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  If her sisters would have told her two weeks ago that the Commander of the Atal

  Warriors would be cleaning her and shampooing her hair in a few weeks, she’d still be on the floor laughing. It was amazing how quickly she was softening towards him, much faster than he was to her. But she wasn’t sure if she wanted to stop it or not.

  She’d always been a risk taker, and that part of her now said ‘jump!’ ‘Take the leap!’ The bad part was her heart was entirely in on it too, happy to let herself go completely with the cold warrior. She’d seen those beautiful, warm glimpses inside him but it wasn’t enough. Could she get him to open completely? A part of her swore the he was dying to. In the warm, gentle caresses over her body, in the way he’d warmed to her even if he didn’t realize it.

  “You are clean,” he announced. He didn’t meet her eyes as he scooped his arms under her and started to lift her.

  “Wait!” He hesitantly turned to her, his face mere inches from hers. Her heart fluttered, stomach clenching with desire. Chloe licked her lips and said, “I need something else from you.”

  Ice froze over his eyes.

  “No. I shall bring Draven or Rayn or anyone else you wish here for you. I will not be doing that with you. I advise that you find a partner to secure your daily needs. I can’t do it.” He sounded almost desperate.

  Honestly baffled, Chloe ran her hands over the wisps of hairs that fell over his cheek.

  “Why?” He closed his eyes as if in pain then set her back in the tub. Her stomach tightened with that alarming feeling and quickly she added, “And don’t lie. Please.”

  He stood completely and walked to the door. She thought he was leaving but he turned back at the last second. “A warrior does not tell his secrets to those who could use them against him.”

  “But I would never hurt you.”

  He looked away, a haunted look coming over his face. “One doesn’t always plan to hurt, but does anyway.”

  “Please, tell me what you’re talking about. I wouldn’t hurt you. I told you...I care for you.” She hoped it was as simple as that because with the way her heart was beating it was telling her a different story.

  “Some men are only so strong, Chloe. I’ve experienced my limit. By taking the

  responsibility of you on, by doing what you want me to do...I just can’t. What you ask of me is impossible.”

  Water sloshed as Chloe pulled herself out of the tub. “What are you talking about? Is this about your family and that, that room down the hall? Tell me about it because whether you like it or not, I’m not going anywhere.”

  Jaw twitching, he shook his head, hard and brief. Chloe marched up to him, blood

  coming to a boil. “Tell me, dammit! I have a right to know what the heck is going on here. I was uprooted by strange men from my hotel. I have been taken from my life. I had a job with customers I adored and who loved me. I had a nice life, but now I’m here with you, with some crazing demon thing after me, and you can’t even tell me why you won’t sleep with me!” She was fuming, her chest heaving, and hands curling into shaking fists. She realized one fatal flaw in what she said. He had slept with her. Several times, in fact. But he’d only shared one thing about himself with her. That was what she wanted. To know about him.

  Tyrian stared at her, his eyes the coldest she’d ever seen. He turned on his heel and strode out of the bathroom. Chloe’s jaw dropped and she pattered on wet feet after him, uncaring of the water dripping over the floor.

  “Stop right there, vampire!” She had no idea why, but he actually did. He turned around to face her and she saw the stress lines forming around his eyes and mouth. Her heart almost melted. She didn’t want to fight with him. She just wanted to know.

  “Enough with the vague allusions. Just tell me, please, what your problem is. Tell me why you have a child’s room over there and a woman’s room with a painting of you in it.

  Explain to me why sleeping with me is so horrible. Don’t you see that I don’t want anybody else? I don’t know anything about anyone else here except your damn frimar, a nd I don’t swing that way. Just tell me, please.” Chloe folded her arms across her stomach, feeling hopeless and dejected.

  The longest minute of her life passed and she shook her head, close to tears, when he finally spoke.

  “Maria and I married before the Great War, when demons roamed the earth next to

  vampires and shapeshifters, and used magic to blend in with humans. There was no such thing as an Atal Warrior then. My father married a loose woman named Akiro. She had a litter of children but only me with my father. I don’t think he loved her so much as was infatuated with her. She had this way of stringing men along, always desiring her, always needing her,” said Tyrian in icy tones.

  He walked to the window and looked out at the sky, his hands pulled behind his back in that familiar way. Chloe sat on the bed and waited, listening.

  “I don’t know when the affair started, or perhaps it just never stopped, but when my father found out he was...furious. He might have killed her if she hadn’t left. And she did leave, with her demon lover. My father started the war after that.” Chloe gasped, her eyes huge in her face.

  “Your father started the Great War because his wife left him for a demon.” The rumors were true then. The war wasn’t started because the demons were violent. It was one man’s vengeance.

  Tyrian looked at her with a bitter smile on his face. “Yes, he did. See, father was charming. He could get anyone to do anything he wanted except, of course, my mother. Before I knew it, I was one of the highest generals in the newest organization, the Atal Warriors. We started a war with the demons, pushed every last one of them back into the rift.”

  “What happened if they didn’t go?” Chloe asked.

  “We killed them,” he said simply. “The demons grew to hate the Atal Warriors,

  understandably. Some sought revenge specifically on my family. They succeeded in killing my father, but not me. Instead, they killed my wife, Maria, and my son, Aidan.”

  Chloe gasped and at the sound, Tyrian rounded on her, towered over her, and said, “I keep their rooms as a reminder. See, you are but a child, an infant in my world. You just turned 29 years old,” he laughed, the sound bone chilling. “I have had to live for nearly fifteen hundred years. If I didn’t have those rooms to remember them by, I’d have nothing. I’d forget as all beings forget with time. And I can never forget them, Chloe. Not even for you.”

  Chloe came to a stand, grabbing on to his shirt. “But I don’t want you to forget. I just wanted to know why, Tyrian. I want to know more about you.”

  “Why, because you care? People who care are just setting themselves up to be hurt. Just leave me alone, Chloe. I don’t want you.” His cruel words were a slap to the face. Chloe blinked and felt the wetness escaping her eyes. He walked away and was nearly out the door when she ran after him, grabbing his arm and spinning him back around.

  “You’re just trying to hurt me. You’re trying to push me away, but it won’t work.”

  “And you have silly, romantic notions in your head.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that, because he was right. So she went on her toes, pulled his head down to hers, and kissed him. He struggled against her, trying to pull away, but she held tight. Her lips clinging fervently to his, desperately trying to tell him that it was okay, that she wanted him still, no matter what.

  He snapped. His tongue parted her lips and thrust inside, tasting her and filling her over and again. Chloe moaned and tore the knot free from his hair so she could grab fistfuls of it. He tasted decadent, like some sexy concoction that shouldn’t be natural.

  Suddenly, hands grabbed her naked ass and lifted her, spun her so she slammed into the door. Her legs scrambled to wrap around his strong thighs, her core thrusting towards him, needing him.

  “I should turn you around and fuck you like a dog. Is that what you want? My cock to appease your appetite?” Chloe saw the anger in his e
yes, hot and smoldering.

  “I want more than that and you know it. There’s more between us.” Tyrian slammed his hand against the door by her head. She didn’t jump.

  “There is nothing between us but this.” His hand reached between them to cup a breast, his fingers naturally latching on to her nipple. Chloe couldn’t stop the moan that left her, didn’t even want to.

  “There is more, Tyrian. And there could be a lot more, if you let yourself go with me.”

  She cupped his face gently, trying to show him how much she wanted him.

  “There will never be more between us, Chloe.” He reached between them and fumbled at his pants with quick, jerky movements. In seconds, his zipper was down and his cock sprang free. “Nothing more than this,” he said, then plunged inside.

  Chloe moaned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, bringing them chest to chest.

  He took her body hard, ruthlessly. Her ass beat against the door and she didn’t even care how loud they were being. There was no stopping the cries that left her throat or the savage grunts he made as he hit deep inside her again and again. Harder then quicker.

  “This is all there can ever be,” he said in her ear.

  “Feels so good,” Chloe gasped, feeling him pistoning through her wet sheathe. “If this is all you’ll give me, then I’ll take. I’ll take you anyway I can get you, baby.” His hold tightened on her ass, gripping each cheek like they were some anchor that kept him leveled on earth.

  “Chloe,” he whispered, raggedly. The word held so much meaning, so much pain, that

  Chloe pulled his mouth back and kissed him.

  She kissed him hard and long. When she pulled his tongue into her mouth and sucked on it, she started coming. Tyrian tore his mouth away so she could scream. And scream she did. His name, over and over again as her body shook and exploded into a million pieces all around him.

  His hips slapped against her faster. His fingers dug like sexy points into her ass and kept her still for his thrusts. As the last ripple of her orgasm faded, his began. He cried out, the sound magic to her, a sound she would never forget. So precious was it to see him lose control. He started shooting hot jets inside her and she wiggled closer on a moan, not wanting it to stop, wanting him to fill her deeply and forever.

  When he was done, he pulled out, breathing hard. His hands were shaking as he put

  himself back in his pants. He didn’t look at her as he moved her away from the door.

  “Tyrian?”

  “Get dressed. I’m sending Lily up. We have to go see Telal.” His voice sounded dead, empty. Chloe had a feeling she’d just pushed him even farther away.

  As the door closed, she wanted to curl up and cry.

  * * *

  “So how do you feel knowing you’re about to meet the demon, as in the demon you’re supposed to be Protected by?” asked Chloe. Her previous argument with Tyrian, if that’s what one called such a thing, still lingered over her like a dark rain cloud. But at seeing her sister, she perked up immediately. Lily had that effect on people.

  Lily always had the ability to smile and make everyone around her feel lighter, happier.

  Maybe it was her passive, daydreamy-type personality or the way she smiled at you like you delighted her silly.

  It was hard to feel serious around Lily when she was wearing a long billowy skirt with large purple flowers on it, and a strappy shirt that tied behind her back and showed off all of her bare skin. It was also bright pink. Her white flip-flops topped off the look. And they were in a chilly castle in Norway, yet she acted like this was Palm Beach.

  Her sister was a curvy woman with a fuller figure and her arms and back were sexy

  enough to show off. Chloe totally wasn’t jealous. Even her hair looked wilder than usual. She’d inherited the wild, curly mane from their mama. And hers was dark, too, like papa’s.

  Lily kicked her feet out and swung them off the edge of the bed. “Ecstatic! I can’t wait for my 29th birthday. Why do you think I chose this shirt? Demon’s are known for their sexual prowess, you know.” She wiggled her eyes brows.

  Chloe laughed. “So what, you’re eager to seduce the demon, then?”

  Lily arched a brow and said, “I did some research into him after I got Papa’s will. I’m interested to say the least. I don’t think I’ll have to seduce him. He’ll see me and what’s not to like?”

  “True,” Chloe agreed.

  “So what’s he like anyways?” asked Lily, her eyes wide.

  Chloe bit her lip, trying to think the best way to word it. “He might not be how you imagined. He’s kind of a stiff.”

  Lily’s nose wrinkled. “Stiff as in a corpse or the business kind?”

  “The business kind.”

  “Dammit, I knew something like this was going to happen. I guess I’ll just have to loosen him up a bit,” Lily said with a wink. Chloe had forgotten how good it felt to be around her sister.

  She missed them both so much.

  “Have you heard from Willow?”

  “Yeah, she called me once to say she was headed off to Russia and that the shapeshifter was hot on her trail. Don’t tell her I said so, but she’s totally into him.”

  Chloe snorted. “Oh, come on. An Alpha? No way. You must have been talking to

  someone else.”

  “I know, right? Trust me. She didn’t have a nice word to say about him. She hates him. I also know she’s already slept with him, and judging by how adamantly she denied liking it, I’d say she loooved it. Probably even wants a few thousand do-overs.”

  “Wow, in a way it’s almost a cruel fate. She’s so stubborn, I don’t know how she’ll be able to put up with him.”

  “She’ll find a way. I had a dream about her a few days ago. I think she and the Alpha will do fine, once he catches her that is. She’s playing the extreme version of hard-to-get. Though he probably likes it. It’s a good challenge for them both.”

  “I thought Alphas like him liked submissive women,” Chloe said.

  Lily smiled big. “I know. That’s what makes this all the better. Willow says he keeps trying to best her, but she keeps coming out on top. Seems like he’s getting angrier about it by the minute. When he finally does catch her, and according to my dream he will, they will have some interesting times together.”

  Since she was young, Lily always had these dreams that acted more like visions. They used to only have about a 40% accuracy rate, but since she’d gotten older, it was now more like 50%. Lily liked to call it her “hit or miss visions.”

  Chloe finished dressing in a sexy black dress with ridiculously tall heels and black stockings. The whole thing with Tyrian earlier really rubbed her the wrong way. She didn’t know if she wanted to hit him or...well, hit him. But it wasn’t in her nature to give up. So tonight, when they get back from visiting Telal, she was going to seduce him.

  She even debated asking Lily to make one of her aphrodisiac concoctions, but how was she supposed to slip that to a vampire? He didn’t drink anything that wasn’t from a vein. She shivered at the thought, remembering when his fangs at sunk into her. Her body began to warm so she quickly blocked the image.

  “Have you dreamt of your demon?” asked Chloe.

  “You look killer, by the way. Add some mascara from my purse and it’ll be perfect. He won’t be able to resist you. My demon? Well, I did have an interesting dream with him. I was licking his body up and down and he was in chains on a bed or something. I couldn’t really make out his face or anything. He was kind of blurry.”

  Chloe gasped. “Lily!”

  “What? You wanted to know, don’t interrupt a sexy story. So then, I remember he tore through them like they were plastic except they were old-fashioned prison manacles, and he came after me and took me so passionately. I’m certain I came a dozen times. Now I don’t know how much of that is true, but I sure hope the orgasm part is,” she said with a dreamy sigh. “So enough about me. You’re the one who’s actually been living wi
th her Protector. How’s it going?”

  Chloe turned to her sister and almost wanted to cry. She didn’t know where to start, so she just started talking. Soon Lily had her sitting next to her on the bed with an arm wrapped around her as she spilled everything from their first sexual encounter with the vampire commander to his past and up to their “thing” this morning.

  “Sounds to me like he’s crazy about you.” Chloe couldn’t help it, she laughed hard. If only Lily had been around these past few days.

  “No, he’s not and a part of me keeps feeling like a complete fool every time I talk to him.

  I’m starting to think that maybe I should just turn my back on him and try to make it with one of the other warriors. But there’s just something about him, Lily. I feel like I can’t walk away.”

  “I understand,” Lily said, holding her close. “I think you two are going to be great together. Just keep pushing him. He’s strong, he can take it.”

  “But what if he hates me for it in the end?” Chloe asked, her eyes haunted with pain.

  “Have you had a dream about us?” She couldn’t keep the hope out of her voice.

  Lily pulled back. “Um, no, no.” Chloe glared at her.

  “Yes, you did, Lillian Bellum. Tell me now and do not lie, no matter what.” Lily cringed.

  “Fine, fine. I had two dreams. One was of you and Tyrian in the snow, fighting.”

  “What were we fighting about?”

  Lily shrugged. “I didn’t hear anything like that. It was like watching a movie with the sound muted, minus any subtitles. It looked emotional though, deep. You both looked so...in pain. He didn’t look anything like how I saw him when I met him downstairs. He’s all aloof and cold. There was none of that in this dream.” Chloe shuddered, her stomach filling with that horrible warning feeling.

  “And the other?” Chloe asked, feeling more miserable than before.