The Darkest Craving (Lords of the Underworld #10)(77)
Author: Gena Showalter

“I’m going to starve the demon. I won’t do anything to satisfy him ever again.”

“You say that now. But what happens when his hunger becomes too much to bear? How can I trust you?”

“What are you trying to say?” he croaked.

She steeled herself. “I had no idea I was such a jealous person, but I am, and I don’t think that’s going to change, and I don’t think I can forget what I witnessed. So…I’m…leaving you, Kane. I don’t want to be with you anymore.”

Warm liquid trickled down her skin, as if…as if…Kane were crying. “Please, don’t leave me. I need you. I’ll make it up to you, I swear. I’ll never even look at another woman, Tink. I’ll cut out my eyes first. I’ll never touch another woman. I’ll cut off my hands first.” His arms tightened around her. “Please. Please. I need you. I’ll be in hell without you.”

Right now, she was in hell with him.

“You won’t have to put up with me for long, I promise. Please, Tink. Please.”

He kissed her nape. He kissed her jawline. He kissed her ear and her cheek and her brow, her eyes and the tip of her nose. Her mind tried to compute what he’d just said. Something about his words bothered her. Something about not having to put up with him…for…oh, my… He licked the seam of her lips, and she opened automatically, her newly awakened body craving what only he could give. Their tongues brushed together, and she tasted…salt. He had been crying. Because he couldn’t stand the thought of being without her.

Desire bloomed, urgent, insistent, traitorous. Her blood heated, and it had nothing to do with rage. She tried to remain quiet and still, but the more he kissed her, the deeper he kissed her, and the deeper he kissed her, the more she moaned and groaned and writhed against him, desperate for more.

As she tried to fight her body’s response, he peeled her clothing away, then his own, but somehow his lips never left her, never gave her a moment to think past the pleasure. He stole the air from her lungs, provided her with air from his own. Without him, she couldn’t breathe. Didn’t want to breathe.

Skin against skin. Heat against heat. Softness against the most rigid steel. He surrounded her. He was hard, fully aroused, and hyper-focused on her. His gaze watched her, gauging her every reaction, his mind calculating his next play. His fingers moved on her, in her, stoking her need higher. His mouth followed.

“Let me show you how much you mean to me,” he pleaded as he rose up, placed himself at her core. “Let me make love to you.”

“A-all right,” she managed to say. “One last time.”

His gaze met hers, and oh, the hurt she saw was devastating. She wanted to snatch back her words, but her own hurt choked them before they could form.

“I will win you back, Tink. I will earn your trust, and you’ll want to stay with me.”

He covered his massive length with a condom and sank inside her.

She cried out, arching to take him deeper.

He didn’t move for a long while, just remained in her to the hilt, filling her, making her grow more desperate by the second. Her br**sts ached, so needy. The crevice between her legs throbbed, practically weeping. Her skin burned, so feverish. Her body was the war zone, and he was the soldier determined to win it.

“Kane,” she said on a moan. “I want…I need…”

“Me, Tink. You need me.” He slid out…out…then back inside her, and this time, he slammed hard, making her see stars. “I’ll give you everything.”

* * *

JOSEPHINA CAME AWAKE gradually, slowly becoming aware of the warm pool surrounding her. Warm pool?

She blinked open her eyes, wallpapered walls coming into view. She was in the hotel room she shared with Kane, she realized, and in bed. Kane was behind her, his arms wrapped tightly around her as if he feared she would run away. After lovemak—uh, having sex, they must have fallen asleep. How many hours had passed?

Gingerly she sat up, and, body aching from the passion of the night, turned to face her hus—the guy she was sleeping with. Horror filled her. “Kane. You’re bleeding.” His poor shoulder…there was an open wound, exposing muscle, maybe even bone, and a flow of crimson raining to the sheet.

“What’s wrong?” he asked sleepily, groggily.

“You’re bleeding. I shot you, and we both thought I missed, but we were wrong, because now you’re bleeding.”

Like her, he blinked open his eyes. A slow grin lifted the corners of his mouth.

“You spent the entire night with me.”

“Listen to me. You’re injured. I shot you.”

“No, you did miss. Disaster somehow drew the bullet out of the wall and gave it another try. He succeeded. Thankfully, the thing went all the way through. Now, did you hear the part about spending the entire night with me?”

“You were shot while I was sleeping, and you failed to wake me up?”

“You needed to rest. Like I was going to disturb you.”

How could he act so casual while bleeding to death? She hopped from the bed and raced to the bathroom to gather a cup of water and clean rags. By the time she returned, he had rolled onto his back and lay propped against the pillows, the very picture of male satisfaction. She cleaned him up as best she could and applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

“You should have told me,” she chided.

“I was content and didn’t want anything to change.”

“Yeah, well. I’m sorry I tried to kill you,” she said on a sigh.

“Don’t be. I deserved it.”

“No, you didn’t.” She cut up the clean end of the sheet and wrapped the material around his shoulder, using it as a bandage. “What you did with that woman, Kane…”

“I know, Tinky Dink,” he said sadly. “I know.”

Tinky Dink. A new nickname. Her heart constricted painfully. “You did it for me, and I get that, but it still hurts.”

“It will never happen again, I vow it, no matter what Disaster does or says. You’re the only one I want, the only one I’ll have.” A heavy pause. “Will you stay with me?” he asked quietly.

Would she? Hurt still swam through her veins. Kane had been hers. He’d chosen her above all others. Finally, she’d mattered to someone other than her mother. No longer had she been a nothing. A servant and blood slave had become the envy of every Fae female and probably even some of the men. But who would envy a cuckold?

He said he wasn’t going to do it again, like thousands of men had said to thousands of women throughout the years.