His fangs sat on his lower lip and he was growling. Her whole body shivered with sudden unexpected need, although now directed entirely toward him. She leaned close, ready for him to do whatever he wanted.
His nostrils flared and he gripped both her arms, still growling in a possessive way peculiar to vampires and shifters. The air seemed to swell and heat up, then suddenly Malik roared.
She only really figured things out when Malik released her abruptly and launched at Axton. She stepped back several feet until her back was against the vines. She grabbed onto a couple of thick stems and held tight because the fight was on.
Her own wraith fangs itched to descend as she watched the men rolling in the dirt, snarling, both sets of fangs exposed. Blood flew in all directions as one or the other would break skin.
Malik got in a solid punch to Axton’s jaw, but he retaliated by rolling swiftly and throwing Malik into the air.
Axton then levitated and shoved his head into Malik’s chest, which threw Malik against the stone monolith not far from Willow.
But Malik wasn’t a mastyr vampire for nothing and he launched in Axton’s direction, swept upward in the last second then caught Axton’s head in a choke hold and squeezed hard.
Axton flipped around several times, finally wrenching himself from Malik’s control, then lifted his palm where battle energy gathered. Malik did the same.
Two blue streams of electric heat and energy released and met in the middle. An enormous ball of white heat and fire rose from the center.
Both Axton and Malik began moving toward each other, the blue-and-white fire growing larger and hotter with each inch they covered.
And that’s when Willow knew this would be a battle to the death, without either man surviving, if they sustained their battle frequencies. In the same way that she had an irrational drive toward both men, they would in turn fight on until a victor arose or they were both dead.
She left the vines and flew toward Evan, who now had a horrified look on his face. “Evan, you have to stop them. Use all the men. Split them up. Have them grab Malik and Axton at the same time from behind. Their touch will break the energy streams. You’ll see.”
“Got it.”
She levitated and flew well away from the Guardsmen.
Evan coordinated his men and just as the ball of fire would have exploded, the Guardsmen caught each of the mastyrs around the waist and just like that, both mastyrs drew in their blast frequencies.
The air smelled burnt.
Axton fought again
st the hold the three Guardsmen had on him, while Malik, as soon as he recognized Evan’s voice, dropped to the ground and sat down, breathing hard.
Willow ignored Axton and kept herself focused on Malik. He lifted his gaze to her and his voice, full of rage, pierced her mind, You’re not to look at other men.
In any other circumstance, she would have yelled at him for such a chauvinistic attitude. But her own body was in an uproar, screaming for his attention, a result of the battle, of the way he looked at her, of the sight of his fangs still low on his lips, of his torn, bloody clothes.
The vein in her neck thrummed.
Sweet Goddess, she wanted him bad.
Evan shouted a few things at Axton, who shortly afterward took off. But her attention was all for Malik. With Axton out of the picture, she started moving toward him. He rose to his feet, his arms cut up, his eyes wild, his fangs an erotic invitation.
Evan must have understood, because he took the Guardsmen away.
Willow knew exactly what was going to happen, but she didn’t want it to take place out in the open so she ran in the direction of the entrance to the colony. Just as she reached the vines, Malik was on her, turning her in his arms to face him, and trapping her in a caveman-like embrace.
Her body melted against his.
She pressed herself backward, however, taking him into the vines. He held her gaze, his nostrils working like bellows, his fangs fully extended. He made grunting noises that had her sex clenching hard.
She moved to the side, and with the vines behind her, she called to them to close up the entrance and give them privacy.
As Malik worked his zipper, she got her shoes off, then her jeans and her thong. He lifted her up and she slid her legs around his hips. Holding his cock in his hand, he found her entrance and began pushing inside. She was so wet and so ready and each thrust felt like heaven.
She angled her head, her heart laboring with the additional blood she’d created for him. Definitely a blood rose.