Trey smiled. Yes, sir! The soldier fired several rounds into the horde of darklings from his semi-automatic pistol.
Nash blasted the van with a sphere of green energy.
Not so fast. One of the demons sent a ball of black flame hurtling towards them.
Without slowing his dive to the vehicle, Nash knocked the dark orb aside with a flash of green while severing the darkling’s head with his blade, sending him to the Ether prison where immortal souls rotted.
More demons and ifrit appeared. Nash’s squadrons engaged them, but the odds were tipping. He cursed when several of his own soldiers vanished into the Ether.
Then Nash saw an opening and shot straight into the van, morphing back to his human form.
He found two women. Which one was the bloodliner?
He’d never met Eve. One of the women was minutes from death. The other, though trembling, glared directly at him. Long, twisting auburn hair. Hazel eyes, just like her cousin Micki. Her arms were wrapped around her naked chest defensively. Lacy panties barely covered her most secret flesh. To his shock, his jinn hunger rose up, voracious, seething with greed he’d never experienced.
He pushed it down. This sort of desire undermined his control, and that he couldn’t allow. Ever.
“Who the hell are you?” Eve growled.
No time for talk. He needed to get her away from the darklings now.
Nash grabbed her arm.
She thrashed, loosening his hold on her. “Get your hands off of me, prick.”
“Shut up. I’m trying to save your ass, human.”
He pulled her close, holding her so that she couldn’t move. She wiggled against him, and his cock hardened. Fuck!
Never had desire for a human thundered through him so strongly. He wanted to strip her down and fuck her like there was no tomorrow. Nash wished he could blame it on his own lack of energy, but the urges she caused inside him couldn’t be easily explained. What did he really know about bloodliners? Not much. No one did.
With such cravings, he needed to be rid of her soon or he wouldn’t be able to resist. He should’ve tripled before now. Too late for that. Once he was done with this task, he would juice up on top of some other female with an angel, completing the triangle. Now he must get the bloodliner to safety. But visions of Eve writhing under him kept impeding his thoughts.
I must focus on the mission!
Nash blasted the door open with green energy, and took on his smoky form. Eve gasped. He spotted Trey struggling on the ground with a female demon and Raf trading punches with a scar-faced demon.
He flew straight up with the human woman in his arms. She gasped and shivered against him, clinging in a way that only made him want her more. “We’re…flying? You feel solid, but you look…”
“I won’t drop you.”
She didn’t acknowledge him, just grabbed him tighter. A fresh wave of desire for her surged through him. Damn it, he couldn’t get rid of this bloodliner fast enough.
Police sirens sounded in the distance. The firing of guns must have alerted them. Nash looked back at the bloody action below. The Alliance warriors were finally getting the upper hand. Pride for his team filled him. Any other time, he would’ve joined them, but his mission was getting Eve to safety. He desired nothing else.
Holding her felt good. She was soft. Warm. Strong. Though scared, she met the nightmare with courage. He had to admire that, even when he didn’t want to notice a damn thing about her.
The wind picked up, threatening to unlock his hold on her. Moving to better his grip, he wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her chest. His hand accidentally brushed her breasts. He sucked in a breath as his body went white hot. What the hell was this need, and why did it grow every second he was near her?
Eve wriggled, relocating his hand to her shoulder. “I’d slap you for the cheap feel, but I’m afraid you might drop me.”
And he’d deserve it. But he wasn’t apologizing for something that felt so good.
Nash pulled her in tight, securing her. Since they were far from Zone Three, the Alliance’s stronghold, the best course of action was to get out of the sky. Up there, they were easy targets for the Dark.
One of the guardian posts scattered throughout the city would be safer. He wouldn’t make it to Zone Three without backup and a plan.
Every post had at least two warriors defending it at all times. Station thirty-one below, disguised as an innocent house in a sleepy neighborhood, often had as many as fifteen soldiers on guard. There he might have a good chance of getting his mind on his mission and his dick out of the way so he could safely deliver Eve to David.
His body didn’t care about the mission. It wanted Eve. He wanted Eve—far more than he should.
He scanned her but saw nothing unusual about her. No red lightshow like her cousin Micki’s when she’d met her mates. Eve’s output of energy looked normal, just a slight wispy gray like most humans.
Lightshow or not, he only tripled with women for a single night. He never wanted them any longer than that. He never wanted to know them. Much better that way. The fact that curiosity ate at him to know more about Eve couldn’t lead anywhere good. Sure, he would love the opportunity to fuck her out of his system, but David had plans for Eve that didn’t include him. Others, maybe Kronos and another jinn, would be chosen to awaken her bloodliner power and to bind it to the Alliance.
Nash stifled a foolish sense of regret and focused on getting Eve to safety. When accomplished, he’d kick some darkling ass. Years ago, he’d lost his focus with one human ward, Gwyneth, ending in her demise. Never again. The anger he had deep inside him for those responsible for Gwyneth’s death filled him. And he let it. After all, fury bred purpose.
A drop of warm liquid that splattered on his fingers pulled him from his thoughts. He pushed aside Eve’s hands, which she’d drawn modestly over her nudity. His inspection of her breasts revealed blood seeping from fresh scrape marks across her flesh.
Black fury roared inside him, endless and consuming. When he found the darkling who’d marred her, hell would be paid with their severed heads hitting pavement.
“When we reach Zone Three, someone can heal your wounds.”
“So, you work for David, too? Figures.” Despite the derision in her voice, it mesmerized him.
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Got a name?”
“Nash.”
“Is part of your job to press your dick against my backside, Nash? Never happening. Got it?”
Yes, he got it. He even agreed. But somehow he had to get the message to his body that this firebrand wasn’t his for the taking and never would be.
Nash gritted his teeth and flew them down to the street by station thirty-one. When his feet touched the ground, he held Eve tighter in case she tried to escape. He hoped she understood the danger she was in, even if she didn’t seem particularly fond of him.
* * * *
I’ve learned from the book that the Alliance and the Dark are sworn enemies. Where does the Bloodline fall into this scenario?
Eric’s Flash Drive: day 13—entry 1
* * * *
Kronos flew hypersonic, pushing his wings to their limit.
Eve had been found and rescued from a band of darkling thugs. Bastards! But he knew the real bastard—himself. He tightened his jaw at the thought.
No other immortal could be blamed. David’s orders had been clear: make sure she triples often with several immortal combinations until her power is activated, and keep her safe.
He’d failed on both. Yes, he and Eve had tripled, but only twice. The first time, jealousy rose up in him like acid, burning him alive. Though stunned by his own feelings, he’d tossed the young jinn from the room immediately after their ménage. It was strange. The need to possess her for himself alone warred with his knowledge that tripling for immortals was not a nice-to-have but a necessity. In his ninety-five years as an angel, he’d never experienced such feelings f
or a human. The second tripling attempt with Jared ended abruptly before consummation because the jinn was already bound to Micki.
What if Eve didn’t have the bloodline power that her cousin had? David would want her magic sealed to the Alliance, and that would only happen if she tripled until she found the right immortals to awaken her. Kronsos knew that the archangel would never stop trying to awaken it, inside her or not, which meant that Eve would have more lovers—many more.
An image of a naked Eve binding to another angel and a jinn filled his mind. His stomach tightened.
No! Never!
An icy headwind stung his face, pulling him from his thoughts and hindering his progress. He flexed his shoulders, flattening out his wings to maximize speed against the blast. His entire body ached from the flight. No matter. Until he had Eve back in his arms, he would not slow.
Besides being incredibly sexy, she was smart, savvy, and full of grit. No doubt she’d seen through the deceptions he’d told her about Zone Three, about tripling—about himself.
How many times had he wanted to tell her that he was an angel, a warrior of the Alliance? Too many to count. He’d maintained the lies to keep his vow to the Alliance, a vow he’d taken on the very first day of his immortal life:
I swear my eternal allegiance to the Alliance and to its leaders in the Council of Seven. I swear to protect mortal and immortal from the Dark.
The vow meant everything to angels and jinn.
Only one of the Seven could give leave for a human to be brought into the trust of the Alliance. And try as he might to get David’s permission to tell Eve all, the archangel refused.
Vow or not, he would tell her everything once he held her again—David’s rules and punishment be damned. She deserved to know. Then they could work to unleash her bloodline power; she could bind to him. He’d find some way to stomach a jinn touching her. It was the only way to truly keep her safe.
* * * *
Why do bloodliners die so young? It doesn’t make sense. I cannot figure it out. I need to find someone to help me understand this, but whom?
Eric’s Flash Drive: day 15—entry 3
* * * *
Eve’s stomach flip-flopped as Nash pointed to one of the houses on the sleepy suburban street that they’d landed on. She was glad to be back on the ground.
“Go there,” he ordered, pressing his large hand against her back, roughly guiding her to the walkway of a ranch-style home that looked like every other house on the block.
Unable to free herself from Nash’s grip on her arm, Eve stopped resisting. Another opportunity for escape might present itself. Until then, she’d play up her submissiveness. Not hard to do with Nash.
He waved his hand inches from the doorknob then opened the door without using a key. With his hand on her back, he pulled her inside, then he shut and bolted the door.
Eve scanned the place. A fifteen-by-fifteen square room sported hospital-gray walls, green linoleum floors, and a single incandescent bulb in the middle of the ceiling that provided the room’s only light.
Nash released his hold on her. She turned to get a better look at him. Short brown hair, commanding dark eyes, biceps as big as her thighs, a quiet confidence that spoke volumes, over six feet of full-scale sexiness. The man was a walking fantasy. But he wasn’t really a man at all—and she was merely his prisoner.
Still, her stomach went topsy-turvy when he’d swept her up in his arms in the van and shot into the air. She blamed it on the surprise, but she knew better. Something inside her would respond to him if she let herself.
Oh, hell no. She couldn’t risk giving her trust to anyone, but especially anyone associated with David and Zone Three. Emotions must be controlled, and years of practice had taught Eve how to keep hers in check. The consequences of failure she knew all too well.
Nash’s intentions were less violent than the demon Irkon’s in the diner, but were they any less wicked? She wrapped her arms around her naked chest. Maybe someone was looking out of those windows from the other houses and could call the police, though not a lot of good that would do with someone like Nash.
She wanted something to swing at him in case he intended to use all that strength to demand what his dick apparently wanted, but the room was completely empty. No other doors except the one they’d entered through. Not even a single window.
But I saw windows from the street.
Eve frowned. Like everything else she’d experienced around the Zone Three crowd, this house wasn’t what it appeared.
Weaponless, she crossed her arms tighter over her chest and curled her fingers into fists, though she doubted they could slow such a man. She could imagine what kind of appetites he might have. Her heart thundered in her chest. Still, if he was determined to cast her in the role of victim, she would refuse to take the stage and perform.
“Sit.” He pointed to the wooden chair surrounded by dissipating moss-colored fog.
The chair hadn’t been there a second ago. Her body went ice cold. The world had turned upside down and sideways ever since she’d seen those horned monsters with leathery wings at Zone Three on the upper floors. Had she seen too much? Was keeping their secrets safe so important that Nash would kill her? Clearly, he was no friend to Irkon’s circle, but he screamed danger.
She took in a slow breath. Don’t lose your head. Stay in the game. No stranger to tight spots, Eve told herself this wasn’t any different.
Trying to sound compliant, she answered, “Okay.” She dropped her eyes and drooped her shoulders. Let him think he’s subdued me.
Lowering herself to the chair, she feigned hesitation and looked at Nash. He cocked an eyebrow up. She hadn’t fooled him, not one bit. Damn!
A new voice jolted her from her thoughts. “Commander, no sign of darklings for a ten block area.”
“Who said that?” Eve leapt up, arms tight around her breasts.
“Pardon me.” The voice sounded like a deep, still lake.
A flash of blue light filled the center of the room. As it faded, a man appeared. He was six foot six with emerald green eyes, bulging muscles, and blond hair long enough to brush his collar. He wore a slate-gray, long-sleeved shirt, black slacks, and designer shoes that must have cost a fortune. He could have walked onto any runway in New York, Paris, or Milan. But what surprised her most were the white wings that jutted from his shoulder blades.
She remembered seeing him at Zone Three a couple of times, but he’d been wingless then. His name was Gideon, and he was a friend of Kronos.
Nash wrapped his hands around her shoulders and pushed. “I said sit.”
Eve’s knees buckled, landing her back in the chair with a thud. Normally such treatment would rouse a fight in her, but not with Nash. Innate caution warred with warmth sizzling inside of her. Tingles danced across her skin.
“Stay,” Nash added.
Screw false submission. “I’m not a pet you can order around.”
He stared down at her. She expected him to growl some cold quip, but he didn’t. His gaze heated her up, but she didn’t drop her eyes from him.
The silent battle dragged on for a seeming eternity. She all but drowned in his chocolate eyes. Dizziness assailed her. Suddenly he dropped his gaze to her chest. Can he see through my arms to my breasts? My nipples? Her paltry human defenses were no match for his confident, sexual stare. She shivered violently and squeezed herself tight.
Thankfully, Nash turned to Gideon. Disaster averted. Or so she thought. Nash walked behind her and returned his hands to her shoulders. From just his touch on her bare skin, desire threatened to boil over. She squeezed her fists tighter, hoping to beat down her lust. Her nails scored the insides of her palms, but it didn’t reduce the fever from his touch.
Nash leaned down, his lips grazing her ear. “You would love being my pet. The pleasure I would give you would blow your mind.”
Eve closed her eyes, hoping to fight back the lust he called forth from deep inside her. It didn’t work. Sh
e squeezed her legs together tight.
Nash leaned back up but kept his hands on her shoulders. “Gideon, how many men are assigned to this post?”
“Two, sir.” Gideon waved his hand and magically a white robe appeared. He held it out for Eve to take. “This is for you.”
Still naked, except for her panties, Eve felt heat rush to her cheeks. “Nash, I can’t dress if you don’t release me.”
Slowly, he removed his hands from her shoulders then stood between her and Gideon. “Turn your back, soldier.”
Gideon obeyed, but Nash remained facing her.
“What about you?” Eve smirked. “Looking for a free thrill?”
“Enough talk, little one. Dress, now.”
She should’ve been pissed at Nash for calling her little one, but she wasn’t. He likely meant it as an insult, though his tone sounded only mildly gruff, almost…tender.
Turning her back on both men, she slipped on the soft garment, but stopped short of wrapping it around her chest when she noticed her breast. “I don’t want to get blood on this.”
Nash moved in front of her, eyes narrowing on her wound as he reached up as if he meant to touch her there. Eve flinched and pulled away.
His hand forming a fist, Nash clenched his jaw, then turned to Gideon. “Tend to her, soldier.”
“Yes, sir.” Suddenly, Gideon was by her side, sizing up her injury. “I’ll fix that for you.”
“Why you?” she asked. “Nash isn’t a doctor, but you are?”
“I can heal. He has other skills.” Gideon raised his hand. A ball of blue floated toward her.
“What the hell—” She tried to dodge the thing, but couldn’t.
When the sphere touched her breast, the bleeding stopped instantly, as well as the stinging pain. Moments later, she saw nothing but smooth, unblemished skin. She gasped.
“I see some bruising around your eyes.” Nash’s face darkened. “Did a darkling hit you?”
“If by darkling you mean demon, yes.”
His hands curled into fists.
“There’s also a little cut on her throat, sir.” Another ball of blue floated toward her from Gideon.
Cook, Kris - Captivation [Eternally Three 2] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) Page 3