Authors: Dria Andersen
She cringed and lowered
her head. "Sounds bad when you say it out loud."
"Liliana
Thomas." Xavier read aloud, putting an end to that conversation. He typed
the name into the computer on his desk.
"You told me your
name was Destiny." Leo pinned her with a stare that sent a shiver of
foreboding down her spine.
"Oh, the
irony." Fallon laughed outright.
Liliana's heart
dropped. Fallon was right. The irony of her fake name hit her along with the
wave of fury emanating from Leo. They'd marked each other, partially mated
even.
She was his destiny.
She looked to the door
for escape. Xavier was angry, this she knew, but the look on Leo's face was
pure, banked fury. He moved a step closer to her, and she shifted one more step
to the side. They moved in this dance until she was backed into a wall. The
slate scraped along her back.
"Now, baby, why
would you go and lie about your name?" His derisive tone cut through her.
His large body dwarfed her own five nine frame stealing her air and her
personal space.
Liliana's heart pounded
at his nearness, her breath coming in heated gasps. Her breasts swelled with
arousal.
"Everyone lies about
his or her name." Her tone was crisp, clipped, as her accent threatened to
push through in her panic. She pushed against the brick wall of his chest, for
all the good it did. He was entirely too close for her comfort.
She struggled to put
distance between them. "It was supposed to be a one night stand. You can't
possibly think I would give you my real name." Her voice was shaky, her
argument weak. She knew absolutely nothing about one-night stands, let alone
any etiquette that went along with it. But he didn't know that, so she infused
as much confidence in her tone as she could muster.
"So let me get this
straight." Leo leaned over a breath from her face. He braced his arms on
either side of her head. "You would let a total stranger into your body,
but giving him your real name is preposterous?" His voice was low,
dangerous, sending thrills straight to her womb.
Liliana should've
been running for the door, instead her nipples beaded and her body arched into
his. "That's how a one night stand works."
Goddess his nearness
stole good sense. Now that she knew Xavier was his brother, she wondered if the
heat was from their mating, or the natural pheromones Cagyns were said to
produce. She prayed it was the latter. The former would put her in way too much
trouble. The way her stomach tightened, cramped with arousal, she could barely
think straight.
His lips turned up
into an arrogant smile, dismissing her false bravado. "I'm hurt."
Damn him. Her chest
expanded with the effort to draw in air.
"There are
things I did to this body that I wouldn't normally do to a one night
stand." His large hand traced the column of her throat, squeezing slightly
then released.
She should've been
scared, anything but so damn turned on. Even as she chastised herself, her
breath hitched. His dominance touched every erogenous zone in her body.
"Manners, Leo,"
Fallon called from behind them.
Leo stared at her
for long moments, ignoring the command.
"Back up, Leo,"
Xavier said from his desk.
Liliana drew in a
shaky breath, thankful when Leo took a step back.
"If you weren't looking
for me, what were you doing here?" His face dared her to lie again.
"Looking
around." It was at least halfway true. She cleared her throat, still
feeling his hand there. "Everyone knows this Haven is the best. I was
curious." Yeah. Leave it at that.
"You know, I have a
real problem with liars, Ms. Thomas." Leo's face was hard, his eyes, warm
days ago, now chipped ice.
Liliana felt a punch
of guilt but shoved it aside. She did what she had to do. She raised her chin,
meeting his eyes. "I didn't come to cause trouble."
"The first truth
you've told today. Who are you really?" Anger smoldered in Xavier's eyes.
"You have my ID, you
know who I am." Liliana pushed a hand through her hair, she’d paid a good
chunk of money for that ID, and it had better pass a routine check. This
situation was entirely out of control. She would just have to find some other
way to get the information.
"You're hiding
something," Leo declared.
"You don't know me
well enough to say that." Liliana protested.
"Honey, I have been
all up in your head, your body-"
"Leo," Fallon
barked.
Leo shrugged.
"There's not much you can hide from me."
Liliana scoffed, anger
and panic drowning out restraint. "Anything you saw in my head, I put
there for you to find."
She regretted the
words the instant they left her lips. She'd blame it on her exhaustion. She
would've never made such a slip otherwise. The running was finally catching up
with her. Every occupant of the room had grown still. Power saturated the room,
nearly stealing her breath.
"Explain yourself,
now." Xavier's tone sliced through the air. His voice did not rise, but
Liliana felt the order, the power in his tone.
"You're not
human?" Leo asked.
"I’m
Demi…Eshu." Liliana announced.
"Ah hell, Trouble,
now you done gone and done it." Fallon shook his head and sighed.
Her stomach dropped and
fear dried her mouth. Yeah, she'd done it now. It was only a matter of time
before they sent her home.
LEO BACKED AWAY AS
THOUGH STRUCK. She was not human, she was Demi. Not just Demi, but Eshu.
Messengers for all realms, the Eshu were one of the most trusted races among
the Demis. And the one race he vowed he'd have nothing to do with.
He'd locked himself
in his room for nearly a week brooding, alternating between disgust and anger.
Anger, because after only three hundred and fifty years of existence he'd been
marked. The disgust came with the fact that the female who marked him, wanted
nothing to do with him.
Last night anger won
out, and he'd spent the night in the club pounding on other Demis there for
fight night, venting his anger. Today, he came to tell his brothers he'd been
marked, mated, a fate worse than death, at least as far as he was concerned. He
barely trusted the women he considered friends, now he was tied to one he knew
nothing about, and to top it all off she was Eshu.
His past crowded
him, threatened to swamp him. He hated her for that. Leo saw the looks his
brothers gave him from the corner of his eye. He refused to meet their eyes.
The last thing he wanted was to see the pity in their gazes.
He should've been
more careful.
"How long have you
been on Adro?" Xavier asked sharply.
Leo took an
involuntarily step forward, the mating bond urging him to shield Liliana's body
from the anger in Xavier's voice.
"I don't have to
answer to you. I've broken no council rules."
"No, you've only
broken our most sacred and important rule." Leo snapped.
Damn her for the
emotions threatening to drown him. The memories he'd worked hard to bury clawed
through the barriers he'd put up around his heart and mind and nearly undid
him.
"You entered Earth's
realm without registering at Haven. Only someone with something to hide
bypasses Haven." Fallon's voice was soft, curious.
Liliana remained silent,
refusing to answer their question or even meet Leo's eyes. She hid something.
Her defensive posture said it all.
"I registered at a
Haven up north."
Xavier growled. Fear
leapt into her eyes and Leo dug his nails into his palm to keep from her
pulling her into his arms, hating that he couldn't deny the need to do so.
"Tell me another
lie, female, and it will be your last," Xavier warned.
Leo growled low in
his throat, not liking his brother's tone.
Xavier pointed at Leo,
his face tight with anger. “Don't growl at me, especially since you saw fit to
hide the fact you were mated." He turned his icy eyes to Liliana.
"Show us your true form."
Leo backed up from
her again, not wanting to be near her when it happened. To take her true form
in front of him would snap his control like nothing else. Jealousy rose
already, sharp, stabbing into his chest as he thought of his brothers gazing onto
her body in her true form, especially since he’d not had the pleasure himself.
"You can bite
it." Her tone was angry, panic and fear rose off her like steam, tangling
with the lust pouring from her body.
"Nice talk for the
sainted Eshu." Leo couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice.
Her angry eyes bore
into his.
"How were you able
to mask yourself from me the other night or Leo for that matter?" Fallon
asked.
Liliana scoffed.
"The Amanda are so arrogant, you think you're the only ones able to wield
magic easily."
Xavier's hand
slammed against his desk, his control snapped. "Enough! Why are you here,
instead of on Legba where you belong?"
"Why do you
care?" she asked stubbornly.
Xavier's hazel eyes
turned copper, encompassing his pupils, and his voice lowered to a growl.
"It is my responsibility to know who's roaming around Adro, especially an
unprotected female posing as human."
Liliana swallowed, and
sweat beaded her forehead. She took a cautious step towards the door. Her need
to escape raked at him, and he wrestled the beast in him fighting to get out
and help her. Xavier's temper was legendary, and moments from raining down on
her, he took a deep breath to calm himself.
"Reveal your true
form, Liliana." Leo ordered. He kept his voice quiet in an effort to keep
his magic at bay.
"I'm leaving."
She turned to the door.
Leo ordered her again,
this time in the ancient language, putting as much power in his voice as he
dared. Words said in the ancient language became a spell. It was the way most
Eshu kept their mates obedient. A practice he found barbaric, but very useful
to him in this moment.
Her skin rippled as
a wave of magic engulfed her body, shedding the human skin, or rather the small
changes she'd made to her true form. The Eshu were the most human of all races.
Only their hair and eyes set them apart from the humans who inhabited the Earth
realm they referred to as Adro. They were often confused for the human legend
of fairies.
She kept her back to
them, still, the air left his lungs as he took in her true form. Her hair was a
waterfall reaching the bottom of her hips, almost to her knees in a riot of
red, yellow and orange hues, silky and straight. The brilliant shades of color
made his fingers itch to feel its silky strands. So much of her was covered
under the heavy mass of hair. Leo was grateful for the length. Naked as the day
she was born her toffee colored skin glowed under his command.
His skin tingled as
she used magic to cover her body in the Eshu traditional gown. The dress was
yellow, tied around the neck. It covered her breasts, wrapped around to cover
her bottom and hung to the floor. It left her back bare, had she been in Legba
her hair would’ve been held up in intricate braids tied so her back would be
displayed proudly. Leo ached to see the markings on her back. His teeth
lengthened, the need to taste her, a throbbing pain.
"Move your
hair," he ordered in the ancient language, his voice husky, filled with
the burning need moving through his body. He moved closer to shield her from
his brothers' eyes.
Her hands shook as
she grabbed the curtain of hair and moved it to the side. Leo moaned, she was beautiful,
more than he could've ever expected to have in a mate. On her back were orange,
red and blue lines forming a beautiful outline of wings from her shoulders to
the top of her hips. Every Eshu had them, proclaiming them the winged
messengers of the gods. Liliana's wings were still light, placing her age only
past one or two hundred years. The older she was the darker the lines would
become. Even as he was turned on, Leo felt betrayed, though she had no idea his
family history. She turned to face him, her narrow face was defiant, her
pointed chin lifted, the fine and dainty eyebrows arched in challenge. The
glowing green of her exotic eyes called to him. Leo stomped to her, grabbed her
and pulled her into a branding kiss.
Liliana's arms
wrapped around his neck, and she opened her mouth. Leo deepened their kiss, his
tongue driving into her mouth as passion engulfed them, threatening to burn
them to cinder.
She moaned as he cupped
her ass, dragging her closer to him. Gods, the heat moving through him drove
all thought from his mind, until there was nothing but her. He pushed her back
into the door and hissed in satisfaction. It had been five days since they were
separated, and though they hadn’t completed the mating, his body craved hers.
The mating frenzy had started and wouldn’t abate until their souls were sealed.
"Back off,
Leo." Fallon's irritated voice penetrated the fog over his mind.
"Bro, you got an audience."
Leo jerked back from
Liliana's mouth.
"Oh gods,"
she whispered, covering her mouth.
Leo's stiffened, the
anger returning twofold, yet he couldn’t pry his body from hers.
"What family do you
belong to?" Xavier sounded weary.
"Ours." Leo
declared.
Her previous family
didn't matter. She was his and he would not give her up. Directly below her
palm, in dark ink, was her family's name, and below that was Leo's, the dark
symbols glowing, signaling the mating ritual had not yet been completed. The
glow and the mark would fade if they didn’t complete the ceremony by the new
moon. Of course the punishment for not completing the mating would last for
much, much longer.
"Welcome to the
effing family." Fallon's voice was thick with sarcasm, "But that's
not what he's asking and you know it Leo. We need to contact her family
formally."
Liliana raised her
head. Leo gave her props for her strength. She stood up to he and his brothers
in a way few would dare. He and his brothers were a part of the Amanda, a
military like force, charged with protecting the Demis, and policing them. They
had a reputation for being no-nonsense and ruthless, it'd been a long time
since someone dared speak to them the way she had. That this delicate woman
did, set fire to his already throbbing erection and made him want her with an
all-consuming madness.
"I still can't believe
you didn't tell us you were mated," Xavier accused Leo. "She's
already marked?"
"I thought she was
human, Xavier. It's not like I could go out and claim her. I was in my room,
trying to figure out how to even find her." His gaze traveled her body while
he fought his own.
His chest rose with
his harsh breaths, he leaned into her neck, inhaling her scent. The hard
pebbles of her nipples pressed into his chest and Leo knew if he didn't back
up, he would take her here, in his brother's office, with them watching. With a
growl of frustration he moved away.
She was not happy,
but neither of them could stop their bodies from reacting. Even now, when he
wanted to feel hatred, the urge to rub his body along hers nearly overwhelmed
him.
"I hate
liars," he growled.
"I never lied to
you."
"Did you
intentionally target me or was I the only available body to fuck that
night?" Anger rode him as hard as the passion did.
"Where did you learn
to talk to women?" She sputtered, offended.
"From my
mother," Leo spit out. "She was what some would impolitely call, a
ho."
Liliana flinched
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be, I never
liked her." The acrid taste of hate turned his stomach as did the thought
of his mother.
"Filter, bro. She
could be a noble, show some respect." Fallon barked.
"She's the one
slumming. She can't call foul when one of the peasants says something she
doesn't like." Lashing out at her was unfair, but anger was the only
outlet he had. That, or take her against the wall. Somehow he thought that was
out of the question.
"Enough!"
Xavier's tone cut through the room, silencing them. "Liliana sit."
"You can't hold me
here, I haven't done anything," she protested.
"The Amanda can't
hold you here, but as your mate, you can't go anywhere without my consent."
Realization dawned in her
eyes and fear clouded her face. Leo crossed his arms over his chest. Oh yeah,
his little mate was screwed, just as soon as he could get her alone.