Bryce, page 13
part #2 of Anarock Shifters Series
The next minute, he was cracking her in half with his thickness. Her sodden flesh offered no resistance. His weight plunged his cock all the way down to her innermost anatomy. She lurched, but it was too late. She asked for it and now she couldn’t get away.
His body tightened from his wrists all the way down to his knees. His throat caught with every breath stroking into her core and back out. He dallied there for what seemed like forever. The tremulous anticipation of waiting for the next penetration shattered her brain. She couldn’t take this. She couldn’t survive this.
Then he dropped. He pierced her to her very limit and left nothing intact. His ridged length excited every inch of her until she wanted to scream. She couldn’t even do that. She could only blink and stare at nothing. He was in her. He was inside her mind and her soul and her very being. She couldn’t escape him.
He locked his elbows and pivoted his whole massive frame. He didn’t lower his bulk on top of her. He held himself off so only his cock touched her. His blackness merged with the blackness of night. She couldn’t see him, but he dominated her awareness so she couldn’t imagine anything else.
She put out her hand, but she dared not touch him. He radiated power to her. He grew to enormous proportions. He towered over her obliterating her and everything else.
He arched his spine and snatched a kiss from her mouth. His tongue brushed hers before he returned to his former position. She had to kiss him back, but she couldn’t do more than that.
“Baby,” he breathed.
Was this happening? His pubic hair scraped her clit with every pass and sent her spinning into countless orgasms, but she couldn’t even think that. She could only hover in the nebulous otherworld of dreams.
She loved him. She knew that now. She loved him more than anything, but she couldn’t speak to say it out loud. Those words kept echoing through her mind, through her whole life, through her whole world. She loved him. She loved him unto death. He was death. He was the end of all things. He was the end of her.
Long before she finished orgasming, he contracted across his midsection. He thumped into her and locked. His torso spasmed and his meat quivered against her channel. She would give anything to see him right now, but just feeling him was enough.
He kissed her again and whispered, “Baby.”
In a second, he rotated off. Without asking her permission, he rolled her onto her side and draped himself in behind her. He snuggled his prick between her legs and she felt his hardness glide in again.
He closed her in his arms and folded her to him. He hugged her from behind and his cock nestled inside her. He kissed the back of her neck. “Baby.” Then he lay still.
15
A deafening boom snapped Bryce alert in a fraction of a second. He leaped upright still holding onto Alexa. She bolted out of his arms. “Huh?”
At that moment, a powerful wind snatched the tent clean away. It fluttered into the sky and vanished. Bryce and Alexa sat exposed and unprotected on their cot with all Hell breaking loose around them.
The creatures and anomalies of the Omega Battalion raced in all directions. They bumped into each other, screamed, and took off somewhere else. People and monsters darted left and right in no particular semblance of order.
Bryce stared around him trying to get his brain to accept that the assault had begun. Before he could move, three dragons hurtled out of nowhere. They soared low over the camp and unleashed hellfire on the Omega Battalion. They didn’t seem to aim at anyone or anything in particular. They carpet-bombed the whole area with their flame. A brutal red monster barely missed the pair before setting another five tents on fire.
Bryce dove to his feet, yelling. “Riley! Riley!” A blaze-orange monster zoomed overhead followed by a brown one, and he recognized his sister Courtney and his brother Malachai.
They didn’t stop to check where Bryce was or if he got caught in the crossfire. In half an instant, he understood. They would never hold back. Riley must have delivered his message to Victor. They would destroy the Battalion and Bryce and Alexa along with it. Bryce sincerely hoped they would.
He yanked up his pants and spun around to find Alexa on her feet. She buttoned her jeans and her eyes darted around the scene of chaos. She would have taken wing then and there, but Bryce grabbed her by the head. He held her by both cheeks and thundered into her face. “Don’t shift! Whatever you do, don’t shift!”
She nodded. Her bright eyes glistened inches away from him. He loved her more than ever, but he didn’t even have time to kiss her right now.
They both turned aside at the same moment. He grabbed her hand to plunge into the battle when McCain appeared. The old man strode out of nowhere slicing his finger through the air. “Get aloft! Get up there and return fire.”
Bryce rounded on him. “We can’t! There’s only two of us and they must have hundreds of dragons moving in. You have to call off the assault.”
Bryce should have known an idea like that would fall on deaf ears, but he would try anything to avoid shifting right now. The last thing he wanted was to fight his own siblings in an almighty air battle. That could only end one way.
“I said get aloft!” McCain barked. “We need everyone in the air.”
Bryce opened his mouth to protest again, but before he could form the words, an invisible force zipped him off the ground. With no effort on his part, the dragon burst out of him and he took off into the sky. How did it happen? How did McCain force him to shift?
Susie’s spell must have done it. The Battalion was in danger. That meant Bryce and Alexa had to use their abilities to defend it.
None of that mattered now. He was a dragon and he had to fight. He dusted the treetops with Alexa at his side, but when they got over the camp, he found the area deserted. He didn’t see any dragons anywhere.
From here, he could see straight across Lake Salvador to the city beyond. Smoke and cloud drifted over the horizon. A long line of curious figures stretched across the lake. He couldn’t see anything holding them up. They appeared to walk on the water itself.
He flapped over their heads peering down at them. The whole Battalion marched toward New Orleans on their mission of death and domination.
He and Alexa slowed their advance approaching the city. Bryce didn’t want to find out what was happening over there, but this bizarre magic made him do it against his will.
Across the lake, he got a clear view of the Battalion’s progress. They marched on their invisible power over Lake Cataouatche, through the swamps and dense undergrowth of Jean Lafitte National Park, and into the outlying suburbs around New Orleans. They headed straight for the Huey Long Bridge, the last remaining bridge leading to the heart of the city.
The Battalion showed no sign of slowing down. Bryce cringed at the sight of all of them lined up one behind the other. They would cross the Mississippi River miles from Central City. How could Victor defend such a wide area?
The closer he got, the more Bryce’s heart sank. He didn’t see any way the Prometheus Crest could protect Anarock from this. He fluttered closer and he almost stalled in mid-air.
The Omega Battalion blockaded the highway with their numbers, but they didn’t cross the bridge. Something stopped them. A little lower, Bryce caught sight of an equally large mass of people assembled on the opposite side. They glutted both sides of the road and confronted the enemy.
That mystical force drew Bryce closer still and he couldn’t believe his eyes. In what he originally mistook for empty space, a bunch of people faced down the entire Battalion. He blinked at eight little black children in shorts and t-shirts holding back all those fearsome monsters and nightmarish oddities.
A little boy no older than seven held up both hands. He and two older boys combined their power working together. The Battalion fired a fearful bombardment of energy and projectiles at them, but everything bounced off an invisible wall erected by these tiny children.
An even younger girl stood behind the boys. She pointed her index finger this way and that. She pantomimed conducting an unseen orchestra. Lightning crackled from her finger and zinged through the boys’ barrier. She hit people out of the Omega Battalion’s ranks and sent them flying.
Bryce’s spirits soared. They were doing it. Bryce didn’t know these children, but Victor must have dug them up from somewhere. Thousands of people waited beyond the bridge to vent their power on the Battalion. Riley’s warning worked. Victor mustered all these people to fight the Battalion and save Anarock.
The girl glanced up and saw Bryce. Without missing a beat, she fired at him, too. One of her jets whistled past his ear. She must have gotten the memo, too. She would shoot him down without compunction.
Bryce retreated. What else could he do? Susie’s spell didn’t say he had to stick around to get shot at. He hovered over the Battalion and watched the battle, but he didn’t engage. He didn’t want to. He didn’t like his chances against all Anarock when they considered him their enemy.
A ripple went through the Battalion. The crowd parted and five monsters came bounding out of the rear. Strange people rode on their backs and spurred them faster toward the children’s shield. They would collide with it any second now. Bryce hated to think what would happen then, but he never could have imagined what did happen.
One of the men riding yawned open a mouth in a face full of fur. Flowing grey locks streamed behind him in the wind. He roared out loud and that voice rose to a sonic boom. It shook the ground and the vibrations shuddered through the air. Bryce felt them under his wings.
The Battalion cringed, but the monsters never stopped running. Another rider, a female, pointed a wooden stick at the barrier and yelled something. Nothing happened, but the invisible wall shuddered and wavered. The children braced themselves against the assault.
The next instant, the field snapped and vanished. All the Battalion’s fire sailed past it and exploded onto the bridge. The concussion sent the children sprawling and the Battalion surged past them toward New Orleans.
Bryce tilted his wings to dive, but before he could drop into the fight, the same red dragon zoomed out of nowhere. Riley dodged just in time to miss smashing into him and rocketed by over the invaders. As soon as she cleared him, she cracked her jaws and sprayed fire and molten fury on the Battalion.
Screams drifted to Bryce’s ears. A large swath of the Omega Battalion fell before her fire, but at that instant, a catastrophic blast slammed into Bryce’s head. He reeled in time to see his own brother Malachai come barreling up on him flying a hundred miles an hour.
Bryce whipped around to confront him, but no power in Heaven or on Earth could force him to attack his brother. Malachai rumbled low and belched flame at Bryce. Bryce spread his wings to make himself a bigger target. He took the full brunt of the blow in his chest.
Pain and heat seared him all over. He gritted his teeth. No matter what happened, he wouldn’t fight. He wouldn’t become his brother’s enemy, not after working so hard to help his people. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the death blow.
Powerful talons seized him and shook him alert. His eyes snapped open to see Malachai lunging over his head. The huge brown dragon sank his claws into Bryce’s neck and took off with him. Malachai shook him hard and almost cracked his spine.
In his confusion, Bryce caught a glimpse of the bridge. Hundreds of Omega Battalion fighters charged toward New Orleans. Some surreal insight showed Bryce his brother Victor standing at the head of the Prometheus Crest holding the first line of defense. Those stalwart warriors didn’t move. The Omega Battalion would have their work cut out for them breaking that blockade.
Malachai flapped his wings. Bryce didn’t want to think about where his brother was taking him. Malachai would probably drop him off in the Quag and put him to death before he returned to the fray. Bryce didn’t care much anymore. He did what he set out to do. He gave Anarock the warning it needed to defeat the Omega Battalion.
Monsters and freaks bellowed in furious rage charging the Prometheus Crest. They got halfway across the bridge when, as if from nowhere, two identical waves of gargantuan size plumed up on either side of the supports. The waves hung suspended against the sky for a moment. Then they crashed on top of the Omega Battalion with devastating force.
The water didn’t splash off the concrete. It materialized into figures stranger than anything in the Battalion. Some shapes landed on their feet. Their many eyes, their whipping tentacles, their glistening fangs, and their razor-sharp hooves slashed everywhere. They tore the Omega Battalion limb from limb. They tossed bodies into the river. They set people on fire and stabbed through monsters without little effort.
Bryce blinked down at the sight. Those two waves came from the NightRage Crest, the fearsome magic wielders who posed the greatest challenge to the Prometheus Crest’s reign. Somehow, some way that Bryce couldn’t understand, Victor managed to convince these terrible entities to band with the Prometheus Crest and defend the city. Victor must have planted NightRage on either side of the bridge for the express purpose of surprising the Omega Battalion just when they thought they’d won.
All Bryce’s animosity against Victor evaporated. Victor must be ten times the leader Bryce could ever be if he pulled off an alliance like that with his own enemies. Victor must be the true and chosen leader of Anarock.
Their father knew it. He must have seen it in Victor when Bryce was just a punk kid with delusions of grandeur. That was why he protected Victor from Bryce’s challenge. He knew what Anarock needed and that was Victor.
Bryce relaxed into Malachai’s hold. His brother bore him farther from the battle. Now Bryce knew for certain the Battalion would lose. Whatever other tricks Victor had up his sleeve, he used Riley’s warning to his greatest advantage. He wouldn’t let the Battalion near the city.
Bryce smiled to himself. He welcomed death at his brother’s hands. He only prayed Malachai would make it quick. Malachai’s wings beat the air in slow, languid thumps. Bryce dangled from his talons. His neck hurt every time Malachai flapped, but Bryce offered no resistance. He was going where he belonged.
The bridge receded. The destruction McCain planned for Anarock would descend on the Battalion’s head. Bryce hoped Victor would leave no one alive to threaten Anarock again, but that might be hoping too much. Bryce didn’t see McCain himself jumping into the battle. He and his cronies must be hiding in the rear where it was safe.
Malachai arched his head around to study Bryce. Bryce avoided eye contact with him. He gave himself up as a condemned prisoner on his way to execution. He could take quiet pride in that for as long as it lasted.
At that moment, a hurtling projectile shot out of nowhere. A green streak whined past Malachai’s shoulder and smashed into his wing. Malachai uttered a piercing scream and let go of Bryce. Bryce had half a second to recognize Alexa teetering on the wind. She banked in a circle and leveled her piercing gaze at Malachai.
The next instant, gravity caught hold of Bryce. His instincts commanded him to extend his wings, but another voice overrode them. He couldn’t risk using his dragon powers against Anarock. This could be his one chance to ensure he never would.
Without thinking twice, he shifted in the air. He resumed his human form and let his frail, helpless body plummet toward the ground so far below.
16
Alexa spun around. She got one fleeting look at Bryce’s face transported in beatific calm before the wind snatched him away. He plunged out of sight spinning arms and legs in all directions.
He didn’t cry out, though. He shifted into human form. He could only have done that for one reason. He wanted to die. He wanted the fall to kill him so he wouldn’t have to fight his own people.
Malachai whipped around at the same moment. Did he know? Did he understand what Bryce was trying to do? Alexa couldn’t wait around to find out. She attacked Malachai to get Bryce away from him. Now she had to save Bryce at all costs.
She pointed her nose to the Earth and folded her wings behind her back. She dove at the speck falling out of her sight. She got close enough to make out his limbs flapping in the breeze when Malachai’s looming brown form raced up behind her.
He opened his mouth and his flame touched her hind feet. She didn’t turn around. She locked her gaze on Bryce and shut Malachai out of her mind. Malachai didn’t concern her. Only Bryce mattered.
She narrowed her eyes into the wind. It hummed over her scales. Flying never felt so good, but just then, another scorching blast of Malachai’s fire made her look back. He burned up the miles to catch her. Would he try to stop her from saving Bryce? How could he do that to his own brother?
The low drone of the huge dragon got nearer. Malachai roared and unleashed another horrendous torrent of flame. It hit her in the back. In the blink of an eye, she realized he was strong enough to kill her on the wing. He was strong enough to incinerate her and torch his brother before either of them hit the ground. She had to do something.
She closed her eyes for the last dive. She rotated her feet forward. She heard the unmistakable woof of flame, but she was close enough to Bryce now not to worry. She flung out her wings at the last second and hit Bryce full force. She closed her talons around his tiny body and Malachai’s fire seared her between the shoulder blades.
She clamped her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. Fear and pain tore her to pieces, but she had to keep her wings extended. The air battered them from underneath while Malachai pounded her from above.
Bryce flopped in her grasp. She concentrated all her might on braking against gravity. The ground zoomed at her way too fast. She would crash any second now. Malachai unloaded all his volcanic heat into her and she felt her scales give way. She didn’t care if he killed her as long as she got Bryce onto the ground in safety. She owed him that much.
