Zenon jerked his ax to free it from the demon’s convulsing body, then swung once more to remove its head. Blood splattered his face and covered the pavement. All around the underground parking lot, bodies littered the ground. It was like every demon in the city had crawled out of their holes and decided to alert the world of their presence.
They still didn’t know who was behind the influx. Helena had denied it, and even with her increasing power, this just wasn’t in her skill set. No, someone else had to be responsible for this. But so far they were coming up blank. Blinded by a powerful block that made it impossible for them to track the puppet master of this shit show.
He wiped the blade of his axe on the demon’s shirt. For the last few days he’d felt Helena trying to reach out to him, calling him to her.
He should have been close to death by now, but thanks to Mia he hadn’t suffered an attack in several weeks. The bitch was growing impatient. He wasn’t stupid enough to think she’d just let him walk, and that could only mean bad things for all of them if he didn’t do something.
“Fuck.” Lazarus’s low curse sent a thread of unease down his spine. Spinning, he saw what the other knight was focused on. More demons swarmed down the exit ramp toward them. And like the warehouse and cemetery, he hadn’t felt them coming.
The odds were now utter shit. And none of them were getting out of this without the need of a Band-Aid or ten.
Chaos swung his sword in a deep arc, the blade making a whistling noise that cut through the sounds of war. The demons leading the attack slowed, fear palpable in their glazed, unfocused eyes. Despite their obvious reluctance, they lifted their weapons and came at them. Zenon used his axes to cut through the demons in front of him, making a beeline to Rocco.
They stood back to back and faced the hordes surrounding them. Gunner and Chaos took a similar stance, as did Laz and Kryos.
“Okay, boys,” Rocco called out, his voice echoing off the concrete walls and low ceiling. “I’ve got somewhere I gotta be in an hour, so can we wrap this up real quick?” He was breathing hard, his heart hammering against Zenon’s back, matching his own adrenaline-fueled pulse. He knew as well as the rest of them they were in serious trouble.
“We’ll do our best,” Chaos called from his position a few yards away.
Lazarus waved a hand at the Walking Dead cast circling him and Kryos, sending them scattering. After mating, and the increased power that came from it, he and Kryos had a few extra tricks up their sleeves. But like anything, as they tired and their energy levels dropped, their powers weakened as well.
“Yeah, and if you could try not to fuck up my jacket. Eve’s gonna be all kinds of pissed if I destroy another one. She only bought me this one last week.”
Demons came at them from all sides. He’d no sooner cut one down before another had taken its place. He didn’t know how long it went on, but the more hits he took the more he tired. As did his brothers.
Zenon watched in horror as Chaos went down. Gunner was unable to help him, busy fighting off two demons of his own. No one else was close enough. A demon closed in, lifting its knife to finish Chaos off. An agonized roar tore from Zenon’s throat as the blade flashed on a downward arc…
A bolt slammed into the demon’s chest, throwing it back. Gunner was on it, removing its head with a battle cry that lifted the hair on the back of Zenon’s neck. It ashed out moments later.
A figure dressed in black, like a fucking ninja, stood on the far side of the building, crossbow raised in the air. More of them moved in from behind and proceeded to pick demons off one by one.
Chaos stumbled to his feet and the knights closed in around him, waiting until he was solid. As soon as he was, he waded back in.
With their faces concealed, Zenon had no idea who fought by their sides, and at that point he didn’t care. If they could help him and his brothers, and make sure he returned to Mia in one piece that was all he cared about.
In no time the place was cleared, and only the knights and the posse dressed in black remained. They stood on opposite sides of the blood-soaked concrete that would soon be nothing but ash, and stared at each other. Chaos stepped forward, clutching a deep cut to his side. His fist clenched and unclenched as they stood silently waiting for what would happen next. One of theirs stepped forward as well, build petite and obviously female.
“Who are you?” Chaos asked.
She shook her head.
“You know of our world.” It wasn’t a question.
She shrugged.
Chaos tilted his head to the side and his dark eyes narrowed, studying the female in front of him before he said roughly, “Demi.” Zenon sensed it then. They were all demi-demons, every last one of them. Her frame tensed and she took a step back. “Not another step.” Chaos’s voice was low and full of warning.
“Or what?” the female called back, humor lacing her words.
“I’m not in the mood to play games, female.”
“I saved your life, knight. I would’ve thought you’d be a little more grateful.”
Zenon heard him grind his teeth. “You could have gotten yourselves killed. Take off the masks.”
She snorted. “The only one I saw close to meeting his maker was you, Chaos.”
Chaos’s big shoulders stiffened.
Lifting a hand in the air, she did some kind of signal with her fingers and the little army at her back started to move, drifting into the shadows. “I’ll see you around, knight.”
Then they were gone.
They all stood there stunned for several seconds. Rocco staggered to the front, his body battered and leaking from several injuries. He scrunched his face and rubbed a hand over his short mohawk. “Well, fuck me.”
Chaos hadn’t taken his gaze off the spot the now absent female had been. “Let’s get out of here.”
As they headed for the exit, dread raced up behind him, wrapped around him, and pulled him to a stop.
He watched his brothers take to the skies but didn’t follow. Sucking in a breath, he turned to face the male now standing behind him.
Dressed in a dark suit, tall and well built, he stood with hands loose at his sides, glossy black hair combed back, making his wide black eyes seem huge. He took Zenon in, a slow perusal from head to toe. There was curiosity in their depths, nothing else.
“It’s been a while, Zenon.”
“What do you want?”
“I think it’s time we had a talk, you and I.” That low raspy voice skittered across his skin, making the hair on his arms lift.
“We have nothing to discuss.”
He stepped forward and a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.”
Mia woke to inky darkness, and though she couldn’t see or hear a thing, she felt his presence. Sitting up, she reached for the lamp. “Zenon?”
Rough hands appeared out of nowhere, stopping her. He made no sound as he climbed into bed, pulling her beneath him. His mouth came down on hers and she whimpered, opening for him without thought of resistance. She would never deny him, couldn’t, didn’t want to. Her need matched his, always. His tongue delved into her mouth, rubbing against hers, sucking, nipping, kissing her so deeply she felt dizzy with her hunger for him.
“Please, Mia. Please, princess,” he groaned as he slid rough, needy hands down over her waist and yanked up the T-shirt she wore. Her naked breasts grazed his chest, causing them to tighten and swell. He was naked, and his skin and hair were still damp from the shower.
“Lift your arms,” he rasped then pulled the soft fabric over her head. His warm breath gusted across her bare skin, rushing from between his lips and fanning the tips of her peaked nipples.
She moaned when his mouth came down on hers again and kissed him back greedily. As out of control as he seemed, she knew he was holding back, his body hard as stone, rigid from the effort of fighting back his instincts.
He was always gentle, almost reverent with her body, but this—this was different. There was neediness to his movements, a desperation she didn’t understand. Mia gasped when the hard ridge of his cock brushed her sex through her panties. He settled between her thighs, painfully hard and thick, his flesh so hot she felt branded by it.
He flexed his hips, rubbing up against her, and in minutes Mia was mindless with desire for him. Shoving the delicate fabric of her underwear to one side, he spread her open and massaged her aching center with thick, clever fingers, using the slickness of her arousal to slide over her highly sensitive clit repeatedly. “Please, Zenon. I need you.”
“So wet, princess. All mine.”
“Yes,” she groaned.
The sound of fabric tearing broke past their harsh breathing. He tossed aside the tattered remains of her panties then Zenon moved down, taking her aching nipple into his mouth and biting down. She cried out, trying to press her hips into his, needing him inside her. He removed his fingers and stopped her movements by lying heavily on top of her. Spreading her thighs, he used his weigh to keep her that way. His tight abs rested against her swollen sex, stopping her from moving, from reaching for the release she so desperately needed. He continued to torment her, sucking and nipping at her nipples until she was writhing and begging beneath him.
“Gonna fuck you now, Mia.” His voice was ragged, and his body shook almost violently. “Open wide for me, princess. I want deep inside you. Fuck you so hard you’ll feel branded. You’ll never forget you’re mine.”
That would never happen. He belonged to her as well. She just wished he believed that. Mia knew the fact they could never be mated bothered him, and it killed her to see him so insecure. Did he doubt the way she felt about him?
Whatever had happened tonight had brought this on. He needed this, needed to know she wasn’t going anywhere, that she loved him. She threaded her fingers through the damp silk of his hair and pressed her lips against his throat. “Always,” she whispered against his skin. “I love you.”
“Fuck, Mia.” The head of his cock pushed inside her. He was big, and when he shoved her knees higher, she gasped at how deep he went. The sweet agony of it had her sex flooding with liquid heat after every measured stroke.
“You belong to me.” His voice was filled with hunger and yearning. He thrust into her hard. “Say it.”
“I belong to you.”
He growled, the sound wild and untamed, and then he unleashed the full measure of his need. And she realized up until then just how much he’d suppressed it, suppressed that side of himself. The thick head of his cock pounded deep inside her, hitting the exact spot she needed him. Squeezing the hard flesh of his ass, she lifted her hips to meet his thrusts. Her back bowed as her climax hit her, and she screamed with the force of it.
Zenon didn’t slow, drawing it out with every deep thrust. His body stiffened and he groaned, making the most erotic sound she’d ever heard as he pumped into her, filling her up.
She’d barely recovered when he rose and flipped her onto her belly, lifting her hips so her ass was in the air. He cupped her sex, massaging her, circling her clit until she was a writhing, whimpering mess. “Oh God.” She moved against his hand restlessly as another orgasm built.
“So fucking, hot, so beautiful.” He pushed two fingers inside her and her muscles began to quiver. One more brush over her clit and she’d explode. She felt him move in closer and then his fingers were gone, but before she could whimper in protest, he thrust his cock back inside her. Mia cried out as her second climax flowed through her. Zenon fucked her through it, his powerful thrusts going deeper than ever before. Gripping her hips, he came again, milking his body with hers until he’d rung every last tremor from his body.
He gently rolled her onto her back and brushed the hair away from her face. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and her belly flipped at the intensity of his gaze.
Leaning down, he kissed her shoulder before climbing out of bed. He returned a moment later with a warm damp washcloth and carefully, almost reverently cleaned her.
After throwing it in the hamper, he crawled onto the bed and trailed hot wet kisses from her ankle to the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, until his lips were mere inches from her sex. And even after all the orgasms he’d already given her, she felt her need rise again, wanting more of him.
Spreading her open, he lifted his gaze to hers. His tongue darted out and he soothed her oversensitive flesh with gentle, warm strokes. “You taste so good, Mia, so sweet. I love that I can taste myself mixed with you.” He lapped at her again and moaned in pleasure.
Mia bit down on her lip, his erotic words hitting her low in her belly. His dark head between her parted thighs, his powerful shoulders and chest bunching and straining with every move he made, was a sight she would never tire of, not ever.
His movements became restless, almost desperate. The quietness of the moment dissolved, and he cupped her ass in his big hands, holding her tight to his mouth, eating at her like he was starving for her, like he couldn’t get enough. Mia threaded her fingers in his hair and ground her hips against him, needing more. When she came, Zenon pushed his tongue inside her, sucking at her greedily, making her quake beneath him.
Boneless, she felt him press a kiss to her inner thigh before climbing in beside her and pulling the covers over them.
“I love you, Mia,” he whispered before tucking her into his side and wrapping her tight in his arms.
Her last thought before drifting off was that she needed to talk to him when she woke and find out what was bothering him.
But when she woke the next morning—he was gone.