The Darkest Kiss

'Ugh. Digging will not be fun.'

'Fun is not the purpose of the trip.'

'Killjoy.' She reached into her jacket and withdrew a pair of black gloves. Using her teeth, she ripped off the tags. Then, staring him in the eye, she tugged the leather over her hands.

'You stole them?'

'That's what I like about you, sweetcakes. You're an observant kind of guy.'

Lucien shook his head, his lips twitching. He marched forward, forcing her to follow or be left behind. 'Tell me why you must steal to prevent yourself from burning a building. You hinted, I deduced, but I would like to hear firsthand.'

She kept pace beside him. 'Remember those wars Reyes mentioned that night at the club? Well, guess what? I did start them. When I first walked among mortals, I was insane with my need for disorder and my every movement seemed to spur them into fury. With each other, not me. Worse, I couldn't look at a torch without knocking it over. Sometimes I didn't even realize I'd done it until the flames were dancing at my feet and people were screaming. And those screams, oh, gods, those screams.' She sighed dreamily. 'They were so delicious to my ears. Like auditory ice cream. More and more, I wanted to hear them. Needed to hear them.'

'Anarchy means to be without law. Perhaps, deep down, those screams represented the chaos your nature demands.'

'Yes,' she said, eyes widening.

'The demon inside me is Death. For the longest time, it craved the absence of life, no matter what I had to do to accommodate that desire.'

'You really do understand.' She shook her head, her expression a little shocked. A strand of hair fell, and she hooked it behind her ear. 'One day I caught myself reaching out, about to cut a chandelier from a ceiling just to hear the glass shatter and the people shriek, when a woman walked by. She was wearing a ring and the diamond winked in the light, brighter than any chandelier. Gods, I wanted that diamond. I followed her and stole it. The moment I slipped it on my finger, this grinding need inside me just…quieted somehow. I've been stealing ever since.'

He was silent a moment. 'You may steal from me anytime.' Sadly, he feared it was he who would soon be stealing from her. More than ever, he did not want to take her life. Like him, she could have become a living nightmare but she strove to be more. Better.

She tossed him a grin. 'Thank you.'

His chest started aching. The key. Ask about the key. 'Have you spent much time in the Arctic?' he found himself asking instead.

'A little. Oh, this is going to be fun! Well, aside from the digging part.' She clapped excitedly. 'Just the two of us, snuggled up to keep warm, no worries about Hunters. I doubt any human could survive the cold for long. Now, come on. I don't want to walk anymore. It's a waste of time.' In the next instant, she disappeared.

He followed with no hesitation—

Arriving in Greece. The island, his rented home. He dropped his bags, not sensing or seeing any of the other warriors. They were probably still gathering supplies.

Anya plopped on the cream-colored leather couch as if she hadn't a care. With a blissful sigh, she removed her stolen gloves, followed by her boots, revealing pretty white leggings. She tossed both aside. Next she removed her coat—revealing a white lace bra.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head. 'That is what you have been wearing all day?'

She grinned wickedly. 'Yes. Do you like?'

His cock swelled to life. Again. This time thicker, fuller. Harder, hotter. She was sexier now than when she'd worn the maid's uniform—and she'd nearly felled him then. Thank the gods he hadn't known what little she'd worn underneath. He might have killed everyone who looked at her, and then attacked her there in the snow.

He couldn't tear his gaze away from her. Her stomach was flat and the color of cream, her navel a sensual feast to his eyes. Her breasts were full and ripe, the pink nipples hazily visible and oh so hard. The leggings conformed to her body like a second skin.

'Well? Do you like?' she repeated, stretching out. Her feet were bare, the pretty nails glittering in the light. 'You could have seen this and more earlier, but you were too busy being stubborn. Don't be stubborn this time.'

'You are beautiful, Anya.'

'Come over here and kiss me, then,' she beseeched huskily.

'I can't,' he croaked out.

'Why not?' She ran a fingertip down her stomach, around her navel. 'It's not like I'm asking you to screw me. Just kiss and touch me a little. And FYI, you should know this is the last time I'm going to offer myself to you. Your continued rejection is screwing with my confidence.'

A roar sounded in his head. Not touch her? Not kiss her? 'Why not more than kissing and touching?'

'Because.' She crossed her arms over her middle, smashing her breasts together.

Holy gods. 'Answer me.'

'Why should I? You rarely answer me.' Again she ran a fingertip down the planes of her stomach.

His gaze followed the action. He swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. She would give herself to other men, but not him. The realization sunk in, and he ground his teeth together. Him, she would only allow to kiss her. He wasn't good enough for anything else.

He wanted to hate her for that, but he'd done this to himself. He'd purposefully carved himself so that women would not want him. And though she obviously found him lacking, he still sought to save her life. 'We need to discuss something, Anya.'

'What? The best way to move your tongue?'

'The key. Give me the key Cronus wants, and I'll do anything you want, kiss you however you want me to.'

Color leached from her cheeks. 'Hell, no. I don't want you that badly.'

He'd known that, but hearing her say it cut deeply. 'Giving up the key will save your life.'

'Without the key, my life isn't worth living. Now, I don't want to talk about it anymore. I want to talk about us.'

'There can be no us until you give me that key.'

'The key is mine,' she shouted, 'and I will never give it up. Do you understand? Never! I would rather die.'

'You will die if you don't. You are forcing my hand, Anya.'

'What, you plan to steal it?'

He didn't answer.

'You'll regret it if you try.'

Still no response.

'Forget the key! We were having fun and could be having more fun right now.'

'Cronus came to me, threatened those I love. I am out of time, Anya. I am to bring him the key or you. I would rather bring the key.'

The pulse in her neck fluttered riotously. 'When did he come to you?'

'Before we went shopping,' he admitted.

'That's why you went so easily. You thought to sweeten me up so I'd just hand the key over.' She laughed bitterly. 'Or maybe you thought I'd slip and tell you where it is and you'd steal it. So much for your lofty principles.'

'Which is it to be? You or the key?'

'Me.' She raised her chin. 'I told you. I will not part with the key.'

'Anya,' he said, hating himself. Hating Cronus. Hating even the woman he was trying to save. She made him feel. Now, more than ever, emotions were his enemy. 'This is your last warning.'

'Lucien, I can't give it up.' Tears filled her eyes. 'I can't.'

Those tears…'Why?'