The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld #1)(38)
Author: Gena Showalter

Now that did not surprise him. Whatever this Institute was, objective or war-hungry, they would be interested in the demons. But with Torin’s sensors and cameras, they would never make it up the hill – and those that dared try would, in fact, be treated as Hunters, whether they were or not.

"They can try to study us, but they will not find it easy to do so," he told Ashlyn. With her so near to him, her scent in his nose, he was catapulted deeper and deeper into sexual awareness. With every second that passed, he hardened a little more. She was soft and sweet. She was alive, feeling better with every second that passed. And she was his.

Suddenly he found himself eager to forget the Institute, not learn more about it. "I want you," he admitted. "Very badly."

Her lovely eyes widened. "You do?" she squeaked.

"You are beautiful. All men must want you." He said the words and immediately scowled. If another man tried to touch her, that other man would die. Painfully, slowly.

Violence purred in agreement.

Ashlyn’s cheeks colored again, reminding him of the roses he sometimes spied growing beside the fortress. She shook her head. "I’m too weird."

The flat assurance in her tone caused him to frown. "How so?"

She looked away, saying, "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"I can’t." He traced his thumb along her jaw.

A shiver traveled the length of her body, followed quickly by goose bumps. She squirmed against him. Arousal suddenly scented the air, and his nostrils flared as he drank it in. "You want me, too," he said on a low, gravelly rumble of satisfaction, forgetting his question and her refusal to answer.

"I – I – "

"Cannot deny it," he finished for her. "So now I will ask again. Do you still wish me to take you home?"

She gulped. "I thought I did. Only a few hours ago, I thought I was desperate to escape. But… I can’t even explain it to myself, but I want to stay here. I want to stay with you. For now, at least."

His satisfaction increased, swimming through him, potent, intense. Whether she answered as Bait or simply as woman, at the moment he did not care. I’ll have her yet. We’ll have her, Violence corrected, frightening Maddox with the fervor of its tone. We will have her.

CHAPTER TEN

When Aeron and Danika returned to the fortress, flying through the window and landing on the floor of Maddox’s bedroom with a gentle tap, Ashlyn experienced a kick of amazement. So. She hadn’t imagined it. The man really did have shiny black wings.

You wanted to meet others like you, Darrow. Well, guess what. You got your wish.

Immortal, Maddox had told her. Possessed. She’d suspected demons, so it didn’t really surprise her that that’s what they were. But wings? While trekking the hill, she’d heard about a man who could fly. She hadn’t given the words much thought; she’d been too busy trying to block out the voices. Should have known better. Did that also mean one of the men could sift into the spirit world? One could mesmerize with a look?

She sighed. Maddox had mesmerized her with only a look. She’d been ensnared by him since the first, her constant lust as uncharacteristic as her rash decision to stay here.

"Here’s the Tylenol," Danika said, her voice shaky. "Well, the generic version." Her skin was tinted green, and she swayed on her feet. She dug into an emerald bag and withdrew a red-and-white bottle.

Beside her, Aeron straightened his shoulders. His wings snapped closed, rolling behind his back, then disappearing altogether. He bent down, grabbed his shirt from the floor and tugged it over his head, covering the menacing tattoos that decorated his torso. He strode to the window and shut it before turning to Danika, arms crossed over his massive chest. He stood there, silent, observing.

"Thank you," Ashlyn said. "I’m just sorry you had to go to such trouble to get them."

Silent, Danika handed her two pills, which she gratefully accepted. Little aches and twinges still bothered her, and her stomach still fought a determined battle with nausea, though nothing like before.

Maddox swiped the pills from her hand before she could toss them into her mouth. He studied them and frowned. "Are they magic?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"No," she said.

"How, then, will two small pebbles help take away pain?"

Ashlyn and Danika shared a confused look. The men would have had to interact with humans over the years. How could they know nothing of contemporary medicine?

The only explanation Ashlyn could think of was that they’d never paid attention to a sick human before. Besides, only one of the men, Paris, had been seen in the city with any sort of frequency. She remembered that much from the voices.

Did Maddox keep himself locked away in this castle, then? Ashlyn suddenly suspected he did, and that made her wonder…did he ever feel forgotten? Untouched, unloved? Except for the kindness she’d known from McIntosh, she constantly felt that way herself at the Institute, where she was only as good as her ability. What do you hear, Ashlyn? Was nothing else said, Ashlyn? Did they elaborate, Ashlyn?

Ashlyn realized she wanted to understand Maddox. She wanted to learn about him, comfort him as he’d comforted her. Maddox couldn’t know it, and she wouldn’t tell him, but every time he rubbed her stomach and uttered those sweet words of reassurance in her ear, she fell a little in love with him. Foolish and wrong, but unstoppable.

She should tell him about her own ability, but she’d decided against it the moment he’d shown such angry interest. She’d wondered: If Maddox was already angry without knowing the extent of her abilities, would he freak if he knew the truth?

Most of the people at the Institute had been uncomfortable around her, knowing she could divine their most private discussions simply by stepping into a room. Since she’d decided to stay here, weird place though it was, she didn’t want to deal with that discomfort. For once, she wanted to be thought of as the normal one. Just for a little while.

Around demons, that shouldn’t be too difficult.

She’d spill the truth soon enough. In a few days, perhaps. And maybe then she could learn to keep the voices at bay, even when Maddox wasn’t around. Meanwhile, she’d have to find a way to call McIntosh. He deserved to know what had happened to her and that she was okay. She didn’t want him to worry.

Hopefully, he was studying the fortress as she suspected and would see that she was happy. Hopefully, her happiness came before her job in his eyes.

"Take them," Maddox said, pushing into her thoughts. He placed the pills in her open palm. "If they make her worse," he added, looking sternly at Danika, "I cannot be held responsible for my actions."