The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld #3)(59)

And while Danika had never experienced the emotion herself, she'd always been content to wait, not to rush out and force it as so many of her friends had done. She had lived as if there would always be a tomorrow, as if the here and now were of no significance. As if the future meant more than the present.

Everything had changed after the kidnapping. Her entire world had crumbled and as she'd slowly rebuilt the pieces of her life, she'd realized a future was not guaranteed. Here and now mattered. Nothing else.

Right now, she had Reyes.

She would have to hurt him to make him like her. Before, watching him cut himself, she hadn't thought herself capable of such a deed. Now..."I want to," she said, only realizing she'd spoken aloud when the words echoed in her ears.

He nipped at her bottom lip. "What? What do you want?" His fingers tightened on her hips, digging into the bone.

"You." She had trouble catching her breath.

The fine lines around his eyes softened. "You don't know what you're asking for, angel."

"Show me, then."

"No." He meshed their lips back together and his tongue rolled over and under hers, his addicting flavor a drug to her starved senses.

How long since she'd been held like this? How long since she'd stopped running and simply experienced?

"We have to stop soon."

"What?" Her arms tightened around him. "No!"

"Must." His fingers wrapped around her wrists, gripping firmly, branding her. He moved her arms away from his body, and then he dared to release her.

Her eyelids flickered open. He was sweating, his lips compressed in a thin slash. His breathing was uneven. Lines of tension bracketed his beautiful dark eyes - eyes alive with a thousand different needs, needs he would not allow her to meet.

He wanted her this time, it seemed, but she hadn't hurt him. He'd said such a thing was impossible. What did that mean?

"You don't need a man pawing you right now." One step, two, he backed away.

She flattened her palms against her thighs, nails digging deep. "You weren't pawing me."

"But I wanted to."

Would she have cared? Surprisingly, she didn't think so. He'd given her hope, hated hope, but she was grateful. Or had his demon overtaken her mind again?

Reaching out, he smoothed several strands of hair from her brow. His arm shook. "Rest, angel. Tomorrow we travel, and we will have to move quickly and remain in the shadows."

Because of the Hunters, she silently finished for him. The people she should have been helping. Feeling hollow, she nodded.

"If you change your mind about painting, the supplies are through that door." He pointed.

She sighed, watching as he turned on his booted heels and strode from the room. There was a knife in his hand.

WHEN REYES REACHED the bathroom in the empty bedroom across the hall, he collapsed onto the cold, hard floor. He'd done his best to keep his beast hidden from Danika. He hadn't wanted her to know how close he'd been to ripping off her clothing and stabbing himself over and over again while he pounded into her soft body - how close he'd been to begging her to stab him.

He was surprised by the depths of his desire for her. She hadn't hurt him, yet he'd been ready, eager. A first, and too shocking to believe.

He needed to contact Lucien and tell him about the other demons, the other possessed warriors. He needed to find Torin and have the warrior start tracking Danika's mother, sister and possibly her grandmother. But not like this. Reyes was too on edge, the demon too loud inside his head, clamoring for pain. The need hadn't been this wild in weeks, so it had taken him by surprise. How he'd maintained his control, how he'd kept from hurting Danika, he didn't know. Why it had happened, he didn't know, either.

"The Darkest Pleasure"

With a shaky hand, he tore at the waist of his pants. His nails were claws and cut the skin, skin on fire and too tight for his bones. He was smiling as his cock jumped free, but there was no relief. He ached, oh, gods, he ached from the pleasure of Danika's scent, her lovely eyes feasting on him, her lips pressing against his.

His fingers wrapped around the thick base of his shaft, so taut his knuckles instantly blanched, and he hissed in a breath. Not my hand, he pretended, but Danika's. Yes, he could easily imagine her soft, sweet hand holding him, squeezing him to this razor edge of pleasure-pain.

Reyes moaned, holding himself all the tighter as he pumped up, then down. With his other hand, he clutched the knife he'd already palmed and pressed the cold tip against his thigh. Do it. Cut. On an upward glide, he sank the blade hard, so hard. The skin broke and blood trickled. On a downward slide, he dug the tip deeper, nicking a vein.

Not enough. Not nearly enough.

There were sharp grooves on the hilt, and those grooves bit at his hand, drawing even more blood. Self-loathing rose inside him as he slicked the knife's apex through muscle, not stopping until he hit the bone.

Why can I not be normal? Why can I not take a beautiful woman with the gentleness she deserves?

He twisted his wrist, digging a hole into his femur. His head fell back and he roared at the exquisite headiness, pleasure zooming from one corner of his body to the other, a drug, a demon all its own.

Just a little more.

Up and down he continued to pump, the path slick because of his blood. His hips writhed as he continued to twist the knife. There was another sharp lance of pain, another sultry wave of pleasure.