Lethal Rider

Not entirely. She’d done it for the save-the-world stuff, but Than had been right when he’d said there was always a personal consideration. She’d needed to be useful to The Aegis. She’d needed to be needed.

“I’m sorry—”

“What did I just say? Don’t you dare be sorry. If you’re sorry, if you could change things, that would mean you wouldn’t be pregnant, and I wouldn’t have a son on the way.”

She wasn’t sure she’d heard that right. “But we created your agimortus.”

“And you know what? I don’t care. I’ve been alone for five thousand years, Regan. I’ve wanted children. I’ve wanted sex. I’ve wanted to be with someone. I’d have sold my soul for those things. Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I can’t be sorry, and I don’t want you to be, either.” He hooked a finger under her chin and stared at her for so long she started to squirm. “And I don’t hate you. I hate what you have planned for our son, and we’ll discuss that, but I don’t hate you.”

Than leaned over, and she prepared herself for… she wasn’t sure what for. But it sure wasn’t for him to gather her in his arms and carry her out of the bathroom.

“Are you going to put me in the dungeon again?” she muttered into his chest. God, she hoped not. She was far too tired to fight. She would, because she didn’t know how to do anything else, but she didn’t know what would be left after she was done.

“Shh.” He set her on the bed and stretched out behind her, his long, hard body against her back. One hand came down on her arm and began to stroke. “I’m sorry.” His voice was a low murmur in her hair. “No more fighting.”

“No more fighting,” she whispered.

“I should be taking better care of you. If you’re hungry, I’ll feed you. If you’re tired, I’ll sit by the bed and watch over you while you sleep. And I won’t hold you to the eight months thing.” He pressed his forehead against the back of her neck, and she moaned at the intimacy of it. “I wasn’t lying when I said you’d awakened something sexual in me, something that frankly scares the shit out of me. But that’s my problem, not yours. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

“What…” She swallowed. “What if I want to?”

Behind her, he went taut, and she kicked herself for asking him that. They were in a fragile place right now, and he might be all for revenge sex, but maybe he wasn’t ready for intimacy that wasn’t rooted in anger.

His hand slid down her arm to her hip. “I’ll give you that, too.”

She bit back a groan as his palm eased between her thighs. “I don’t want to be a pity fuck.”

“This is so not pity.” He made slow, lazy circles on the skin of her inner thighs, his thumb just brushing where she wanted his touch. “And it won’t be a fuck if you don’t want it.”

Okay, then. She wanted it. God, she wanted it. But what shocked her, what truly shook her so hard she actually trembled, was that she all of a sudden wanted not just an orgasm, but a connection. Just once she’d like to feel what it was to have someone care, not about what she could give them, but about what she wanted. Yes, Thanatos wanted the baby she carried inside her, but his obligation to her ended with food, shelter, and safety.

Making her feel good was a gift, and it was something only he could do. And it was something she wanted from him only.

“I … want it.”

“Show me.”

Tight, shivery arousal coiled in her belly as she reached down and took his hand. Both of them were trembling when she dragged his fingers to her core.

His groan vibrated against her back as one finger slid between her folds. “You’re so wet.”

She arched into his caress, forcing his touch deeper. His cock nudged the seam of her butt, and she instinctively lifted one leg to allow his shaft to slip between her thighs. Desire became a thundering pulse in her veins and a roar in her ears.

“I don’t…” Thanatos ground his hips against her, making his shaft slide hotly against her skin. “I don’t know much about this.”

It must have been a painful admission for him, but that didn’t stop him from pushing one finger inside her and swirling it over sensitive spots like an expert.

“Neither do I,” she gasped, “but I promise, you’re doing fine.”

He moved his hand, replacing it with his cock. His shaft slid back and forth between her thighs, not yet inside her, but still stroking achy flesh with each pump of his hips. Pushing up on one elbow and leaning over her, he captured her chin in his palm and tilted her head back so he could see her. His eyes glowed in the dim light, the hunger in them stark and desperate.

“Kiss me?” There was a vulnerability in his request that had such a powerful effect on her that she almost choked up.

In answer, she lifted her head up and touched her lips to his. Even in this awkward position, their mouths fused in a burning, urgent kiss. His lips parted for the sweep of her tongue against his, and good God, he tasted good. Like ale and bitter chocolate, sin and decadence.

“Please,” she whispered brokenly against his mouth. “Please…now.”

She pushed back against him, and the blunt head of him found her core. For a long moment, they were motionless, their breaths and pulses in perfect unison. Heat poured off him, bathing her in warmth. Need was something they shared, and when she couldn’t stand the tension anymore, he seemed to know, and he entered her in one long, slow thrust.

He eased her head down to the pillow and settled in behind her, spooning. “You okay?” His voice was wonderfully rough.

“Oh, yes.” She arched, taking him deeper, and he groaned.

Her blood quickened as he began to pump his hips. His touch was light, his thrusts gentle, so maddeningly restrained. But against her neck, his breath came in fast, hot bursts.

“All I could think of was you.” He moved faster, his palm sliding over her swollen belly to her center, where he found the sensitive knot that tingled under his touch. “When I was gone, all I wanted was to be back here with you. Only you.”

Twenty-two

All I could think of was you. When I was gone, all I wanted was to be back here with you. Only you.

Thanatos couldn’t believe he’d said that. Five thousand years had shown him that males did and said the dumbest shit when they were inside a female, but Than had always believed he’d be different. If he could ever have sex, anyway.

And what had he done? He’d gone and poured his fool heart out to Regan. He’d just flayed himself wide open like one of the lovesick idiots he used to scorn.

Still, with each slow thrust, he couldn’t deny that it all felt so right. He’d been raised to worship nature, to understand that everything happened for a reason and if something felt right, you went with the flow. The day he was cursed to be a Horseman, his human life was set aside, replaced by anger and violence… all things he’d been taught to avoid.

Only now was he remembering the fundamentals of his youth—the joy of a laugh or eating a meal with someone who wasn’t your brother or sister, the peace of sharing a quiet moment in front of a fire, the crackling energy behind a teasing smile, the mutual love of something as simple as butter on a sandwich.

That was life. Those were the things that made people happy to be alive. It was all coming back to him, and it was this moment, with this woman, that made it happen.

A throaty cry rang out, a beautiful feminine sound that fired his blood. Regan’s silky channel pulsed around him, contracting and releasing in exquisite timing with his pistoning hips. The spooning position restricted his movement as well as the depth of his thrusts, but being able to surround her with his arms, to cover her with his body, and protect the life inside her made it incredible.