Mated By The Demon Collections: Paranormal Romance

by Riley Moreno

  She wasn’t even sure who’s hands they were in the dark that surrounded them like a blanket and she didn’t care. Hazel arched her back, writhing under the onslaught of overwhelming sensation, a sense of urgency fired through her, adding to the heat already consuming her body and she breathed it out into the air like smoke.

  Suddenly, the hands on her moved more furiously, with sharper intent. Quickly shedding the oversized t-shirt she had worn to bed only to have it thrown by impatient hands somewhere in the room. It didn’t matter.

  Nothing mattered but satisfying the need that had grown unbearable since the moment they had been thrown together by fate and her own foolishness. Finally, she felt what she craved. Two warm fingers teasing at the opening of her entrance, testing her readiness. She hissed in pleasure at the touch. She was more than ready.

  The fingers were replaced by a hot, hungry mouth, making her jolt and squirm even harder but another, a different set of hands held her fast at the hips, holding her perfectly still, unable to do anything but take the pleasure being given to her. It was almost too much as the burning hot tongue struck out, sweeping across that bundle of nerve endings and lapping at the sweet liquid behind sounds of moans and unintelligible whispers.

  A sigh escaped her parted lips, captured as another pair descended onto her own, licking into her mouth and the sigh became a groan of pleasure as she tasted herself on his tongue. Fingers again replaced the talented mouth at her core, rhythmic strokes that brought her closer and closer the that edge, but she refused to go over alone.

  With both hands, she reached out, unerringly finding what she was looking for in the dark. Grasping both hot, hard erections, one in each hand, she began to pump, slowly at first, and was rewarded by the answer of two hoarse groans.

  As the lips broke apart on a breath, she led one of them to her kiss swollen lips, red already but she didn’t care. She needed this too bad. She needed them.

  Slowly, he thrust between her parted lips, a tenseness in his body letting her know that he wouldn’t last long, but she was already riding that edge, so she sucked even harder, desperate for them to reach that height before she did. But it was too late. The fingers working magic inside her were hitting that sweet spot over and over, and a thumb joined, she wasn’t sure who’s. It began rubbing against her swollen clit until she didn’t have a choice.

  As her body was flung into paradise her mouth and hands tightened, drawing both men over the edge with her. She reveled in the hot splash against her hips and the other sliding salty and oh so sweet down her throat. Finally, she collapsed, her body refusing to move as she savored every aftershock of bliss still rocking through her.

  With almost identical sighs of satisfaction, both Jayce and Nika melted beside her, boneless and utterly replete. The constant heat between them finally, for the first time, banked to a dull roar.

  Hazel felt strong arms wrap tightly around her, pulling her close in a tangle of arms and legs, and it felt wonderful. Together, they all drifted off into a peaceful, dreamless, sleep.

  Chapter 15

  The next several days were absorbed by the preparations for their trip into the Black Hills. A tension fell around them, thick and inscrutable, and even thought Hazel didn’t have any more nightmares since that memorable night, they all still felt the threat hanging over them like a knife growing sharper and sharper.

  “What about this one?” Hazel asked out loud, “The Grey Fog incantation. It says it will turn anything the fog touches to stone.”

  Nika paused in his research but Jayce was already shaking his head. “We tried something really similar to that in the early days of our hunt. He has the ability to change form, I don’t even fully understand it, but the only thing we found to trap him with was time itself.” Jayce explained, and they all went back to searching through their respective collections of spell books and ancient incantations pilfered from her grandmother’s study.

  It had proven extremely difficult to find any sort of magic to help capture the dark spirit. It was becoming more and more apparent why the two dragon warriors had ended up using themselves as bait for Eidolon’s trap.

  And of course, there was the other thing. The thing they hadn’t talked about in so many words but it hung over her like a dark shadow. She still couldn’t fully access her hidden magic. She had been so optimistic after that day in the forest, when she had conjured not only a flame, but an actual, fully formed fire ball.

  But since then, she hadn’t been able to do so much as light a candle. That was unless she was surround by the two men, their mouths and hands hot on her body. But that in itself was a double edged sword because then, she became so distracted by them that what she did manage to conjure had the capacity for disaster.

  She recalled the previous afternoon, once more finding herself sitting on the attic floor, this time trying to focus on Nika. Jayce had been sitting silent and tense behind her. The fire that seemed to be ever present flare to life in an instant, blooming between them and before she could even stop herself, she was kissing him. The need to be mouth to mouth, skin to skin just too much for her to fight against.

  Luckily, Jayce had been there, waiting for that moment, his iron will pulling her slowly, inexorably back to the task at hand. He had spoken of the flame inside her. Of her feeling the fire, knowing it as a conscious, living thing and her thoughts had blindly followed. But she had been so wrapped up in Nika that she hadn’t even realized what she had done at first, or that she had achieved anything at all.

  Simply following the now familiar rhythm of diving inside herself, finding that vast wealth of power buried so deep inside her. The hardest part for her was not fighting it, trying to contain the urge to reach out and grab it all, only to have it slip through her fingers like grains of sand, or even worse, grab nothing at all.

  Instead, she had to let it fill her, a trickle at first and then a torrent that she could only seem to achieve when she was wrapped around one of them. Not that either of them seemed to mind all that much.

  So there she had been, full to the brim with a power so intense it would have burned most witches where they stood, and she had let herself get distracted. Not all that hard when Nika’s hot hands had trailed over her body, making her writhe against him in pleasure, his lips moving sweetly over her own. The taste and feel of him had invade her mind, her body, her soul until he’d consumed her.

  And then she’d conjured. Lost in him, she had let go of the power she had called to her, but instead of the pretty violet flame floating in her palm that she was supposed to create a dragon made completely of flame had erupted into thin air. It had floated there hissing and crackling and utterly mindless.

  An alarmed sound from Jayce finally had her pulling away from Nika and she caught her first glimpse of the the trouble she had conjured. Its serpentine form slithered in the air, making figure eights with its long, ember trailing body. It had stopped as they had, all staring at each other in shocked silence.

  “Don’t just stand there, Hazel, get rid of it!” Jayce had shouted at her, still not taking his eye off of the beast.

  But it was too late, the concentration she needed was gone and now this fiery creature had a life all of its own. It had shot across the room at Jayce’s hastily whispered words, as if it had somehow understood them, or at least the intent on them.

  The drapes caught fire first, and then the olive green, floral print upholstered love seat that had been collecting dust for several years. Smoke began to fill the room at an alarming rate, but even worse, as if it could get any worse, there was a murderous look suddenly filling its flame colored eyes.

  Hazel had completely panicked and even Nika, always calm, logical Nika, had stood there utterly silent, mouth agape in surprise as the creature had charged, releasing a screech in a puff of steam. Only Jayce’s quick thinking had saved them from the beast.

  One moment, Hazel was standing there, convinced she was about to be demolished by the very thing she had conjured, and the
next she was in Jayce’s strong arms. His mouth came down hard and fast on top of her own. She had been shocked for all of a second before melting into his embrace. A second later, and she had been once again brimming with power, more than enough to banish the fiery dragon out of existence before it could do any more damage than it already had.

  Embarrassment still shot through her, hot and uncomfortable, at the memory, quickly followed by a moment of sheer panic. What was she supposed to do when they finally did confront Eidolon?

  Oh, dark spirit, excuse me while I kiss the hunky dragon warriors that I inadvertently freed from their prison, you know, the same one you were locked in for hundreds of years. Hah! Yeah right, more likely they would all be burnt to a crisp by a fiery chicken the next time she tried to practice conjuring anything.

  A snorted laugh coming from Jayce had her glaring up hastily and her cheek tinged a bright pink at the humor in his eyes.

  “A chicken…made of fire?” He finally chocked out, obviously trying to hold back another chuckle.

  “A giant chicken made of fire, that also breathes fire, and is giant, if I didn’t mention that already thank you very much!” Both Jayce and Nika broke into wide, silly grins.

  “Sounds terrifying.”

  “Oh yeah. I wouldn’t mess with it, certainly. I’ve heard that giant fire breathing chickens are the worst.”

  “Hey, that is not funny. I know you think you’re being so funny, but you’re not.” Hazel pouted exaggeratingly. “It could really happen, you know! You wouldn’t be laughing if you had your eyebrows singed off.”

  “Don’t worry, little witch.” Jayce said, this time all seriousness as he looked at her over the dusty tome he had been reading through. “You were able to send it away, anyways. Everything was fine.”

  Everything was definitely not fine, she thought to herself. Hazel could not stand the thought of putting either of them into any more danger than they already were. And the truth was, if they went into battle against the dark spirit with her at their side, she knew she would only be a liability if she couldn’t find a way to control her wayward powers.

  Helplessness hit her as she looked over the same spells and rituals for the third time, still not finding anything that would help them when they so desperately needed. Every else for the trip they would be taking all too soon was prepared. They could live for days and days off of the land and had all they would need to track the dark spirit through the dense forest, although she still wasn’t convinced that tracking Eidolon was the smartest course of action. Actually, she was one hundred percent sure. And the worst part was that they desperately needed the edge of magic. Time magic.

  A sudden thought shot through her and she perked up where she was sitting.

  “Wait a minute. I have an idea.” Hazel began, aware there would probably be arguments against it, but she charged forward anyways. “The Mother Guardian –.”

  “No.”

  “But you don’t even know what I was going to say!” Hazel said after Jayce had so rudely interrupted her.

  “Yes, I do, and no, she won’t help us. You know that, little witch. She forbade us from even considering the idea, I believe.”

  “But she doesn’t even have to know. I can just say I’ve been thinking about time magic since I…well, since I met you, and wanted to do some more research.”

  “She will see straight through that, Hazel.”

  “Then, I’ll just deny it. But what else have we got?” she asked with a sigh of frustration.

  Both men looked at each other before finally shrugging in defeat.

  “Fantastic!” She said, hope rising inside herself, “I’ll talk to her right away.”

  “How will you do that,” Nika asked, “if you leave we will…uh, change.” Hazel tried to look past the gross understatement.

  “Wait,” Jayce interrupted before she could answer, “I remember. Elizabeth said you would know how to contact her if we thought of something new. What is it, some sort of communication spell?” he asked, suddenly intrigued.

  Hazel just shook her head, unable to keep the grin off of her face as she reached into her pocket, waving the devise at them.

  “Actually, it’s called a cell phone.”

  Chapter 16

  The following morning found them all waiting impatiently for the Mother Guardian’s reply. It had been surprising to Hazel how accommodating she had been during their conversation, even going so far as to offer to bring over an old book of spells that contained information on time magic that she had, and an object she thought might be instructional for Hazel.

  Jayce had been suspicious, but Hazel had explained to him that Elizabeth had been trying to get her interested in research for years believing that it would help her to tap into the well of magic hidden deep within. He had just shrugged, accepting her explanation at the time, but now that she was waiting on the edge of her seat even she couldn’t stem the trickle of doubts that threatened to break through her façade of calm.

  At least she had one success, she thought, a spark of excitement flowering through her. Yesterday, they had tried the test a final time, and for the first time in her life she had conjured exactly what she had meant to. A tiny, delicate snow drop had formed in Nika’s outstretched hand and she would never forget the look of wonder on his face as it had bloomed blight and as silver as his eyes into a tiny metallic sparrow that had flown into the air.

  The glimmering creature had winged around his head several times before raining down in a shower of soft silvery feathers, as soft as down. It had been the most beautiful, and the most complex magic she had ever been able to wield. She just tried to ignore the fact that the only reason it had worked in the first place was because she had basically had her tongue down Nika’s throat the whole time.

  There was a knock at the front door, interrupting her thoughts and she practically jumped out of her chair to go answer it. As bad as it would be when they had to face the dark spirit, even more so she hated waiting.

  Hazel pasted a wide, and what she hoped was an innocent looking smile across her face, warning the dragon warriors still sitting behind her to play it cool with a pointed look cast over her shoulder. Finally ready, she opened the door.

  A very serious Elizabeth stood in her door way and Hazel’s heart sank pitifully as she noticed almost twenty council members standing behind her like an army ready to march. That was almost half of the entire high council standing in her front yard!

  “We know you’re all in there, so you might as well join us!” the Mother Guardian’s voice rang out like steel against iron, echoing in a way that had even the two dragon warriors instantly on their feet and facing the crowd of disapproving faces alongside Hazel.

  “We have heard all about your plans to confront this so called dark spirit without permission or consent of the council, Hazel Domitreu.” The same council member, the one with the face stern enough to make rocks line up and pay attention spoke form Elizabeth’s side, and Hazel’s stomach lurched at the censure in her tone.

  “We…I…”

  “He is not ‘so called’, council member.” Nika’s interruption stalled her from having to make up some excuse, for which she was more grateful than she could say. But then he continued speaking and she could see the ire rising in the council member’s eyes.

  “He is one of the most powerful dark spirits to wreak havoc over this country, and you owe us some merit of respect for imprisoning him hundreds of years ago, witch.”

  Hazel could have groaned. That was definitely not the tone to take with a member of the high council, let alone any witch. She cast him a sideways glance, trying to warn him, but it was too late.

  “At least, give us some credit for not being complete idiots.” Jayce added unnecessarily. The Mother Guardian snorted loudly at that, pretending not to see the glare he sent her way.

  “Well, despite all…that,” Elizabeth waved dismissively in the air, gesturing toward Jayce and Nika who were still standing, gloweri
ng. “You said it yourself. That was hundred of years ago that you imprisoned him. We have new ways of doing tings, ways that work better even that some of the ancient ones.”

  Elizabeth paused, giving them all a look sharp enough to cut. She opened her mouth to continue but the now furious council member beat her to it.

  “You will do nothing!” She spat at them, “you will sit her like the children you are, and do as you told.” There was a little too much malicious glee in her voice, and even the Mother Guardian seemed a little taken aback by the vehemence in her voice.

  But no one had any time at all to respond before a scream sounded from the back of the crowded group of people. Every one turned at the terror in that cry, and it was then that Hazel saw him. That nightmare face grinning like a corpse straight at her. The face that had her blood freezing to ice right where she stood, rendering her totally immobile.

  No one else seemed to be as effected as she was as everyone else exploded into chaos. Shouts and screams echoed loudly across the front yard, but time seemed slowed all at once, the sudden noise reduced to nothing but a low hush as she watched, petrified as his mouth began to move, revealing a gaping maw filled with dripping black like oil, or congealed blood. Just like in her dream.

  And just like in her dream, fire followed. A heat so intense she could feel the hair on her arms shriveling as they burned away. And still she couldn’t make herself move. There was only one thing she could do, the thing she had formed a habit of doing when ever she was scared or in trouble, and boy was she in trouble now.

  Hazel closed her eyes, the hardest thing she’d ever done, and thought of them. The golden eyes and laughing mouth that always invited her to join. The strong, caring arms and glimmering silver yes, so often lost in thought. She focused her mind sharper and though about them harder than she had ever though of anything else in her entire life and lie a miracle, they were there.