Page 68 of Winter Unleashed

“It never has before, but we can try,” Liam replied.

Together, we unleashed our power. He focused a cyclone of wind on them while I let out a stream of fire. The pixies halted in midair and rose to create a wall in front of us. The wind and fire bounced off them leaving them untouched.

“Well, fuck,” I growled as Liam and I cut off our power. With no other choice we pulled the triggers on the massive water guns and yelled for the others to help us.

Our friends joined us, but no matter how much we squirted the fuckers, more kept coming. Some evaded our sprays and latched on to us. I was no longer the only one they were biting. We were fighting a losing battle. For beings that weren’t more than a couple inches tall, their massive numbers made them impossible to defeat with only six people.

“This is going nowhere,” I yelled to the group. “You four should go inside. Liam and I will figure something out.”

“Hey, Em,” Isaac said, “thanks for your concern, but fuck you. We’re in this together.”

“They’ll kill us all. We don’t all need to die here.”

Before anyone else could respond a loud boom sounded and the pixies fell to the ground. The six of us looked at each other in confusion.

“What the fuck was that?” I asked.

“Belial,” Liam responded.

I couldn’t figure out how he knew that because there was no sign of the demon when I looked around the yard. Then I remembered the same sound from the Academy when he had been fighting Celeste.

“Where is he?” I asked, turning in a circle.

“Right here, Vinura,” Belial said as he appeared in front of me.

His scent of incense and mulled wine was intoxicating, and I leaned toward him. Liam’s growl woke me from my stupor, and I punched the demon in the chest.

“Oof,” Belial breathed. “Nice hit.”

“Thanks for the help and all, but why are you here?” I asked as I moved away from him.

“You needed help. I came.” He shrugged.

I could feel Liam’s anger through our bond. If Belial stayed too long, there’d be a brawl. I took Liam’s hand and tried to soothe him by caressing it with my thumb. My lips pulled into a smile as I turned back to the demon. “How did you know we needed help?”

“I heard about what happened to you,” he said, nodding at me. “I’ve been keeping an eye on you ever since.” My face scrunched in disgust, and he laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not a peeping Tom.”

Liam growled. The depth of the sound told me his wolf was riding close to the surface. “You’ve never given a shit about anyone. Why now? Why Ember?”

Belial lazily turned his gaze to Liam. “She’s worth caring about.”

“Liam, stop,” I said when he lunged forward. “Please.”

He snarled as he turned to me with wolf’s eyes. Once his wolf took over, and the Vinur came out, there would be no stopping him. I needed to calm him. The best way I knew to get him back from this state was to pleasure him, and I was so not doing that in front of my friends and a demon.

I placed my hands on either side of his face and pressed my lips to his. “Liam, come back to me.” I licked his lips, but he didn’t open them. “Will you guys excuse us?” I asked the group without taking my eyes off Liam.

I heard Isaac and Philip arguing with Belial for a moment. Liam heard it too and let out a long growl. The demon finally gave in and let my friends lead him back into the house.

“Liam, listen to me,” I whispered, but he growled again. “Mr. Fraser, you need to calm down.”

I licked his lips again. This time they parted just enough for me to slip my tongue between them and tease his, but he didn’t kiss me back. “You can’t kill the demon. I need you to come back to me.”

A sense of triumph filled me when his hands moved to my hips. I was still looking into his wolf’s eyes though. This time when I touched my lips to his, he growled but kissed me back with so much passion my knees buckled. I let him take the wheel, guiding the kiss wherever he wanted it to go. Whatever he needed to calm down was what I’d give him.

His hand slid under my shirt to massage my breast. He growled when he found I wasn’t wearing a bra, then he tore his mouth from mine. “We can’t.” His voice was deep and gravelly, but his eyes were clearer, more Liam.

“Whatever you want, I’m here to give it.”