by Diana Steele
He released a deep sigh and kissed her on her forehead. “All right. Well, what does it look like?” he asked.
“It looks like an impending surrender.” Adelaide explained in a quick voice, while her eyes looked past him at the crowds of men gathered behind him.
Daman gave a curt nod, before gesturing at the rest of his men to assume their positions. After a quick five minutes of hissed orders and shuffling of feet and weapons, the demons had disguised themselves within the cover of the trees. Adelaide, who had lodged herself in the top branches of a tree about three feet deep in to the forest with a rifle loaded with silver bullets, listened to the rumbling of vampires fast approaching. They would come quicker than a swift wind and would cover the sod and brand the trees. Her hands clutched the weapon so tightly that her knuckles became white and her fingers ached.
“Psst.”
Adelaide turned in the direction of the summons to find Daman staring right at her from the tree in which he sat. She raised an eyebrow at him.
“Be careful, Addie.” He whispered.
Adelaide had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. However, she didn’t have any time to offer a response, for as soon as those words left his lips, the ground began to shake. The trees trembled from their roots. Adelaide held fast to the thick branches that surrounded her as the trunk of her tree trembled to a dangerous degree. The sickening sound of wood splitting clean in half filled her ears, just as the soldiers began to shoot at the vampires.
It took them less than a minute to realize they were being attacked and where this attack was coming from. The vampires began to grasp at the roots of the trees. Some of them scaled the trees, reaching the top and slaying the demons that awaited them. Her eyes began to tear up when their shadow descended over the forest. The screeches of death cut through the air, making it impossible for her to concentrate on firing her weapon. The tree she clung to shook so dramatically, she could scarcely see straight in front of her. Although she found it hard to think, and her stomach lurched, twisting and turning within herself and her ears rang from the diatribe of gun shots, she found it in herself to point her weapon and shoot. With her brow furrowed, her lips pursed and her teeth clenched. She fired bullet after bullet, ignoring the impact reverberating through her shoulder bone. She could not deny that she felt immensely powerful, sitting atop of that tree seventy feet in the air, picking out vampires like they were cattle.
As she paused to reload, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. It was Daman. A vampire had just split his tree in half from its base. Daman tried to hold his bearings, but the branch yanked backwards, throwing him into the air.
Adelaide’s heart stopped as her jaw swung open and a scream, coming straight from her gut seeped out. Tears streamed from her eyes as she watched his limp body fly through the air. She instinctively dropped her gun. By the time it hit the ground, she had already launched herself into the air. Hot Energy seeped through her veins, making her skin hot as fire as she zoomed through the air, expertly dodging the bullet fire coming out from demons who had not fallen. Those that had, continued to fight the vampires from the ground, throwing silver spears and wielding knives.
Adelaide held her arms outstretched in front of her as she raced through the skies, her body slamming clean into Daman’s as he plummeted through the air. A grunt slipped out of her lips as his body dragged her down. She fought through the pain, flapping her wings as hard as possible to keep both of them in the air. But what little strength she had left was rapidly depleting. She could scarcely hold her own body in the air, let alone a man’s. She grunted again and glanced down at Daman, who was too weak to even open his eyes. She was entirely alone in this.
With a sigh, her wings gave out, the smoke-covered, ash-encased feathers falling limp next to her sides. She clenched her jaw, bracing herself as she tumbled through the air, the air ripping at her skin as she plummeted down to the ground. Her back slammed into the side of a massive tree, the impact of this throwing her out in the other direction, where she skidded into the sod. Leaves and twigs clung to her body as her mouth filled with soot and mud. “Daman.” She croaked, as she laboriously sat up, ignoring the burn her skin and the tingling in her muscles.
He rolled over, shaking his head in confusion.
“Daman, are you all right?” she repeated in a broken voice.
He did not answer, but stood up, charging towards her with that same worried look in his eye.
Adelaide yelped as he yanked her up until she was standing and dramatically scanned her body, looking for any wounds. When he was satisfied that she had not been seriously compromised, he ordered her to, “Get out now! Go back to the camp.”
But Adelaide shook her head. Her wings were shot and the only way back home was through the fighting. “I can’t.” she muttered. “I-… I can’t fly.”
But Daman didn’t want to hear it. His eyes penetrated her with a sharp glare as he took both of her shoulders in each of his hands. “I said, go!”
Adelaide could feel his voice inside of her. “I don’t have enough energy for flight!” She screamed, and even as she said this, she could feel hot beads of sweat sprouting on her forehead and dripping down her face and neck. Her hair, which had been ripped from its tight bun clung to her face and neck. She felt so hot and stuffy that she could barely breathe. Another flight was out of the question.
The next thing she knew, Daman snatched a fallen rifle off of the ground and charged back into the fight. Adelaide felt completely lost. She turned, her gaze sweeping the destruction occurring all around her. Demons hissed as they died, their clouds of purple mist filling the humid air. Adelaide peered through the forest in front of her, but she couldn’t find Daman anywhere. So, she did the only thing she could: she picked up a machete that had been dropped by a now-dead demon and ran into the fight.
It was not difficult for her to find clash, for as soon as she had stepped back into the battle, she felt something tug at her wings. She whipped her body around and found herself staring straight into the dark red eyes of a vampire soldier. She yanked her hand through the air, swinging the machete at him, but he acted fast, grabbing her wrist with his hand. Pain shot through her arm, as she let the knife slip through her fingers, snatching it with her free hand and driving it into his torso. The vampire froze, his eyes wide open as he clasped the handle of the machete with both of his hands and stepped away from her. She wrinkled her nose at the stench of his flesh dismantling in front of her. She grabbed the knife and ripped it out of him, holding it away from her body to prevent the vampire blood from getting on her.
As Adelaide returned her attention to the battle, she realized that a tide had somehow shifted. She walked back through the forest, keeping her eyes peeled for Daman, but noticing all of the violet blood that had been spilled. Her heart sank at this. They had lost. A lump had lodged itself in her throat as she took step after step after step and still did not spot Daman. The forest had been dotted with demon armor the remaining vampires scoured for valuables, but still she did not see Daman. In fact, she did not see one living demon the whole time she spent walking through the forest.
By the time the field of ash was in sight, revealed in between the thinning trees, she still had not spotted Daman, dead or alive. The heavy knife slipped from her fingers, landing on the ground with a deep thump. It was a struggle to press one foot in front of the other, because what was it all for? If Daman had vanished; if he had died, what would that mean for her? What reason would she have for returning?
She was so terrified, she had stopped breathing.
Chapter Two
Her heart pounded against her rib cage, her lungs hanging, deflated and limp in her chest. She thought she would faint from the fatigue and from the heartbreak, until finally as she emerged from the line of trees, she saw him there, standing in the ash, making his way towards her.
Without thinking about it, she broke into a run, her body slamming into his as she wrapped her arms aro
und him. Tears poured out of her eyes as she buried her face into his armor, not even caring that he had been covered with violet and blue blood. She reveled in the sensation of his arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her in his embrace. It was the first time she had felt safe all day.
He rested his chin on her head. “We have to go back.” he muttered. “I need to assess the damage.”
Adelaide gulped, but nodded her head nevertheless. He wrapped his hand around hers and led her back into the forest. In the wake of the great battle, the vampires had completely vacated the forest. Their shadow had begun to dissipate, revealing an almost-clear night sky. The moon cast a bright, silver light on the armor that covered the dead bodies. “This is awful.” Adelaide murmured. She moved her hair out of her face with her free hand, tilting her head up in the hopes of opening up her neck for the fresh air that alluded her.
She was just so, impossibly hot. “I think we lost.” She muttered.
Daman scoffed, swinging her hand back and forth. “Oh really? And what makes you think that?” he joked.
Adelaide couldn’t help but to laugh with him. “All right. All right.” She replied.
He looked down at her, “Are you okay?” he asked.
She averted her gaze, giving a hasty nod. “Yes, I’m fine.” She replied. “Just a little hot.” She muttered, hoping he wouldn’t get too alarmed.
He stopped the both of them and turned to face her. “You’re more than a little hot, Addie.” He uttered in a worried voice. “Look at you! You’re red.” He replied
Adelaide rolled her eyes. “I’m going to be just fine. Let’s keep going.” She replied, turning back in the direction that they had come in, but he refused to let her go.
“No.” he replied, stopping her with his hand. “You aren’t okay. You’re flushed. You’ve been expending all of your Energy throughout the entire battle and haven’t been able to let any of it escape.”
Adelaide shrugged. “Please, don’t make an issue of this right now. You have bigger problems than me right now.” She replied, gesturing all around her.
Daman shook his head. “You are my biggest problem.” He replied.
“And I’m fine.” She pressed.
He glowered at her. “I can’t believe we are actually fighting after we almost lost each other.” He replied.
Adelaide sighed. “You’re right.” She murmured, resting her head on his shoulder. “We shouldn’t be doing this now.” She replied.
He jumped back, peering into her eyes. “But you are burning up. This isn’t healthy for you.”
Adelaide scoffed. “Daman, just please don’t make an issue out of this right now.” She replied.
“If you don’t get that off right now, you’ll have burns on your skin.” He was beyond worried.
Adelaide blinked twice, took a step back and glanced around her. “Right here? Really?” she demanded.
Daman rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist, dragging her behind the trunk of one of the few large trees that was still standing. There he turned her around and began the long, tedious process of unbuttoning her suit. She could not deny that the draft of cold air on her back was not only a relief, but also a little arousing.
Daman moved at super human speed to get her suit unbuttoned, but when he had finished, he paused. “Oh look. You’re already burned.” He whispered as he traced his finger down the sliver of exposed skin between her wings.
She gulped, pressing her palms into the bark of the tree in front of her. “Oh no.” she joked. “I’m hideous.”
“Shhh…” he whispered, planting a ghostly kiss on the side of her neck. “You could never be hideous.”
Goosebumps rose on Adelaide’s skin as he peeled the suit off of her. She was naked, but did not feel the least bit exposed as she stepped out of the clothing.
His sigh slithered through the air and seeped into her ears. “To think I almost lost this body forever.”
Adelaide’s mouth hung slightly open as she felt a tingling in between her legs. Just as he kissed her again, setting his hands on either side of her hips, she realized that the two of them had not made love in over a week, not since before she was kidnapped. It was the longest the both of them had gone without making love to each other. But, just as Adelaide began to think on her wild fantasies of making love with him under the exposure of the moonlight, she stopped herself, whispering, “Not here.”
But when Daman turned her around, she could see that the hunger in his eyes matched her own. The night was silent and calm. They were both tired of fighting, of walking, of watching death. They just wanted each other. “I will have no time for you when we get back.” Daman whispered.
Adelaide felt a pang in the pit of her stomach. The words were harsh, but true. She leaned into him, resting her forehead on his as she thought about what would be waiting for them when they got back. A shock shot up her spine as he slid his hands down to her butt, his fingers clutching at her flesh. She thought about the piles and piles of armor, owned by dead demons that would have lined the aisles that separated tent from tent.
She unhooked the lock that kept his chain mail in place and slipped it right off, letting her mind take a break and her heart make all of the decisions. What she wanted the most was to be with him; right then and there, and there was nothing common norms of decency could do to stop her. So she continued to undress him until he was just as naked as she was. Then, they held each other, her arms wrapped around his neck while his arm encased her waist, thinking of nothing but the way that their bodies felt pressed against one another.
Daman’s manhood pressed into Adelaide’s novel. She reveled in the sensation of the hard, throbbing organ digging into her skin. He slipped a hand up to her face, moaning as he tilted her head up to face his and kissed her. They drank each other in, sucking on each other’s lips, thrusting their tongues into one another’s mouths, becoming more and more in sync as they grinded against each other.
Adelaide’s nipples grew harder and harder as they continued to kiss, her hand wrapping itself around his member and stroking it. Daman sighed at this, tilting his head ever so slightly back in ecstasy so that the moon cast a sliver of silver light on the side of his face, then began to kiss Adelaide on her cheek, then her chin, then her neck. She sucked in a quick breath as he lifted the skin, sucking and sucking on it until she found herself nearly melting into him.
Energy sizzled just under her skin, but in the light of the recent burns, it caused her to feel a tingling sensation all of her body. Remorse darkened the moment as Adelaide realized that she didn’t have it in her to spread her wings or use her strength in any way. It was the first time she had felt just like a human in a long time.
Daman took her nipple into his mouth tickling the tip of it with his tongue. Adelaide moaned, the sound of her ecstasy floating away in the night air as he continued to suck on her breasts, his free hand pressing in between her legs. She wanted, nay, needed him inside of her. “Take me.” She breathed.
He turned her around, pressed her against the tree that they had hid behind. But, there was something lacking in his touch. It seemed Daman had lost a lot of his strength as well. Adelaide bit her lips as he snaked his arm around her waist and cupped her breast with his free hand, effortlessly penetrating her. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped at the sensation of his penis in side of her. It was almost rejuvenating in and of itself: the act of Daman repeatedly thrusting himself into her. The pressure in between her legs began to mount as he made love to her, slowly and gently, because slow and gentle was all the two of them were capable of. She felt his touch almost as personally as if it were her own and reveled in it. Every touch of his made her feel closer and closer to him until they were practically the same person. Her worries drifted away, becoming just as wispy as the moonlight that bathed the two of them.
The silence of the wood, bore down on them, penetrated only periodically by the sound of their moans and grunts. Adelaide could feel her body declaring its love f
or Daman. He commanded every part of her, inside and out. He touched every part of her, inside and out. As he plunged deeper and deeper into her body, driving her up the orgasmic ladder, she felt more bound to him than ever. She found herself thanking the gods and the heavens and the masters of fate and whoever else could have been responsible for her survival and for his, because this moment…. She lived for this moment.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she climaxed. With a gasp she pressed her palms even harder into the wood of the tree, as Daman rammed himself into her with a new speed and vigor as he orgasmed himself. She felt the warm stream of his seed leaking into her at a perfect timing: just as she was coming down from her own orgasm. He gently slipped himself out of her and turned her around to kiss her.
Adelaide smiled. It was the first time she had had sex outside of the confines of four walls, and she loved it.
Chapter Three
As soon as they got back to camp, Daman walked Adelaide to their tent and then left her there, mumbling something about wanting to speak to the general about important matters. Adelaide was a little disappointed, provided the fact that she had wanted to spend a little bit more time with Daman, but the words that had passed between the two of them in the forest still held true. From now on, there wasn’t going to be a lot of time for them to spend together doing nothing. As much as it bothered Adelaide to be left alone, she understood the importance.
Once she had bathed herself and found something lose and comfortable to wear, she slipped in between the covers of the bed she shared with Daman. However, after thirty minutes of lying there, trying not listen to the sound of bullets being reloaded, guns being shot, heads being chopped off and creatures dying, she couldn’t clear her head for long enough to fall asleep. In fact, every time she closed her eyes, she saw the image of Daman’s limp body falling through the air. It drove her insane and made it impossible for her to relax.