by Marata Eros
Now they stood before Ruby: seven pointed tails with matching horns, evil expressions of hardened resolve.
They'd never been human, just demons waiting for their opportunity to assault her. With the devil's blessing.
Brolach's voice broke the despicable spell cast on the diverse group, “You do not follow demon protocol...”
“Damon,” Ruby's father supplied as she used the leather pants of the Druid to climb to standing, her eyes following the strange conversation between her horror of a relative and Brolach like a ping pong match. Brandon's arms went around her protectively and she stayed where she was.
All the while wanting to be near Brolach. Consumed by him. His eyes sought hers as if he'd heard her.
Ruby knew he would fight for her. She felt his burning regard of her like an unspoken promise, it heated her blood to molten fire as he stared at her face with his crimson eyes of flame.
“Damon,” Brolach inclined his head in a barely contained mockery of acknowledgment.
“We do not hold to the standard of Demon Hierarchy,” Damon said in a bored voice.
“Clearly,” Constantine said. “Now, I do fancy a renegade, old meeting of the demon spawn and such but we have females to take and later screw. So be off with you... or die.”
Con smiled in a come hither invitation of battle lust that any warrior would be hard pressed to ignore.
The Mer warriors chose that moment to pour themselves into the breath of battle as it exhaled between the Druid vampire, former Faction and Demon breeders in a tumultuous slide of fangs, talons, heat, barbed tails and an ocean called to the forefront.
For the males had forgotten Ember.
She was a princess of the Mer, and as such, not as defenseless as they'd supposed.
*
Ember
Ember tipped her head back, letting the delicate bones of her jaw relax and drop. A singing peal of bells that was silent to humans and amplified to the Mer, released from her small body as her arms outstretched.
The first demon minion came for Ruby and a warrior of the Mer stepped in front of him, the horns on his head spearing the muscular torso of the Mer. He grabbed the flank of the demon, steam rising and hissing at the contact of their opposing flesh and with a grunt, the Mer threw the demon into a light post that buckled in a hot bend of metal from the contact. He stood, the twin holes smoldering as the blue blood of the Mer ran down his body.
Madden threw himself into the battle against their age-old enemy with a zeal that had been lacking in recent times. That the demons did not adhere to the treaty was not a surprise to Madden. The one who was apart from the others struck Madden as different somehow. He did not have long to dwell on the renegade demons as they circled him and the other warriors like sharks. He could hear the clear call for the Mother from Ember and thanked the sea for her assistance.
In light of what they would have done to her, it was a gift they did not deserve. If Madden would not have allowed it. He harbored a secret love for the princess that went against every precept of the Mer-- to own a breeder, a royal, for his own. Desmond had made it clear that more royals were needed, and his sister was the vehicle for that eventuality. Madden wasn't sure that he could have shared her.
Then the demon's were on him and he fought.
For Ember.
For the Mer.
Ruby watched as the air became thick with steam, the demons fighting the Mer, the flesh of war melting before the ice and heat of the sea that Ember brought and the hell that followed her father.
Brandon beheaded two demons that approached Ruby and she backed away, trying in vain to search for Brolach.
When a demon grabbed her from behind with a triumphant snort Ruby mewled, the abuse of her former life suffocating the sounds that arose from her throat.
Ruby didn't want to be blanketed again by other's whims of brutal innovations.
Then Brolach was there, sliding through the heated fog like he belonged to it, three demons at his heels, a weary and outnumbered Druid vampire working over the Mer and demons who approached them.
Ruby could not hear what Brolach said for the din of the battle.
Instead she threw herself toward him as the one behind her sunk a sharp talon into her shoulder and Ruby gave a short scream of boiling agony at the stabbing entry when he ripped her backwards with his claw embedded in her flesh.
Brolach bent over her and something warm burst around Ruby like a downy cage, shielding her from the demons and all others who approached. She buried her hands into the soft heat and opened her eyes.
Ruby was curled into a fetal position with Brolach's face an inch from her own, the press of feathers all around her.
Safe from the battle like being inside the eye of a great storm.
The demons stopped cold from what had happened, from what Brolach was.
The fighting ground to a halt as a rare revelation manifested before the supernatural's eyes.
Brolach stood, his secret revealed in a searing moment of instinctive protection of a female that was his lost half, though Ruby did not realize all that she was.
Brolach did, and it was enough.
Ruby whimpered as the others stared incredulously at Brolach and he half lifted her against his chest, one of his wings folded around her, the tips of the feathered ends grazing the ground where Ruby stood.
The other inky wing, a pure and unadulterated black, was levied against a sky that matched the sooty ebony color of the night perfectly.
“The battle is over, yet the war has just begun, Angel breeder,” Damon conceded into the ominous silence.
Ruby cowered against Brolach as her father's voice dripped with venom.
For her.
Brolach looked at the demon kin that cowered before him, backing away and inclined his head in return.
Brolach answered the challenge. “Then let it begin.”
THE END
A Note of Gratitude to my Readers:
I began TDBs with the encouragement of my husband and continued because of you, my Reader. Your faithfulness through comments, suggestions, spreading the word and ultimately purchasing my work with your hard-earned money gave me the incentive, means and inspiration to continue.
There are no words that are sufficiently adequate to express my thankfulness for your support. But know this: TDB novellas continued past HARVEST only because of you.
I truly feel connected to my readers. It is obvious to me, but I'll say the words anyway for clarity: a written work is just words on pages if they are not read by my readers. As I write this I get a lump in my throat; your enjoyment of my work affects me that deeply.
You guys are the greatest, each and every one of ya~
Marata xo
Acknowledgments:
You, my reader.
My husband, who is my biggest fan.
Hazel Novak, my copy editor. Thank you readers, by supporting my work you've provided me with the means to give you cleaner copy.
My Aussie Girl, I love ya.
BDH, a big supporter of my work, and of me as well; priceless~
Rõnin, my warrior
*
2013:
BROLACH (The Demon Series, #1) Halloween
Druid Series #9 (yet untitled) Christmas
2014:
BRANDON (The Siren Series, #3) early 2014
THE DARKEST JOY (Romantic Suspense) Feb. 18, 2014
Dark Romantic Suspense:
A TERRIBLE LOVE (Romantic Suspense) available now!
A BRUTAL TENDERNESS (Romantic Suspense) available now!
Breeding Erotica:
CONSTANTINE (The Siren Breeders, #2) available now!
REAPERS
BLED
HARVEST
SOW
SEED
PLOW
THRESHER
Gangbang Erotica:
Dara Nichols' Adventure Shorts:
3500-5500 words each (non-romantic, sexual & naughty encounters)
#1, A Hard Lesson, where Dara Nichols gets “schooled” by a few students...
#2, To Protect and Service, Dara gets pulled over by the cops and taken in hand...
#3, The 13th Floor, Dara attends a professors' symposium and things heat up in the elevator...
#4, The Boardroom, Dara's sexual encounter with her students is discovered and she receives some much-deserved discipline...
#5, The Four Whoresmen, Dara takes a weekend getaway at a remote ranch and gets man-handled...
#6, The Masquerader's Balls, Dara and Zoe get nailed by a couple of masked men...
#7, The Ball Player, Dara takes one for the team at the local gym...
#8, The Cock Tale, Dara and Zoe teach university president Craig Taylor a lesson in discipline at his own party...
Disclaimer: My .99 cent titles are a completely different “flavor” from the work that you just enjoyed. These are explicit erotica centered around sexual, non-romantic encounters. My short stories are more sexual in nature and my novellas are more sensual/romantic tension/erotic romance-driven.
Thank you, Marata xoxo
http://marataeroseroticaauthor.blogspot.com/