Immortal Rider (LD2) (19 page)

Her entire body began to tremble, and he held her tighter. Then, as if a switch had been thrown, she stopped shaking. “Because I’d been drinking.”

Instant bullshit flag. He’d been watching her all night, and yeah, he’d seen her suck down some nasty-looking blue drink and later, a slushy pink one, but no, she hadn’t been drunk.

“You’re lying.” He palmed the back of her neck and massaged, urging her to come clean.

“I’m not.”

“That’s a lie too. There’s nothing I hate more than lying, Horseman.” Leaning in, he kissed her throat to soften his words, though nothing would ever soften how he felt about lying. He’d fallen for far too many of his father’s lies, had seen his mom and sister deeply wounded by those same lies. “Tell me why you finally gave in.”

A soft cry escaped her, almost as if telling him the truth pained her, and for a terrible second, he was afraid she’d say that she’d done it on a whim. To satisfy her curiosity. That he could have been anyone and that he’d been the chump who’d rolled the crappy dice.

“Because in all those centuries, you’re the first male I’ve wanted that badly.”

Masculine pride puffed him up at her answer. “That’s really cool to hear, but why me?”

Her lips, swollen from his kiss and dewy from the waterfall’s mist, turned up in a dazzling smile. “Do you remember the first time we met, at Than’s place? And you were all in awe of us?”

“Awe is a strong word,” he muttered, and she laughed. She was beautiful when she did that.

“You amused me. Not many people do that. And you took having your ribs broken really, really well.”

“So you were attracted to me because I have a high tolerance for pain?”

“Well, that’s hot, but you also made me laugh, and you give me butterflies,” she added brightly before sobering. “You also… you looked at me like I was… I don’t know…”

“Wicked sexy?” he offered, and that smile hit him again.

“That, but more. Like I was a puzzle. I liked it. Males usually look at me like I’m good for one thing. Which is funny, because that’s the only thing I’m not good for.” She sighed. “And then at Ares’s party, I saw you watching me. And I saw you coax Rath out from behind the cement planter where he was hiding from all the strangers in the house. It was sweet.”

He shrugged. “He was just a baby, and he was scared half to death. Poor Cara was going crazy looking for him.”

“See? It just… I dunno. It made me want to be near you.”

“So you asked me to spar?”

“It’s all I could do. That’s as close as I could get to any male. But then you got all arrogant and called me a HILF, and as outraged as I was, I was flattered and turned on, and then you tugged me down on top of you and kissed me… and I’m babbling.” She scowled at him. “I never babble.”

It was probably some sort of mortal offense to think of a Horseman as cute, but she was. She might be able to kick his ass to the moon and back, but she was also the most feminine woman he’d ever met. Everything about her appealed to the male in him… the protective side that wanted to cage her in his arms and make sure nothing hurt her, and the carnal side that wanted to push her up against the wet boulder behind her and make her scream his name. Even if all they did was more of what they’d done in her bed, he would coax sweet noises from her lips.

“I like it when you babble,” he said. “It’s cute.”

“
Cute?
”

Yep, as expected, a mortal offense. He loved it when she had that spitting-mad cat thing going on. He didn’t bother with banter, because frankly, his blood had already started to heat from just thinking about the boulder scenario. How would she react if he grabbed her right now and… fuck it. He’d find out for himself.

Stepping into her, he caught her around the waist and pushed her up against the smooth rock surface and parked himself between her legs.

“Arik,” she gasped, and he went impossibly hard at the sexed-up sound of his name coming from her perfect mouth.

“Shh…” He pressed a series of kisses to her neck, tasting the fresh water and the sun on her skin.

“But I need to—”

He closed his hand over her breast, and she sucked air. “I know what you need,” he said against her throat, and when she opened her mouth to talk again, he bit down, some weird, driving need to possess and dominate taking over his entire body.

She melted against him, and with her capitulation, his inner animal howled in victory. Her hands gripped his ass and dug in as she arched, allowing him unlimited access to her breasts and putting her sex against the ridge of his cock through the fabric of their clothes. They’d been in this position before, on her bed… but he’d been out of it. This was much better. Much more real.

“Do you like this?” He rocked his erection into her, groaning at the hot friction tempered by the cool breeze around them.

“N-no,” she breathed, rolling her hips to increase the sensation.

He licked her neck. “Liar. Remember what I said about that?”

His fingers found the bikini ties around her neck, and in a few nimble twists of his fingers, he had the knot untied, and the top fell off, landing on the ground beside them. He bent to taste her rosy nipples as Limos’s hands slipped under the waistband of his pants to grip his ass. Her nails scored his skin, and he wished she’d do it harder. Or slide those soft palms around front.

As if she could read his thoughts, she sank her nails deep, and then dragged them around to his hips. A low sound erupted from his throat when her thumbs smoothed the sensitive skin of his pelvis on either side of his shaft, and he held his breath, waiting for her to touch him where he needed it so badly.

When her hands stopped moving, he thought he might die of anticipation. For a long, agonizing moment, she didn’t move. Okay, she was afraid. Maybe he was moving too fast. He could do slow, no matter what his body was telling him.

“I’m scaring you,” he whispered.

“I’m… a Horseman,” she whispered back.

He pressed a lingering kiss into the coconut-scented skin between her breasts. “You’re a woman. A gorgeous woman who has experienced everything except this, and you aren’t sure what to do. You’re not used to that feeling.”

“I hate that.” Her voice was a low, pleasured moan. “I hate how you call me out on things, like you know me better than you do.”

He smiled. “You love it, and you know it. Keeps you on your toes.” He dragged his tongue leisurely under the swell of one breast, and then gave the same treatment to the other. Limos practically purred, but her hand remained tamely frozen. He repeated the action, this time pausing to suck first one nipple deep into his mouth, and then the other. Another moan, but no movement.

He wasn’t experienced with virgins, but he knew how to loosen up a woman, and he kept up the tongue action, licking and suckling her sensitive skin, her sweet gasps mingling with the calls of the jungle birds and the soothing splash of the water around them. She didn’t seem to
notice when he unbuttoned her skirt and unwrapped it, leaving her in a yellow bikini bottom.

Jesus, she was exquisite. A one-two punch of deadly and sexy that made his instincts whack out with the need to rip the bottoms off and take her. But he had too much respect for women and too much military training to let his base desires rule, and he tugged her against him and bent to put his mouth to her ear.

“I’ve dreamed about this,” he growled. “I dreamed of all the things I’d do to you. But in none of my fantasies were you a virgin.” He nipped her earlobe, and she gasped sweetly. “I would have killed anyone who made my sister regret her first time, so yeah… you call the shots here.”

All of a sudden, she tore out of his arms and scrambled away from him, backing up on a grassy bank, panting and eyeing him as if he’d sprouted horns. “I can’t.”

Confused as hell, he eased up to her, slowly, because with every step he took, she breathed harder and looked like she was going to bolt. “I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

She wrapped her arms around herself, covering her breasts. “It’s not that. I want to. You don’t know how badly I want to.”

“Then what?” He cursed as the answer popped into his head. “Your fiancé.”

He’d never been one to poach, but this was different. It wasn’t poaching when the male in question was the evilest scumbag to ever exist. Then again, that was about the best reason
not
to poach there ever was.

“Sort of.” She swallowed audibly, her throat muscles working hard as her hands went to her bikini. Almost
mechanically, she shoved the bottoms down and stepped out of them.

Holy shit.
The sight took his breath. Her tan skin was perfect, unmarked. Her hips were slim, slightly flared, and the place between her muscular thighs was bare.

And around her hips was the most amazing piece of jewelry, a delicate gold and pearl chain that fit like string thong underwear. How he’d love to run his tongue over every pearl, following the chain to the one pearl that mattered. After he made her come with his mouth, he’d move the chain aside and enter her… God, he could practically feel those smooth little jewels caressing his shaft as he pumped into her.

“You’re gorgeous,” he managed, noticed he’d moved closer.

“Don’t touch,” she said, stepped back and bumped into a tree. “This—” she hooked her thumbs under the chain at each hip—“is a chastity belt. Only my husband can remove it.”

He frowned. “How is it a chastity belt?”

“If any male touches it with bare skin, it turns into something like razor wire. It severs toes, fingers… cocks.”

Well, if that didn’t just shrivel him up and make his balls crawl up inside his body. “What about you?”

“It hurts.” She shrugged like it was no big deal, but given how the thing was placed… yeah, no wonder she didn’t want males to get close.

He reached for her, careful to keep his lower body away from that beautifully deceptive bit of jewelry, but she lashed out, shoving him away.

“Don’t! Don’t you get it?
You can’t touch me
.”

“Dammit, Horseman, I didn’t get tossed into Sheoul for nothing. We’ll find a way to work around this.”

Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “Are you saying I owe you? You want me to work off all your torture?”

“What? No. Jesus, you’re cynical. I’m saying that I’m a stubborn son of a bitch, and I’m not going to let those skin-peeling, razor-slicing, ass-raping bastards win. I wanted you then, and I want you now. You saved my life and you nursed me back to health. I can’t be angry anymore.”

“Don’t,” she rasped. “Don’t make me better than I am.”

What the hell did that mean? He was about to ask, when twin flashes lit up the area. Instinctively, he wheeled in front of Limos as two huge, armored males popped out of summoned Harrowgates. Ares and Thanatos looked at him, looked at Limos, and sized up the situation in less time than it took an M-16 bullet to strike a target at thirty yards.

In all the time Arik was in the torture chamber, he suspected he’d die.

This time, he
knew
he was dead.

Fifteen

Ares and Thanatos moved before Limos could blink. In a coordinated swoop, Thanatos grabbed Arik while Ares blocked her. She couldn’t see beyond Ares’s broad shoulders, but she heard growls, grunts, and then a splash.

“Dammit!” Swiping her fingers over her throat, she armored up, covering her nakedness, and slammed Ares out of the way. He grabbed her, but she kneed him hard enough in the groin for him to loosen his grip. She used the split second advantage to lunge for Thanatos, who held a struggling, splashing Arik under water.

“Stop it!” she screamed. “You’re killing him.”

Than’s eyes glowed with golden death. “Yes.”

Shit. Once Than went into killing mode, he was nearly unstoppable. There was no time to reason with him, so she tackled him, grabbing him around the waist and knocking him off balance. It was enough for Arik to get his head above water for a deep, choked breath, but then
Thanatos was back at his task, brushing off Limos as if she were no more than a pesky fly.

Ares came at her, and she was done being nice. In an instant, she drew her sword and swung it in a broad arc. Her aim was perfect, and the reverberation from the impact of metal meeting the flesh and bone in Than’s neck jolted her arms. Blood sprayed, coating the sword, turning the water around them red. Thanatos yelped, releasing Arik to slap his hands over the gushing wound.

She ignored his curses and Ares’s shouts of “What the hell, Limos?” and hauled Arik up from the water. He surfaced, gasping for air, relief and fury alternating in his expression.

“You jackasses!” she snapped, and then found herself holding Arik back from trying to take a piece out of Than as her brother fought to keep from bleeding out. Oh, her strike wouldn’t kill Than even if he did bleed out, but it would take a good day for him to regenerate. “Arik can’t be allowed to die. You know that!”

Ares snarled, his hand poised over his sword, his furious gaze fixed on Arik. “What was he doing to you?”

“Nothing I didn’t want.” Ares’s hand dropped to the hilt, and Limos, who never panicked… panicked.