The Burn of the Underworld

by Meg Xuemei X

  I felt color creep into my cheeks. I hoped she hadn’t peeked too closely and too keenly.

  Ash leaned down toward my neck, the unmarked side, and traced his sensual mouth down from my earlobe.

  A moan escaped my lips.

  How could a mere neck have so many pleasure points? Ash’s lips, tongue, and teeth hit every single one. The fae prince was a very experienced lover.

  “Moan all you want, Blossom,” he said, his voice rich and sexy. “Later, I’ll make you scream my name when I bury my cock deep inside your tight pussy and fuck you like the whole world depends on it.”

  That wicked promise set my blood on fire.

  I was in the grip of another mating frenzy.

  The next moment, Ash stood completely naked before me. The fae prince not only had elemental ice and wind magic, he could also undress himself with a flick of his fingers.

  He was light-skinned, in stark contrast to Max’s bronze skin tone. Max had bulkier muscles, where Ash was a perfect statue carved out of white, hard ice.

  My gaze dipped from his broad shoulders, cut chest, and six-pack stomach to his narrow hips.

  He pulled me closer, his rock-hard erection surging up against my bottom, sending a shiver over me.

  His hand cupped my full breast. I sucked in a breath and wiggled my ass, rubbing my bare pussy against his pubic hair, moistening it.

  “Your pussy is so wet for me,” he said huskily. “Was your pussy also this hot for the vampire?”

  “Yes,” I breathed out.

  Max had finished putting on his clothes. He stalked toward me, cupping my face and turning my cheek to him. I gazed at him with burning lust, too.

  “I want to fuck you again and again more than anything, doll,” he said, his eyes darkening with wicked lust, “but I need to guard you.”

  He kissed my lips hard, searing them, before he pulled away.

  “When we’re in a safer place, both of us will fuck you at the same time, Blossom,” Ash said with a sexy, sinful smile that made my poor heart stutter.

  “I can handle both of you.” I offered the same enticing challenge.

  “Four of us will fuck you, doll,” Max said with a chuckle, lust rolling off him like power. “Wait for the day.”

  A river of fire twirled inside my heated channel.

  Max headed toward the wooden door, opened it, and closed it quietly behind him.

  Ash’s thumb rubbed my swollen clit, drawing me back to him.

  I arched my back at the sensation and pushed my heavy breasts toward his chest, rubbing against him.

  He spread my legs wider, his cock springing up and nudging against my entrance, its heat searing my skin.

  His manhood was long, massive, and slightly crooked. It was steel wrapped in silk, and it was mine.

  I swayed my hips to let the crown of his cock rub my pussy.

  “I need your cock to be inside me now, Ash,” I said, and it was both plea and demand. “I can wait no longer. I want every inch of it.”

  “You’ll have every inch of my dick, mate,” he said roughly. “Everything I have is yours.”

  His mouth came down hard on me to devour, to possess, and to claim me. It knew no gentleness, even though I could see he wanted to show that side first.

  Fire burned in us both, and fierce hunger claimed us.

  In one swift move, his cock glided into my passage with ease, despite his impressive size, and buried deep in my aching center.

  I gasped at the intense pleasure, loving the delicious feeling of being filled and stretched.

  He stilled to savor the moment of our first joining. Then he moved slowly in me, relishing the wonderful feel of flesh wrapped inside flesh.

  “I have to go fast,” he said. “I have to fuck you hard. I can’t fight my primal male instincts.” He thrust so hard into me in the next few moments that pleasure blinded my vision.

  I snaked my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist, propelling myself forward to meet his every thrust.

  He maneuvered my hips at an angle to let me ride his massive shaft easily.

  Max, Elijah, and Ash all seemed to have excellent skills in the bedroom. I was less experienced, but I somehow had a natural sensuality to match their skill.

  He pumped into me faster and harder, my heavy breasts bouncing up and down at his forceful thrusts. His lust-filled gaze moved from my face to my breasts, then to our joined flesh, and back to my eyes again.

  The fae loved to see my reaction to his every stroke.

  A string of sultry moans escaped my throat as his thrusts blurred with blinding speed.

  This immortal male possessed such impressive strength and pure elemental energy. He was the Winter Prince, yet his ice burned hotter than fire.

  Ash called my name while fucking me brutally, his wild thrusts never slowing.

  I was about to come as he pushed me to the peak then brought me back only to push me up higher. An onslaught of pleasure buzzed on my skin.

  “Let me ride you,” I demanded.

  I wanted to be in control.

  Ash chuckled and slowed down his thrusts.

  I lifted my hips and started pushing forward, riding along his massive hard length. I felt every point of our joining and separating then joining again.

  As I rocked harder and faster on his marvelous cock, a low, animal sound vibrated from Ash’s chest.

  “My wolf wants to claim you right now,” Ash said in a half-snarl, “to mark you as ours for life.”

  I picked up speed, fucking him, riding his cock until my movements blurred.

  “Yes, babe. Fuck me just like that.” Ash groaned in pleasure.

  And then he pounced.

  The fae warrior was an alpha male to the bones. He had to dominate, even without the mating fever driving him. He thrust into me with brutal force and strength, sending maddening pleasure all over my body.

  We took turns fucking each other, raw and hard, and then we weren’t just fucking anymore. His fae magic poured into me, ice and wind. He was offering me his essence, and I accepted him unconditionally.

  The ache in me was sated.

  A song of fire coursed in my veins, pleasure blasting in my bloodstream. I recognized the song as my mating gift to the males. I’d mated with three of them. One of them was absent, which sent another wave of sorrow to my chest.

  Merlin was the last one I had yet to meet and mate with.

  What did he look like?

  Was he as daring as Max, as possessive as Ash, or as hot and cold as Elijah?

  When Ash’s next thrust rammed into the depths of my molten core, a river of lava erupted in me. My pussy milked his cock so hard and so possessively that he roared in climax, thrusting through my orgasm and pumping his hot seed into me.

  The Queen of the Flame lashed out, marking Ash by imprinting a silver-gold mystic icon on his chest, right above his heart.

  Ash rasped, and his ice-blue eyes glinted in awe and joy.

  Lust didn’t fade but brightened like star fire.

  Ash pulled out of me, placed me on all fours on the edge of the bed, and thrust hard into me from behind with a true Winter Prince’s brutal force.

  CHAPTER 18

  _____________

  The beasts’ howls never ceased. They kept ramming into the ward set by Ash and me. It’d been a stroke of luck that our magic had happened to mate and form the ward.

  The comfy cave provided a temporary shelter, but we decided not to linger, for fear the beasts’ bellows would bring the demon horde.

  We packed the supplies the Prophet’s people had provided for us and exited through the end of the cavern guarded by our vigilant tiger.

  The landscape changed again. The rocky terrain and dark forest disappeared, and an endless desert stretched ahead.

  Max had been pressing the magical compass on his wrist for a while, but the needles and arrows inside no longer moved.

  “Did the fucking druid hand us a defective compass?” he c
ursed. “I’m going to have a word with him when we get back.”

  “I think this is the null zone,” Octavia offered. “There are a lot of dead zones in the Underworld.”

  “Why didn’t Merlin think of that?” Ash grunted. “Some expert.”

  I gave our surroundings a quick sweep. “There’re two options—crossing the desert or going back to the forest.”

  I shuddered at the idea of facing the mutants again. Sebastian shook his head, but he didn’t shiver.

  “If we go south,” Octavia said, pointing in that direction, “we’ll reach Fiery. After we cross the land of fire, there will only be Tartarus, the land of torture, between us and the portal.”

  Ash and Max pondered for a second, traded a look, and reached a silent agreement.

  I glared at them. I understood they were used to communicating that way, but things had changed. I should be included in the picture and in every decision as their mate.

  Under my simmering glare, Ash and Max gave me sheepish looks.

  “We can cross the desert, doll,” Max said, smiling his charming smile to disarm me.

  “What do you think, Blossom?” Ash asked, as if he was ready to hang on my every word.

  So, we stepped onto the hot sand of the desert.

  We journeyed on for a day and a night. There was nothing in sight except for endless gray sand under the gloomy sky. Worse, the mating fever followed us all the way, nagging us to fuck each other all the time, but at least it didn’t drive us to the brink of insanity, unlike before, since we’d mated and formed the bond.

  Sebastian was perplexed by the power of the mating fever, Octavia was amused and curious, and I didn’t want to talk about it at all.

  We spent the next half-day wading through a sand storm.

  There was no shelter. Fortunately, the sand storm was a small one. But still, the flying sand got in our hair, eyes, nostrils, and clothes.

  It blurred our vision, and for hours we couldn’t see anything but the twirling sand.

  “Will this fucking sand storm ever end?” Ash cursed before he suddenly tensed.

  “Demon patrol,” Max warned at the same time.

  “I didn’t see them,” Sebastian said, his eyes darting wildly.

  “Take cover,” Ash hissed.

  There was no cover, but we dived behind a small sand dune formed by the storm.

  The sound of flapping wings was just audible above the twirling tunnel of sand in the air.

  A few seconds later, three demons, two of them with gray wings and one with white wings, flew in the other direction.

  We stayed quiet, then the storm suddenly receded.

  In the distance, a dark green castle with barbed-wire walls stretched into the gray sky.

  Octavia sucked in a breath.

  “What is it?” Ash demanded.

  “Desert Belle,” Octavia said, hatred and fear dripping from her voice. “It’s one of the most infamous brothels run by the emperor’s butcher—Commander Azazel. He’s caged hundreds of women inside. Liz, Lydia’s sister, is among them. Lydia tried to get her sister out for years.”

  Lydia, my other brave courtesan friend, had fallen under the demon’s blade. She’d sacrificed to get me to freedom. Hard tears stung my eyes.

  “We have to make a detour,” Max said. “We can’t be discovered. According to the intel I collected when I first arrived, each of the demon’s castles and compounds has over a hundred sentinels. Who knows how many guards they have in this big one.”

  We slowly rose from behind the sand dune, but then I stood my ground.

  Cold clarity came over me, just like what had happened to me when I first stepped into the arena. And red rage burned through me.

  “No,” I declared. “We’re not leaving. We’re taking the castle.”

  “But Max just said there’re probably over a hundred demon guards inside,” Sebastian protested. “We can’t take the castle with only the five of us. We’ll be slaughtered.”

  Max and Ash didn’t offer an opinion. They just shared a look.

  “I won’t leave the girls in this horror house,” I said. “Lydia died for me, and her sister is inside.”

  Sebastian swallowed. “I’m not going to lose you and Octavia raiding a demon compound. We need to stick to our original plan—return to Atlantis and bring our army to fight the demons.”

  “What you said is logical, Bas,” I said. “But sometimes we can’t only listen to cold reasons. Sometimes we have to follow our hearts. If I hadn’t stumbled upon this place, I’d have continued on to the Upper Realm. But now that it’s right here in front of me, I can’t go on without doing something for the helpless and abused women. So, no, I won’t stand by and let them rot.”

  I turned to Ash and Max. “I have to do this. I understand if you aren’t with me. If—”

  Ash sealed my lips with his thumb. As his digit brushed my lips, a tingling sensation traced on my skin, and longing twirled inside me like fresh flames.

  “There’s no if, Blossom,” Ash said. “We’ll take down the castle. It’s important to you.”

  “If this compound is in the belly of the Underworld, we won’t risk you,” Max said. “Even if we have to knock you out to keep you safe. But we’re close to the portal; we can afford a little delay. We need new supplies anyway.”

  I beamed at my mates. It was interesting that the Winter Prince, who was all hard ice, closely followed his emotions. Max, who should have been driven by his bloodlust more than anyone, was level-headed and pragmatic.

  Ash looked like he wanted to kiss me when I smiled at him like that, but this wasn’t the time and place, considering what that kiss would lead to. We’d been fighting hard to keep the mating fever at bay during the journey through the desert.

  Tears streamed down Octavia’s face, making dirty tracks through the sand on her cheeks. “The Queen of the Flame is the queen of compassion.”

  Ash shifted to a wolf to scout the castle. Killian wanted to follow the gray wolf, but I called him back. The tiger was excellent at pouncing on his prey, but he was not a good spy.

  When the fae prince returned, it was with first-hand intel.

  The castle’s only entrance was the spiked iron gate. Ten gray-winged guards were posted at the gate, four on the ground and six on the wall. Their air patrol team shifted duties every four hours.

  We formed a plan.

  The five of us moved toward the castle, Max at the front, his black wings spread wide. Killian trotted beside him.

  Ash, Octavia, and I were in the middle, our hands tied loosely behind us. Ash didn’t look like a fae prince. Our combined magic disguised him as a blond courtesan. Octavia didn’t need a disguise.

  I was still trying to get the hang of my magic, so I couldn’t cover an extra person with my glamour. Sebastian played the role of Max’s slave, helping to escort three new captives to Desert Belle.

  The guards let down the drawbridge as soon as they spotted Max’s black wings. In the entire Underworld, only Max and the emperor had obsidian wings. Max’s wings were shinier, larger, and more splendid. Evidently, he outranked Cain’s commanders. He’d be positioned above the demon emperor outside the Underworld.

  And no one knew that Max was also half-vampire.

  We crossed the drawbridge without incident and stepped through the iron gate.

  Max strode across the courtyard as if he owned it. No guards dared to question him or stop him, and we scurried behind him like frightened captives. The act was easy for Octavia and me, since we’d lived in fear our entire lives, but not for Ash. Instead of a meek courtesan, he looked like a proud peacock ready to try the sharpness of his beak on some demon.

  I sighed. No one was perfect.

  Our plan had worked so far. The demons were only looking for a silver-haired slave woman. Their emperor hadn’t realized that Max and Ash were my protectors and conspirators, so we had no need to fall into plan B: fighting our way in.

  Just as I was marveling that things
had gone surprisingly smoothly, thanks to Max’s intimidating looks and manners, two red-winged sentinels rushed toward us from the entrance of a building.

  “What’s your business here, Archangel, if I may ask?” one of the sentinels asked. He had three stripes on his armor, which indicated he was a demon lieutenant.

  Max lashed out, backhanding him and sending him flying backward. The demon lieutenant collided with a column, and his wing hung limply behind him. That was how a Sváva showed his submissiveness to a higher-ranking officer.

  “How dare you question your superior?” Max snarled, his black wings turning steel-hard in menace.

  The demon lieutenant’s peer, who had red horns to match the color of his wings, swallowed his questions but stared hard at Ash, Octavia, and me, sizing us up. We were the easy ones to pick on. Some demons in the courtyard leered at us with lust, regarding us as new flesh and waiting for a chance to get their claws on us.

  Ash nearly snarled.

  “Lead the way to the dungeon where you put the other whores, soldier,” ordered Max, his frightening power permeating the air. “These three are prepared for Commander Azazel.”

  The red-horned demon flinched at Max’s power and snapped to attention.

  “Yes, sir,” he said, turning away and leading us into the building.

  He dared not even ask Max’s name and rank.

  We entered the building. The air reeked of sex, fear, and desperation. I swallowed hard. It could have been me being locked in this castle if my father hadn’t come up with a plan to disguise me as a boy.

  Some women’s groans of pain reached my sensitive ears.

  My shoulders stiffened; nausea knotted my stomach.

  Not yet, Blossom, Ash said in my head. We need to get all the women out first.

  I nodded and told myself to stay put.

  Another red-winged guard flew toward us before we could follow the red-horned demon down the stairs toward the dungeon.

  “Sir, uh, I’m sorry,” the guard said to Max and bowed. “It’s not my idea. I’m a messenger, but Captain Travis said he wanted to see the new whores before you take them to their cages.”

  The red-horned demon’s eyes twitched, as he expected Max to lose his temper and strike down the dutiful messenger.