Deviant Warrior: (Dark Warrior Alliance Book Three)

by Brenda Trim

  “Hey, do you feel different? Like you have more energy? I feel fantastic when I know I shouldn’t. In fact, I should be dead right now. I think it’s this place.”

  “Och, for someone so efficient at killing skirm, you know nothing aboot supernaturals. The reason you feel so good is because I gave you my blood.”

  “You did what?” she stopped and screeched. “Did you turn me into a fucking blood-sucker like you?” She tightened the grip on the knife in her hand, barely stopping herself from stabbing him again.

  He was cool as a cucumber as he stopped and looked back at her. “Nay, you willna turn into a vampire. Lesson two, vampires are no’ made, they are born. That is another human myth that is wrong. But, your body is changing.”

  “What do you mean my body is changing? If I’m not becoming a vampire then what the hell is happening?” She was freaking out and infuriated whereas he stood there, his gaze steady and expression indifferent.

  “I saved your life. You’re welcome,” he said and turned to start walking again.

  She gaped at him as he walked away. How the hell could he be so apathetic and think that was enough information for her? She wasn’t letting him off so easy and rushed to catch up. “Maybe my question wasn’t clear before. What exactly do you mean my body is changing? And, I want details.”

  He let out an exasperated huff and turned his head to her without stopping his pace. “Vampire blood has the ability to heal human injuries. Normally, that is all it does, but you, Mackendra, are different. Because of who you are, your DNA is altering to make you immortal. ‘Tis the Goddess’ way of ensuring Fated Mates have similar life spans.”

  She regretted asking the question. Mate? She didn’t like what he was suggesting because this one was a doozy. She needed to keep her mouth shut and walk away from him and find her own way home. No way did she want to know more, despite her incessant curiosity. “What are you saying?” She cursed silently when the words escaped her mouth anyway. Absurdly, she had the desire to stuff her fingers in her ears, like she was a child, to avoid hearing his response.

  He held her gaze for several seconds, making sweat roll down her spine. “I’m saying that you are my Fated Mate, lass,” he replied. His was so nonchalant when he dropped the bomb that she believed the information didn’t matter to him one way or another. For her, it was life-altering.

  “I can’t be your Fated Mate, blood-sucker,” she denied. This vampire was crazy. Perhaps this place was affecting his brain.

  He suddenly reached to the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. “This brand here says I am yours,” he told her, pointing to his chest before he ran his finger behind her left ear. “And, it matches the mark you have here. Right now, yours is only visible to supernaturals, but after our mating is completed it will look like any other tattoo.”

  Her mind was reeling. He was completely loco and she was stunned beyond belief. She was compelled to reach out and touch the Celtic cross on his chest, but it was an angry red welt. Unable to resist the urge, she reached out and touched the edge with the tip of her finger. He hissed in a breath and grabbed her wrist, stilling her hand. “Does it hurt?” she asked. It looked like a hot brand had just hit his flesh.

  “Aye, it hurts, but that is no’ why I stopped you. Your touch makes me want to tie you to that tree and fuck you senseless,” he growled. Without saying anything further, he put his shirt back on and began walking again.

  His lewd comments should have turned her off. She had always hated vulgar men, hated vampires even more and she really hated him. He was a cold, uncaring, blood-sucking leech. He was her enemy and her reaction wasn’t arousal, but revulsion. She told herself the lie repeatedly, not wanting to believe she could find him the least bit appealing.

  Various emotions rolled through her and had her stumbling as she walked. She was normally very good at sorting through her feelings to deal with them, but everything was jumbled and unfamiliar. No, that wasn’t entirely true. Somewhere deep inside, she realized that she was somehow experiencing what he felt. It was vastly unfair and threatened the wall she’d placed around her heart. He may look unaffected, but his arousal, frustration and impatience all echoed in her brain. Sharing such an intense bond with someone, especially someone you don’t like, was more than a bit unnerving.

  “I will never mate you, leech,” she declared, trying desperately to distance herself from the connection. “You never should have forced this on me. You picked the wrong girl.” Her denial would have been more believable if her voice wasn’t so breathy.

  “I didna force anything on you and I sure as hell didna choose you. Maybe I wasna clear before, the Goddess made us mates, no’ I. Here, we will spend the day in this cave.” His abrupt change of subject confused her until he ducked into an opening she hadn’t noticed. And just in time, she thought, as the sun crested the horizon.

  She stood there a moment, allowing the sun to hit her skin, half expecting to go up in flames despite his assertion that she wasn’t becoming a vampire. She took a second to enjoy the sun’s rays and marveled at the beauty around her. She appreciated the normalcy of the sunny, blue sky after an evening of a purple moon.

  “Are you convinced now that you havena turned into a pile of ashes? I am many things, Mackendra, but a liar, I am no’.” he called out from the blackness of the cave.

  Her blood went cold as a thought occurred to her. “Can you read my mind?”

  He chuckled darkly, unsettling her even more. “Vampires can read human minds…but, as my mate, I canna read yours. You are simply predictable, Mackendra.”

  She entered the cave and took several stumbling steps as she was momentarily blinded by the change in lighting. She felt his warm hand settle on her arm and pull her deeper into the cave. The warmth of his skin startled her. She expected him to be ice cold like in the movies she’d seen. “Are you un-dead or whatever?”

  His breath startled her as it ghosted across the side of her face. “I am no’ a zombie, lass. You need to stop watching so much television. They rarely get it right.”

  “Are there really zombies? I love the show The Walking Dead,” she replied, ignoring his sensuality. He was far too attractive and affected her more than she was comfortable with.

  “Och, I love the show, too. It makes me laugh. Although, I will admit the actors do a great job of pretend fighting.” He had stopped pulling her, but had yet to release her arm.

  “I can’t believe a big-bad blood-sucker watches a show about zombies. Is that your version of a reality show?”

  “Reality would make you shit your pants. To answer your earlier question, nay, there are no’ zombies like you’d think of them. We have Wendigos. My brothers encountered a pack no’ long ago on a trip to New Orleans and from what they described, they make your zombies look like fluffy bunnies.”

  “Fluffy bunnies?” she laughed at that, finally pulling away from him. “Let’s table the discussion of Wendigos for now. I want you to tell me more about this mating thing. You said a Goddess picked me. I want to hear everything, including all about this Goddess.”

  “Do you ever shut up?”

  She hauled her foot back and tried to kick him in the balls, but he caught her leg and made her fall to her back. He didn’t try and break her fall and the impact made the breath huff from her chest.

  “Is it naptime for Dracula?” she asked just as she felt his big, strong body lean over hers.

  “Nay, does this feel like naptime?” he husked in her ear and ground his erection against her core. She gasped at his audacity, at the same time, she was overcome by a desire that was damned near impossible to deny. She was both glad and irritated that there was clothing between them. She couldn’t allow their mutual attraction to go any further. She placed her palms on his chest, intent on pushing him away, but when he hissed in her ear, she remembered his brand and reaction to her touch.

  The bold, brash side of her screamed to tease the vampire then leave him wanting. She chose to lower h
er hands and remain still while he hovered over her. After several deep breaths, he pulled back and she saw the glow in his eyes. The determined look there told her that he was going to kiss her. Her lips tingled in anticipation while she held her breath. He slowly closed the gap between them and she lifted her head to meet him partway, but he turned his face at the last minute.

  “Now,” he said raggedly, “you wanted to know aboot mating.” She nodded, unable to talk past her dry mouth. That had been one of the hottest moments of her life and he hadn’t touched her. She needed to get her shit together, and quick, or she was going to end up in this vampire’s bed.

  He sat back on his heels, keeping his eyes trained on her as she sat up. She was still adjusting to the darkness and wasn’t able to see much. When something crawled across her arm, she screamed and brushed it off, stabbing the ground where she thought it landed.

  “Are you trying to stab the dirt or the spider?” The humor was back in his voice and she suspected it wasn’t something he expressed often.

  “The spider, dammit…” she trailed off when he snatched the knife from her hand and drove it into the ground a few feet away.

  “Please tell me you didn’t drag me into their den.” She would never forget the feeling of them crawling all over her, biting and leaving a blazing trail in their path.

  “I doona see anymore, but you have nothing to worry aboot.”

  “Ah, the leech is my knight in shining armor, bravely battling insects for me. Thanks for that.” Her caustic remarks aside, he was able to keep a cool head around the eight-legged fiends, so she crawled closer and settled next to him. “Now, tell me about this mating.”

  “‘Tis my duty to protect you, Mackendra.” She bristled at his statement. She was capable of taking care of herself, but he continued talking before she was able to reply. “The Goddess Morrigan is the creator of many species and realms. She created the Tehrex Realm, to which most supernaturals on earth belong. She made my species, and, we in turn, worship her, so it is her that I refer to when I talk aboot my Goddess. Part of what the Goddess did when she created supernaturals was to provide them their other half. Every supernatural has a Fated Mate oot there somewhere…the one being who was made just for them.”

  “You said that this mark tells you that I am yours. How do you know that?”

  “Normally, we discover our mate after we have sex with them, but in our case, I’m guessing that the marks showed up because I gave you my blood, since they appeared right after.”

  “This is too bizarre to believe. I didn’t even think vampires had sex,” she muttered.

  He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “Vampires have sex, Mackendra, lots and lots of sex,” he murmured, his Scottish accent sending a shiver through her body. “Stop doubting what I say and listen your gut. You carry part of my soul and even now ‘tis telling you what you doona want to hear.”

  “I carry part of your soul? What next? Are we supposed to get married and live happily-ever-after? Because I’ll tell you right now, I don’t do arranged marriages.”

  “That’s funny because the part of your soul that I carry is fully on board with the idea of mating me. It’s been battering at me to take your body and blood.” He bared his fangs at her and as little as she could see in the cave, she saw those sharp incisors as if the sun gleamed off them.

  “You must be mistaking that with its desire to separate your head from your body.” He had to be wrong about what he was saying because there was no God or Goddess that would mate her to a damned vampire.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Kyran gazed at the female across from him, appreciating her wariness. If she had fallen into line with the whole mating, he’d have been disappointed. She was his little firecracker and much as he might wish otherwise, it fired his blood with anticipation. Showing her the pleasure to be found in submitting to him was going to be the highlight of his very long life.

  “Ah, lass, as much as I would love to teach you the error of your words, right now, we have other pressing matters.”

  “Stop right there,” she put her palm up and was vigorously shaking her head. “I say you keep anymore life-altering news to yourself and we try to sleep. This will all look better after some rest.” He knew she wanted to avoid discussing this further, but they didn’t have time for her to come to terms with their situation in her own time.

  “You slept enough while you were healing. Besides, I know my blood has…invigorated you.”

  “I’m filthy and I need a bath. I’m going to go out and search for a river or lake or something. I have got to clean up,” she asserted, nibbling on her bottom lip. She didn’t fool anyone with her brazen words. He knew she was nervous, but he was enjoying her display. If she bit down any harder she was going to break the skin. The thought of her blood had him even harder in his leathers, and truth be told, he had been hard since he had laid his lips to hers.

  He reached out and pulled her lower lip from her mouth, the temptation was too much for his frayed nerves. “There is water nearby, I heard it. But, you are no’ going alone. Besides, I think you want to hear my plan for getting us home.”

  That got her attention as he knew it would. “Okay, my bath can wait. How do we get home?”

  “After you left me for dead,” he let his voice deepen with the memory of her blade sliding into his skin, “three males approached the portal. They caught scent of my blood and followed it. I listened to them, and apparently, there is a larger society here.”

  “Okay, how is that going to help us?” she asked as she leaned onto her elbow and rested her head on her palm. She was more fatigued than he thought.

  “We need to find them because I believe they can help us. They are dragon shifters and mentioned wanting to find someone that is very important to them. It just so happens that I believe my majordomo is the very male they are searching for.” He had to believe these were Angus’ people and they would want to help them in exchange for information about him.

  “I knew I didn’t want to hear this right now,” she yawned. “So there are dragon shifters lurking outside this cave. Fantastic. Is there anything I shouldn’t believe in? You know I thought I was open-minded and knew all the dangers that stalked the night, especially after I saw those women in cages, but I see that I’m wrong.” He cocked his head at her words and made a note to ask her about that later. For now, he focused on the pressing issue.

  “Och, there are things in the world that are beyond your worst nightmare and there are too many realms for me to count. Surely, you didna think our world was the only one out there?”

  “I actually did think that before seeing the purple moon,” she retorted, sliding further down on her arm. “What’s the plan?” she asked sleepily.

  “At dusk, we will seek out the dragons and propose an alliance. We can discuss this later. For now, get some rest because I have a feeling we will have a long night ahead of us,” he encouraged. He watched her drift off to sleep and settled down next to her, surprisingly drawing comfort from her closeness.

  *****

  Mackendra stretched awake, feeling every rock and stick on the ground dig into her back. She had no idea how long she’d been asleep and immediately wondered where Kyran was. She would have never thought she could lower her guard that much around a vampire. She sat up and looked around, noting that it was nighttime again, catching sight of the purple sky through the cave entrance.

  “Kyran?” she called out. He didn’t respond and she wondered where he had gone to. Surely, he wouldn’t leave her there. She immediately dismissed the idea. It was clear he believed whole heartedly in his duty to protect her

  “Kyran, are you there? Look, if you’re still upset about earlier, I’m sorry.” Could he be that upset at her for doubting him? She may have been more aware than most, but that didn’t mean she easily believed what he’d told her.

  When there was no answer to her call, she grabbed her backpack and stood up. She started to walk toward the cave ope
ning, tripping and cursing as she picked her way to the exit. Once she was outside, she paused to get her bearings. He’d said there were dragon shifters so she didn’t dare call out to him.

  She looked in her backpack to get a water bottle and protein bar, realizing for the first time that both bottles were empty. She recalled him telling her that there was water nearby, but she had no idea where. She strained to hear something and thought she heard the noise of a river to her left. Figuring she’d give it a try, she opened a protein bar and headed that way as she ate.

  After a five minute walk and several course corrections later, she came up to a clearing and was greeted by the most enticing waterfall she’d ever seen. The purple moon gave the water a mystical quality that invited her to sample it. She was about to shed her clothes and jump in when a figure rose from the bottom of the falls.

  It was Kyran. And, the sight of him was nothing less than magnificent. If there was ever a definition of a God, he was it. Without clothes, she could see the extent of his muscles. He had muscles upon muscles and her mouth watered to taste him. His nipples pebbled in the air, drawing her attention. As she grew moist and her core ached to be filled by this vampire, she forgot all the reasons she shouldn’t want him. One thing was certain, Kyran brought out her wild side.

  They locked gazes and stared at one another for countless seconds. His nostrils flared and his eyes took on a brilliant glow. Caught in his spell, she walked to the water’s edge. His eyes never left her body and it thrilled her. She stopped on the bank, and without hesitation, dropped her backpack then slipped off her combat boots. When her hands went to the button of her jeans, his eyes widened. His shoulders tensed at the sound of her zipper lowering. Her confidence was boosted by the look in his eyes and she quickly shimmied out of her pants, leaving them next to her boots.