Keras: Guardians of Hades Series Book 7

by Heaton, Felicity

  She peeled the breastplate from her and cast it aside, her hands flying to the buttons of his shirt as he drank his fill of her. He focused on his hands, steadying them as he inched them closer to her hips.

  Shuddered as he made contact with the strip of warm, soft skin between the bottom of her cream bandeau and the belt of her skirt.

  Her fingers stilled halfway down his chest, pausing at their work on one of the buttons of his shirt. Her frantic breaths bathed the exposed V of his skin as he smoothed his hands over her stomach, edging them upwards. She tensed, her breath hitching as he skimmed his thumbs along the undersides of her breasts. His heart hammered, a crazy beat against his chest that had him breathless. Anticipation curled through him, cranking him tighter, sending all his blood rushing south.

  He struggled for air as he moulded his hands over her breasts, as he stroked the top of the bandeau and edged it downwards. He stared at her breasts, slowly exposing the creamy swell of them, that anticipation coiling tighter as he edged the material lower to reveal dusky pink nipples that beaded on contact with the cool air.

  His mouth watered, the urge that flooded him too strong to deny.

  On a low groan, he swooped on her left breast, relishing her soft cry as he tugged her nipple between his lips and sucked.

  Her hands flew to his hair, fingers tunnelling into it, gentle one moment and fierce the next. She gripped him tightly, clutched him to her as she arched towards him, as his name fell from her lips on a whispered plea.

  Keras closed his eyes and sucked, gripped her waist and tugged her to him, bending her over backwards as he gathered her against him. She groaned and clawed at his shoulders, his back, ripped the shirt right off it and sent a thousand volts of hot pleasure rolling through him as her hands met his bare skin.

  She palmed his shoulders and then his nape, gripping it hard as she held him to her, as she arched to meet his mouth.

  He moaned and lowered his hands, growled when he met the hard plates of her skirt. He had forgotten she wasn’t naked. He needed her naked.

  Keras couldn’t drag himself away from her breast though, ended up running his hands around her waist, seeking the straps that held her skirt in place. When he couldn’t find them, he snarled a curse and pulled back.

  His eyes darted over the belt of her skirt, seeking the way to her. Enyo found the buckles for him, just beyond her right hip, and he knocked her hands aside, eager to be the one to undress her.

  Impatient.

  Just as impatient as his goddess apparently.

  She tore at his trousers, making swift work of his belt and his button, only slowing when she lowered the zipper.

  Keras stilled, letting her skirt fall from his hands as he looked down at himself, as he watched her easing his black slacks down, as he thought about where this was heading. His cock strained against his trunks, a rigid outline that was pronounced in the low light.

  Enyo reached for it.

  His breath lodged in his throat.

  His head felt a little light.

  He tensed when her fingers made contact, trembled as she tentatively stroked him, setting him aflame, igniting needs that stole control of him. He dropped his hand and pressed it to hers, holding it against his hard shaft as he ached with a need for more, to feel her skin against him, to be inside her.

  Her hand shook as he shoved his trunks down with his other hand, exposing himself, and brought her palm back against his erection the moment it was free. A quiet moan escaped her, sent heat and pleasure rippling through him together with how she wrapped her fingers around him. He swallowed and couldn’t stop himself from leaning forwards as she stroked him, as she rubbed her thumb over the blunt crown, her gaze scalding him.

  It wasn’t enough.

  He needed more.

  He seized hold of her, pulled her to him and captured her nipple again, breathing hard against it as he lowered his hands and clutched her backside through her flimsy underwear, as he lifted her into his arms.

  He twisted with her, carried her to the bedding in the centre of the room as he worshipped her breasts, as her fingers maddened him, stroking his shaft. He laid her down on the black bedclothes and covered her, seated himself between her thighs as they fell open, groaned against her as she opened for him.

  She writhed beneath him, her hips rocking up to meet his, keeping his fervour at boiling point, pushing him right to the edge. He gripped her underwear as he kissed his way across to her other breast, and tore it from her as he trailed his lips up to capture hers.

  He swallowed her gasp as the material covering her ripped, as he cast it aside and lowered himself, pressing his rigid length to her slick heat.

  Gods.

  Keras kissed her hard, need riding him, pushing him over the edge and stealing control from him. He wedged her legs apart, shoving her left knee to open her to him, and gripped his cock, groaned as he rubbed the head through her folds and guided it inside her. She stilled, her breath sawing from her lips, fingers pressing hard into his shoulders and his backside as she kissed him, as she pulled him down to her, forcing him into her.

  On a low growl born of the desperation flooding him, he drove his hips forwards, seating himself to the hilt.

  Swallowed her sweet cry as he filled her.

  The clamour in his mind dissipated as her heat surrounded him, as it hit him that they were joined at last, that a moment he had dreamed about a million times was finally a reality.

  He drifted in the eye of the storm, calm at last as he drew back from her, as he gazed down at her and she looked up at him, the desperation and wildness that had been in her eyes gone now.

  Did she feel this too?

  This sense of rightness—of peace?

  He stroked the backs of his fingers down her cheek as he lay inside her, feeling connected to her.

  She tilted her head towards his hand and kissed his fingers, looked back into his eyes and floored him. Love shone in them. Love as deep and endless as the feeling that flowed through him.

  Keras lowered his head and softly captured her lips, kissed her gently, with all the reverence she deserved as he began to move inside her, slowly withdrawing almost all the way before filling her again in unhurried strokes. She wrapped her arms around him, tangling him in them, and he did the same to her, holding her to him as he kissed her.

  Made love with her.

  Nothing had ever felt so right.

  Sensation built inside him as he rocked into her, as she moaned softly against his lips each time he filled her, whispered his name and had him floating in her arms, lost in her but found at the same time.

  When she strained against him, her breaths coming faster, he held her closer and drove deeper into her, quickening the pace of his thrusts as he sensed her rising need, as he edged closer to his own release. He held it back, focused on her as he dropped his right hand to her hip and gripped it, holding her in place.

  Her legs fell open, her hand shifting to the back of his neck, clutching him to her as her kiss grew more frantic again.

  He palmed her breast with his other hand, rolled her nipple between his fingers and groaned as she moaned, as she arched into his touch and softly begged for more.

  The need building inside him demanded the same thing, had his pulse pounding faster and cock growing harder as she clenched him. He grunted as she gripped him, as pleasure shot down his length and crashed through him, shoved him to the edge of losing control again.

  Enyo surrendered to it first.

  Had him on his back before he was aware of what had happened.

  She rose off him, pressed her hands to his chest and rode him, her face a picture of bliss as she threw her head back. He groaned and gripped her hips, moved her faster as he stared up at her, as he watched the pleasure crossing her delicate features, as he grew aware that he was the cause of it. His cock kicked inside her, eliciting another sweet moan from her, one that roused a dark need to possess her.

  A need he gave in to.
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br />   On a low growl, he twisted with her, pressed her back into the mats beside his bedding and hooked his arm under her right knee. He captured her nipple with his lips, sucked it hard as he drove into her, as centuries of need and wicked dreams of her consumed him, shattering his control.

  He pushed her knee up and braced his further apart, clutched her shoulder with his free hand as he pounded into her, long hard strokes that had breathless cries leaving her lips, had her fingers tightening in his hair and holding him to her. She hooked her other leg around his hips and raised hers, and he grunted as he slid deeper still, as she took all of him into her tight heat.

  Keras snarled and gripped her hip, lifted it so he could remain as deep as he was now, lost in how good it felt, in satisfying the tight, hot feeling that built inside him.

  She moaned and clawed his scalp. “More.”

  That whispered plea pushed him beyond reason. He thrust into her, driven to satisfy her now, to give her the release she needed, was asking of him.

  Keras arched over her, claimed her mouth and kissed her hard as he filled her, as he mastered her body, a slave to her demand.

  She cried into his mouth as her entire body tensed, as she broke apart and shook in his arms, every inch of her frozen against him.

  He pumped harder, faster, hungry to find his own release rising as she milked him, as her core quivered and pulsed around him, demanding he surrender his seed to it.

  His release hit him as she tightened around him, struck him hard and fast, had his breath leaving him on a grunt as he sank his throbbing length into her and seed boiled up his cock. He pressed it deep into her, held her on it as it spilled from him, the possessive side of him demanding he mark her with it.

  Ensured that she was his.

  He wasn’t sure how long he held her like that, lost awareness of the world as bliss washed over him, as the dark need to possess her finally released him.

  He sank against her, still breathing hard, entire body quaking from the force of his release. He sagged into her, boneless and weak. She wrapped her arms around him and held him, her soft breaths skating across his ear, her heat still encasing him.

  Her lips brushed his cheek and he shifted to meet them with his, kissed her long and slow, savouring the warmth that built inside him. Her lips danced across his, gentle and soft, and he rolled onto his side and brought her with him, kept kissing her as he held her close.

  Her legs tangled with his.

  And gods it felt right to hold her like this, to feel her bare curves against him, her lips on his.

  He drifted with her in that kiss, losing track of time.

  Nothing could spoil this moment.

  He stiffened as his gut swirled and awareness arced down his spine, his senses blaring a warning.

  Shot to his feet and stretched those senses outwards, his heart hammering as his power rose and shadows in the corners of the room shifted restlessly in response.

  Enyo was quick to join him, adopting a warrior’s stance as she looked around the room. “What’s wrong?”

  The ground beneath their feet bucked and she staggered towards him.

  He caught her.

  Growled.

  “Daemons.”

  Chapter 21

  Keras drew on the shadows around the garden as he tugged his clothes on and Enyo dressed, seeking the source of the disturbance as his senses came back online, the calm he had felt in her arms dissipating.

  Enyo finished dressing and looked at him. “I have a problem.”

  He glanced at her. She looked down at her feet and colour climbed her cheeks. Her boots?

  It hit him.

  Her underwear.

  She fidgeted with the slats of her skirt and he didn’t miss how she exposed far too much creamy skin as she did that, or how awkward she was about the fact she was bare beneath her armour.

  Keras dispatched his shadows, sending them on the hunt, and strode to his dresser. He pulled out a pair of black trunks and felt a little awkward himself as he turned to her and offered them.

  “It’s all I have unless I ask one of the women…” He trailed off as he thought about Enyo fighting in the sort of underwear his brothers’ females probably wore.

  “These are perfect.” She snatched the trunks from him and pulled them on.

  He tried not to stare at her hips as he thought about the fact she was wearing his underwear.

  He wasn’t sure which was more distracting. The thought of her in sexy lingerie, or the thought of her wearing something intimate of his.

  It became insignificant as his shadows came into contact with the daemons.

  And he counted close to one hundred of them.

  His focus shifted entirely to the matter at hand when one of the wards went down.

  “Damn it.” He grabbed Enyo’s hand and pulled her with him, racing along the covered walkway towards the main room of the house.

  His brothers were all gathered there.

  “A ward went down,” Ares said and he nodded, confirming he had felt it too.

  “You think the furie got her hands on our blood at the gate in Tokyo, or when you guys went to Hong Kong?” Calistos looked from him to Daimon, and then Ares, Marek and Valen.

  Keras nodded again. “I had hoped she hadn’t but—”

  He cut himself off as he felt another ward go down.

  “Shit,” Valen muttered and scrubbed at his violet hair as he pulled Eva closer, a worried edge to his golden eyes as he glanced at her. “We switched them out—we should be safe.”

  Marek shook his head. “Meadow has blood from the wraith and his blade. It’s possible she found a way to use that blade and our blood to see our memories.”

  “A spell,” Cass murmured and then her voice gained strength as she stepped forwards, her long black dress flowing around her ankles. “She must have more than one witch. It would explain why she didn’t care about losing the one in Hong Kong.”

  “Well, fuck,” Cal grumbled and reached for Marinda’s hand. The furie’s eyes shone bright purple as she stared out into the garden. Cal squeezed her hand and her gaze snapped to him. “We’re all good, baby.”

  She nodded.

  Daimon muttered a ripe curse.

  A third ward had just gone down.

  The ground shook again, trembled so violently that one of the wooden posts cracked and dust rained down from the roof.

  Keras stilled as he sensed it.

  The furie.

  And her three bodyguards.

  He strode to the front door and opened it. Stared at the white wall that surrounded the mansion and waited.

  This time, it was the huge wooden gates that shook.

  The enemy had penetrated the wards.

  “Cass,” Daimon hollered. “A little help?”

  She brushed past Keras and held her hands up. Light glowed from her palms as she muttered words, growing brighter and brighter until it was blinding. It shot from her hands and detonated around eighty feet above her, cascaded downwards to form a dome.

  A dome that fizzled out just beyond the gatehouse.

  “That is not good.” Cass looked at him, her pale blue eyes showing concern. “They must have another witch.”

  As she said that, the hole in the shimmering blue dome grew larger, as if the spell had been put in reverse.

  She frowned at it. “That is really not good.”

  She built another spell and released it, this one a smaller dome that only encompassed the house and some of the grounds.

  “It will not hold for long if they do have witches.” She didn’t sound confident that it would hold at all. She grimaced and held her hands out in front of her. “I will try to maintain it.”

  Milos came and wound around her legs, and she glanced down at the cat and nodded.

  The deity remained at her side together with Daimon as Ares, Marek and Valen stormed into the garden, approaching the edge of the barrier.

  “Cal,” Keras said, stopping his youngest broth
er in his tracks. When Cal looked at him, he added, “I need you to remain inside with Aiko, Eva and Marinda. Someone has to protect them and Esher.”

  Cal frowned at him.

  “I will do it.” Enyo stepped up to him and Keras wanted to argue but settled for nodding when steely resolve shone in her jade eyes.

  Enyo was strong. Capable. If anyone could protect Esher and the others, it was her.

  He nodded, pulled her to him and kissed her, and strode forwards, past Cass and Daimon to join the rest of his brothers.

  Caterina fell into line beside Marek, a silver blade gripped tightly in her right hand, her caramel hair twisted into a knot at the back of her head. A black T-shirt and dark blue jeans moulded to her lean frame, making her blend with his brother as Marek closed ranks with her and flicked her a worried glance.

  Keras would ensure nothing happened to the hybrid, but he wasn’t about to turn down her assistance.

  “Do you think the furie wants her witch back or does she want the bodies of the fallen?” Cass already sounded tired.

  Valen hollered, “Either way, shit doesn’t look good.”

  Just as he said that, the heavy wooden gates burst open, flying off their hinges, one of them shattering under the force of the blow the daemon had directed at it.

  The horned brute lumbered forwards, his black wings twitching as he narrowed crimson eyes on Keras.

  Grinned to flash long white daggers.

  Pandemonium broke out, lightning arcing from the sky as spears of baked earth shot up from the ground. The trio of daemons dodged every white-purple bolt, leaped backwards to avoid Marek’s attack too.

  Giving his brother what he wanted.

  A thick wall formed before them.

  An axe shattered it, sending shards of clay flying everywhere. They rained down on the barrier, bouncing off it. Followed by the daemon. He struck it so hard that the air trembled. Cass grunted.

  Daimon cursed. “Do something about them.”

  Keras gathered his shadows and launched them at the males, growling when they proved again that they were faster than their size made them appear. They lifted off as one, rising into the air, and nimbly strafing to one side as his shadows snapped and lashed at them.