He wanted more of her. Pulling away, he switched positions again so that he could sink himself deep inside her. She hissed the instant he did and scoured his back with her nails.
He'd barely started thrusting before she came so fiercely that she almost threw him out. Alexion laughed in her ear as he took joy in the sound of her pleasured cries. It sounded as if she were singing.
Danger wrapped her body around his as he continued to thrust against her. Each thrust went through her, heightening her orgasm even more. She pulled his lips to hers and kissed him fiercely as he moved even faster. She loved the sensation of having him inside her. The intimacy of holding him like this. He was incredible.
She felt him tense an instant before he drove himself in deep then shuddered in her arms. Smiling, she held him close as his climax claimed him. When it was over, he collapsed on top of her and held her tight.
Danger brushed his hair back from his face as they lay there lost in the aftermath of their passion. It was quiet and still in the house. But her heart ached with the thought of his leaving her. All too soon he would be gone and her life would go on for eternity without him.
"Is there any way you'll ever be able to visit me after this assignment?"
He tensed. "No." She heard the regret in his tone.
"Why not?"
"Because even if I did, you wouldn't remember me." He pulled back to look down at her. "It's the way it has to be."
Tears gathered in her throat, but she refused to let him see them. "That's not fair to you. You can never make any friends."
"No, I can't. This is all I have." He sighed wearily. "It's all we have."
"I don't understand how you can be so nonchalant about it. Don't you ever get mad over these stupid rules?"
He looked away and yet she saw the hurt in his eyes. "No, Danger. I don't. Believe me, this is far better than the alternative. At least this way I have moments of muted happiness."
She turned his head so that he could look at her. "Tell me the truth, Ias."
He sighed wearily. "Yes, there are times when I would give anything to be able to have one chance at being normal again. To have one moment when I was human and could eat and feel. But I'm just grateful that I have this time with you right now. You make me feel almost human. At least closer to it than I have been in a long time."
She kissed his whiskered cheek, savoring the feel of his rough shadow against her lips. "I wish this could last."
"I know, but it reminds me of a term Acheron uses a lot."
"And that is?"
" 'Regret management'. You try to mitigate the regrets with the pleasure the moment brought to you."
"Does it work?"
Alexion snorted. "Not really. At least not for me. Although Acheron seems to do well with it. At least he appears to cope with his regrets most days."
She frowned. "What does Ash have to regret?"
"You'd be amazed."
"And what about you?" she asked, needing to know the answer. "What is your greatest regret?"
His gaze burned her with its intensity. "That you weren't born nine thousand years ago."
Tears welled in her eyes at words she'd never thought to hear from him or from any man. "I wish we'd met when we were both human," she whispered.
"Yeah, but you would have probably killed me then."
Huffing at him, she was offended by that. "How do you figure?"
His green eyes teased her. "You've stabbed me twice since we first met. That seems to be a bad record with me." He shook his head. "There must be something really wrong with me that all the women I love want to kill me."
Danger wasn't sure which of the two of them was most stunned by his words. "What?"
He pulled away immediately and started to get out of the bed.
Danger stopped him. "Talk to me, Ias."
"Don't call me, Ias, Danger. I'm not that man anymore."
"No, you're the man I let into my bed, and believe me, that's some feat. There haven't been many who've made it past my front door." She held him to her side even though he was trying to pull away. "Now you finish what you started."
"It doesn't matter what I feel. Or even what I think. Time is limited for both of us."
"No, Alexion, it matters to me. I want the truth from you. I deserve it."
Misery knitted his brow. "What good is the truth? Really? What good does it do us?"
But she didn't agree. She needed to know if he'd meant what he said. "Do you love me?"
He looked away and she had her answer.
Releasing him, Danger sat there with a knot in her throat as emotions swirled through her. She'd never thought to have another man say that to her. Never.
But what surprised her most was what she felt for him in return. It was warm and overwhelming and it filled her with both joy and fear.
She pulled him against her and laid her head on his shoulder. "I love you, too, Alexion."
She felt his jaw tic against her scalp.
"This is an impossible relationship. You know that, right?"
"I know," she breathed. "And when the time comes, I will kiss you on the cheek and bid you good-bye. I won't beg you to stay and I won't make this hard on you. I promise."
Alexion ground his teeth at her words. But that wasn't what he wanted.
He wanted...
Damn you, Acheron.
Most of all, he damned himself. Had he not been so stupid as to go to his wife so soon after making a pact with Artemis, he would still have a chance to be human again.
Acheron would be able to barter for his soul back...
Then again, had he not wanted to return to his wife so desperately, Acheron wouldn't have made the pact with Artemis that allowed Dark-Hunters to go free.
None of them would have a chance for freedom from her service. His life and soul had been sacrificed for a much greater good.
One day, Danger might be free again.
Without me...
It was true. For him there was no way out. No future that included Danger or any woman. Not that he wanted any other woman. She was the only one he would ever love. He knew it.
"I shouldn't have come here to save Kyros," he said in a hoarse tone. "Kyros is as good as dead and all I've done is make memories that can only serve to hurt in the centuries to come." But at least she wouldn't know regret. She wouldn't feel his pain.
He clenched his hand in her hair. "I'll be able to see you, I could even pass you on the street and you'll never know who or what I am. I'll be a stranger."
Tears swam in her dark eyes. "I don't want to forget you, Alexion. Ever."
"You have no choice. You know too much about Acheron now. He'll never allow you to keep your memories intact."
Anger snapped beneath her tears. "I don't care what he does. I won't forget you. Somehow I'm going to remember you, I know it. I don't care how powerful he is, he won't make me forget you."
He wished he could believe that, but he knew better.
"You need to get some sleep, Danger. We have a long night ahead of us."
She nodded. "Are you going to sleep too?"
"In a little while. You rest."
She released him to lie back on the bed. Alexion got up and dressed while thoughts and regrets whispered through him.
Pushing them aside, he went to see Xirena, who was still asleep on the sofa.
Her feet were propped up over the back while her head dangled off the side of it. One arm was flung over her head and lay against the floor while the other was crossed over her chest. Smiling at the Simi-like pose, he grabbed the blanket off the armchair and covered her up.
His time here in Mississippi had definitely been his oddest assignment.
But at least time was on his side. Stryker would think he still had the soul within him and that it was incapacitating him.
Until the time that Stryker expected the soul to die, the Daimon should leave them alone. It gave him a few days to make contact with the other Dark-Hunters to feel them out.
He would call the Dark-Hunter meeting in three days and then the fate of them all would be decided.
His thoughts drifted back to Kyros and he wanted to curse out loud at the injustice. Kyros was lost to him.
But I found Danger.
And in the end, he would lose them both.
Life did, indeed, suck.
"Keep an eye on Dangereuse."
Alexion froze as the soft, feminine voice whispered through his head. If he didn't know better, he would swear it was...
"Artemis?"
"The Daimon wants you dead. If he can't take you, he will take someone else."
Alexion swallowed at her dire tone. "Why are you helping me, Artie? I know you hate me."
"I'm not Artemis. I'm just a friend who doesn't want to see Stryker hurt anyone else."
"Then how do I defeat him?"
"To defeat the invincible you can never strike at them. You must always strike at their heart."
"I've tried striking at his heart. He's a little swift on his feet."
The voice said nothing.
"Hello?" Alexion asked, but she was gone.
"Great," he said, clenching his teeth.
Stryker was going to make a move on Danger and the only way to save her would be to strike at a god who had no heart whatsoever.
"Shit, we're screwed."