The Darkest Kiss

Think of your mother. Your sister. She arched up and kicked Aeron in the jaw. Finally he released her hand. God, the pain. Her fingers were limp; she couldn't move them, the joints already swollen as though she'd stuffed golf balls under her skin.

Aeron backhanded her, and she flew to the side, entire body vibrating in pain. Her teeth rattled together; her mind blinked in and out of focus. Reyes howled and attacked. The two men grappled to the floor in a tangled heap beside her. Aeron slashed with claws and teeth, Reyes with his daggers. They roared and they cursed and they snarled.

Blinking in an effort to orient herself, Danika pushed to her feet. Swayed, almost vomited.

'Run,' Reyes shouted to her.

She stumbled forward, only managing to pick up speed when she reached the outside hallway. Why Reyes was helping her, she didn't know. Would he die in there?

Tears burned her eyes as she ran.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE PARTS OF LUCIEN'S SKIN not charred were tinted blue or painted red. And though he'd been burned like the marshmallow in the middle of a s'more, he was shivering from cold.

Concerned, Anya commanded a fire to start in the hearth. Instantly the flames leapt over the logs, crackling. Waves of heat wafted through the spacious room, yet Lucien's shivering only seemed to increase. Don't panic. Stay calm.

She'd never felt so helpless. Not in prison, and not with a determined Aias on top of her.

She quickly stripped, removed her spiked boots and climbed onto Lucien's battered body, running her hands over him to heat him. When she encountered the bullet wound, her throat constricted. She'd known it was there, had simply hoped it would have healed by now. Because of Cronus and her, it hadn't.

After hopping up, grabbing her shirt and ripping it in two, she climbed back onto the bed and bound Lucien's side. 'Come on, Flowers. Warm up for me.'

He didn't respond.

He was a block of blackened ice. Just being near him, her nipples hardened like rocks and goose bumps broke out over her skin. And for once those weren't symptoms of arousal. She pulled the covers around them to hold the heat captive, then spent the next hour simply talking to him in an effort to distract and soothe them both.

'You need to get well. Life would be totally boring without you. And baby, bad things happen when I get bored. Did I ever tell you about the time I dressed up like a teenager and attended high school for a few months? I'd been bored out of my mind for decades and when the idea hit me, I just decided to go for it. Food fights, catfights, turning on the sprinkler system at prom.'

She paused, hoping for a response. Nothing.

'I wasn't naughty all the time, though,' she continued. 'You would have been proud. This dumb jock got a cute little nerd who worshipped the ground he walked on pregnant, then called her a slut, a whore, a skank—you know, all the names promiscuous men like to call women. Anyway, I'd once vowed never to put a curse upon another person. They suck, as you and I both know. But I cursed him with a raging hard-on, I just couldn't help myself. Nothing he did made it go away.'

Lucien's body finally began to relax, his shivering easing, and he uttered a…chuckle?

Taking heart, she rushed on. 'Once I attended a masked ball and dressed as the devil. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but the year was eighteen-nineteen and I created quite a stir, let me tell you. When I asked Baron something-or-other to sell me his soul, he tried to stab me with a butter knife.'

Lucien moaned. 'Anya.'

Oh, thank gods. 'It's going to be okay, baby. I'm here, I'm here.' She kissed his clammy temple.

His eyelids cracked open. 'Anya?'

'Right here, love.' She kissed his jaw, continuing to run her hands over him. Now, however, her sole purpose was not to warm him. She needed to awaken his desire because she needed his cooperation for what she was about to do.

'Where are we?' He gazed around the room, his eyes glassy.

She didn't want him thinking. Not about their surroundings, not about what had happened in the cave and not about the future. He was too honorable and if lucid enough he might push her away. He would rather she keep her freedom than bind herself to him, even though it might give him the strength he needed.

'I love you,' she whispered straight into his ear, her warm breath caressing. 'I love you so much. And that I almost lost you…I can't bear it.'

'Gods, Anya. I never thought to hear you say those words.' His arms enfolded her in a hug, pulling her as close as he could get her. When her head rubbed against his decimated skin, he hissed.

'I'm sorry.' She eased to the side. 'So sorry.'

'Say it again.'

She knew what he wanted. 'I love you, Lucien, and I want to be with you. In every way imaginable.' She rose on her elbow and stared down at him. 'Do you understand what I'm telling you?'

Weak though he still was, his shaft swelled against her thigh, long and thick and proud. He understood. 'Anya…'

She meshed their lips together, not giving him time to protest. Her tongue stroked his, soaking in his masculinity. 'Mmm,' she moaned. She encircled his cock with strong fingers, stroking that too.

He groaned.

'Hurt?'

'Feels so good.' He gripped her ass and pulled her on top of him again, some of her energy already seeping into him. The heady scent of roses enveloped the room. Then, suddenly, he stopped. His fingers became vises on her hips. 'No, Anya. We can't do this.'

'We can. We will.' She strummed her fingers over the head of his penis, and he jolted at the sensation. 'One way or another, I'm going to have you inside of me. Tonight.'

Teeth bared, he arched into her touch. 'Can't. Wrong for you.'

'I'll decide what's right and wrong for me.' She bit his earlobe and tugged. 'Don't make me beg for you. Don't make me beg to feel you sliding inside of me, deep and hard and hot. Please don't—'

'Anya!' he roared. His hand tangled in her hair, and he jerked her down for another scorching kiss. 'Don't beg. Don't stop.'

Their tongues battled, their teeth scraped together, and she rubbed herself against him, for the first time in her life completely unconcerned by the thought of being penetrated. She wanted it. Desperately.

Need pounded through her. Need for this man and no other. It was a dark hunger inside her, carnal and savage, almost chaotic, definitely delicious. 'I want to be with you forever.'

'Yes, yes. Yes!' In between words, he nipped fiercely at her lips. 'We won't go all the way.'

He tried to sit up, but she pushed him down. 'Yes, we are going all the way. Now let me do all the work, lover. You just concentrate on regaining your strength.'

His eyes blazed up at her. 'All I can think about is you. I need your nipple in my mouth.'

'And so you shall have it.' She rose up and offered him what he wanted. He sucked on it, flicking his hot tongue over the turgid tip. She felt the draw of his suction between her legs, felt moisture pool there like liquid fire.

'Let me taste you.' His fingers glided between her legs, and she quivered. 'Right here.'

Clitoris throbbing for more attention, she climbed the rest of the way up and straddled his head. His tongue licked her, and she arched into his face. Every nerve ending in her body rejoiced. Every drop of blood in her veins sang.

'Lean forward, sweetheart. I want to finger you, too, but I won't. I—'

'You will.'

He paused, squeezed her tightly. 'Tell me again that you're sure. There's no going back after this.'