The Darkest Pleasure

'You're hurting yourself,' she said. 'I told you not to talk. We'll—'

'Don't go back to Aeron without me,' he managed to get out, the words savage. 'Promise.' His hand clutched at her. 'Protect you.'

Again, he wanted to protect her. Little wonder he'd battered down her defenses and reduced her to a devoted puppy. 'I promise.'

CHAPTER TEN

REYES AWOKE GRADUALLY, his senses already on alert thanks to several oddities.

One, there was a weight on his chest. Warm, so warm, and soft. He was used to waking unfettered, a little cold. Two, the scent of thunderstorms and angel-skies filled his nose, sultry and erotic. It was a scent he craved with every fiber of his being, but one that was dangerous to his peace of mind. Three, he never wanted to leave this paradise.

Pain did not agree.

Pain was prowling the cage of Reyes's mind, roaring. Roaring so loudly Reyes covered his ears. The weight on his chest shifted to the side, taking with it that delicious warmth and softness.

The roaring increased in volume, and he cringed.

'You okay?'

The voice of an angel, a perfect match for the scent. Danika. The roaring became a broken mewling, her rich timbre soothing the beast.

What was it about her? What made her so different from the other women he'd known?

Ashlyn had alleviated Maddox's torment. Anya had renewed Lucien's desire to love. Both women had accepted the warriors for who and what they were. Danika enhanced Reyes's pain and drove him crazy. She would never accept him. But even if a miracle happened and she could, he would never be able to bed her, thereby allowing Pain to sink its claws inside her. Change her.

As a couple, they were hopeless.

That failed to lessen his need for her. Again, he wondered why. She was pretty, intelligent and courageous, but other women were equally so. Weren't they? At the moment, he could think of no one else whose bright eyes pierced him to his soul. No one else whose silky hair caressed his skin so perfectly. No one else who faced him dead on and refused to back down.

Only Danika.

Her name whispered through his mind, and he eased open his eyelids. First thing he noticed was that morning sunlight seeped past the black curtains, painting hazy yellow dots everywhere he looked. Normal enough. Then a dazzling halo appeared in front of him, strands of pale hair tickling his chest. A soft breast meshed into his side.

'You okay?' Danika asked again. Concern burned in her sleep-rich eyes, lids at half-mast. Through the thick shield of her spiked lashes, he could see electric green, his new favorite color. 'You took quite a beating last night.'

'Last night?' His voice was raspy, and every word rubbed his throat raw. A delicious sensation. 'Your hair.' He reached up and drew several strands through his fingers. 'Pale again.'

'I took another shower and the semipermanent dye washed the rest of the way out.'

'I like it.'

Appearing uncomfortable, she nibbled on her bottom lip.

His body heated another degree. Oh, to have those teeth nibbling on him again. 'Last night?' he prompted.

'With Aeron. In his cell.'

The memories flooded him, images flashing one after another, and he jerked upright. He'd taken Danika into the dungeon. He'd entered Aeron's cell. Aeron had looked guilty at the mention of Danika's family, as if he'd already taken one—or more—out. Then Aeron had attacked him and Pain had loved it.

Mortification created a symphony inside him: the pound of his heart, the rush of his blood, the purr of his demon. He'd reveled in it, and Danika had been there, had seen him take pleasure in so vicious an act.

Shamed to his soul, he closed his eyes, dropped his head into his waiting hands. She doesn't know, he assured himself. Otherwise, she would not be sitting calmly on the bed, conversing with you. She would be hurling insults like 'pervert' and 'deviant.'

Some women could accept his particular brand of pleasure. Most could not. For a few years, Reyes had found his partners in BDSM clubs. They'd been secret venues back then. Private. The women had liked to be strapped down, whipped, and he'd liked delivering the pain. And when he'd commanded them to hurt him, they'd done so willingly, happily.

But after learning that the women he'd bedded had erupted in violent sprees, he'd stopped going to the clubs. For centuries, he'd relied only on his own hand, cutting himself while he fisted his cock. Then he'd had what he'd considered an epiphany. Surely those females had been predisposed to violence. Surely that was why they'd harmed innocents so casually after bedding him.

So he'd tried again, this time taking Paris's advice and choosing Sunday-school teachers and librarians as his bedmates. The first few times he'd asked them to wear spurs on their ankles and dig them into his back. Among other things he did not like to recall. 'You're sick,' a few had cried. 'Get help, you pervert.'

If only they had continued to resist him.

Before long, they, too, had begun to crave pain. For themselves, a thousand others. When he noticed the hungry glint burning deep in their eyes, he'd ceased all contact, hoping, praying they would morph back into the women they'd once been. They hadn't.

Soft fingers brushed his brow, smoothing his hair out of the way. Always before, that type of touch had disgusted him. Physically, he'd felt nothing, so the gesture had merely reminded him of what he could never have. Only the hard bite of nails and the sharp sting of teeth had delighted him.

Here, now, with Danika, he still felt nothing physically, but the generous act rocked him emotionally and he found it just as tantalizing as a sting. She had never touched him like this before.

Your demon infects every woman you desire. To have Danika is to damn her soul. Do not forget.

'Reyes?'

He blinked, Danika coming into slow focus. 'Yes.'

'I lost you.'

'I am sorry. You are well?' he asked.

'Yes.'

Her hand fell away from him, and both he and the demon wanted to shout in protest. He blinked in surprise. The demon was upset? Missing a soft touch?

'There was a…creature with Aeron.'

'Yes,' Reyes said with a nod. 'I remember.'

'Had you seen it before? Do you know where it came from?'

'I had not, but I know it came from hell.' Pain had recognized it for what it was—a brother in evil. Reyes turned his head, facing Danika. 'Do not concern yourself with him.'

She paled, color fading to snow-white. Whatever thoughts danced in her head were not pleasant. 'Why didn't you fight him?'

'The little demon?'

'No. Aeron. I've seen you engage him in combat before. You weren't afraid. You were strong and…' She gulped, as though the rest of the confession pained her. 'Capable. But this time, you just stood there. You let him hurt you.'

Reyes straightened fully, his eyes never leaving her. Her legs curved behind her, her hip flat on the mattress. She rested her weight on one elbow, her hair a glorious silk curtain that fell over her shoulders. She still wore jeans. Jeans he had picked out for her. He felt pride and satisfaction, for he'd spent hours shopping for her, hopeful he