The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld #3)(92)

Like now.

Even still, less and less did he want to stop her. More and more, he liked the thought of being hurt by her.

Won't taint her, can't taint her. Too precious. Too mine.

Too long without her.

He tossed the blade so that it embedded in the far wall, the hilt swaying mockingly.

"No," he said, glaring down at this woman who so consumed his thoughts.

He'd had her once and shouldn't have desired her so fiercely again. But he needed her. Craved her like air. And he could have her, if he remained gentle.

"The knife," she said tightly. "Get it for me."

Scowling, he leaned down until they were nose to nose. She hadn't released the headboard, so her back was arched. Her hard nipples pressed into his chest, a temptation he wanted in his mouth.

Soon.

He gripped his swollen shaft with one hand and her chin with the other. "Do you want me?"

Her pupils, already dilated, swallowed the rest of that lush jade. "Yes. You know I do."

"You'll take me, then, without hurting me. And I'll give it, without hurting you. That is the only way this can work."

He waited for her response, the tip of his erection pressing into her. When a minute dragged by without a word from her, he leaned down and sucked her nipple into his mouth.

Another gasp from her, this one layered with need.

"Tell me I'm right," he insisted. He sucked on the other nipple, hard, then licked the sting away.

"Yes. Yes."

All he needed to hear.

He shoved to the hilt, and they cried out in unison. Her inner walls were hot and wet, silk forged by liquid fire. All of his muscles strained for release, for the exquisite pleasure he had never really experienced with anyone else.

From the beginning, his heart had recognized this woman as his. Like the demon, she was part of him, a part needed to make him whole. Her courage delighted him. Her teasing way, now that he'd experienced it, tempted him. Her willingness to help him despite everything that had happened touched him.

Right here, right now, she was his. A ticket out of hell and into heaven.

He did not know if he would ever be able to let her go, but he knew that he needed to try. For her safety. As she had once pointed out, his life was one of war and torment and that would not change. She deserved better.

He'd tried to distance himself from her, but had failed. Tomorrow, he thought, pumping and gliding in and out of her.

She writhed, her head thrashing. She moaned and chanted his name. "How is it so good?"

"Angel," he panted. "Don't know."

She climaxed a second later, knees squeezing him. She finally released the headboard and grabbed his face, jerking him down for a wild kiss.

Their tongues rolled together in a bid for dominance, their teeth clashing. Her nails dug into him, and he followed her right over the edge, roaring her name, seed jetting in a hot flow. He didn't know how it was possible, how he could feel pleasure without intense pain. Didn't understand why Pain was so quiet when he was with Danika, as if the demon was content to allow Reyes these moments. Didn't understand how he felt almost...normal with her.

He didn't have time to ponder it, either. Like the last time, his spirit seemed to leave his body, floating, soaring, stopping only when reaching the golden gates of heaven. He'd given no real thought to this before, assuming he'd simply been drunk with pleasure. Now, he watched wide-eyed as angels flew beside him, feathers brushing his skin in delicate strokes. Clouds hovered all around, the sun shining brightly, the sky painted azure.

One angel looked at him, smiling slowly. "Light and dark," the heavenly creature said in a voice more song than human. "Pretty."

In that instant, Reyes realized something frightening. Danika was indeed the All-Seeing Eye, and that Eye was more complex than anyone had realized. For she somehow opened a portal between earth and the hereafter. A portal many would probably kill to possess.

DREAMS PLAGUED DANIKA all night. Dark dreams, turbulent and bloody. The fires of hell licked at her, smoke billowing, putrid, filling her nose and making her gag. She'd been here a thousand times before, but the evil never failed to creep her out.

Scaled demons of every color crawled all around the rocky cavern. Screams, such screams, echoed off the blood-soaked walls. No one seemed to notice her, for they were too busy racing between the souls chained all around.

Her gaze landed on one human soul in particular, his features suddenly clear. Her jaw dropped. Somehow, someway, she was staring at the Hunter she'd killed. How was that...how could...no, not possible. Just a dream, she reminded herself.

"Tell me what you know about the Eye," a demon purred at his side.

The Hunter trembled, remaining silent.

Laughing, the demon began clawing at his skin, ripping it to ribbons. He screamed over and over, the demon continuing to laugh, and soon her screams joined the chorus.

"I'm here, angel. I'm here."

Reyes's voice pierced her mind and jerked her from the dream. Sweat poured from her body. She couldn't quite catch her breath. Reyes held her, and she burrowed against him, his strength trickling into her.

"What happened?" he asked, stroking her back.

"I saw a demon torturing the man I killed, and demanding to know about me. Just hold me," she pleaded. In the morning, she would sketch what she had seen. Right now, she simply needed her man. Maybe I am the Eye. Maybe I can see directly into the afterlife. The nightmares had always felt real. Made sense, she supposed, that they would be.