KING OF THE UNDERWORLD (Earthbound Book 1)

I stand in his arms and breathe in his scent, a heady mixture of his cologne and his natural essence. It surrounds me, engulfs me, causing my thighs to clench. All I can think about in my fog-filled mind is having his lips and hands on my body. Hips lips meet mine and my mouth opens for him willingly. There’s nobody nearby who can stop what is going to happen. I am his for the taking. A part of me tries to protest, but deep down, I really don’t want to.

Gripping his hair with both fists, I arch against him, as if doing so will connect us on a deeper level. I feel his rock-hard cock pressing against my stomach, twitching with impatience. He stifles the moan rising in my throat when he wraps his large hand around my neck. All the while, he’s directing me towards the wall behind me, pushing me against it before grabbing my thighs and wrapping them around his waist. I whimper as I feel his hardness rub against my heated core.

As I writhe against him, he skims a hand over my breast, and I never want the sensation of his touch to end. I’m not a small woman, but his large frame towers over me, completely surrounding me. I’ve never felt more alive. I feel protected…wanted. As though I’m the only woman he will ever desire from this moment forward. Gripping him tightly between my thighs, I whimper as an intense longing overwhelms me, and though it excites me, the fervent emotions he pulls from the depths of my soul terrify me.

I want him deep inside of me, need to feel his hardness plunging deep and taking me to places I’ve never experienced. The tempo of the kiss changes, becoming even more demanding as his lips ravish my mouth in an explosion of passion and desire. I moan, pushing my body against his, writhing in anguish to get closer. I’ve never felt this burning need before and it’s consuming me in a way I never thought possible. A shiver of pleasure races down my spine as he nips at my throat. I dig my nails into his back and hold on tight as he sucks roughly on the soft spot where my neck meets my shoulder, his tongue and teeth making me cry out with longing. The husky sounds escaping me are raw, animalistic. I need him to fuck me, to take me with abandon.

He lifts his head, placing his lips against my ear. “I want to fuck you. I need to be inside of you.” His voice comes out in a low growl before he slams his lips against mine once more, stealing my breath.

The need to claim him, to have him claim me, chases any trace of coherent thought from my mind. As his hard body pins me to the wall, I grab his shirt in both hands and pull, buttons flying everywhere as I rip his shirt off. With a hungry moan, I run greedy hands down his firm back, the muscles flexing under my fingertips. Trailing my hands down his chest and abdomen, I feel a light dusting of hair, his abs rigid as I graze them with my palms.

Pulling his chest away from mine, he grabs my top and strips it off in one swipe, baring my breasts to his ravenous gaze. He leans down, nuzzling and biting them, causing me to arch my back in bliss as he tastes the sensitive skin before moving down to take a stiff nipple into his mouth. Closing my eyes, I brace myself against the wall, allowing him to lick and kiss his way down my torso. He untangles my legs from around his waist and rips my pants down my body, taking my panties with them.

He teases me open with his fingers and my hips thrust forward to meet them. Lucien growls and I feel the vibrations travel the length of my body, every nerve ending alert. Now that I’ve been laid bare for him, there’s no turning back. I will never crave another as I do him. No matter who I may try to give my body to in the future, none will compare.

Abruptly, the door slams open, hitting the wall with a loud thud and causing me to shriek and stiffen in Lucien’s arms.

“Fuck! “Shit, sorry boss, but we’ve got trouble,” an obnoxious voice calls from the doorway.

I’m frozen in shock and feel my cheeks flush with mortification as all the passion fades quickly from the room.

“GET. THE. FUCK. OUT!” Lucien roars, his expression full of rage as he detangles himself from me and turns around to face the man who barged in without knocking. Thank heavens his body is large enough to hide me.

“Sorry, Lucien,” is muttered before the door clicks shut.

Lucien turns back around to face me, placing his large hand on my waist. He pulls me towards him, and passion engulfs me once more. I have no desire to break from his embrace, the mere touch sending a shiver through my entire body. Knowing what’s coming, disappointment washes over me as I feel the brush of his lips against my cheek before settling at my ear.

“I have to go,” he whispers, his breath hot against my flesh, hand flexing at my waist. “Stay here until either Alex, Adam, or Logan arrives to take you back to your room. Don’t leave without one of them,” he orders, his voice husky.

I feel my skin tingle under his hand and nod my head at his request. I feel a strange sense of loss as he releases me and hands me my clothing, which I hurriedly pull on as he grabs a spare shirt from the other side of the room.

Eyes tracking him hungrily, taking in every inch of his incredible body, I watch with disappointment as he opens the door and closes it behind him.

I’m left once more with my thoughts and emotions swirling in overdrive. The emptiness of the room is magnified tenfold without his presence, the silence allowing room for doubts to surface. Could I trust the things he told me? My warring emotions make me want to believe him, but I can’t help wondering if I should. How is it possible to feel such a strong connection to someone I hardly know? I know it won’t be long before he seeks me out again, the chemistry between us is too strong for him not to. Excitement and fear threaten to overpower me, and I know I need to gain control of my emotions before I spiral out of control.

Making an effort to push Lucien from my mind, I think about the man who walked in. I’m certain I recognized his voice. I’m almost positive he’s the snake shifter who was watching the monitors a few days ago. He gave me the creeps then and I felt the same this time around. Those beady eyes of his give me the willies, and even though he’s gone, it’s like I can still feel them on me. If Lucien hadn’t stood in front of me, blocking me from view, he would have seen all of me, and I don’t know if I would have ever been able to scrub the sensation of his eyes on my bare flesh.

Yuck. Fingers of unease trail down my spine. I hope I never have to see him again.

My witch and omega are bouncing with excitement, elated about what happened between me and Lucien. Although I can feel the pleasure radiating from my omega, it is nothing compared to the unbridled desire pouring out of my witch.

Behave yourselves, dammit. Don’t get so fucking excited. It might have meant nothing! I scold and feel them deflate at my reprimand.

I need to focus and in order to do so, my feelings for Lucien must be pushed to the side. I cannot believe I stupidly agreed to attend the meeting without discussing it with my sisters. They have a right to decide whether or not to attend a meeting with other Naturals, humans, and the two councils. I need to talk to Pamela as soon as possible, but I’m dreading it. I know they’re all going to flip the hell out when I tell them.

My mind wanders back to our last conversation, when Pamela told me that they were going to try to find the woman who broke through our defensive spells. I’d forgotten about her with the stress of finding Lucien and everything that has happened since, but now that I think back, something about her niggles in the recesses of my brain. At the time, we’d all agreed that she felt familiar, but couldn’t remember having seen her before.

Whoever she is, she knows who we are and knew how to find and bypass our spells. She was clearly sent to warn us, but by whom? Can we trust her? Should we take her warning seriously or could it be a trap? Pamela told me she was going to get in touch with an old friend who could trace certain waves which, according to Pamela, are sort of like radio waves. Apparently, the mystery woman would have left them behind even after disappearing. I don’t really understand all of it, complex science tends to go over my head.

Ava was the one to contact me with an update after the wave science guy left. She had a hard time getting the words out around her laughter over the way he acted. According to Ava, he was rude, hadn’t even bothered to say hello. He merely grunted at them, muttered a few spells, and waved his bloody arms up and down like he was trying to take flight. After doing that for about five minutes, he stopped, walked over to the bag he brought with him, and took out two thin silver metal sticks which he waved around his head while running in circles and screaming in a high-pitched tone. Ava said Pamela was pissed at how the rest of our sisters couldn’t seem to hold back their hysterics during his visit, and I wish I’d been there to witness the whole thing.

In the meantime, we’re still waiting for the results of whatever test he performed. I don’t want to say anything to Pamela, but it sounds like it may have been a waste of everybody’s time.

Pulling myself back to the problems at hand, I know I must tell them about all the different factions attending the meeting. I can’t avoid it forever and I need to give them a chance to prepare themselves beforehand.

Hearing footsteps, I notice someone walking down the hallway. There’s a short pause as they reach the door to the room I’m in before continuing on. That’s strange. I shake my head. It can’t be Alex, Logan, or Adam because they would have come in. One of them should have been here by now.

Looking down, I notice I’ve been rubbing at my arm and that there’s a slight tingling under my skin. Breathing in deeply, I can still smell Lucien, almost as if he were still in the room, standing next to me even. It’s distracting and it’s everywhere. Shit. I need to take a shower. I have important things to think about and I can’t focus with his intoxicating essence surrounding me.

I know Lucien told me to wait for one of his men, but my nerves can’t hold out any longer. I move over to the door and start down the hallway, leaving behind the perplexing emotions he caused.

I make it about halfway down the dim corridor to my room when an uneasy feeling comes over me. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and I could swear I’m being watched as goosebumps break out over my body. I glance over my shoulder with a frown. Nothing. After a quick look around, I shake my head and tell myself to stop being silly, but it doesn’t stop me from moving faster towards my room.

Without warning, I feel a sharp pain on my shoulder. Heart racing and eyes wide, I glance down to see long skeletal fingers curled around it. Dark red nails like eagle talons are digging deeply into my flesh, drawing blood and causing me to cry out. I don’t need to turn around to know who’s behind me. I smell her heavy perfume.

I can’t say I’m all that surprised. I’m actually shocked it’s taken her this long to approach me. Only a fool would underestimate a creature such as Aria. I’m no fool. As dangerous as the situation is, I decide to give her one chance to walk away, mostly intact, although I know the chance is pretty much nil that this confrontation will end nicely. I allow her to spin me around, letting her believe she has the upper hand.

“Look what I found wandering around all alone. It seems there’s nobody around to save you, witch,” she says menacingly.

I lift my chin and stare directly into her eyes. “Hello, Aria.”

I’ve never looked into eyes so full of madness that the only thing left is death and destruction. Until now. Looking at her, it’s clear to see how much hatred she holds for me; it’s written all over her face. A twisted, venomous expression slashes across her features and causes me to take an involuntary step back. Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck fuck. That was a mistake. With that one step, the desire to hunt me like prey and kill me lights up her eyes.

I freeze, my gaze wary and watchful as I take in her every move, waiting for her body language or facial expressions to indicate an attack. I’ve known since I met her that given the chance, Aria would do everything in her power to destroy me. Trying to talk her down is a waste of time and oxygen; I have no choice but to fight her. This is what I’ve trained for my whole life.

Her eyes burn a deep blood-red, and before I can react, her arm raises, fingers curled into her palm, her fist brought back towards her chest. Invisible bands close around my throat, like an icy hand gripping me, tightening until I can’t breathe. My eyes widen, bulging from their sockets, as her magical grip attempts to crush my airway. Grasping at the imaginary hand with both of mine, I frantically try to pull away. As my feet start sliding across the floor towards her, my witch rages to the surface. Fuck this! Calling my witch forward, I allow her past the barriers I have in place to keep her under control. Surging up from deep down inside of me, I feel her well of power boiling under my skin.

Giving her room to ascend, I step aside and allow her to take over my body, only staying in control enough to reestablish my hold on her once the job is done. I wait, taking a front row seat for the carnage about to go down.

Within milliseconds, my skin tone changes to the chalky white of my witch, my red hair turning a silver grey. My eyes, now deeply set and shadowed, are silver with a black line rimming the edges and there’s a line across my forehead, connecting them. My witch is giddy with excitement.

She wants to play? Well then. Let’s give her a taste of just who she’s fucking with. I hear my witch clearly, her voice just this side of sane, maniacal laughter ringing in my ears.

I feel my entire body go limp as my witch fully reaches the surface, head and hair draped forward. None of these changes draw attention. My body still hangs listlessly as Aria drags it forward, stopping my witch inches from her face. With a vicious strike, quick as an adder, my witch jabs forward with extended fingers, straight into Aria’s trachea. I hear her gasp for breath as she clutches her throat, bending at the waist to catch her breath, causing her to lose the invisible hold she has on my body.

I watch as Aria staggers back from the impact and the electrical blast that follows comes lightning fast, catching her unaware. The pulse my witch sent out travels the room and hits the bitch square on the chest. Aria’s body hits the wall with an impact that cracks the stone behind her and causes the floor to tremble slightly. Grinning madly, my witch’s eyes narrow as she charges towards her, not giving Aria a chance to retaliate.

“You stupid, silly bitch. How many warnings does my human have to give you?” She spits in a low deep voice, grabbing Aria by the throat and lifting her until her feet dangle several inches above the floor. Bouncing Aria’s head off the wall with each word, she continues. “I’m not going to kill you. At least not today.” She offers an evil grin. “My human would be quite displeased with me if I did. But heed my warning, for I will only give it once. Go near her again, look at her the wrong way even once, and I will not hold back. I will kill you.” She releases the hand wrapped around Aria’s neck and lets her crumple to the floor. “Now fucking go. Before I change my mind.” I can see the imprint of my witch’s hand on Aria’s neck as she crawls along the floor before scrambling to her feet and running down the hallway. As she reaches the corner, she pauses, turning head back towards us. A smug look crosses her face before she scurries around the corner.

That was way too easy, my omega says, finally making an appearance. Aria’s up to something. She’s supposed to be an extremely powerful demon, but she didn’t even put up a fight. And what was that last look? It seemed as though we gave her something she wanted. It just doesn’t feel right.

I agree with my omega and so does my witch. Something is off and I need to figure out what it is. I pull my witch back and feel my appearance revert to normal as I finish walking to my room. I already know Aria will run to Lucien and try telling him her side of things. I somehow doubt she’ll tell him the truth of what really happened, but I guess I’ll find out sooner or later.

LUCIEN

Once again, I had to leave her. It’s really starting to piss me off.

I can still taste her on my tongue and all I want is to get back to her and finish what we started. I just have to take care of this nuisance first.

The shifter will be lucky if I don’t kick the shit out of him. I noticed how he stood there with a glint in his eye, his tongue practically hanging out, staring at Scarlett, hoping to get a glimpse of her body, even as I tried to block her from his sight. I felt Scarlett’s reaction to him, and I plan to question her about it later. Though he’s a shifter, he isn’t a powerful one. He is a slimy little fucker, though.

“Damien, what the fuck is going on?” I demand as I stride towards him, the weaselly fuck of a shifter not far behind. Damien is standing with two more of my men, both of whom seem to be covered in blood. With relief, I notice it isn’t theirs. As I approach, they both nod in my direction before walking away, leaving me with Damien.

“They found the soul keeper. Dead,” Damien informs me as I reach him.

“FUCK!” I roar, hitting the wall with my fist, causing the brick to crumble. This isn’t good. There will be no way to get answers about where Scarlett’s sister was taken or who he was working for. I wanted him alive and in one piece.

“I’m not finished,” Damien states, not showing any reaction to my fist hitting the stone wall, “they found a soul eater in the house with him.”

Bloody hell. Soul eaters are far more dangerous than soul keepers. Once one of them gets ahold of you, there’s no returning your soul to your body. At least with a soul keeper, there’s a chance, albeit an unlikely one. “Shit! Did it touch anyone?” The words are spoken between clenched teeth.

“We got lucky; he didn’t get anyone. I put him in the holding room. Lucien, he will not last long,” he tells me as we start walking down the long hallway. “We don’t think he’s the one who killed the soul keeper. It appears someone else gutted him from stem to sternum.”

“How long do you think he has?” The soul eater must be questioned. I highly doubt it’s a coincidence they were found together.

“A day, maybe two at the most. He’s muttered a few incoherent words, but otherwise has been quiet. If you want to question him and find out what the hell he was doing with the soul keeper, you need to do it now.”

It’s important I get any information I can from him. It’s unheard of to find a soul keeper and a soul eater in the same vicinity. It’s a well-known fact that they tend to kill each other on sight.

“Why is he in the holding room?”

“We still have that fucker Eddie Marshall in the darkroom,” Damien reminds me. Fuck. I’d completely forgotten about that sack of shit.

“Dispose of him,” I order. I’ve gotten what I needed out of him. “Make sure the fucking dirty pedo suffers, but first, line up the cleaning crew and make arrangements to have the soul eater transported to the darkroom. I want it done in the next hour.”

Damien immediately pulls out his phone, dials, and starts barking orders.

“Alf,” he says into the phone, “get rid of the vermin and get the clean-up team in there.” He pauses, listening to what Alf is saying. “Are you fucking kidding me? Yes, now. Alf, you better stop bitching and get the fucking job done because you don’t want me to come down there. It needs to be done within the hour. Make sure the fucker suffers,” he growls before hanging up and shoving the phone back in his pocket. “Fuck that asshole. I swear, one day I’m going to end up killing the fucker,” Damien says with a shake of his bald head, a frown on his face.

“He is a little shit,” I agree with a shrug, “but he’s a loyal one.”

Damien scoffs. “He might be loyal, but he’s a fucking asshole.”

Catching sight of the shifter still standing behind me, Damien narrows his eyes and curls his top lip as he snarls, “I told you to go back to the compound once you followed out your orders. Why the fuck are you still here?” he demands, taking a step towards him. I turn, glaring at the shifter behind me.

Taking a step backwards, his eyes widen as he stutters, “I-I-I o-overh-heard about the soul keeper and soul eater. I was just making sure everyone was okay,” he entire body trembles as he raises his hands in surrender. I doubt he’s telling the full truth; he’s known for his lies. Sneaky fucker.

Baring his teeth, Damien gets in the shifter’s face as his eyes flash red. “Do as you are bloody fucking told before I cut your goddamn head off your shoulders.”

I hear him whimper in fright as he shakily nods his head before turning and practically running down the hall away from us.

“I don’t trust that shit bag,” Damien tells me, narrowing his eyes as he watches the shifter disappear around the corner. “There’s something off about him and it pisses me off that I can’t put my finger on it.”

“He’s being watched. Two of my female employees have complained about him and I noticed he makes Scarlett uneasy.”

“Good. He’s up to no good. I’ve noticed that most of the females avoid him as much as possible and was planning to question him, but with everything going on I haven’t gotten around to it. You could just send him back to Jacob, let him deal with the weirdo,” he says, turning to look at me.

“No. If our suspicions are correct, I want to catch him in the act and deal with him. Then you and I can deal with his creepy ass.”

Damien nods before a sly smirk creeps over his face. “So… you and the little witch Scarlett,” his eyebrows wiggle, “you a thing now?”

“What? Are you a child?” I ask with a sigh, shaking my head at him.

“Maybe,” he barks a laugh. “Are you claiming her as yours?” He asks with a raised brow, expression suddenly serious.

“Fuck yeah. She is mine.” I admit, hesitantly. I’m not the type to expose my feelings to anyone, particularly not my men. It can be used against me and be viewed as a sign of weakness. But this is Damien and I trust him more than just about anyone else.

“Good, it’s about damn time. You’ve been moping around for fucking days. I was starting to get sick of it,” Damien replies, leaning back against the wall behind him, staring at me. “What are you going to do about Aria? To say she’s going to be unhappy is one hell of an understatement. You know she will do everything in her power to keep you away from Scarlett.”

A ball of frustration fills my stomach. She’s becoming more and more unstable. Aria has become a problem, even before Scarlett. I will have to find some way to deal with her soon. If I don’t, there’s no telling what kind of damage she will inflict.

“It doesn’t matter if I claim Scarlett as mine or not. Everyone better fucking know she’s off-limits, even if my mark isn’t on her. I am still working on a solution to keep Aria away from her. She has shown far too much interest in the witch. And I don’t know why she started showing up unexpectedly. How the hell did she even find out I had a witch staying here? She must have an informant placed among my men. Someone I believe to be loyal is passing her intel. It’s the only explanation. She’s up to something and it’s making me uneasy not knowing what her endgame is,” I confess.

“Shit, Lucien. How long have you known she was up to something?” Damien mutters, a disconcerted expression on his face. “Why didn’t you bloody tell me? While I don’t know Scarlett well, I can tell she’s not the type of woman who would be okay with you seeing Aria at the same time as her. What woman in her right mind would be?”

“I’ve suspected something was going on with Aria for a while, but I didn’t have any solid proof. Plus, I didn’t want to believe the woman I’ve kept close all these years could be a traitor, didn’t want to admit that someone I trusted would betray me.”

“And now?” He asks.

“Like I just told you, Scarlett is mine. I will do everything in my power to protect her. I might have to do things that will leave a bitter taste in my mouth to make it happen, but I won’t hesitate to do them. I will not let anyone harm her. Aria isn’t mine anymore, she hasn’t been for years.” I tell him. “She’s more than just a little twisted. Something is wrong with her, and she has become volatile, to the point she may need to be eliminated.” I couldn’t fucking lie to myself or to him any longer. It’s past time I tell him the truth; I will likely need his help before all is said and done. “If Scarlett sees me with Aria, she’s going to have to accept that I’m doing it for her. I need to make sure Scarlett isn’t in danger of Aria coming after her while I figure out what the hell she’s up to.”

“Thank fuck. I’ve kept my mouth shut for the most part about Aria, just like everyone else has, but you’ve always known how I felt about her. It’s not like it was a secret. But do you know why I never spoke up more about it? I’m going to be real with you. We may be right bastards and be downright unscrupulous at times, she has been everything to you for a really long time. Lucien, you’ve done everything she demanded. But can you say the same about her? The thing is, she’s a sick twisted cunt and she’s always been batshit crazy. You just had your head too far up your ass to see it. It wouldn’t have done me a bit of good to speak up, because you weren’t ready to see it. You’ve finally woken up and can see her for the monster she is, what everyone else has always seen.” This is the first time he’s been totally honest about his feelings on the subject. I’m not surprised to hear it, nor am I surprised to find out the rest of my people share his views.

He continues, “But Lucien? Don’t be shocked if Scarlett doesn’t accept your reasoning.” He gives me a knowing look and I turn away. I really don’t like what he’s saying, and the worst part is… I know he’s right. Shit. I really hate that.

The sound of his phone ringing breaks the silence hanging over us after his last revelation. He pulls it out and answers. “Yeah?”

“Okay, we’re on our way. Make sure the fucker is secure. We don’t need any bloody surprises,” he tells them before hanging up.

He turns to me and says, “The soul eater has been transferred to the dark room.”

“Let’s go question the fucker then,” I growl, making my way to the door with him right behind me.

In the next forty-eight hours, I’m going to be overrun by witches, Naturals, and humans. What could possibly go wrong? Fuck me. Shit is about to hit the fan.