The dressing gown scraped her skin, an annoying sensation that worked its way through her. She broke the contact with him to untie the sash.

  “Hazel, do you really want this?” he asked, eyes dark with desire.

  “Yes,” she replied without hesitation.

  Her lust purred in approval. Her heart pounded faster. She discarded the robe and stood naked, her body offered to his hungry gaze. The way he ogled her unleashed a new wave of desire inside her.

  Excitement spread in her lower abdomen. She loved his famished gaze on her bare breasts.

  The fingers on her hips clenched as he pulled her against him. She grabbed a fistful of his short hair and pushed him closer, their mouths devouring each other.

  Hazel ripped his shirt open and unbuttoned his trousers. His erection sprang free in her hand. He groaned into the kiss when she stroked his length.

  Lust permeated the air with its spicy scent. It filled her nostrils and shot through her veins, urging her to take more from him.

  He lifted her, put her on the polished table, and nested between her spread legs. The tip of his shaft pushed against her wet entrance, exactly where she wanted him. She dug her fingers into his shoulder muscles and arched her back. His lips trailed along her jaw, neck, and collarbone and teased the hard peaks of her breasts.

  Impatience shuddered through her along with sheer, undiluted pleasure, far stronger than when she’d been . . . human. The realisation dropped an icy blanket of sadness on her, but the heat of her lust burned more fiercely as if the demon inside her didn’t want to be distracted by sadness.

  “What is it?” he whispered against her skin, always attuned with her emotions.

  “I’m not human anymore.” Her voice cracked.

  He stroked her face, worry shadowing his face. “No, you’re not. But you’re alive, and I’ll be always at your side if you want me.”

  She opened her mouth to say that of course she wanted him, but he shook his head.

  “When your lust isn’t in control, when you can decide on your own, you’ll tell me what you really want.”

  Hazel locked her feet behind his back and pushed him closer. “I want you, Tyon. Always. Forever. And it’s not my demon-lust speaking. It’s me. All me.”

  He captured her mouth into a hard kiss. His kisses had been arousing before, now they were pure ecstasy. Caressing her sensitive body, he trailed his kisses lower and tongued her nipple.

  Hard fingers slipped between her wet folds, and her inner muscles clenched around them. He switched to the other breast, lapping and nibbling at the taut tip. The soft pad of his thumb rubbed circles over her nubbin, sending waves of pleasure coursing through her.

  “I need you inside me,” she whispered in his ear.

  He straightened, and with a powerful thrust of his hips sheathed himself inside her. No hesitation, no questions, no doubts. The floor didn’t shake, the air didn’t vibrate, and the walls didn’t crack. As sin-breather, she was able to rein his power better.

  His shaft stretched and filled her, and a gasp left her parted lips. The fire inside her quenched, her lust finally sated. The demon purred, wanting Tyon to go deeper and faster.

  He started moving, his large palms cupping her bottom. She tightened her legs around him and urged him faster with her heels. The table shifted backwards under his strokes and scraped the carpet. Every inch of her body was alive, on fire, tingling like n
ever before. She wasn’t Hazel anymore, but a creature of pleasure, and she didn’t know where she ended and Tyon began. Even her heart soared in bliss. He was everything she needed and wanted.

  His prods turned more frantic, and he wetted his thumb in his mouth and slithered it between them to reach her throbbing core. The moment his finger brushed her nub, energy detonated inside her, absolute, heady pleasure. It was addictive and satisfying at the same time. It made her blood race with power as if she were invincible.

  He bit her shoulder and came with a final shove. Hot seed spilled inside her, and the ripples and twitches of his manhood brought her to the edge again. A new wave of pleasure spasmed through her body. Tyon’s teeth sinking into her skin mingled pain and delight. He rested his head on the crook of her neck, his shoulders shaking with deep breaths.

  Hazel held him, still mad at him, but love overcame everything else. The realisation stilled her breath. She loved him. Her lust lashed out, a whip on her chest in disapproval, but it was true.

  She caressed his back. “I love you, Tyon.”

  He raised his head, eyes glowing from within. “Hazel.”

  “I love you,” she repeated because she liked the sound of it and the stunned expression on his face when she said it.

  “I love you.” His voice shook with bottled emotions then he kissed her, deeply, stroking her body and whispering her name between kisses. He touched his forehead to hers and held her close, caging her body. She rested her cheek on his chest, his heart pounding against her skin.

  He brushed his lips on her temple. “Let me take you upstairs.”

  She nodded, nuzzling his neck, her lust quiet for now. Finally, she was whole.

  Chapter 22

  ALEXIMANUS REARRANGED RACHEL’S letters on the desk in Tyon’s sitting room. It wasn’t only the warmest and most comfortable room of the house—if one ignored the stains of Hazel’s blood on the couch and the cracks on the walls—but also the most distant place from the bedroom where Tyon and Hazel were getting acquainted again after her transition into the darkness.