The Darkest Passion (Lords of the Underworld #5)(85)
Author: Gena Showalter

“Let me go, Aeron.” Still so calm.

Never, he thought.

Never, Wrath agreed.

We can’t think like that. “Will your people treat you differently when you…go back?” Even saying it was difficult, but he needed the reminder. “You won’t be the same person you once were.”

“They’ll welcome me home.” She shook her head and more of those silky tendrils danced over him. “With the exception of our Council, they’re very tolerant. Very patient.”

“Lysander doesn’t strike me as either one of those things.”

She smiled wryly. “Well, he isn’t a typical angel.”

That smile…he needed more. Had to have more. As many as possible, until… “There are seven days left.” The words croaked from him. Stupid. Still, he pressed their chests together, felt her ni**les bead, and just like that he hardened, ready. “Promise me you’ll stay six.”

The calm finally left her, a storm brewing. “Wh-why?”

“Just promise me. Please.”

Please, Wrath echoed, as pitiful as Aeron. Who would have thought they’d be reduced to this?

“I can’t,” she said. “I’m sorry.” She looked away from him, over his shoulder.

But not before he saw the tears swimming in her eyes. Tears that undid him…emasculated him. He reached up and cupped the back of her neck, forcing her to face him, to see his desire—and a determination that surely rivaled hers.

“So that’s a maybe?”

A shaky laugh escaped her. “No. That’s a no.”

I did that. I made her laugh. “What can you promise me?” At this point, he’d take anything.

“A…a day,” she offered shakily.

A day. A day wasn’t enough. Eternity might not be enough. His grip on her tightened. “You’ll stay until I return from town. Even if that’s a little longer than twenty-four hours. Please.”

“Why is that so important to you?” she demanded, letting loose the first hint of that churning tempest.

Because I need you. Because I want you. Because I hate the thought of being away from you. Because, if it were only you and me, and my decisions didn’t affect anyone else, I would willingly die just to have another minute in your arms.

“You’ll stay?” he insisted, ignoring her question. “If I think there’s a chance you’ll leave, I won’t be able to concentrate.” He’d never manipulated before. He stated facts, for better or worse, unconcerned by the results. Now… “I’ll be an easy target, perhaps injured again. So tell me. Tell me you’ll stay.”

She licked her lips, and her shoulders sagged. “I—All right.”

Not good enough. “Say it.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I’ll stay until you return from town.”

Without that layer of truth in her voice, he didn’t know whether she lied to him or not. But he chose to believe her, because he couldn’t stand the thought of her absence.

“Now that we’ve got that settled, will you let me go?” Even as she spoke, she placed her hands on his chest, not pushing him away but tracing his tattoos.

Mmm. Wrath sighed.

She might not want to want him just then, but want him she clearly did. “Why do you desire me?” he demanded, another fierce reminder of the obstacles between them. “Why did you pick me? Beautiful as you are, smart as you are, sweet as you are, you could have anyone. Someone not covered with pictures of their sins.”

“Because.” A mutinous answer, though she didn’t back away.

“Why?” He shook her now, desperate for the truth for reasons he didn’t care to contemplate. “Please, Olivia. Tell me.”

Perhaps it was the please that swayed her. Perhaps the savageness of his actions. Either way, she shouted, “Because you aren’t what you believe you are. You aren’t what everyone else believes. You might have delivered countless deaths but you love more fiercely than anyone I’ve ever known. You give of yourself with no thoughts to your own happiness.” She laughed, and it was as bitter-sounding as his own had been. “Funny, isn’t it? The very qualities that brought me to you are the things that are sending me away.”

Stay.

He quashed the plea before it escaped. Loved more fiercely? By gods, he would. Now, this moment, before time betrayed him.

Without any warning, he meshed their mouths together, unable to stop himself, thrusting his tongue inside. She opened without protest, eagerly accepting his brutality. Good thing. He had no control, and was glad for it. He had only a beginning—Olivia—and the hated end—her loss. And that loss…gods. Losing her would slay him.

No, he thought then. Her kiss would. His demise rested in this meeting of souls, he realized, and again, he was glad. He tasted and claimed and conquered without reservation. He gave and he took.

If this were the end, he would die like a warrior.

“I will make you mine, woman.” He jerked her robe around her waist. Her legs, bared. Her core, his. Still she wasn’t wearing any panties, and the knowledge nearly floored him. One day, he wanted her on a bed. Wanted to remove her clothing slowly, take her lingeringly. Savoring every second, every breathy sigh.

Now, he just wanted her.

Urgency rode him as he reached for the button on his pants, tried to open—it caught, so he ripped them apart. His c**k sprang free. “I hope you’re ready for me, Olivia.”

READY FOR HIM? Olivia thought she would be ready for this man every minute of every day for the rest of her life. He was peering down at her as if she were necessary for his survival. As if he lived only because she did.

And this would be the last time she ever experienced such a gaze.Sadness threatened to overwhelm her, but the force of her desire beat it back. Later. Later she could wallow in her misery. But for now, she was in Aeron’s arms. Her body was on fire for him. She was wet and shaky and aching all over.

This was what she’d given up her wings for, after all. This was what she’d given up eternity for. And here it was, hers for the taking. No matter what happened next, she would always have this.

“Olivia,” he said, her name a guttural beseeching.

“Ready. Promise.”

He cupped her bottom, lifted her, and as she wound her legs around his waist, he drove inside her, all the way to the hilt. She cried out, unable to strangle the sound. As big as he was, he stretched her, but as sore as she should have been, considering they’d done this not long ago, her pleasure was unparalleled.