The Darkest Secret (Lords of the Underworld #7)(65)
Author: Gena Showalter

“Like what?” she asked, confused.

Gods, he had to be more careful. Sorry. The command was for myself.

“Why? What were you thinking about?”

No way he’d tel her. No damn way. What secret would you like from me?

A moment passed before she said, “That. I want to know what you were thinking about.”

Should have expected that. He could have refused her, but he didn’t. She had requested, he had agreed, and he would do as promised. Stil . He couldn’t speak about what he’d been imagining without begging her to truly do it. I’l have to show you. If he could.

“Okay.”

When he had lived in the heavens, a minor goddess had performed the act on him, once, only once, and he had loved every moment of it. Sadly, no one had ever done it since. Maybe because he’d never been able to ask for it, and when he’d tried to angle his few lovers into that position, they had resisted. He was big, so he’d understood their reservations and hadn’t pressed.

So, before Haidee, the time with the goddess had been the best sexual experience of his life. Just thinking about Haidee sucking his shaft, however, was even better than that.

“I’m waiting,” Haidee sang.

And she had cal ed him stubborn. Very wel , sweetheart.

Just remember, you asked for this. He pushed the vision out of his mind and into hers, praying it worked.

It worked. She gave another sharp intake of breath, this one shaky around the edges. “Amun,” she said on a moan.

A moan of need?

Even as they continued to march forward, her hands slid up his back, then around his sides…playing with his ni**les…

Her br**sts once again smashed into him, but this time her fingers traced a path down…down… Holy hel . She would do it, he thought, awed and guilty and so aroused his hunger and need were probably seeping from his skin. She would give him what he wanted, without any hesitation.

Right here, right now.

He would have to stop her, couldn’t let her—she rubbed his c**k through his pants, and his lips parted on a silent groan. He couldn’t stop her, would let her—

“I’ve thought about this, too,” she said huskily.

He licked his lips. You have?

“Oh, yes. You are a beautiful man, and just looking at you arouses me. You’re al I think about anymore.

Al I crave.”

Oh, gods. He was going to spil . She’d done nothing but stroke him, and he was going to spil . Haidee, I—

One moment they were surrounded by the rocky wal s of the cave, hearing the drip, drip of water, the harsh rasp of their breathing, and the next they were encompassed by absolute darkness and utter silence, by sensory deprivation.

“Amun?” Her voice was shaky and soft, but there. Thank the gods, he could stil hear her voice. “What just happened?”

They’d entered the Realm of Shadows, he realized, dread joining ranks with his lingering desire. Final y.

Progress.

Damn the timing, though.

Amun stopped abruptly. Haidee stumbled into him, but his body absorbed the impact. So good, even then. More than hearing her, he could feel her. They weren’t so deprived, after al . He reached back to steady her, careful not to let his blade touch her.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

He moved his grip to her wrist and drew her hand to his mouth, pressing a quick kiss into the wild flutter of her pulse. Do you remember what the scrol said?

The scrol from the backpack. She’d asked for instructions on how to successful y navigate the next realm, and the backpack had provided them. Only, the instructions had been convoluted and asinine.

You must see

See through the shadows? Sure. His pleasure. He’d taken the scrol from her as he’d wondered how. A flashlight?

Shockingly, the moment the question had formed in his mind, ink had begun dripping over the paper, new words forming.

All of you

Another convoluted answer. Stil . He’d demanded the backpack provide him with a light source that would push through the darkness, but nothing had fil ed the pack. Which had to mean a flashlight wouldn’t work. Which also had to mean the pack could not provide “al of you.” And that had to mean he already had “al of you,” whatever it was, because the pack was here to help them and wouldn’t leave them in the lurch.

He’d then returned his attention to the scrol and demanded to know what awaited them in the shadows if they failed to find the mysterious, al of you light. Once again, ink had dripped down the tattered, yel ow page.

Death

Then he’d demanded to know what “al of you” meant.

All of you

Funny. Al of him—his body, perhaps?

“We must see. We must use al of you, or us,” Haidee said, words trembling from her and bringing him back to the present. “I stil don’t know what that means.”

Him either, but he didn’t tel her that. Keep your fingers hooked on my belt loop. Whatever happens, we can’t be separated.

“Al —al right.”

When she complied, removing her free hand from his stil burning erection, he released her other one and gingerly started forward. He kept his arms outstretched, hoping to feel his way.

Soon he noticed that as quickly as the darkness had arrived, it was dissipating in spots, leaving little pockets of light. Would have been wonderful, except shadows danced around the light—and those shadows had fangs.

Something sharp sliced into his arm, and he mental y cursed. He shoved Haidee into one of those golden beams, but the beam moved several inches away, returning her to the dark. Something else sliced into his arm. The fangs, he was sure. They must have gotten Haidee, too, because she stiffened, moaned.

Damn this!

What should I do? he demanded of his demon, abandoning thoughts about “al of you.” They’d gotten him nowhere. As Strider would say, the backpack and scrol could suck it.

At first, Secrets remained silent, stil . Sleeping? Now? Or was Amun’s other half stil beaten to the back of his mind with the others? But the demon must have been searching for answers because suddenly Amun knew to fol ow the light. The shadows weren’t al owed to touch—or bite—anything in the center of those glowing pools.

He watched the macabre dance of light and dark for a moment, enduring several more nibbles, until Secrets locked on a pattern.

Move with me, Haidee. Now! Amun leapt forward, straight into the center of one of those beams.

Haidee remained directly behind him. One second, two, he waited. Again!

They leapt once more, fol owing the light to its next destination. On and on they continued, jumping, pausing, jumping again. For hours. He knew Haidee was tiring, could feel the tremble in her slight form.