Nightmare in Steam (Alliance of Silver and Steam Book 1)

by Lexi Ostrow

  He hefted her up into his arms, and proceeded to toss her over his shoulder. With every step he took her head bashed into the lower portion of his back. His arm was wrapped securely around the back of her knees and he moved quickly behind a row of houses before setting her down. She let instinct guide her as she balled her hand into a fist and punched at his chest. He sucked in a deep breathe on impact and she bit her lip to not cry out at the jamming sensation that jolted up her arm.

  “I’ve told you. I will not back your line of employer. I protect you. I will always protect you and I have. I watched the way they fought, they know what they’re doing, do they not?”

  She nodded grumpily. “Yes two of them were most definitely hunters.”

  “Then do not make me pick you up again and carry you in my arms back to my inn. Do not think to tell me no. We’re alive, your chin is bleeding rather badly, but we are alive and I made a promise to you.” A bell tower chimed in the distance. Two times. It was two in the morning and the streets of Halifax were about to become a battle zone. All it took was one wrong noise being heard, they hadn’t even attempted to take the fight to someplace secluded. Suddenly the night went quiet. Everything stopped and she pushed off Lucius’ chest and ran for the road, splatters of blood coming from her chin. She stopped at the corner and sighed. They’d taken down a Fallen. One appeared to be limping, but the other two were working on dragging the now dead demon off. It may have taken three to one odds, but she found comfort in knowing that the worst of the demons wasn’t enough for humans and their weapons.

  Eliza walked slowly back toward Lucius. He stood right where she’d left him with his arms crossed. She stopped a few meters away and smiled at him, pressing her hand to her chin to stop the blood. “Yes, I believe you did make me a promise, Sir.”

  He was on her in a flash, scooping her into his arms and moving as quickly through the streets as he could. She wasn’t worried about being seen. By now her parents had retired to bed, as had any other citizen that would matter. Drunkards and whores lined the streets at such a late hour and let them see her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he moved, doing her best to tilt her head back so as not to leave a blood trail, but the pain was intense and she blinked back tears.

  Lucius didn’t stop until he was outside the inn. His hand jerked over the front of her dress, tearing it and causing her breasts to be slightly visible. “LUCIUS!”

  “Be quiet. If I’m to bring you to my lodging you must appear to be a whore as I did not come here with a wife.” She bit her lip and said nothing as he took her hand and stumbled through the doorway of the inn, pretending to be intoxicated. She did her best to giggle absurdly and fumble her steps as well. They made it past the night guard without incident and as they reached his room she realized her chin was no longer bleeding. He opened the door and gestured for her to walk before him.

  The room wasn’t big. But it had a large enough bed for two, a table with a candle and a small sink. A door led to what must be a toilet and she was grateful that they were in an area where niceties were typically demanded by travelers. “Come here, by the candle. I want to look at your chin.” He turned the water on and dipped the end of a towel into it.

  “My chin is fine. It has stopped, the pain will as well in time.”

  Lucius walked over and tipped her head back, inspecting her chin before slowly rubbing the towel over her chin. It was coarse and she flinched back. “I’m sorry, they are a little rough.” He rubbed as gently as he could to disinfect the wound. “I’m sorry for tackling you as well. You looked as if you were about to run headlong to save the Fallen.”

  She flinched as he ran the towel over her face again. He was being so gentle, so not demon-like it would be so easy to forget he was more than a man. But it was not possible. He was so much more. He was a demon willing to give up on his own species for her. Each brush of his hand over her skin sent a buzz through her body. His eyes never met hers and the frustration she felt built and built as he continued to tend to her. Finally, after her body was all but humming with need he took a step back.

  “That should be ok for the evening. It looks like a bad abrasion, but if it starts again we must find a physician to look at you.” She reached up and caught his hand as he dropped the towel.

  “Lucius, you’re shaking.”

  “I was worried. Worried I would lose you and then worried because I hurt you after promising to look after you.”

  “Mistakes happen. I can forgive you for that one little lie.” She smiled and winked at him as she put her hand on his chest. “But I can’t forgive you if you break the promise you made before setting off to find the Fallen, it would be a bargain breaker.” The candlelight hid any expression of his from her as she leaned up and kissed him.

  His lips blazed trails of heat over hers and his growls sent shivers through her body, the day dress suddenly too hot for her liking. Her own whimper sliced through the small room when he pulled back. She bit her lip to not protest. All her senses were on fire, screaming at her to take him, to surrender herself to him and let the mating mark win. His hands dug into her hair and his mouth took hers again, hungry and demanding as he licked and nipped and sucked on her tongue and lips.

  He walked them, still entangled, over to the bed and when he pulled back to lay her down gently, she smirked at him and pushed his body backwards onto the bed. “I have a better idea Mister, I-Know-My-Way-Around-A-Woman’s-Body.”

  She unfastened the buttons down the side of her red dress and his hands found the edge of the dress without asking, tugging it over her body causing a sultry sensation as it pulled over her body. His lips captured hers and released after a few seconds, trailing kisses down her neck as his big hands pushed aside what was left of the top of her dress. Briefly her thoughts were on how she would get home with her clothes in such a condition and then his tongue flicked her nipple and heat streaked through her body so hard her body trembled. She arched her body into his mouth even as her hands worked at his slacks. His heated, thick cock sprang out into her hand. It was just as it had been in the dream, long and thick. Her fingers trailed over it even as her head spun with pleasure from his mouth and the way his hands squeezed her other nipple. Pleasure built and wetness pooled between her legs. His free hand wrapped around the frilled petticoat and yanked it down. She fumbled as she stepped back from the bed to step out of her undergarments. She was naked before him, had been in her dreams but nothing like this.

  His eyes trailed over her like he was seeing her for the first time and he sat closer to the bed’s edge and tugged her to him. His hands sent shocks through her as her body came closer. His cock rubbed against her core as he pulled her down to him and she cried out with need. She was done waiting for the moment they’d already shared so many times in their dreams.

  She pumped her hand up the length of his shaft before she tugged his head from her breast. Kissing him, she climbed up on his waist. The action pushed his cock deep inside of her and her sigh mixed with his groan. He stretched her inner walls and her body clutched at his thick shaft as she continued to slide down the length of him, taking every last centimeter of him until their bodies pressed together. She bucked her hips once and arched her chest toward him, the rocking motion a mere start. He pulled her to him and his mouth latched onto her throat, a scrape of teeth had her hips bucking and her speed increasing.

  She shivered as she rode him, as she took him in and out, over and over. Her body trembled, not with a release, but simply from the desire. He growled and bit her neck, hard enough it shot pleasure through her and she cried his name into the silence of the room.

  His powerful body rolled to the side and tucked her underneath him, never breaking the rhythm of their bodies thrusting together. Her praises passed between them, small gasps of pleasure and demands for him to continue, to go faster, deeper. She was wild with need and as her body pulsed and rocked against his, she threw her head back, panting and dug her hands into his back. Her heels locked ar
ound his arse, grinding him even harder into her body. She couldn’t get enough and wasn’t aware of anything but his body driving into hers. His finger reached between them and he rubbed his thumb hard over her clit as he pounded into her with the wildness of his own need. Her arms flailed and her hips bucked faster and faster until the rubber band of pleasure broke.

  “Lucius!” Her head thrashed to the side and her mind spun with ecstasy. Her body clenched and milked his cock as he continued to thrust into her. Her hips moved with his, wanting to help him feel what she was feeling. She felt as his hips slammed into hers and she watched as the chords in his neck tightened. His grunt of pleasure made her smirk, as did when he collapsed carefully on top her, panting hard. She could feel his cock twitching inside of her and it set off tiny sparks of pleasure.

  He was careful not to drop his full weight on her and she wound her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. When they finally stopped, his eyes were such a deep black it frightened her. Without thinking, she jerked back.

  “Don’t be alarmed, Eliza. I promise, they get darker and wider when I come. I swear I’m not having thoughts of murdering you. In fact, the only thoughts I’m having are of doing that again. And again.” He lowered his face into her neck and nuzzled it.

  The action tickled her and she laughed and relaxed. There were so many questions she still had for him. “As much as I want that, my parents will send out every copper in Halifax if I do not return and be awake prior to them.”

  He sighed and pushed up off of her and he slid free from her body. She bit her lip to not cry out at the loss. She felt empty now, colder. She shook her head, trying to remind herself there was a mating mark and that was the cause. Not that she was falling for him, not for certain. Things would be different, Felicia had warned. And she was certainly correct. Her head still spun with pleasure as he pulled her into his side and wrapped his arms around her.

  “Mmm do I have to return you? You know there are Changeling Demons who steal people away in the night.”

  She laughed and rolled closer to him, putting her head on his chest.

  “You do. But only after you show me this supposed mating mark, mate.” She grinned up at him and he sighed before pushing her to the side and standing up.

  “Do not give me hell. We have no control where the thing shows up. Don’t forget you’ve seen it before, in our dream meetings.” He stood up from the bed and walked to the edge, his body slick with sweat and his cock still erect.

  A shudder passed through her thinking about wrapping her mouth around the purple, swollen head and she swallowed, pushing the longing back. “I see nothing, Lucius. Not even the marks of warrior.”

  He grimaced and she wondered if she’d offended him. But slowly he turned. Her eyes traveled up his well-muscled body with appreciation, but the half gasp, half laugh slipped out as her eyes found his backside. She put her hand over her mouth to try and stop it, but it was no use.

  “Oh.”

  He jumped back into the bed and pinned her hands above her head and kissed her quickly.” I said you are not to laugh, Miss Dorley.”

  She only laughed harder and tears formed in her eyes. His mated mark was on his arse cheek and she most certainly did not remember that.

  He stood up again and picked up his clothes. “We do need to see you home quickly. It must be close to dawn and I’d like to be back here and rest before then. Plus I may have made a mess of your dress and no mate of mine will be seen half hanging from her clothing.”

  They laughed and spoke a little as they dressed and returned to her home. The inn was only three streets over and she was shocked, she’d never known one could be within an hour’s walk when the plots of land, gifts from the king, could span so much space. Her hand wrapped around the black gate and she stopped to kiss him again. They’d been stealing kisses the whole walk and she was upset that this would be her last one. Sometime in the course of the night, between when she’d been thrown to the ground outside and when she’d screamed his name in pleasure she’d come to realize that it was most definitely more than lust on her end as well. When they pulled back, a smile was on his lips.

  “Goodnight, Eliza.” He winked at her.

  “Lucius, come back in four nights time. I want to try that power of yours on my parents, but we have prior engagements.”

  His face lit up and he picked her up and twirled her in the air. Somehow, she hadn’t pictured him as the gleeful type. “Anything for you, Eliza. I will see you in four days.” He set her back down on the ground and kissed her cheek.

  “Oh and don’t miss me in my dreams tonight.” She smiled wide and pushed open the gate, leaving him standing near it, grinning like a fool.

  Chapter 13

  Seraphina closed her eyes and rolled her head. Her muscles were stiff and sore from a long night with Muriel. She’d thought the angel would be ready far sooner than appeared to be the case. Letting her out of her demonic restraints had led to a battle she wasn’t anticipating. But it was over now. Angelic blood of both varieties splattered like flung paint on the floor and the walls. Her chest rose and fell from the exertion, but Muriel lay subdued on the floor, one wing jutted up from her body at an unnatural angle and the demon restraints were back in place. She ran a hand through her hair and gently massaged her head where the little bitch had slammed it into the floor before walking over and squatting down in front of her old friend.

  “Did you really think you could best me, Muriel? It’s no secret that flight aides the pure, but there is nothing hampering a few months old Fallen.” She gestured to the room. “I am in charge of this, of all of this. With power and control like mine, what chance did you stand on killing me?”

  Muriel’s lip was dripping blood onto the floor and her face appeared to be in a frozen grimace, likely from the wing. Seraphina had done nothing to try and untwist the broken wing. There was no point as it was slowly going to be removed in its entirety before she left the room. She’d lost the patience to draw it out. She wanted Muriel to fall fast and hard to prove her point. That she would rule them all.

  “You will never win, Seraphina. You can tempt me with Izazal’s body all you want. He is of no appeal to me now.”

  Seraphina reached a hand out, moving her fingers toward the short feathers on the broken wing and jerked. The angel’s body lifted off the floor as her howl radiated through the dungeon like room.

  Seraphina continued on that wing, taking clumps of five and six feathers at a time, for the course of the next five hours. Each and every scream of pain and curse pulled from the beautiful angel’s mouth was a potent drug for her. “The last one on this wing, Muriel. The very last one.” She reached out and grasped the final feather on the broken wing. Once she pulled this one, blood would spill. This was the feather that connected all the rest, the rooted feather. The most painful to remove and the only one that if not removed, could generate a new set of beautiful white wings. She dug the tips of her fingers into the bloody mess surrounding the final and jerked the root feather out in one swift motion.

  “NO!” Muriel’s scream this time was elongated from the pain and she writhed around the floor, her body convulsing from the pain of it.

  Seraphina knew the pain as well. She knew just how long and how painful it would be as the powers and skills that made them special drained from half of her body. Forty-four minutes. Forty four minutes of screaming and shaking and crying. The grin on her face was cruel and she pushed the heel of her black shoe into the oozing mass where the feather once was. Muriel whimpered and cursed, but she didn’t try to get out from under Seraphina's heel. She was broken, bloody and shortly going to be begging for the taste of Izazal’s blood.

  “I’ll leave you to your misery. And trust me, I know the misery. Don’t bother believing that because I leave the door to this room open you can escape. I’m sure you can already tell movement won’t be an option. Try not to miss me too much, I’ll see you again when you’re ready for more. If it’s one thing I lea
rned from my own fall, it’s that the body can only endure so much blood loss and pain before it shuts down and while I would love to see your body an empty shell on the floor I need more warriors. So my advice, sleep to ignore the pain. If you can.”

  She patted Muriel on the head and rose to leave the room; true to her word she left the door open. A temptation, a hidden initiation that she would love to watch Muriel struggle for if the pain did not make her pass out. She nodded to the guards and continued to her office where once again the Stranglehold duo waited for her. Only this time it was because she had summoned them.

  “And just how did it go last night? Was it only last night?” Her time had melted away as she’d been with Muriel for the better part of the last day and six more hours today.

  Dean spoke up, “I am not sure what you had planned, Seraphina, but Marquese is dead. We watched and did not interfere as you ordered.”

  She narrowed her eyes and nodded her head. “Interesting. So you watched the entirety of the matter?”

  “Every moment, your highness,” Arial answered for his brother and she smiled seductively at him. She enjoyed how reverent he was in regard to her position.

  “Then tell me how an inventor and a Nightmare Demon succeeded in killing one of my Fallen warriors.” She had promised Lucius some help. She hadn’t expected him and his play-toy to be able to destroy her own. However, if they had, it was knowledge she needed. Lucius would have been next to useless in trying to fool the mind of a Fallen. But perhaps that inventor had tools up her pretty silk sleeves that gave her an advantage.

  “They were not alone. Three others joined them. Alliance members. I thought they only hunted in London. I thought you said that’s why we could begin to move out in other areas. Are we sending our people, our family out to die?”

  She had her dagger to this throat before he’d finished his sentence. “Dean, I’ll remind you politely not to take that tone of voice with me.” The blade bit into the demon’s neck and the blood trickled over the silver edge. “You will not question me and in fact you two are dismissed. If I so much as see you lingering in this side of Hell, I will personally see to it that you die and your souls remain with the others dear Lucius is obtaining.” She pulled the knife back, relishing the slick slurping sound as it drew a slightly thicker line of blood. “OUT!”