The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld #1)(64)
Author: Gena Showalter

He would not wait another moment.

He would be as gentle with her as he was able. And if the spirit sought to intrude, well, he’d allow Ashlyn to chain him. "I want to make love with you, Ashlyn."

Breath caught in her throat as she inched her fingers over the ropes of his stomach. Stopped at his scabs, then his navel, circled. Moved down another inch. Stopped again. "You do?"

Want her, need her, want, need. Soon… now… Maddox thought perhaps she wanted to touch lower, to hold his cock, but hadn’t quite worked up the nerve. Yes, yes. He would have smiled but he and the demon were too primed.

The more she touched him, the more he – they – wanted her. Her sweet scent was in his nose, firing his blood all the hotter. That sweetness trickled all the way to his bones, igniting all sorts of needs. "Oh, yes."

"I want you, too," she whispered on a tremulous breath. "But…"

No more waiting. Must have, must have, must have. A sense of ferocity pounded through him. Ours, the spirit said. Mine, Maddox corrected. "I want to be inside you. No more waiting."

She stilled, air wheezing from her.

"I need you to understand that I’m keeping you. You will stay here with me, and I will protect you. Together we will learn how to stop the voices for good."

"M-Maddox." Whatever else she meant to say was lost as she pressed her lips together.

Yes. Must keep. "I won’t hurt you," he said, more for himself and the spirit than for her.

"I know you won’t hurt me. But I do have a life and a job."

Keep!

"I’m going to stay for as long as I feel like staying, but I need your promise that you won’t lock me up again. When your friends come for you to – " she gulped " – kill you, I want to be with you. I swear I won’t attack them, even though I’ll want to, but I need to hold your hand. I can’t stand the thought of you dying alone."

In that moment, Maddox fell completely, absolutely, irrevocably in love with her.

Mine, mine, mine. She was more important than breathing, more necessary than food or water or shelter. In a thousand lifetimes of war and violence and rage, she gave him kindness. Serenity. Compassion. Trust. Woe to anyone – even the Lords of the Underworld, even the gods – who tried to hurt her. He’d thought it before, but it became a blood oath now. Whoever attempted to harm her from this moment on would die at Maddox’s feet.

Lucien and Reyes hadn’t taken her last night as they’d claimed, and that saved their miserable hides. Barely. They would pay, though. Oh, they would pay. Violence needed some sort of retribution before it could forget.

"I don’t want you to have to watch. I won’t be alone, sweet. Pain and Death will be with me."

"Yeah, but they won’t snuggle you."

He contained his grin. "You are mine, woman, and I am yours. Until you, my life was desolate. I existed, but I didn’t truly live. Now I live, even in my death." The words were as close to marriage vows as he would ever come, he was sure. She would always be his, and he would always be hers.

Tears welled in her amber eyes. "That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard."

"All I want you to do is think about what you are asking." If he had to watch her die over and over again… Sickness churned inside of his stomach. "The blood, the horror of it…"

"I know what I’m asking," she said, determined. "I still want to stay with you."

Once again, need replaced all else. "You’re going to take a shower. Paris says human women love them, that they help relax and soothe." He sat up, dragging her with him. Finally, finally.

No, not yet. Soon. He would make Ashlyn’s first time special, even if it killed him.

She twirled the ends of her hair around her finger. "Are you going to join me again?"

Maddox forced himself to shake his head and the spirit roared in fury. Why not now? "If I shower with you, I’ll take you. Totally and completely."

Her gaze slanted over to him, hot, so hot, and he felt the force of it vibrate through him. "Like I told you, I know what I’m asking," she whispered.

Gods, he wanted to kiss her. But if he kissed her, he wouldn’t stop kissing her until he was inside her, pumping, pounding, sliding. "There’s something I have to do first."

"Afterward…" She didn’t finish her sentence, but then, she didn’t have to.

"Afterward," he promised. Oh, yes. Afterward.

Slowly, the spirit smiled. For the second time in two days, man and demon were in perfect agreement.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Ashlyn hurried through the shower, wondering what it was that Maddox had to do. The water was hot, soothing, and washed away the trials of the night. Not the hated memory of holding her lover’s bloody body in her arms, but the physical effects. The fatigue, the nearly debilitating sense of despair, the rage at what had been done to the man she was coming to love.

The man who might be coming to love her in return.

The feelings might have come upon them quickly, but it just felt right. She wanted so badly to be with Maddox. Wanted so badly to hold and touch him, to give and receive pleasure. To bask in these new feelings of lightness. He no longer considered her Bait, and he wanted her to stay with him. Now and always. Her lips lifted in a slow, happy grin.

How am I going to break his death-curse?

The thought drifted through her mind, overshadowing everything in its path. Her smile faded. Surely there was something she could do to save him from an eternity of dying, only to be resurrected knowing he’d have to die again. No one deserved to be tortured like that.

Ashlyn rested her forehead against the dewy white tile. Surely somewhere in the world, in some time period, a human had talked about the gods and how to break their  stupid, unfair curses. She’d probably heard something over the years, but if so, it had blended into all the other voices.

Now, at least, she knew what to listen for.

Maddox wouldn’t want her to leave the fortress for that, she was sure, so she’d have to go without telling him. Besides, she couldn’t hear the voices when he was around.

Until you, my life was desolate, he’d said. I existed, but I didn’t truly live. Now I live, even in my death. Fierce protector that he was, he’d consider his own suffering a small price to pay for keeping her safe. Already she knew that much about him.

She’d leave at night, while he could do nothing to stop her, then sneak back in the morning.

Don’t think about that now. There’s time enough for spy games later. In just a little while, she was going to make love with a man. With Maddox. His big, strong hands were going to caress her entire body. His mouth was going to taste her. His penis was going to slide deep inside of her.