Ultimate Warriors Read online

  ULTIMATE WARRIORS

  An anthology of superheroes and super heroines

  With stories by

  Jaide Fox

  Brenna Lyons

  Joy Nash

  Michelle M. Pillow

  Demon Huntress: Sacrificed © copyright August 2004, Jaide Fox

  With Great Power © copyright August 2004 Brenna Lyons

  Heroes Incorporated © copyright August 2004 Joy Nash

  Silk © copyright August 2004 Michelle M. Pillow

  Cover art by Eliza Black © copyright August 2004

  New Concepts Publishing

  5202 Humphreys Rd.

  Lake Park, GA 31636

  www.newconceptspublishing.com

  Demon Huntress: SACRIFICED

  By

  Jaide Fox

  © copyright August 2004, Jaide Fox

  Chapter One

  The warm summer air caressed my skin as I soared through the air, searching frantically for my house. It was difficult to find, since it was dark, and the country seemed to swallow light like a black hole, leaving me aimlessly wandering above winding dirt roads and the treetops.

  My heart lodged in my throat, pounding and making it difficult to breathe. I couldn’t remember landmarks near my house … couldn’t get my bearings. Fear induced adrenaline suffused me.

  I’d felt fear often enough, but never so strongly. This was as close to terror as I’d ever come. Perspiration coated my skin, cooling rapidly in the air, giving me goosebumps in spite of the humidity.

  He was out there, somewhere. Hunting me. And I knew he would find me. There was no stopping him.

  Lightning flashed above like a strobe light, blinding me. The clouds moved, parting in a furious wind.

  I dove and smacked into something, gasping as it grabbed me in a merciless grip.

  There was nothing there but air and darkness and the heat of a creature from the deep. I smelled fire and brimstone. Fucking brimstone.

  "Got you," a deep voice said with a growling chuckle that rumbled against my chest.

  Shock raised chills on my skin. His fingers bit into my wrists, forcing my back to arch, my breasts to flatten against his chest.

  I struggled against him, but there was nothing I could do to break his hold. I had nothing to brace myself against, nothing but my own powers of flight, and they were pitiful against him. Panic made my stomach flutter, my heart beat in my chest like a hip hop bass on speed.

  It was with a dawning sense of horror that I realized I’d lost my clothes, and I couldn’t remember how or when they’d disappeared.

  "Let me the fuck go!" I screamed, gnashing my teeth, tossing my head as if it would help somehow.

  He laughed again, tightening his hold. Struggling only seemed to excite him. He rubbed against me, forcing my legs to part around him, until his hard cock ground against my bare cleft.

  The movement shocked me to my core. Unbidden wetness saturated my labia on the instant of that unwanted touch. My belly clenched on a spasm, and my vaginal muscles tightened reflexively with the instinct to shut him out.

  "I like it when you fight me like that, Nari. How much would you buck and gnash if I fuck you here, in the open?"

  I went stiff all over, breathing hard through my nostrils until they flared with each breath. It was always the same with him. He wanted me to fight. He wanted my absolute submission.

  I didn’t know what to do, only that I couldn’t give up. I had to change my tactics.

  He knew my name. I didn’t know his. He felt like a man, but he wasn’t. He was something else. I’d never been able to see him. How could I fight someone I couldn’t see?

  A helpless feeling washed over me, draining the fight from my body in slow increments. Flight had tired me, but the strain of trying to hold myself stiff to resist him wore on me.

  "You don’t answer. Could it be you’re considering my offer this time?"

  He sniffed my neck, his breath hot, moist, and then his mouth opened over it, his tongue lashing out to lave my skin.

  I growled at him in warning.

  His tongue traveled up to my ear, pushed inside, molten and wet … and forked. I shuddered. With revulsion, I told myself.

  "I could be persuaded to let you go this time if you asked," he whispered before lapping my neck.

  Asking was too much like begging. I’d never begged for anything in my life. Besides, I didn’t think he’d do it anyway. I grit my teeth. "I’d never ask you for a damned thing, you fucking bastard."

  He grunted and nicked me with his teeth. I controlled the wince. Pain I could deal with. I couldn’t handle him trying to seduce me. That terrified me more than I cared to admit.

  "Good. It’s better this way. Don’t you agree that pain makes the pleasure so much the sweeter?"

  The world spun as he whirled us toward the ground. My house rose up before us, a pitiful facade of safety. The door burst open on a gust of wind.

  Locked around my body, he flew us down the hall as if he knew exactly where my bedroom was. The door slammed open just before we hit it, and then we were inside, crashing down on the bed.

  I bucked immediately, freeing a hand to go for the knife I always kept beneath my pillow.

  He laughed and snatched my hand back, pinning my wrists down into the mattress, holding my legs down with his own as his weight settled over me.

  He was huge, heavy enough I could barely breathe with him on top of me. I couldn’t tell just how big he was, only that he seemed to be everywhere.

  He held me down, but he didn’t seem to need his hands. I felt him dip over me, felt his hot breath just before his mouth closed over one breast. His teeth bit into me, ever so lightly, and his tongue flicked out. Rough, it ground against my nipple, making it instantly hard.

  I sucked in a sharp breath, breathing harshly. His grunt of approval was barely audible past the roar in my ears. Ripples of pleasure radiated from my nipple. He circled my distended flesh, suckling me until I knew he’d left his mark, sucking until he wrung a cry from my throat.

  "God damn you," I said, my voice breaking as he thrust my legs apart with one rough hand and ground the hard ridge of his cock up against my slit.

  He broke free, releasing my achy breast to torture the other with the scrape of his teeth.

  "You’re wet, Nari," he growled as he tugged my nipple between his lips, rocking his hips to glide against my clit. It seemed to blossom under that insistent pressure, grow swollen and achingly sensitive.

  "Big fucking deal," I ground out, hissing as he rubbed against my folds as if to prove a point.

  He laved the underside of my breast, nipping it, pleasure and pain mingling. "You want me to rape you, don’t you?"

  "No." I clenched my hands, feeling my fingers go tingly with the restricted flow of blood.

  "It’s not rape if you want it," he taunted, dragging himself lower, kissing the hollow of my stomach. I didn’t even know how he could reach it and still hold my hands. "You want my tongue inside your tight little cunt." Something touched my slit … and it wasn’t his hand or cock.

  "No!" I screamed. I struggled then, fought until I was gasping for air.

  He rose over me once more, his shaft riding back against my slit, slipping through my wetness to slide over my clit with unbearable roughness. My clit seemed to swell under the pressure, throb with an acute, piercing pleasure. He pressed his weight down, burying me in the mattress until my skin molded to his, my breasts bulged against his chest. My nipples felt like two rocks, so incredibly sensitive and hard the slightest touch made them burn. The pressure of his chest made me scream in unfulfilled agony. I tried to buck again, hands clenching, feet scrambling for purchase. My throat
hurt from holding back a scream.

  Each struggle only made him rougher. Made it hurt more as he rubbed against me like a beast that enjoyed toying with its prey. But, god help me, I was beginning to enjoy the pain. Crave it.

  I needed to come so badly. Needed it with a desperation akin to madness.

  A plea for surcease caught in my throat before I could utter it. I choked on it, gasping and coughing.

  "Nothing you say will stop me," he said against my ear. "I’ll just enjoy it more the more you resist me."

  What woman in her right mind would want this? But the more he touched me, the more I wanted it. Oh god! Fuckin’ help me! I screamed inside my mind, jerking to attention as the harsh slide of his cock became a prod against my vagina. My nether lips seemed to peel back for him, to stretch and grasp for the thickness of his cock.

  He barely nudged me and already my belly ached, my pussy burned.

  Teeth scraped my jaw line. "Join me, and I’ll make it good for you. You haven’t known ecstasy until my cum has been inside your womb."

  "Never!"

  He shifted his hips, pressing my thighs so wide apart my hip bones popped. His cockhead nudged my opening, but it would never fit without ripping me apart. My juices flowed at the threat of sensual pain, defying my mind, or perhaps because of some unconscious desire to be ridden like a whore.

  "I could take this from you," he whispered.

  "Fuck you!" I snarled, biting at the face I could feel but not see.

  He growled furiously and shifted, pressing his dick against my anus, pushing, pushing until it hurt … so good.

  I jerked against him, my inner muscles clenching. I almost came right then. I cursed at him again and again as he forced his way into me. The fight was leaving me, and I suddenly wanted him to take me. Fuck me all night long until I was broken and weak.

  No. I couldn’t give in. I tensed. "No!" I screamed, trying to resist the sensual lure of pain and pleasure.

  * * * *

  Nariko Suzaku jerked from sleep, bolting upright in bed. Tears burned at her eyes, a cry choked her throat. She could almost smell him on her skin, still feel the touch of him nudging her body’s openings, his teeth on her throat and breasts. She collapsed back onto her pillows, trembling, fighting the arousal and fear that permeated her senses.

  Oh, god. It was close that time. "Too close," she whispered to herself.

  Nariko rolled onto her side, a hand pressed between her thighs as if it would assuage the ache there. She was wet with arousal. It disgusted her that she got so aroused about being taken by force, especially from a creature she’d never seen, who enjoyed tormenting her.

  He was a monster. A demon from hell or wherever else monsters came from.

  She’d run so far, so long. It had made no difference. He knew her. He’d caught her now, and his seduction tore at her control, frayed her nerves. Why did he want her submission? Why did she fight it so hard? It was just a dream.

  But it wasn‘t. It had always been real to her. Real in a way that if she was conquered by him, she would never recover. She knew it.

  Already the memory of the dream faded to hazy details, but the intensity remained. Fear. Lust. Crowding her body, seeping away willpower as effectively as a drug. Nariko knew she had something wrong with her mentally. And really, it was no wonder she was fucked up in the head.

  She was a monster too.

  It was why she’d been abandoned at birth, left to grow up at an orphanage. No one had wanted her, even as a baby, because they all knew there was something wrong with her. Physically, she was fine. But evil could be masked by even the most beautiful, and her face was far from that of an angel’s.

  Nariko climbed out of bed and walked into her bathroom, turning on the shower and slipping inside.

  She still felt like she could smell him on her, and she wanted the reminder of the dream and her arousal out of her mind and off her body.

  Today. Today she would see a doctor about these night terrors. If she didn’t, she knew it was only a matter of time before she went completely insane. She just hoped it wasn’t already too late.

  Chapter Two

  "The Doctor will see you now."

  Nariko was nervous. She was always nervous in doctors’ offices. Of course, Doctor Savage wasn’t a "real" doctor. He was a sleep therapist. But she was still nervous and dreading the visit.

  When she was shown into his office, he was bent over searching for something in the bottom drawer of his desk. "Just take a seat," he said without looking up.

  Nariko looked around at the offerings and finally settled on the couch. The drawer slammed, drawing her attention back to Doctor Savage as he sat up in his chair and folded his hands on his desk, smiling at her and displaying a beautiful set of gleaming white teeth.

  A shock of surprise ran through Nariko as she gaped at him. He didn’t look like any doctor she’d ever seen. Not in real life, anyway. The actors on TV couldn’t even hold a candle to this guy.

  He was blond, his hair a dark gold but streaked with locks of platinum that created sun-induced highlights lovely enough to make her loathe her own drab, black hair. His bangs fell across his forehead in a way that inevitably made a person want to push them aside just for the chance to touch that silky hair, and she was not immune. He was sun bronzed, made more evident by the contrast of his white shirt, which covered a set of shoulders so broad, she knew they had to be all muscle. That he was all muscle.

  His dark brows were heavy and straight over his eyes. Angry eyebrows, she’d always called them, but on him, they were just enough to offset the perfection of his face and make him truly arresting.

  She couldn’t figure out what it was about his face that made her want to stare at it. It seemed normal, almost average if she looked at each feature separately, but there was something there in the combination that seized her attention and made her heart gallop.

  She didn’t know if she could handle being around a doctor this damn sexy. She wondered if it was too late to get up and walk out the door.

  "What can I help you with today Miss … Ms. …." he trailed off, searching around his desk and picked up a file his nurse had dropped there when she’d escorted her into the room. "Is it Miss or Mrs. Suzaku?"

  Nariko recovered from her initial surprise. She eyed him speculatively, wondering what difference it made. "Miss. Why?"

  He reddened slightly. "This is usually easier if we can form a bond of trust, and part of that is getting to know you."

  She relaxed fractionally. "I’m really a lot more interested in getting something to help me sleep."

  He lifted one dark, golden brow. "I don’t work that way, Nariko."

  Nariko didn’t know what irritated her worse, his familiarity, or the fact that he just dismissed her request out of hand. She resisted frowning at him, keeping her face impassive. "How do you work then?"

  He allowed his gaze to travel her length before meeting hers once more. "Drugs are for the incurable. I’ve found that most patients can be treated naturally, overcoming the problems that prevent them from sleeping."

  Nariko studied him for several moments, lacing her fingers in her lap to keep from fidgeting. "So I’m just supposed to discuss it with you? Is that how I’m supposed to be cured from not sleeping every night?"

  He lifted his hands outward and shrugged. "Why don’t you explain exactly what your problem is."

  Nariko couldn’t help it. Blood flooded into her cheeks. "I have … dreams. They’re very … real and very disturbing."

  He frowned thoughtfully. "Why don’t you tell me one of your dreams?"

  Nariko hadn’t thought it possible to blush any harder than she was already. She gaped at him, opened her mouth, and closed it several times. "I don’t remember them, actually."

  Something gleamed in his eyes. She was sure it was amusement. "Sexual?" he asked.

  She felt really hot. All that blood pounding in her cheeks was starting to make her sweat. She cleared her throat. "Um. Sort o
f."

  He was silent for several moments. "Ah … are you involved with someone at the moment?"

  "No," she said stiffly.

  "Is it possible that your dreams are related to problems you had in a previous relationship?"

  "I don’t think so."

  "Why?"

  She sighed, turning to stare out the window. "Because number 1, I’ve never been in a relationship at all. I’m a virgin. And number 2, the thing I always dream of is a demon."

  She didn’t want to look at him. She was sure he was trying hard not to laugh. Either that, or he was staring at her like she was some kind of freak because she was a grown woman and claiming to be a virgin. He was silent for so long, however, that she found she couldn’t resist turning to look and see what his reaction was. To her surprise, there wasn’t a trace of amusement in his expression.

  "What makes you think he’s a demon?"

  Nariko frowned. "I’m not sure. I’ve never actually seen him. It’s one of those things you just know."

  "So you do remember the dreams?"

  "I don’t really want to talk about them."

  "I understand that you’re not comfortable when we’ve only just met, and believe me, I wouldn’t pry if I didn’t think it wasn’t important, but I need to know the nature of the dreams before I can begin to understand what’s causing them and help you work your way through them."

  Nariko stared at him, feeling a mixture of hope and doubt, discomfort and embarrassment. It really was getting harder and harder to cope with these dreams. As uncomfortable as she felt even thinking about telling him, if there was any chance he could help her to get rid of them, she really wanted to have peaceful sleep again. She had permanent circles under her eyes. She could barely remember sleep without nightmares. "I’m just not really comfortable talking about them."

  Smiling, he rose from his desk and moved to the light switch, dimming the lights. "Why don’t you just relax there on the couch. Sit up if you want to, lay down if you want to. Just get comfortable. I’m going to move to the chair by the window so that you don’t have to look at me. And when you feel relaxed enough, I want you to tell me about your last dream."