a pussy but failed.
'Who's she?' Hazel eyes brightening with amusement, Kane sheathed the two Sigs in his hands. He must not have seen Scarlet in the dungeon.
Gideon studied the warrior. His mix of brown, gold and black hair was shorter than when Gideon had last seen it. No doubt his friend had caught the strands on fire. Again. The man's demon, Disaster, fed off catastrophes, purposely drawing them. In fact, one of the wooden shards that had flown from the busted door was lodged in Kane's side, blood seeping from the wound and soaking his shirt.
'She's my wife,' Gideon said, and even though the words were a lie, he liked saying them. Could hear the pride in his tone.
'Actually, I'm no one,' Scarlet stated baldly. 'I'm nothing.'
Like hell, he thought, tossing her a glare. She was...everything.
Everything? His brow puckered. Surely that was an overstatement. He liked being with her, enjoyed her, had contemplated marrying her for real, felt married to her, and would even kill to protect her. But was she everything to him?
He could think of nothing he valued as much as he valued her. Not his war, not his weapons. Not even his friends. So, yeah. Maybe.
'She's Nightmares,' Lucien said, his blades steadily pointed in Scarlet's direction. 'Aka one of the few prisoners who's ever left our dungeons alive.' Unlike Kane, his eyes weren't gleaming with amusement. His eyes— one blue that saw in the spiritual world, one brown that saw into the earthly realm—were calm and determined. He was possessed by Death, and could shred a soul in a single heartbeat of time. The blades were kind of overkill.
'I don't suggest you lower your weapons. I'm sure you'd love for me to threaten Annie that way, just as I love how you're threatening Scar.'
Annie, real name Anya. Lucien's fiancee. The warrior's face was terribly scarred, and as he ran his tongue over his teeth, those scars seemed all the more puckered. He was iron-willed, loved rules and took no risks when it came to the safety of his loved ones. Especially Anya.
'You could be making the suggestion under duress,' Lucien said. 'So, I'll keep my weapons where they are, thanks.'
'You're right. I'm under duress.' Now put those godsdamn weapons away, before I'm forced to do something we'll both regret, he wanted to shout. Lucien was his friend, and Gideon didn't want to hurt him. But he would attack, no hesitation, to protect Scarlet. She'd been hurt enough.
Finally, the blades were sheathed. Reluctantly.
'Why aren't you here? Feel free not to tell me and then stay as long as you want.' Which meant: Tell me and get your ass out! They'd seen Scarlet, knew she was important to him. Mission accomplished. He was ready to be alone with her.
Lucien massaged the back of his neck. 'Kane texted me that something was going down in your room, and I flashed back to help since Torin and Cameo are the only other people left at the fortress.'
'Where aren't the others?'
'We'll get to that in a minute. I didn't expect you to be here. Strider told me you'd left with Nightmares. And great going by the way, putting everyone at risk by letting the girl run wild.'
'She doesn't have a name.' Why the irritated, offended voice? 'And it's not Scarlet.' He just...he wanted his friends to treat her right. To treat her with respect. Not like she was a nuisance or an enemy and he should watch his back whenever she was around.
'And ta-da.' Scarlet splayed her arms in a how-am-I-still-sane gesture. 'After all that running wild, we're back. Or he is. I'm about to take off.' She kicked her legs over the side of the bed, dislodging the sheet. In the next instant, both exquisite breasts were bared. Both nipples hard like frosted cherries. 'Nice seeing you again, though.'
Two pairs of eyes widened before both men spun to give her their backs.
'Yeah, leaving's gonna happen.' Where the hell did she think she was going?
Scowling, Gideon grabbed her by the nape and jerked her back down. Roughly, yeah, but she could take it, and he liked that about her. With his other hand, he drew up the sheet. Then he settled in beside her, his arms locking around her and holding her in place wrestler-style.
She was a warrior herself and could have fought him, but she didn't. And it wasn't because she cared about who saw her naked, he thought darkly. Obviously she wasn't ashamed of her body. Not that she should be, but still. He was ready to sandpaper his friends' corneas even though their weapons were put away. Now they knew what a perfect shade of red her nipples were.
'I have stuff to do,' she said stiffly, 'and you have stuff to do. It's time to say our goodbyes.'
'Sure. 'Cause we did not agree to take care of that stuff together.'
Like Lucien, she ran her tongue over her teeth. 'I never agreed.'
Maybe she had, maybe she hadn't. He still couldn't tell with her. Which was odd, now that he thought about it. They hadn't been married. Their pasts weren't intertwined. Well, not as much as they'd assumed, anyway. And they now knew her memories were false. So why could his demon still not tell when she spoke true?
'Can we turn around now?' Kane asked, his amusement making another appearance.
'No,' Gideon said as Scarlet said, 'Why would you want to? We're decent.'
Both warriors pivoted on their heels. Lucien pulled at his collar and Kane clearly fought a grin.
'We need to talk,' Lucien said, then glanced pointedly at Scarlet. 'A lot has gone down while you were away.'
'Say no more.' Immediately she tried to dislodge Gideon and stand, though she never outright tried to injure him. Which meant she didn't want her freedom enough, he thought smugly. 'I can take a hint,' she added. 'I'll give you guys some privacy.'
He held tight, keeping her in place. 'Whatever you need to say to me can't be said in front of her.'
She stilled, and that was both good and bad. Her skin had been rubbing against his, and well, the material draping his lap was getting taller by the second.
Cheeks flaming for the second time in the past five minutes, Gideon lifted her up and settled her in front of him so that her body covered his growing erection. Mistake. The thick length pressed into the crevice of her ass, and he had to stifle a groan.
She gasped as if he'd burned her, and tried to jump off him. 'Gideon!'
His arms wrapped around her in a vise-grip, and he used his legs to frame hers. 'Don't get comfortable. You're going somewhere.'
'Gideon.' Gritted this time.
'Scar.'
'Fine, you stubborn jackass.' With a sigh that sounded both frustrated and relieved, she relaxed against him. Even rested her head on the curve of his shoulder.
Unable to resist, he kissed her temple. That's my good girl.
'Well.' She gave an imperious wave of her hand in his friends' direction. 'What are you waiting for? Start talking. The sooner you start, the sooner this ends.'
Both Lucien and Kane were too busy gaping to speak.
What had Lucien meant? Kane, Cameo and Torin were the only ones left at the fortress? Why? And why had Lucien had to flash back here? Where had he been?
'Sure you don't want to dress first?' Kane finally asked Scarlet, sounding as hopeful as he did regretful.
'Not sure,' Gideon answered for her. One, his curiosity was now too high to take the time needed to throw on a shirt and jeans. Two, he didn't want either man getting another peek at Scarlet. And three, he didn't want to release Scarlet.
Maybe he was being selfish, placing temptation right under Kane's nose like this. The man hadn't had a lover in years, too afraid his demon would somehow physically hurt his females. Which wasn't an irrational fear. It had happened. Several times. Gideon remembered the screams. But just then, Gideon was really only concerned with Scarlet. If he let her go, she might run before they settled things between them.
'Don't take her advice and explain,' he finished. 'You can't trust her, I swear.' After everything, Scarlet wouldn't betray him. He knew that, at least.
