The Darkest King (Lords of the Underworld 15)

His chest puffed with well-deserved pride. “The same is true of me. Never knew such pleasure existed.”

All right. She’d needed reassurance, too. His words went straight to her head.

A thought occurred to her. “Where’s Dawn?”

“Baden and Katarina are introducing her and the rest of the hellhounds to the wilds of Hell, their natural habitat.” His cell phone buzzed. He checked the screen and frowned. “I have multiple messages from each of the kings. They’re making offers for the medallion.”

“Like what?”

“A palace. Other artifacts. Slaves. Souls.”

Guilt scorched her. She had yet to tell William what the medallion was, exactly, and what else it could do. To tell now or not to tell?

Tell. Definitely. No pondering necessary. They were an official couple now, and he deserved to know. Did it have the potential to blow up in her face? Yes. He could use it to increase his strength, his magic. To subdue her. But. She did trust him. More than she’d trusted anyone in eons. But...

She would be confirming one of his biggest fears. He would learn how easily she could kill him. It would ruin this precious moment. And what if she lost him because of it? Her stomach churned.

Tomorrow, she decided. She’d tell him tomorrow, and also discuss the terrible things she’d written under the curse’s influence. Today, nothing would interrupt their escape from reality.

“I think you should tell them no,” she said.

“Planned on it.” He kissed her forehead, only to tense. “Shit! We never talked about birth control. We are so close to mating season, and I just came inside you.”

We, not you. Proof they were a couple. To her surprise, he didn’t seem upset so much as surprised. “I’ve never forgotten before.”

Oh, wow. Contraception hadn’t been a blip in her mind. But then, that was one of the mystical ramifications of mating season. “Magic makes unicorns and their lovers forget contraception, which is why I’ve always preferred to chain myself somewhere secret. But you don’t need to worry about going without one today. I can’t get pregnant outside of mating season, and even then it isn’t guaranteed.” Not ready for a baby—yet—she added, “Let’s hang reminders throughout the house and all over our bed.” Wear a rubber. Just in case.

Dragging a hand down the ridges of her spine, he said, “I’ll have the signs up as soon as I can walk. Guaranteed, we’ll be doing this again very soon. When it comes to Sunny Lane, I am insatiable.”

Goose bumps spread from her nape to her toes. “I’ll give you an hour, no, half an hour, no, fifteen minutes, no, five minutes to rebuild your strength, then I’m having you again, signs or no signs.”

He gifted her with a tender smile, gently hooking a lock of hair behind her ear. “What do you wish to do with your life, sundae? Break codes?”

Good question. “For so long, my only goals were survival and killing Lucifer. Plus, people who have life plans are super annoying because they’ve managed to do something I haven’t. I’d like to have everything figured out, too, you know? Although, now that I think about it, maybe I’ll join the mercenary game and slaughter demons for a paycheck. Oh! Maybe I’ll put together a ragtag team of bad as—butt superheroes, and we’ll clean up the mean streets of Hell.”

“Uh-oh. My Sunny said a naughty word.”

She humphed. “I can say the names of worlds and realms, as if, but only when I’m referencing said worlds and realms.”

“Good to know.” He winked at her. “If you go with option B, you’ll need a superhero name. No need to rack your brain for one, though. You’ll be My Little Horny.”

Ha! “Then you’ll have to go by the Lone Rider.” As he chuckled, she moved her hands all over him, learning him. “While we were otherwise occupied, I realized I don’t know your secret fantasies. Or your life plan.”

“Fantasies—sleeping with a unicorn-shifter curled against me, and awaking to find she’s still there. Life plan—becoming a king of the underworld. I will be a king. I have only to find Lucifer’s former crown.”

First, her heart swelled with more lo—like. Then her mind wallowed in confusion. “Why must you find his crown? Why aren’t you a king already?”

A long stream of air seeped from him. “Long ago, I moved out of Hell. I didn’t like the male I was becoming here—too dark, no hint of light—and thought I could be a better man topside. I was wrong. I still warred, still killed, still abandoned the women I slept with.”

“What made you return?”

“The war with Lucifer. I want him dead, and I will do anything to get it done. Also, the longer I’ve been here, the more I’ve realized I choose whether I’m light or dark, not my location. I’m no longer a young male in his early hundreds. I’m older, stronger and wiser. As for the crown,” he said. “Long ago, eleven crowns were forged in the heavens, each representing a different power. Lucifer stole ten of them.”

“Of course he did.”

“The eleventh crown is rumored to enslave the other kings, but no one has found it yet.”

“Maybe I can help.” No, no maybe about it. She could, and she would. Sunny longed to show William grateful she was to have him in her life, and to know pleasure and satisfaction for the first time.

Maybe she could present the crown to him—while in her unicorn form.

She scoured her mind for any reason to continue denying him. He would have eternal access to her horn, able to call it forth and remove it while she slept. He hadn’t actually copped to being in love with her, and he might not be there yet.

But...none of that mattered to her. She wanted to show him. And she would. After she’d dropped the bomb about the medallion.

With a sigh, she reached up and back to flatten her hand on the headboard and push, changing positions, but a splinter pricked the pad of her finger. “Ow!” She yanked her hand to her chest.

William swooped in fast, latching on to her wrist to look over her hand. After gently, tenderly plucking the splinter free, he punched the headboard and growled, “That will teach you to harm my woman.”

She chuckled. Silly, adorable male.

“Better?” he asked.

A wealth of incoming footsteps made her ears twitch. William must have heard them, too. He stiffened.

“Expecting visitors?” she asked.

“No.”

Suddenly, the door burst open, a contingent of Sent Ones storming into the bedroom. Eleven in total. Three where Elite, and the rest were Warriors. They carried swords of fire.

Since the Sent Ones were her neighbors, she’d taken pains to learn their names. A furious Bjorn led the charge, shouting, “William! Today you pay for your crimes.”

Holding the sheet to her chest, Sunny jolted to an upright position. How dare they interrupt her afterglow? William jolted upright, too, his eyes stark with fury.

“There’s a gun in my nightstand,” he informed her. “If anyone looks at you, give them a Sunny Lane special.”

A bullet to the face?

He surged to his feet. Gloriously naked, he bent to grab two of his discarded daggers. His beautiful lightning flashed, his smoke wings forming. Only, the smoke must have lost its potency. Or maybe he produced more than one kind, depending on the situation? Maybe

she’d grown immune to it? Whatever the reason, she remained unaffected. But so did the Sent Ones.

“You have three seconds to exit my bedroom,” William snarled. “Or you will suffer.”

33

“Welcome to Big Willy’s little house of horrors.”

If William didn’t get his way, he would commit murder. So he was naked. So what. He’d give the Sent Ones a thrill before he removed their heads. And he would remove their heads if they stayed. They hadn’t just invaded his home, his sanctuary. They’d dared bring violence to Sunny’s door, perhaps undoing her sense of safety. But the worst of their crimes? They’d ruined snuggle-fucking-time.

For that, they would die screaming. “Three. Two.”

The Sent Ones remained in place.

“Very well. You suffer.”

“Don’t taint your growing bond with Axel by killing his friends,” Sunny called. “Just spank them a little.”

She didn’t sound frightened; she sounded excited.

Very well. For her, and for Axel, he would only injure the bastards, then dump their unconscious bodies at camp.

“Which crimes are you referencing?” he asked Bjorn.

“As if you do not know.”

The Sent One Warriors surrounded William, their wings blocking him from the Elite.

“Stay back. William is mine.” Bjorn unleashed a war cry.

Instead of retreating, the Warriors attacked.

They dared disobey the orders of their leader. For that, William would spank them extra hard. He kept his arms in a constant state of motion, slashing, slashing. Each blade slicked into one of the challengers’ eyes. But the male healed quickly and continued getting up. The male shouted, agonized, but still he fought, blindly swinging his fiery sword with shocking accuracy, as if he’d trained for this. Perhaps he had.

“Tell me what you think I did,” William demanded of Bjorn.

“Do not pretend ignorance,” the Elite bellowed.

William caught a glimpse of him. The male had decided to hang back while the Warriors received their punishment. How obliging.