The Darkest Passion (Lords of the Underworld #5)(42)
Author: Gena Showalter

“Smart little shit, our Aeron.” Gideon’s grin was slow to form, but wicked and sultry because of it. “Listen, here’s a little unhelpful advice. Don’t consider sneaking into his bedroom tonight—and don’t make lots of noise so he doesn’t kill you, thinking you’re the enemy. Oh, and don’t be naked.”

“Excellent suggestions, thank you,” she said, brightening. She kicked her feet onto the bed. She still wore her boots, and the black leather glinted in the light. “Men do like their nakedness, I’ve noticed. Aeron didn’t want anyone else to see my…breasts.”

The new and improved her could still be embarrassed, she realized.

“How wrong you are. Oh, and, Olive? In that position, I can’t see your panties,” he said, clearly amused.

Confident, you are confident. “Do you like them?”

He blinked in surprise, clearly having expected her to change positions. “I hate them.”

“Really?” That wasn’t embarrassing, she decided; that was empowering. “Would you like them as a souvenir? Since I plan to take your advice and crawl into Aeron’s bed naked, I’m not going to need them anymore.”

Gideon laughed outright. “Nope. I wouldn’t. I would hate to have them as a souvenir. And not just because I’m sure Aeron will be thrilled to know I have his girlfriend’s panties.”

Aeron’s girlfriend. A lie, from Gideon’s point of view, but she could have melted into a puddle. “Then they’re yours. I’ll give them to you before I take off.”

That earned her another laugh. “I don’t like you at all, boy. Not at all.”

She beamed. “Ditto. So now that I’ve told you about me, tell me about him. Aeron. I mean, I know who he is, but I know nothing about his past. I want to understand him. Reach him. Help him stop worrying about my eventual death.” And accept his own.

“No way.” Meaning sure thing.

Gideon shifted on the bed. A lock of blue hair had lodged into the headboard, and it pulled with his movement. He grimaced, reached up, but was unable to clasp a single strand with his bandaged wrists. His frustrated growl propelled her into action.

She dropped her legs, leaned forward and gently smoothed the hair free. “Better?”

“No,” he muttered gruffly.

“Good. I like the blue, by the way. Maybe I’ll dye mine.” She pushed the thought to the back of her mind, to be considered later. Along with that navel piercing. Right now, she wanted to learn about Aeron. Who he’d been, what had shaped him.

“Forgetting Aeron…where do you not want me to start?”

“I know you warriors were kicked from the heavens into ancient Greece. I’ve heard the stories about the torment you caused, slaying innocent humans, torturing, raiding, pillaging, destroying everything you encountered, and so on and so forth.”

He shrugged. “You heard wrong. We had total control of our demons and weren’t lost to bloodlust. And when we did finally lose control, the guilt of what we’d done, well, it was minimal.”

Guilt. A terrible burden to carry. And from what she’d seen of these Lords, they carried far more than any one person should ever have to bear. They deserved peace, she decided. Once and for all.

“Aeron wasn’t a warrior,” Gideon continued, “and yet his actions, even when unwarranted, didn’t torment him—though I was always sure he hated what he did a little too much and loved himself for it. Even still, he did the least amount of work, making the rest of us do all the killing to protect the god king.”

Olivia quickly translated Gideon’s meaning. Aeron had sometimes loved his job a little too much and had hated himself for it, but he’d also loved his friends, so he’d done their work, too, sparing them some of the burden, which had probably been torturous for him.

Guilt, she thought again. Even then, he had carried massive amounts of it. He had enjoyed hurting those who’d hurt others, and had most likely considered himself just as evil as they were.

Before he died, before she died, she would teach him otherwise. He wasn’t evil. He was a protector. No wonder the thought of her death troubled him. In his eyes, he would have failed to protect her. The sweet, darling man.

“Please, go on,” she beseeched.

Gideon nodded. “All those deaths never affected him, making him see fatality around every corner. And then, when our hated enemy, Baden, was not decapitated, Aeron saw that immortals could live forever. That didn’t freak him out.”

Okay, so. The deaths he’d brought about in the line of duty had given him a healthy appreciation for mortality, especially when his dear friend was decapitated. Now, he expected everyone around him to die, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it—nothing he could do to protect them, as she’d just figured out.

To a man who valued strength and power, that helplessness had to bother him greatly. That must be why he kept himself so distanced from everyone but Legion. The fewer people he cared about, the fewer people he had to worry about saving.

So how had Legion snuck her way past his defenses?

More than that, how had Legion escaped his demon’s need to reprimand? The little fiend had hardly lived a blameless life. Look what the creature had done to innocent Olivia.

“As for Legion,” Gideon said, seeming to read her thoughts. “I think Aeron has never secretly craved a family of his own, and Legion doesn’t give him that.”

So. Aeron had secretly wanted a family—just as she had—and Legion provided that for him. Somewhat. I could become his family, as well, Olivia thought. Not that she wanted to be Legion’s stepmother, but for the pleasure of staying with Aeron, she could endure even so heinous a title.

“I don’t see the eagerness in your eyes, angel, and I’m very glad for it. You should know that, even in the heavens, he preferred wild women, and I can sense that, at heart, you’re as wild as can be—no matter that you clearly haven’t convinced yourself otherwise. Though Aeron thinks that’s what he wants, I assure you, it’s not what he needs.”

Oh…no, she thought, suddenly dejected. Aeron preferred tame women, but Gideon thought he needed someone wild. Gideon also thought that, no matter what Olivia did or said, she wasn’t wild at heart and would never be.

“Why are you warning me away? Only a few minutes ago, you told me how to seduce him.”

“My girl Aeron doesn’t deserve a little torment now and then.”