The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld #3)(19)
Author: Gena Showalter

"The Darkest Pleasure"

Did she like wheat or white? After a moment’s deliberation, he decided to use both. Just in case. He pinched the plastic covering the white and slid the loaf in front of him. "I’m only asking for one more night."

"What if he’s dying? We are immortal, yes, but under the right circumstances we can die like any other living thing. Another fact you already know."

"He’s not dying."

"How do you know?" Lucien insisted.

"Somehow I can feel his desperation burning inside of me every minute of every day. It is stronger with every second that passes, as I’m sure he is weaker against Wrath." Reyes drew in a breath, held…held…then slowly released it, letting his sudden burst of anger leave him, too. "Just a few more hours. That’s all I ask. For me, for Danika. For him."

There was a heavy pause. He fit two slices of meat atop each slice of bread, smashed them together.

"Very well," Lucien said. "A few." His boots clomped as he strode away.

Reyes studied the sandwiches. "Not enough," he muttered. Humans needed variety. Isn’t that what Paris always said about his lovers? Frowning, Reyes opened the refrigerator again and searched inside. His gaze landed on a bag of purple grapes. Yes, perfect. Last time Danika had stayed here, she’d plowed through a bowl of the fruit in minutes.

He withdrew the entire bag, washed the contents and spread them around the four sandwiches.

What would she like to drink? Back to the fridge he went. He saw a bottle of wine, a pitcher of water and a carton of orange juice. He knew better than to give Danika wine. The wine here was laced with ambrosia stolen from the heavens and had once almost killed Maddox’s human woman, Ashlyn.

Reyes scooted the chilled bottle aside and latched on to the juice. He poured every drop into a tall glass.

"Damn, boy. You feeding an army?"

Reyes tossed a quick glance over his shoulder. Sabin leaned against the door frame, thick arms crossed over his chest. He was as modern as Paris with his silly Pirates of the Caribbean shirt, but he lacked Paris’s finesse. "She is hungry."

"I guessed. Tiny as she is, I don’t think she’ll be able to eat all that. Besides, she just spent three days with Hunters. You should starve her, question her about what went down, and only then, when you have answers, should you feed her." Arm outstretched to claim one of the squares, Sabin moved forward.

Reyes latched on to his friend’s wrist and squeezed. "Make your own or lose the hand. And she is not in league with the Hunters."

Sabin arched a sandy brow, the picture of pique. "How do you know?"

He didn’t have an answer, but he would not allow anyone to hurt her in any way. "Just stay away from her," he said, "and leave the food alone."

"Since when are you so giving?" Gideon asked at his other side, swiping a sandwich before Reyes could do anything about it.

"Giving" equaled "stingy" in Gideon’s messed-up world.

"Back off," Reyes growled.

Both warriors chuckled.

"Yeah. Whatever," Sabin said, and grabbed a sandwich with his free arm.

Reyes ground his teeth together. I will not pull a weapon on my friends. I will not pull a f**king weapon on my friends.

"Oh, goodie! Food." Anya skipped into the room, Ashlyn at her side, their arms linked. "I thought I smelled the sweet scent of culinary genius."

Red spotted Reyes’s vision as he gathered the plate and the glass before the women could confiscate a single crumb or drop. "Danika’s," he said tightly.

"But I really like turkey." Anya pouted up at him. She was tall for a woman, but even in four-inch heels she only reached Reyes’s chin. "Besides, when I slap a sandwich together, it never tastes as good as when you do it. There’s something so delicious about food prepared by a man."

"Not my problem." He tried to step around her, but she leapt in front of him, hands fisted on her hips. He sighed, knowing she would trip him if he attempted to pass her. "Lucien will cook something for you."

Another pouting frown. "He’s out collecting souls."

"Paris, then."

"He’s doing some chick in town, the nympho."

"Starve," Reyes told her unsympathetically.

"I’ll make us something," Ashlyn offered, rubbing her slightly swollen belly. She was pregnant, just beginning to show. "While I do, I want to hear all about Danika."

Reyes wasn’t sure how he felt about the coming birth. Would the baby be a demon? A human? He couldn’t decide which would be worse. Constant inner torment or mortality? "She’s well. Nothing more to say."

"Make me something, too," Sabin told Ashlyn. "I’m ninety-seven percent famished. That sandwich I stole only helped a little."

"I’m totally full," Gideon said, which meant he was on the verge of starvation. He wiped his hands to dislodge any remaining crumbs.

"Shame on you boys for making a pregnant woman do all the work," Anya scolded.

"Hey!" Sabin wagged a finger at the gorgeous goddess. "You’re letting a pregnant woman make your sandwich. How is that any different?"

"The Darkest Pleasure"

"Pregnant or not, I’ll let her make me one, too."

At the sound of that scratchy voice, everyone stilled. Turned. A collective gasp rang out. Then a collective, "Torin!"

Grinning, Ashlyn stepped toward the now-healed warrior, arms opening to hug him. Anya latched on to her shoulder and jerked her back.

"He’s Disease, sweetness," the goddess said. "You can’t touch him without getting sick, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." Ashlyn smiled at him. "I’m glad you’re better."

Torin smiled in return, though his expression was tinted with sadness and yearning. "Me, too."

He looked just as Reyes remembered – before the man’s neck had been cut from end to end by Hunters, that is. White hair, black brows and bright green eyes. Beautifully masculine and utterly eerie. He wore black gloves that stretched from fingertips to armpits, for he could not touch another living being skin to skin without infecting it with disease. Not even an immortal. The warriors would not become ill themselves if they touched him, but they would spread the disease to humans.

"How are you feeling?" Reyes asked him.

"Better." That green gaze lowered to the plate Reyes held. "Hungry."

"Back off," Reyes said. "I’m glad you’re better, but not enough to share."

Torin’s grin lost its edge of sadness. "You almost make me wish I were still bed-bound. You’d have to bring me food with a smile. Oh, guess what?" he said, pivoting toward Anya. "Your friend is climbing the hill. He keeps shouting that he wants to put you over his knee and spank you, so I decided not to kill him as Lucien instructed. Guy has a blade strapped to his left thigh, but that’s the only weapon I detected. He should reach the door any – "