The Darkest Kiss

him loose.

'I'm not going to try to kill you again, so you can cease trying to soften me,' he told her.

'How nice for me,' she muttered, looking away. There was a guilty flush to her skin.

'Just know that if you hit me again, I will hit you back,' he lied. He would never be able to hurt her, and he knew it.

'A girl can hope,' she said silkily, changing tactics.

His anger sizzled another degree. 'Stay here or go home, but I'm going to purchase more supplies and I want to do it alone.'

Her shoulders squared, and her chin lifted. 'I'm going with you, so there.'

'No. You are not.' He shook his head. 'I am done with you right now.'

She ran her tongue over her lips. 'Whatever. I know someone. He lives in Greenland, and he has everything we'll need. We'll pop into his place, borrow what we want and make our way into the Arctic.'

He. The word pounded through Lucien's mind, stirring up a storm of jealousy. 'Who is he? And why did you not pop us to him earlier rather than dragging me to Switzerland?'

'He's my friend, and I didn't take you to him because I wanted you to see my—I wanted to shop with you and thought we had plenty of time,' she said, kicking at a shard of glass on the floor. 'Damn it! I'm looking at my feet again.'

'Well, stop.' She'd thought they had plenty of time, which meant she didn't think so anymore. Why? 'Did Cronus threaten you?' The moment the words left him, Anya's behavior began to make sense.

She turned away from him, her back stiff. 'As if I care about that bastard's threats.'

Oh, yes. Cronus had indeed threatened her. 'What did he say to you?'

'Stop, just stop. Cronus said nothing important. Besides, what's between me and another guy isn't really any of your business, is it? Now, do you want to visit William or not?'

'Not. I don't want anyone knowing what we're looking for. Tell me what Cronus said to you.'

'William won't even know we're there. Promise. And damn it, Cronus said nothing.'

'You mean to steal from this William?'

'Yes. So are you ready or not?' she asked coolly.

He studied her. The woman in front of him wasn't the woman he'd kissed and tasted earlier. She was harder, more distant. He didn't like it, but did not know how to change her back.

Lucien wished he had the strength to challenge the god king here and now. He wished he had the strength to walk away from Anya for good. She was tying him in knots. But despite what he'd claimed a few minutes ago, he did not want to be alone. Did not want to be without her.

As if sensing his capitulation, she swung around and gave him a pinky wave. She was pale, her eyes sad, but her lips were smiling. 'See you there, Flowers.'

Lucien didn't follow right away. He gathered his daggers and his Glock, checked the chamber, saw that it was loaded. No telling who this mysterious William was. To be honest, though, his identity didn't really matter. Lucien already hated him.

Maybe, while in Greenland, Death would be summoned to take the bastard's soul.

A warrior could hope, anyway.

And then, right on cue, Death did summon him. Unfortunately, it was to the States, so neither of them were happy. Lucien sighed. He quickly strapped on all his weapons and dematerialized. Anya and her mystery man would have to wait.

HOW LONG CAN I KEEP THIS UP? Anya wondered darkly. The hurt on Lucien's face when she'd claimed to have felt sorry for him had nearly undone her.

She'd actually felt like crying. Still did. Taking a page from Cronus's book, she'd determined his weakness and had exploited it. If you can't resist him, you have to make him resist you.

Rather than pop into William's home, she flashed to his porch and waited for Lucien. Ice-cold wind instantly slapped her mostly-bare skin. A hard shiver racked her. Shoulda changed, dummy. But she'd been eager to escape Lucien, if only for a moment, before he discovered her lies for what they were.

A minute passed, and then another. Lucien remained—frustratingly—absent. If she stood out here any longer, her lips would turn blue, damn it, and that wasn't a good shade for her. Where was he? She couldn't follow his energy like he followed hers, and that really sucked. Had she pushed him too far? Had he decided not to come? To go out on his own?

He had. Oh, he had. Why, that wretched beast!

Well, what did you expect? You were cruel to him.

I had to be.

Before her libido could work up a retort, Lucien finally appeared. He landed behind her. She didn't see him; she felt him. Quick as a snap, her entire body relaxed. Don't look, don't look. A peek at those mismatched eyes, and she might very well throw herself in his arms, sobbing an apology.

Remaining in place was one of the hardest things she'd ever done. After the way she'd treated him, he might be glad for her restraint, though.

'What took you so long?' she asked, doing her best to keep the censure from her tone.

'I do have responsibilities, Anya.' His neutral voice mirrored hers.

Still upset with her, was he? It was for the best, but oh, how she wished otherwise. 'So Death did a little phoning home?' Despite her breeziness, she experienced a wave of compassion. 'How many souls did you have to take this time?'

'Twelve.'

She hated that he'd gone alone. Numb as he tried to make himself when shepherding souls, she wasn't fooled. He probably had stress lines around his eyes and mouth. Don't look! Unable to stop herself, she reached back and squeezed his hand. He didn't pull away, but brought her hand to his lips.

A warm tingle rushed through her, and she melted. How, after everything, could he still treat her tenderly? Gods, she wanted to kick her own ass. He deserved so much better than she could ever give him. Even if it were safe for her to drop the aloof act, at best she would be a lover who couldn't even go all the way.

Just get this over with. 'I decided we should talk to William first. Don't worry, he won't spill your secrets.' Gulping, she knocked on the towering, arched double doors before Lucien could protest. Curving red-and-black serpents were etched over their entire surface. A moment passed. Another. No answer. She knocked again, harder this time.

'This is a nice home,' Lucien remarked. At least he didn't yell at her for making him meet William.

'Yes.' The house wound in a half circle around a snow-covered lawn. There were points on the roof that stretched all the way to the night sky. 'Willie would have it no other way, the egotistical ass.'

A porch light flipped on, chasing away the shadows. One of the doors was pulled open, and William's dark, beautiful head peeked around it.

'Anya?'

She heard Lucien utter a low, menacing growl as the half-clad warrior stepped outside and gathered her into his arms for a hug. 'Hiya, angel,' she said. 'Can we come in? It's freaking freezing out here.'

'Wear more clothing next time,' Lucien snapped behind her.

William remained in place and flicked him a curious glance, then arched a dark, questioning brow at Anya.

'My flavor of the week,' she explained, hating herself. Lucien was so much more than that, but she couldn't risk admitting it aloud. 'You're looking good, sugar.' And he was. He was tall and ungodly handsome with mystic symbols tattooed on his bare chest.

More than that, he radiated sex. Raw, down-and-dirty, nothing-held-back sex—which was what had gotten him sentenced to eternity in Tartarus. He'd pleasured Hera and a few thousand others, and when Hera learned about those thousand others…heads had rolled.

Right now, William's pants were unsnapped as if he'd hastily tugged them on. Obviously, he'd been doing more than just radiating.

'I'm looking good? Good?' William laughed. 'I've never looked better, and I know