Dark Stranger Immortal (The Children of the Gods #3)(11)

Confident in the reassuring safety of his care… or was it his love? She was willing to try new things.

Except, how long did she have?

Closing her eyes, she tried to hold back the tears, but her imaginary coat of armor was crumbling under the onslaught of the dark shadows cast by the reality of their situation.

If she still believed in a benevolent God, she would have prayed reverently for a fairy-tale ending to their story; her turning immortal, the two of them spending eternity together… raising children…

The whole happily-ever-after thing.

But after her brother’s death, she had lost her faith in happy endings. If there was a real deity somewhere, it didn’t listen to prayers or care about the individual parts of the multitudes of its creation.

Chaos ruled, and bad things happened to good people all the time. At any moment, all of this could be taken away from her, without even the memories to sustain her.

Then again, maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

If she didn’t remember any of it, she wouldn’t have to live with the pain of losing it. Except, what was worse? Never to know what she was privileged to experience, or to remember and mourn its loss?

Feeling Kian’s gentle finger wipe away the traitorous tear caught in her lashes, her lids fluttered open.

“What’s the matter, baby?” he asked, then kissed her eyelids. “Was it too much? I thought you liked it…” He frowned, looking apprehensive.

“No, it’s not that. I did like it…” Embarrassed, she felt her face heat up.

“It’s just that I don’t want us to end…” she whispered, and a few more tears escaped despite her valiant effort to hold them back.

“We will not…” Kian pulled her tightly against his chest. “If you don’t turn, I’ll just chain you naked to my bed and keep you as my sex slave forever.” He kissed her forehead, stroking her back in small soothing circles.

She chuckled. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“We’ll figure something out. I don’t think I could let you go, no matter what.” He sighed and bent his head to kiss her lips.

“Even if I stay on as your sex slave…” Syssi smiled a sad little smile.

“The cold reality is that I’ll grow old while you won’t. And that’s the biggest obstacle in this wishful fantasy. As much as I hate to admit it, you were right.

If I don’t turn, you’ll have to let me go.”

His eyes were so sad, she knew she was going to flay him with what she was compelled to say next. “I just wish you could leave me my memories, so I could relive our time together in my mind and know that I lived to experience something wonderful and treasure it forever… despite how torturous knowing I had this and lost it will surely be.”

“Oh, baby.” He choked as he held her close—his pain echoing hers. “All we can do is hope. I know hope is for fools and children, but I have nothing else.”

“I know… neither do I.” She kissed his chest through his T-shirt, a few more tears wetting the soft fabric. And yet, there was comfort to be had in the knowledge that he was just as pained by their dim prospects as she was.

Which in turn, as absurd as the notion was, made her want to be strong enough for both of them.

The irony, of an almost twenty-five-year-old mortal thinking she could shore up an almost two-thousand-year-old superbeing, wasn’t lost on her.

Nevertheless, she went on to imagine her armor snapping back into place— this time extending over Kian as well.

With a big brave smile plastered on her face, she kissed his warm lips.

“Well, I for one am done moping around. There is no point in lamenting that which cannot be changed. We just have to take it one day at a time. Right?”

She glanced down at her watch. “Anyway, I need to get back to work, it’s late.”

“What time is it?” Kian asked.

“It’s ten past four.”

“Oh, damn, I have a meeting scheduled for four-thirty.”

“I need to go too. Amanda must be wondering why I’m not back yet.”

Syssi scooted off the bed and grabbed her pants off the floor, then pulled them on. “Ugh, yak! My panties are wet!” She pulled them back down. “Can I borrow a pair of yours? I hate wearing jeans with no underwear. Too rough on my sensitive girl parts…” She waggled her brows.

“Sure, I’ll trade you a clean pair of mine for yours.” His tone promised something wicked was to follow. “I’m going to carry your sweet-smelling panties in my pocket, and whenever I miss you, I’ll take sniffs of your essence.”

Syssi laughed. “You’re a pervert, you know that? Catch!” She threw her panties at his face.

“Ah, Syssi…” Kian caught the little scrap of satin and lace and crushed it to his nose, taking a loud sniff. “Delicious…” He sniffed again, taunting her while she ran into his closet to get a pair of his boxer briefs.

“You should really get your stuff back in here. It’s kind of pointless to leave it at Amanda’s when you keep ending up here anyway.” He stuffed her panties in his back pocket.

“I will. Now give me back my undies, I need to put them in the wash.”

She extended her arm.