Call him a martyr all you want, but Bishop didn’t deserve the reprieve that came from fucking. He deserved this pain.
“Och, for the love of the Gods, asshole.” Valor bolted down the steps and kneeled in front of Bishop. “Why?” he snarled. “Why, Hound?”
Bishop was in no condition to answer. Instead, he flopped onto his side, grunting. His hips started to grind against the carpet pathetically.
“Maiden, Mother and Crone, Bishop. What a fine mess you’re in now.”
Bishop squeezed his eyes shut and he tried to block out all the sensations his body battled internally. Being unbalanced was a bitch. Vaguely, he realized Valor was dragging him by the back of his leather jacket. Bishop couldn’t even twist around to fight his leader. He just continued to buck his hips and snarl, howl, or whimper.
He started foaming at the mouth next. Oh the humility he would feel later for this.
In the back of the basement was a door that led to Hell. Bishop tried to tell Valor to stop, but he was beyond talking. Instead, he panted. Bishop’s vision wobbled and darkened. Everything had a pulse. Including, and most especially, his dick.
There was mumbling and then Bishop’s world spun as he was tossed over someone’s shoulder.
Lucifer, the name barely registered with how far his mind had gone past reasoning at this point. Like the fucked up animal he was, Bishop grabbed the Devil’s body and stared at his ass while the Angel carried him off, slung over his shoulder like a sack of horny potatoes.
Lucifer had a luscious ass, did you know that? Neither did Bishop until just now.
“In you go, Hound.”
Bishop didn’t have time to register what was happening until Lucifer literally tossed him into a fire. Black flames licked his skin, his clothes melted away, dripping off of him like droplets of rain. He cried out and gripped his dick, stroking fast and hard. His head tilted back, his hips jutted forward and his teeth slammed together when he came.
He would come eleven more times – each one harder and longer than the last.
When he dropped to his knees, he growled and snapped his teeth at the flames. They wouldn’t stop touching him. They wouldn’t leave him the fuck alone. He didn’t know how much of this torture he could stand, but there was no escaping a flame fuck like this.
It wasn’t pretty. This kind of thing was messy, pathetic, embarrassing, and… in most cases, necessary.
Finally, the flames died down, and with it so did Bishop’s overwhelming need to fuck. His limbs no longer shook from unbalance… they now trembled from exhaustion.
And his dick? Holy Hell, it was raw.
Lucifer hauled Bishop out of there with a swift yank. “Don’t do that again, Hound. That’s an order.” He handed Bishop over to Valor and jerked his head to the door, dismissing them. “Come back to me once he’s secure, Valor.”
With a curt nod, Valor carried Bishop out of Hell. God this was so ridiculous. If Bishop was a crier, he’d definitely feel the hot pricks of weakness sting his eyes right about now. As it was, he could barely swallow the lump of shame wedged in his throat.
But at least he was better now, right? He was technically unfucked. Now he could start the process all over again.
Valor was so goddamn mad, he was ready to spit tacks. This wasn’t the first time Bishop had hit rock bottom, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with.
Ever since the day Bishop joined the pack, Valor had asked himself, Why? Why Bishop? Of all the Hounds the Devil created, why was Bishop in his pack? The answer was simple: Because he belonged there.
Valor would do anything for his pack. A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G. And when Bishop came to him a broken shell of a man with enough PTSD to keep therapists rich for three thousand lifetimes, Valor didn’t hesitate to bring him into the fold and help the Hound overcome his issues.
He worked with Bishop every day and night to bring out the best in that Hound and work through many of his issues. The Devil took care of the harder things…
As he carried the big lug of a Hound through the basement door and back into their house, Valor dropped him onto one of the seats in the theatre room, “Ye happy now?”
“Not hardly,” Bishop grumbled. “I was handling it.”
Valor cocked back his fist and punched his second in command right in the nose and broke it. Blood poured down Bishop’s face and Valor was already preparing to swing again. Bishop roared and went after his alpha, barreling into him and they slammed against the wall. The projector screen ripped from its mount and fell, blanketing the two fighting Hounds.
“Fuck! Stop! Stop! Stop!” Bishop fought to get out from under the screen before he lost his shit. He couldn’t stand being buried under anything. With a growl, he tore the screen away and backed off of Valor. “Fuck, I’m sorry!”
“Och, sorry doesna cut it.” Valor closed the distance between them, “I need ye, Hound. Never do that again, got it?”
Bishop nodded, his nostrils flaring as he tried to continue to breathe. He wiped the blood from his nose and looked away from his alpha.
“Here,” Valor moved in and, with a squeeze and twist of his thumbs, he reset Bishop’s nose. “Better?”
“Yeah. Thanks. I’m sorry,” Bishop said again, looking ashamed.
“I doona want to hear it, Hound. I’ll not have your apologies. I want your strength. There’s a reason you’re my second in command. Act like it or I’ll find another, understand?”
Bishop flinched. For once, it didn’t sound like an empty threat. Why? Because it wasn’t. Valor loved his pack more than anything, which meant he would put the pack members in positions that suited the pack – not the individual members – best. “Get up here, Hound. We have things to discuss.”
Bishop followed his alpha up the steps and into the office. They each plopped their asses into chairs and glared at one another. “You could have hurt her tonight,” Valor sighed quietly.
“Who?”
“The lass at The Blue Lizard.”
Bishop shrunk back in his seat. His eyes cast to the floor, “I know,” he murmured, “It’s why I didn’t bring her here. I was afraid I’d lose control and…” he shuddered and closed his eyes.
“You’re a strong Hound, Bishop. Ye wouldna have gotten this far otherwise. I’m glad ye had the forethought to walk away from her tonight.”
“Wait, how did you know about Tilly?”
Tilly, Valor thought. What a sweet name for a vixen. “I went back there, do ye remember me saying that?”
“Only bits and pieces,” Bishop tapped his thumb against his knee, “I can’t remember past sitting at my drums and thinking of Tilly.”
Valor scratched his jaw, “We got a call from Chloe with a lead, do ye remember that?”
“Yeah,” Bishop said slowly.
“I went back there. Chloe was so sure we’d find the twins there somehow, but I didna find a thing. I did, however, find Tilly.”
Possessive aggression rolled off Bishop like a natural reaction. “Did you speak to her?”
“No,” Valor smiled, “but I followed her.”
“Why?”
“There’s something about her that just…” he didn’t want to go into it tonight, “her aura intrigued me.”
Bishop raised an eyebrow and glared.
“I want ye to see her again.”
“Why?”
“Do ye need an actual reason, Hound? As your alpha, if I say bark, ye bark. I’m asking ye to go to her. See if she is… other.”
“She’s not. I’d know it if she was.”
“Hound, this evening ye couldna tell the difference between a rug and pussy. Ye dry humped everything that ye came across, and tried to mount our maker. I think it’s accurate to say your judgement was impaired tonight.”
Bishop scrubbed his face and slumped into his chair, “Fuuuuuck.”
“Fuck is right. That was to be your only job this evening, was it not? Ye failed to follow my direct orders,” Valor stood up and leaned across the tabl
e. Bishop sat straighter, preparing to accept his punishment for the infraction, but Valor said, “For once I’m fucking glad ye didna follow through and obey. I canna imagine how terrifying ye would have been to that woman had ye turned animal on her with your lust as potent as it was.”
They didn’t need to speak further on the matter. Bishop’s imagination was a wild one. Valor’s examples of what could have possibly happened tonight were nothing compared to what Bishop’s mind would concoct. Valor snatched a pad of paper and scribbled down an address. “Here.” He ripped the paper free and shoved it across the table. “Make sure ye run into her again.”
Bishop held the piece of paper in his fist. He had no pockets to stash it in because he was still naked from the black flames. “Why is this important to you right now?”
“Us,” Valor corrected. “This is important to us, Hound.”
“But why?”
“I doona ken yet.” Valor walked around the desk and stared out the window that had been replaced not that long ago. “I just know in my gut she’s important to our pack.” He continued to stare into the night while Bishop got up and left the room. “Tilly,” Valor said aloud. “What the hell are ye, lass?”
And why, of all things, was Valor so damned drawn to her?
Chapter 6
After Bishop went to his room to clean up and rest, Valor went back to Hell. As he walked towards the main room, he thought about how this place had withstood the worst of times and showed no battle scars.
The walls were pristine, the floors shined. The sconces lining the walls burned bright and fierce. Fresh from above, food and drink were everywhere. New paintings replaced the ones damaged beyond repair during one of the most heinous battles the world may never know about.
Not long ago, there was a traitor in Hell. A Gate Keeper named Charlotte managed to get Hell to eat itself from the inside out. The walls of the prison cracked to the point where it started crumbling, malanum escaped at an alarming rate, possessions were everywhere, Hound packs disbanded, and child sacrifices were made. And at the peak of the fight, Lucifer, their maker and brother at arms, lost his shit – and his control – and damn near burned Hell to the ground to stop the evil from taking over. It was a bold move and a costly one for the Devil.
Valor felt a sting of shame for not checking on Lucifer more often lately. Val was too wrapped up in trying to find the rest of his pack to ask about how Lucifer was doing. Did that make him selfish or a responsible alpha?
Both probably.
Damn, but he could never shake the guilt he had for being part of making the mess worse.
Valor’s hands ball into fists. He was the alpha of his pack and he let the enemy in right through their front door that terrible night. Scrubbing his face, Val tried to shove down the guilt he still bore for doing that. Sara, or… who he thought was Sara but turned out to be a doppelganger, came to his house with news from Lucifer and had singlehandedly primed and poisoned Bishop, then stuffed him full of malanum before taking off out of a window.
Valor hadn’t been there for any of it. He’d left to go hunting and had unknowingly left his pack with their enemy that night.
Ye never change, he thought to himself.
Valor was in love with war. Fighting burned like passion in his veins. And being a Hell Hound meant he hunted every day and night. Fought a silent war against mankind’s greatest enemy: Malanum.
He long thought he was made to be a warlord. That the Gods created him for battle. In his first life, as the Chieftain of his clan in Scotland, Valor reigned with a steely fist and a kind heart. His clan was strong, united, and undefeatable… until his brother came along and destroyed it all.
Now, he was a Hell Hound, and for the love of the Gods, it felt like history was starting to repeat itself. His clan was smaller now. It was a pack.
He hadn’t been able to save his clan from the attack that burned his lands to ashes and he wasn’t able to save the twins from whatever happened to them, either.
For all the weapons and skills he possessed, Valor was at a loss on how to fight something like this.
Arriving in Hell, he knocked before entering the great room. Once he heard Lucifer say, “Enter,” Valor opened the door and shut it behind him. The Devil sat in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose while Sara, Kalen and Tanner stood in front of him.
Valor took a cautious step closer, “Do ye want me to come back, sire?”
“No. Come closer.”
Sara spun around to give Valor a smile and his heart stopped. Gods, the lass was so beautiful. Valor’s heart swelled with joy for her and her pack. She was pregnant. A miracle and a blessing that was never thought possible for any Hound.
He immediately went over to her first, unable to keep his smile contained. She was radiant, as all new mothers are. Her baby bump was still incredibly small, but already she held her hand over her belly, lovingly and protectively. Sara was going to be an amazing mother. And her Hounds were going to be the best fathers in the universe.
“Sara,” Valor cupped her cheek, “how are ye, lass?”
“Tired. Hungry. Restless.”
He chuckled. Leave it to her to answer with honesty. “Ye canna hunt in your condition, ye ken this.”
She rolled her eyes, much like she would when they were younger and married. Yup, Sara was once his wife.
“We brought her here hoping Luce could balance her a little, until she can hunt again after the baby comes.” Kalen, a.k.a. The Wolf, looked like a man who was caught in the midst of angel light. Every bit of him beamed with joy.
“The black flames are getting a work out lately,” Lucifer grumbled from his seat. “But I’m worried about putting her in it. I have no idea if it’s going to hurt the baby or not.”
Tanner and Kalen both growled protectively. Sara, however, put both hands over her belly. “Easy boys,” she commanded. “We’ve got to try.”
That made her Hounds growl even louder. “You can’t risk it, Beautiful.” Tanner crossed his arms over his chest and glowered.
“I know, but I can’t not hunt, either. I don’t know what to do. If I go feral-crazy, I could do more damage and won’t be able to control myself. It’s not like any of you are going to let me fight one of you like I did that day in the alley with Tanner at the grocery store. And I can’t very well be locked in a cage, either. At least if we try the fire, then maybe I can gauge when it’s too much and pull out. I’ll have control.”
Control was something Sara always needed in her life. Valor, though he knew it wasn’t his place, chimed in with, “I think she should try. It’s for the good of Sara, which means it’s ultimately good for the baby.”
Kalen barked in disagreement. Valor wasn’t about to argue with The Wolf. They’d been best friends for hundreds of years, and he knew the man well enough to never go head-to-head with a fighter like him. In this, they were cut from the same cloth.
“You’ll do as I say, when I say it,” Lucifer ended the argument. “We’re going to try the fires, but not at full flames. And I’m going in with her to monitor the baby as best I can.”
Her pack wasn’t the only ones protective of this unborn baby.
“Once Sara and I are out of the flames,” Lucifer continued, “I want to hear the progress reports regarding finding the twins.” Sara’s pack had been hunting for the twins, too, it wasn’t just Valor and Bishop looking for them.
When Lucifer stood and escorted Sara out of the room, Valor noticed the Devil moved slower than normal. Not sluggish, but stiff. Valor knew why, too. Lucifer did what he had to for the greater good of humankind and ended up knocking the balance between good and evil off kilter. Lucifer was suffering for it.
Fuck, they had so many goddamn issues right now.
After Lucifer shut the door, Kalen stiffened. Tanner grabbed his shoulder and squeezed, “Trust,” he whispered, “You know he won’t jeopardize our girl or our baby, Wolf. She’s in the best of hands right now.”
“I know,�
� Kalen sighed, “but I fucking hate that we can’t help her with this. It doesn’t seem fair that she’s always the one who suffers.”
Tanner lightly chuckled, “You sound like Eli.” He turned towards Valor, “Speaking of which, Eli said that he hasn’t had any luck in the territories you asked him to sniff out. And Jack’s been working with two Mediums based out of New Orleans, but they’re not having any luck either.”
“It’s like déjà vu,” Kalen frowned. “We’re running in circles with no leads worthy of a hunt and no answers in sight. The twins have vanished like Sara had when she’d gone missing.”
Valor frowned and nodded. “I ken it, but I’m not giving up. I’ll find my pack members even if all I come home with is a piece of bone.” He made the same vow when he helped Kalen look for Sara for over five years. Then, one day, she popped back into their lives and that pack was back on cloud nine.
If only it would be that simple this time too.
But Valor knew damn well miracles didn’t happen twice. Death was the only thing that would separate the twins from their pack and Valor wasn’t ready to accept that they might be dead somewhere. Fuck that. Besides, Lucifer would know if they died, right? Val rubbed the back of his neck, “I had a lead last night that turned out to be strangely unexpected.”
“What was it?”
“Chloe told me to go to The Blue Lizard.”
Tanner’s brow dipped down, “The concert place in Baltimore?”
“Mmm hmm, but I didna find a trace of the twins there. She seemed so sure of it though.”
“If it was another false lead, what made it strangely unexpected then?”
“There was a woman there,” Valor felt the corners of his mouth pull up and he hated that he felt a wee bit of happiness tickling his nerves just thinking about the beauty, Tilly. “She had an aura unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
“And?” Kalen shrugged, unimpressed.
“I think she is other. I think she is something…” he didn’t even know how else to explain it. It didn’t even make sense that he would bring her up at a time like this. “Och, I’m a fool. I canna even understand what has me so intrigued. She and Bishop met earlier that night, and then I went back and I saw her too.”
Hard to Find (Hell Hounds Harem Book 4) Page 4