The Darkest Promise (Lords of the Underworld 13)

Hydra was the first nine-headed water she-beast ever born, with venom so toxic her breath often proved lethal. She could regrow decapitated limbs, even her heads, in seconds.

Why didn't I?

Lazarus caressed his thumbs up and down Cameo's quivering belly and circled her navel. "I still bleed, yes," he said. His voice dipped. "I'm capable of spilling another fluid, too."

"Stop," she demanded, breathless.

"Stop giving you pleasure?" He traced his fingertips up, up, and met the undersides of her breasts.

Beneath the fabric of her bra, her nipples hardened into tight little buds.

"Yes. No." She covered her breasts with her free arm. "Stop screwing with my mind."

"How about I just screw you?"

One night. He wanted one night with her. His father had spent five years with his mother before the crystals slowed him in battle. Granted, Typhon had visited his monomania only when his body's needs overpowered him. One night would cause little damage to Lazarus. Surely.

In the morning, he would say goodbye.

"No?" Cameo replied, a question when she'd probably intended to make a statement.

Up...up... He slid his hands underneath her arm and cupped her breasts. "Exquisite." His mind steamed with lust. "Look how responsive you are to me." Only to me.

Goose bumps broke out over her arms, and the flush in her cheeks deepened. The pressure of the blade eased. "Did you know twenty-one percent of women are unable to achieve an orgasm?"

"Must be the twenty-one percent I haven't slept with. I'm an orgasm donor."

"You admit to being a he-slut?"

"I admit to a misspent youth, when anyone in a skirt...or pants...or shorts...or bare skin...would do the trick."

She licked her lips, the epitome of wanton. "And you pleased them all?"

"Multiple times."

"You're sure? Every single woman could have faked it."

"You forget, it's impossible to hide the truth from me. I can read minds." He arched his back, causing the blade to slice into his skin again. But he didn't care, the motion causing her to slide down and straddle his hips. "Want to test me out, sunshine?"

"I want..." She leaned down, and her breasts smashed against his chest, her nipples still hard little buds. Her heartbeat drummed against his in a too-fast rhythm.

Life. She's life.

She's my life.

No! They would have one night. No more.

Her lips hovered over his, and their breath mingled. He inhaled her essence as though she was his last hit of oxygen.

"Lazarus," she whispered.

Molten desire blistered him. "I want Lazarus. That's what you said. I'll allow no take backs."

She shivered and then she stiffened. Even as her pupils spilled over her irises, reminding him of a storm being chased away by the sun, she said, "Take backs. I will never sleep with a man who dislikes me. I don't need another reason to hate myself."

"Don't sleep with me, then." Not yet. "I can get you off with my fingers or my mouth. Lady's choice." He had to touch her impossibly soft skin, the need as necessary as breathing.

Her expression pinched, and he didn't have to read her mind to know why. The demon had protested. Loudly.

"Focus on me," Lazarus commanded softly. When her gaze met his once again, he framed her face and brushed his thumbs over the rise of her cheekbones. "Your circumstances will never be good enough for Misery. If you want to be happy, you have to purposely fight him. Victory won't happen by accident."

She dropped the dagger and circled her fingers around his wrists. "You think I don't know that? You think I haven't fought him every hour of every day for centuries?"

"Want a different outcome, do something different." So easy to say, so difficult to do.

"What? What can I do?" she snapped.

He...wasn't sure.

Fury crackled in her eyes, but it soon gave way to utter heartbreak. "If I sleep with you, I'll forget you. Once again, you'll know what I look, sound and feel like in the throes of a passion I've always longed to experience, while I'll know nothing about you. I'll lose another piece of myself. I'll lose the kind of memory others take for granted. Thoughts to keep me warm on cold winter nights when I'm alone. Always alone."

A pang slicked through his heart. "Cameo--"

In the distance, a twig snapped. Someone approached.

Protective instincts surged, overriding his desire. He rolled his woman underneath him and prepared to attack and defend.

7

"Step four: Study the enemy. i.e., Study everyone."

--How to Achieve Victory

Subtitle: Except with Lovers and Their Family

Cameo burned. Every inch of her ached. Oh, how she ached! A delicious buzz vibrated in her cells.

This was...arousal? True arousal, with no hint of Misery's taint?

Yes. Had to be. A true miracle, and a first for her.

Need more of this. She had to have more. Now!

Lazarus wanted to sleep with her. He'd cupped her breasts and thumbed her nipples. He'd looked at her with aggression, possession and brutal longing. But saying yes to the warrior was saying yes to Misery. After sex, Lazarus would send Cameo away, guaranteed.

Discarded like trash.

He'd made no promises about the future and hadn't apologized for his "I dislike you" comment. The demon would wipe her memory once again, and she would lose another piece of herself.

No, thanks.

The heat and aches faded at last, leaving her cold and hollow.

Lazarus's desire must have died, as well. He'd rolled her over, his muscled body pinning her softer one to the moss-covered ground, his erection no longer prodding the notch between her legs.

Do not cling to him. Fight the urge.

"I need you to quiet down, sunshine." Whispered words, but fierce with command.

Confusion delivered a well-placed punch to her frontal lobe. He'd just told her to quiet down, even though she hadn't spoken a word.

"You're thinking out loud," he said, exasperation thick in his tone. "Now hush."

Ugh. How could she have forgotten his ability to read her mind?

With a growl, she erected a mental block.

In the distance, new twigs snapped. Her ears twitched while the rest of her stiffened.

Feminine mumbles penetrated her awareness. Cameo swiped up the diamond dagger at the same time Lazarus palmed a spiked blade. His motion was barely perceptible. Had he not been on top of her, she would have missed the action.

The mumbling grew louder, until Cameo could make out the words. "--so much trouble! I mean it. Auntie Vie has a good thing going here. Babysitting duty will screw everything up."

The familiar voice almost incited excitement. Almost.

"Viola." Cameo experienced a single beat of relief before Misery poured an all too familiar sorrow into her heart.

Lazarus's rigid posture softened. Sighing, he pushed to his feet and, with his fingers twined around hers, drew Cameo to a stand. The calluses on his palm created an undeniable zing of friction, a lance of pleasure shooting straight to her core. The heat returned. The aches reignited, and she trembled.

Look away from him! A difficult feat, but one she managed to accomplish. Barely.

Branches rattled and parted, revealing a five-foot-three pixie with long blond hair and cinnamon-colored eyes. As sexy as ever, she wore a black sequined dress. The center veed to a pierced navel and revealed the perfect swell of cleavage. The hem reached her knees, while a split on one side showcased a Kentucky bucket-load of thigh.

Though Viola was the keeper of Narcissism, she'd had nothing to do with Pandora's box. However, there'd been more demons than thieves who'd released them, and those demons had required containment.

What better recipients for the leftovers than the immortals trapped in Tartarus? They couldn't run, couldn't hide.

Why Viola was imprisoned, she hadn't yet shared.

The goddess spotted Ca

meo and stopped. Surprise never registered on her delicate features, only irritation. "A girl spends quality time building the perfect stay-away-from-me rep so losers will stop trying to steal her body, and this is her reward?" In each well-manicured hand, she clutched a dirt-caked child. "Look who dared show up at my door!"

Cameo jolted as if she'd been punched. Those dirt-caked kids were Urban and Ever. Her twin godchildren. Their father was Maddox, the keeper of Violence. Their mother was Ashlyn, a newly minted immortal, thanks to her marriage bond to Maddox.

Urban had his daddy's black hair and startling violet eyes while Ever had her mother's curling honey-colored hair and twinkling gaze to match. Both children possessed extraordinary powers, with some abilities yet to be tapped.

Cameo rushed over and pulled the kids against her, hugging both. She opened her mouth to demand answers. What were they doing here? How had they gotten here? Last time she'd seen them, they'd been in Budapest with their parents. But she snapped her mouth closed and remained quiet. Sadly, even little ones cried at the sound of her voice.

Frustration ate at her, making her miss Lazarus's indifference.

An unexpected savior, he sidled up to her to ask the questions she couldn't. When neither child responded, Viola gave them both a little shake.

"Start talking or I start spanking," Viola said.

"Do you know how many toy soldiers will fit into a toilet before it clogs?" Urban asked with attitude. "Twelve. The number is twelve."