The Darkest King (Lords of the Underworld 15)

“We can continue to argue,” he said, “or we can do what couples do in the morning and seduce each other. Lady’s choice.”

“How would you know what couples do in the morning? I’m your first and only girlfriend.”

Good point. “Sunny,” he said, keeping his tone gentle. Can’t let myself fall any faster. Must put some distance between us. “I know we’ve teased each other about being a couple, but we aren’t. Not yet.” It’s her, or it’s me. I choose...me?

First, her eyes swam with hurt. Then they darkened and narrowed. “Did you not enjoy yourself last night?”

His heart clenched. “My roars to the rafters didn’t clue you in?”

She didn’t answer, just shook off his hold. He stifled a protest as she paced before him, still dressed only in her undergarments. “How convenient that you tell me we aren’t a couple after you’ve given me a couple orgasms. Was that the plan? Addict me to your touch, then drop your bomb?”

He almost grinned. “You’re addicted to my touch?”

She whipped around to glare at him. Then, inexplicably, she softened and crawled into his lap to rest her head on his shoulder. Voice whisper-quiet, she said, “I know we’re not a couple, okay. Just as I know you care for me, whether you’ll admit it or not. I just wonder if maybe we should be a couple. Unless I’m not enough to satisfy you? Do you still desire others?”

A muscle leaped underneath his eye as he wrapped his arms around her, locking her in place. “I desire no one else.” I might not desire another...ever. And he wasn’t panicked by the thought. “But I can’t risk activating the curse.”

“I let myself trust you enough to make out with you before you released me from captivity, and you can’t trust me enough to risk the curse?” she asked, radiating hurt. “I’ll be honest. Part of me understands. But part of me doesn’t, because I’m certain the curse won’t—can’t affect me.”

“No, you think you won’t be affected by it. There’s a difference.” He traced his hand up and down her arm, luxuriating in her velvety skin. “Just decode the book as swiftly as possible, and we’ll have this conversation again. Yes?”

As she flattened her palms on his chest, her nails sharpened into claws and cut into his flesh. He welcomed the sting, deserved it. Maybe even craved it. Hurting her like this hurt him.

“Maybe I don’t want to have this conversation again,” she said, snippy now. “I deserve a man who will move heaven and earth to be with me regardless of the complications, who won’t look for a way out before we’ve even begun. Who thinks I’m enough. Apparently, that isn’t you. So, at the end of our two weeks, I’ll be moving on.”

He tightened his hold on her. “Sunny—”

“I’m about to go through mating season, William. A time when my body demands sex. I’ll need chains or a willing partner, but I refuse—refuse!—to chain myself in the underworld, making myself helpless while demons wait nearby.” A familiar calculated gleam lit her eyes, filling him with dread and excitement. “I wonder if Rathbone is available.”

Rage blazed through him, the urge to do murder returning in a flash. Damn her! And damn her good point. “I will take care of you this mating season.”

“But only if I decode the book in time, right?”

He narrowed his eyes.

“No, thanks,” she said, hiking a shoulder in a negligent shrug. “I still plan to do everything in my power to decode your book before mating season. But after mating season? My itinerary has changed. I’ll be blowing this joint.”

Every fiber of his being rebelled at the thought. He snapped, “Try to leave or be with someone else. See what happens.”

She exhibited no reaction to his threat. “While I’m busy decoding your book, your kids will be out spying. What will you be doing?”

The way she stiffened, awaiting his answer... It mattered. She wanted him to name something specific, but what? “I’ll be scheming, moving living pieces on the chessboard of war. I’ll be antagonizing the enemy so he’s more likely to make a mistake. Mostly, I’ll be keeping a unicorn-shifter focused.” The most difficult task of all.

Her shoulders rolled in. So, he hadn’t given her the response she’d hoped for. Frustration mounted.

“In other words,” she said, “you’ll be having fun while the rest of us work.” She wrenched from his hold and strode toward the bathroom. “Yeah, I’m definitely blowing the underworld sooner rather than later. Consider us officially broken up.”

A denial screamed inside his head. He almost called her back. Almost dropped to his knees in thanks—emotional distance might just save their lives. In the end, he pressed his lips together, watching as she brushed her teeth and dressed in a tank top and jeans.

Without glancing in his direction—she’d dismissed him, as if he were unimportant—she sat at the desk, opened the book’s display case and freed the book, ignoring him.

William ground his back teeth, a pain shooting through his jaw. “Just out of curiosity, what do—did—you wish I’d be doing while the rest of you work?”

“Something, anything that had to do with us, not war or curses. By the way, I get the dog in our divorce settlement.”

They lapsed into silence. Hours passed, each one more torturous than the last. Eventually, he stood and paced while she continued to study. He cast constant glances her way, the woman both a pleasure and a torment to observe. When she concentrated fully, a crinkle developed between her brows. Adorable. When a passage vexed her, she chewed on her bottom lip. Sexy. When she forgot his presence, she hummed the loveliest song he’d ever heard. Soothing.

He’d handled things poorly with her—again. But how did he fix what he shouldn’t want?

A strange noise caught his attention, and he frowned.

Sunny noticed it, too, her head lifting, ears twitching. “What is that?”

Dawn lifted her heads from the doggy buffet and howled.

“Put the book in the case.” As soon as she’d complied, William unleashed a stream of magic to bespell and lock the case. Anyone who looked at it would see a creepy porcelain doll.

He stalked to the closet, donned on a T-shirt that read Willy’s Delicatessen, then grabbed a couple daggers and moved to the door, Dawn on his heels.

The noises grew louder. Had Lucifer sent another horde?

Daggers in hand, the medallion still burning a hole in his pocket, William braced and opened the door.

23

“I’ve only made one mistake in my long life—the time I thought I’d made a mistake.”

Sunny and her threat—promise—to leave must have wrecked William’s brain. At first, he couldn’t compute what he was seeing. Then the synapses in his brain started firing again, and he realized the army of Sent Ones had arrived at last. They were building makeshift abodes around the stable, Axel leading the charge.

Once he spotted his brother, a familiar pang of longing lanced him. Worse, a fist seemed to wrap around his heart and squeeze.

Despite Hades’s request to postpone any conversations with his brother, he didn’t have the strength to step back and close the door. Why should he? This was his chance to prove he could sustain a relationship with Hades and Axel. Then, at tonight’s dinner, he could give the king a progress report.

He didn’t need to glance over his shoulder to know Sunny was closing the distance. Though not even the slightest pitter-patter accompanied her footsteps, he retained a keen awareness of her every move.

Did all unicorns move so quietly, never really broadcasting their location?

Reaching his side, she crouched down to pet Dawn, the little hound ecstatic. As Sunny straightened, he inhaled her incredible scent, the beast behind his fly attempting to burst free.

Damn her! Mere hours ago, she’d sucked him dry. If he’d stayed true to character, he would’ve lost interest as soon as he’d come and focus

ed his lusts on someone else. The next challenge. The newest amusement. Yet...

Not even close to being done with her. Can’t even imagine it.

Could he do forever?

“Aw. How sweet. You got me a BBB.”

He shouldn’t ask. “What’s a BBB?”

“Beefcake breakfast buffet.” Sunny wiggled her brows and fanned her cheeks. “I’m starved, so I’m gonna need more than one beefcake. I’ll take him. And him. Oh! And her.”

Until that moment, he’d never had an urge to kiss and curse someone. “If you crave sausage, I’ve got a juicy link in my—”

“Don’t you say it!” she cried, slapping a hand over his mouth. Scandalized amusement glittered in her gorgeous green eyes. “You’re ruining my chance at making a good match! Our guests might get the wrong idea and think we’re flirting.”

“I was wrong. We are a couple. You insisted on a relationship, after all, and I agreed. No take backs. Meaning yes, you made my bed and now you can lie in it.” She might be calculating, but he was wily. He could torment her with her own play. Latching on to her wrist, he brought her hand to his mouth and nipped the tip of her index finger.

Her plump lips parted on a gasp, the sound erotic to him.

He stared, Sunny a magnet for his gaze. Light bathed her, illuminating her glittery skin and the array of freckles that dotted her nose. A cool breeze blew a pink lock over her cheek—a cheek currently flushed with heat. When he ghosted his fingertips along her jawline, her breath hitched and her pulse quickened.

Her every reaction spurred an equal reaction in him. She flushed; so did he. Her breath hitched; so did his. Her pulse quickened; his did, too.