The Darkest Surrender (19 page)

Before she could reply, Strider stalked over and punched them both in the back of the head. At the same time. They propelled forward, but he caught them by the hair before they could hit the ground, used his knees to slam into the back of theirs, and forced them both to kneel before her.

“Apologize,” he commanded, and there was so much darkness in his voice she could almost smell the fire and brimstone. “Now.”

Kaia’s heart fluttered. The men obeyed, babbling and crying. Strider lifted one and tossed him. The human went soaring and crashed into a car, the alarm suddenly screeching. The second man joined him a moment later.

“Thanks,” she said, fighting the urge to melt into a shivery puddle at his feet. “My pleasure.”

They entered the bar side by side.

T
HE WOMAN WAS GOING TO SLAY
him with that killer body of hers. Delicious curves were wrapped in a swath of ma
terial that might not pass for a bathing suit in some countries. Her skin was luminous, but lacking its multihued shimmer. She must have covered herself with total-body makeup. Not that he’d complain.

Anything that would stop other men from desiring her had his stamp of approval.

Who was he kidding? Men not desire her? That was never going to happen. No matter what she did to her skin, no matter what she wore, men would
always
desire her. The knowledge pissed him off—and filled him with pride.

She considered
Strider
her consort. No one else.

Resisting her was becoming harder. And harder. Literally.

“Hey, who is—Anya? Gideon? Amun? And, like, a thousand others.” Kaia had to shout to be heard over the blaring music. She peered up at him with wide silver-gold eyes, soft with an emotion he couldn’t name. “How did you get all of them here?”

A man could lose himself in those fathomless depths. “I asked and Lucien flashed.” More like he’d demanded and Lucien had dragged his feet. But who cared about details? “They’re only here for the night, though.”

“Sweet! One night, I can love them. Two, and I always want to kill them.”

“Just don’t mention,” he lowered his voice, “first prize. Okay?” They’d be all over his case about it. What he’d done with the Cloak of Invisibility would be thrown in his face. His motives would be questioned. His smarts. They’d want to stay, want to search for the Paring Rod, steal it.

He and Sabin had already chatted. The others needed to guard the two artifacts they already had. They needed to protect the fortress in Buda. They needed to remain vigilant against Hunter attacks. If, however, the two of them
failed to steal the Rod on their own before the final Harpy game kicked off, they would call for reinforcements.

Tonight, while Kaia was distracted with her training, they were going to hunt down the Eagleshields. In fact, that’s what Sabin was doing right now. Peering down from the heavens, finding the seemingly unfindable. Boss man should be here any minute to drag him away.

“I won’t mention anything about anything, I swear. And thank you!” A huge grin split Kaia’s red-painted lips and she clapped. Then she jumped up and planted a scorching kiss on his cheek before dashing away. Her mouth burned his flesh, perhaps imprinting his every cell.

The past few days, all he’d been able to do was think about her. She’d been so pale, so still, so weak, and he’d been so desperate to help her, yet unable to do more than feed her his blood…and crave. Oh, had he craved.
Still
craved.

Something he’d realized, though, was that sleeping with her had to wait until after the games. Right now, he had to remain strong. He couldn’t risk being laid flat by losing a challenge. Any challenge. Even one in the bedroom.

Once her well-being no longer depended on him, nothing would keep him out of those microscopic pants. He had to have her. Had to taste her, hear her cry his name. Hell, he planned to gorge himself on the woman, no matter the consequences. And not just once, as he’d thought to limit himself before, but over and over again.

He watched as she threw herself into Amun’s arms. The warrior looked tired, and there were bruises under his eyes, but he appeared genuinely happy to see Kaia as he spun her around. Gideon, the punked-out keeper of Lies, grabbed her up and hugged her tight. She threw back her head and laughed before messing up his blue hair and tugging at his eyebrow ring. How carefree she was, how uninhibited.

How mine,
he thought darkly, then forced himself to add,
for now, at least.

Inside his head, Defeat perked up.

Oh, no, you don’t. You just stay silent, you little prick. You weren’t invited to this party.

A growl rang in his ears, and he recognized the sound as the war cry it was.

You want to win the Paring Rod, right? Or would you rather return to Pandora’s box and rot? Because if I fail, Kaia’s our only hope. And if she fails, we’ll lose the artifact. If we lose the artifact, the Hunters could use it to get their hands on the box, suck you back inside. Eternally trapping you.

Silence.

Yeah. He’d thought so. There was nothing Defeat despised more than his memories of the box, the darkness and isolation. What he didn’t mention was that if he managed to steal the Rod, Kaia would hate his damn guts. She’d forgive him, though, as Juliette had forgiven her man for his dark deeds. Right?

“Kye,” he heard Gideon say. “I wouldn’t like you to meet my hideous husband, Scar.” He motioned to the black-haired stunner by his side with a wave of his hand. Since Gideon couldn’t speak a word of truth without experiencing debilitating pain, he’d lied. About everything.

“Actually, the name’s Scarlet,” his wife replied. She was the keeper of Nightmares and when she killed a man in his dreams, he died for real. She was tall, slender and mean as hell. “And in case you’re wondering, I don’t have a penis.”

Why couldn’t I have gotten
that
demon? Nightmares? Talk about cool.

Defeat
harrumphed.

You’re a pain in the ass and you know it.

“I’m Kaia. Or Damn it, Kaia, as Strider likes to call me.”

“I do not,” Strider growled. He called her baby doll. And she was. Now where the hell was Sabin? He needed out of here
el pronto.

Kaia ignored him. “Weren’t you, like, locked in the Lords’ dungeon not that long ago?” she asked Scarlet. “Too dangerous to roam free, untrustworthy, violent in the extreme, blah, blah, blah.”

“Yeah. Thankfully, that’s what whips this one into a frenzy,” Scarlet said, motioning to Gideon with a tilt of her stubborn chin.

Gideon wiggled his dark eyebrows, and Kaia chuckled, warm and husky and…hell. Strider felt his body responding. So not a good time to sport wood.

Kaia was in good hands, he thought, especially since Gideon’s were brand-new. Bastard had gotten his old ones cut off by Hunters and had been forced to regrow a pair. At the time, Strider had flipped out about the pain his friend had been forced to endure. Now, he got a good laugh out of it. Anyway, he didn’t have to worry about Kaia—or lust after her, which he would continue to do if he stayed here and watched her—so he made his way to the bar, only then noticing the blonde with pink streaks in her hair and tattoos sleeving her arm. Haidee. Shit. Having her and Kaia in the same room probably wasn’t a good idea.

She turned, two beers in her hands, and when she spotted him, she nodded in acknowledgment. Still she glowed—and not from pregnancy as he’d first assumed. No way she’d drink a beer if she were. Quite simply, she glowed with love, his second assumption.

Once again, there was no pang in his chest when he looked at her and he’d never been happier about that.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, then told the bartender to bring him a beer.

Hurt flashed in her eyes, quickly masked.

“I wasn’t trying to be mean,” he admitted. “Just trying to protect you.”

Smiling sweetly, she shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Amun just returned from the heavens and there was no way I was going to be parted from him today. Especially when I might be parted from him tomorrow.”

How forlorn she sounded. “Why tomorrow?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she grumbled, losing the smile.

He lifted his hand to pat her on the back, to offer comfort. Before contact, he dropped his arm to his side. Even such a token gesture from him might make her uncomfortable, and besides, he realized he shouldn’t be offering.

With their violent, turbulent history, any such offering might tick Amun off. And rightly so. Strider could imagine his own reaction if, say, one of his friends had a past with Kaia—cough Paris cough—and the bastard put his hands on her. Hello, rage.

In that moment, he realized he had never truly desired Haidee as a forever after. Desired her, yes, but he’d never felt so strongly about her, or anyone really, that he couldn’t pick up and walk away. Without regret. Without remorse. Well, Kaia was a maddening, life-and-death exception. For the time being. He needed her. He wanted her, and when the time was right, he would have her. End of story.

That thought alone consumed him with lust, abolishing every other emotion inside him.

Not now, damn it. I have to let her relax and train with the boys.
“By the way,” he said to Haidee in an attempt to distract himself. “I know you know why Amun was summoned by Cronus the other day.”

“Yeah. So?” Her dejection eased, her features lighting with amusement. “I’m no longer possessed by the demon of Hate, but I still like to torment you every now and then.
Besides, I knew one of your buddies would step in and share the details.”

Win.

Great. Contrary female. Now Strider had to win a battle of wills with her. But he supposed he understood why his demon leapt at this chance for victory, small though it would (hopefully) be. Accommodating as Kaia had been during the drive here, the bastard needed to feed.

“What’d he learn? And yes, we are having a prolonged conversation whether you want to or not. I’ll follow you around like a puppy on a leash all damn night, if that’s what it takes.” If that threat didn’t scare her into answering, he didn’t know what would.

“Nothing.” She sighed. “Amun couldn’t find her—the girl now possessed by the demon of Distrust. Cronus wants him to return to the heavens tomorrow and try again. Now you have both answers. Happy?”

“A little.” He’d won and tiny sparks of pleasure filled his chest. “Tell him—” Strider’s eyes widened as a thought struck him. “Have him call me when Cronus is done with him and he’s rested up a bit.” Amun was too tired for him to burden tonight. But if anyone could find Juliette’s hiding place for the Paring Rod, it was him. Damn, but Strider should have thought of that before. “I need a favor.”

Haidee gulped back her beer. “You and everyone else in the world.”

“Damn, girl. Learn to share.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s hilarious, coming from you.”

“No, it’s ironic. Learn the difference. But, honestly? I’m a lost cause, too set in my ways. You, however, have a fighting chance.”

She laughed and said something in reply, but a pierc
ing shriek in the background drowned out her words. Oh, shit. Strider’s eardrums knew that shriek intimately.

He wheeled around—just as a red blur flew past him, aiming for Haidee.

W
IND RUFFLED
S
TRIDER’S HAIR
as he reached out and grabbed Kaia by the waist. He was fast, but not fast enough, and by the time he had the woman anchored over his shoulder fireman-style, both of Haidee’s cheeks were claw-slashed and bleeding.

Haidee appeared too shocked to react, much less defend herself. Which wasn’t like her. No one had self-protective instincts like Haidee. Either she was slipping or being without Hate had slowed her down.

“You do not touch him. You do not speak to him. Ever!” Kaia snarled in a voice layered with another being’s screams, her own fury, and plumes of darkness.

“Damn it, Kaia.” Strider smacked her ass. She didn’t notice. She tried to twist around and accidentally kneed him in the stomach. Hard. Air gushed from his mouth, and he hunched over, almost losing her. He readjusted his grip, one hand on the back of her legs, the other on the small of her back. And damn, she was hot! Literally. Heat seeped from her, burning him.

Win?

And, there was his demon, making another appearance. Freaking great. At least the bastard wasn’t quite sure how to proceed with the Harpy.
I’ve got her, don’t I? What more do you want?

“Kaia,” Strider said. “If you don’t settle down, you’re going to hurt me.”

To his surprise, that worked, penetrating the fog of her fury. In a blink, she settled, remaining draped over him, her palms pressed into his back, her heated breaths wafting over his shirt and slithering past the material, caressing him with molten deliciousness.

Hello again, Stridey-Monster. Thank gods the fall of her legs hid the evidence of his arousal.

Won.
Defeat sighed with pleasure and that pleasure shot through him, increasing his enjoyment. An enjoyment far stronger than anything he’d experienced with Haidee.

There were several humans in the bar, watching them. He smiled sheepishly. “Women.”

They nodded in understanding.

A frowning Amun rushed to Haidee’s side. Haidee said, “It’s nothing, baby. I swear.” Still, he cupped her cheeks and the frown became a scowl. A scowl he leveled at Strider.

As the keeper of Secrets, Amun could read the thoughts of everyone around him. So Strider opened up his mind and allowed his friend inside.
Don’t even think about getting back at her. This could have been a lot worse and you know it. Kaia merely scratched her up, nothing more.

You protect what’s yours and I protect what’s mine,
Amun signed angrily.

Kaia. His. He didn’t want to analyze the thrill of delight that joined the pleasure. And he didn’t need to. She
was
his. Just for a little while—another reminder.

Haidee wrapped her fingers around her man’s forearm, leaving a smear of blood on his mocha-colored skin. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Kaia traced something on Strider’s back, distracting him. A heart, he thought, wanting to smile.

Amun’s hands began another furious bout of signing directed at him.
You think this is funny?

“Yeah. I do. If you’ll excuse us, we have a little business to attend to.” Strider carted Kaia to the dance floor.

Sabin had yet to arrive, which meant there was no reason to resist. With a shrug of his shoulders, he bounced Kaia up and slid her forward. Her body pressed against his as it descended. Only, instead of placing her feet on the wooden slats, she wrapped her legs around his waist and held on tight, fitting her core against his erection.

He bit off a groan. At least her temperature had cooled, so he didn’t have to worry about his cock catching on fire. He peered deeply into her eyes and the world around him faded. There was only Kaia, desire and a need to soothe the temper he had unintentionally roused in her.

He anchored his hands on the back of her thighs to keep her from falling and to prevent his friends from seeing anything they shouldn’t. Anything of
his.
Her ass was definitely his.

“Let me go,” she said, though her tone lacked any kind of admonishment. He didn’t point out that she had a tighter hold on him than he had on her. “I’m going to kill that bitch.”

“No, baby doll, you won’t.”

“Yes, I will.” But the black faded from her eyes, leaving the decadent silver-gold he so loved.

Whoa, whoa there. Loved? Hell, no. He
liked
the color, that was all. “Where’s Miss Agreeable? The girl I chauffeured over here.” That small taste of Miss Agreeable should have been a slice of heaven, too, since that’s what he’d always claimed to want from her. Surprisingly, he realized he preferred her this way. On edge and wild.

Maybe because his blood roared at the alluring prospect of taming her.

Another flicker of black. “Miss Agreeable is dead. You killed her when you flirted with another woman.”

“If you haven’t heard, dead doesn’t have to mean gone forever,” he teased. “Maybe she can rise from the grave.”

A gasp left her. “I knew you’d like me that way.” She pounded a fist into his shoulder. “I knew it!”

He laughed, unable to trap his amusement inside.

Frowning sulkily, she stilled and glared at him. “What’s so funny?”

“You.” Just then she was illogical and adorable, and jealous as hell. Of Haidee, and even of herself. “I just want to eat you up.”

Her mouth fell open, pearly whites bared in what could only be a mix of shock and hope. “What?”

Now that he had her attention… He moved his hands just under her thighs, lifting and balancing her on the tip of his straining erection. “You want to tell me what just happened? With Haidee?”

Expression closing off, she stared just over his shoulder. And yet, she nibbled on her bottom lip as he arched his hips forward, rubbing against her. “No. I don’t.”

“Do it anyway.”

He rubbed again. She nibbled harder. Too much, he thought. Too much for this crowded room. He held her steady.

“Tell me,” he said.

There was a pause. Then a pouty, “You like her more than you like me.”

She’d faced a clan of vengeful Harpies without a single complaint, but the thought of him with someone else was more than she could tolerate. That stroked his ego, yeah, but he didn’t like that he’d hurt her. “No, baby doll, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. You told me so.”

“Then I was delusional. And really, really dumb. I’m very sorry for that.” The truth, all of it. He’d only
thought
he’d wanted Haidee in a romantic sense, had got
ten snagged by the challenge of winning the heart of an enemy.

After he’d won her, he would have walked away from her without any regrets. Easy. Kaia, though, he’d treated abominably—maybe because he’d sensed, deep down, that he would not be able to walk away from her so easily.

“I like you. A lot.”

Her chin lifted, that too-delightful stubborn streak kicking in. “But I slept with Paris and you can never forget that.”

He
had
pushed that fact in her face over and over again, hadn’t he? Stupid of him. While the knowledge had bothered him before—because yeah, he’d been a little jealous and hurt himself since she’d picked Paris first—it seemed insignificant right now.

How many women had Strider been with over the years? How many after Kaia had declared herself to him? Any one of those women could have been a friend of hers.

“News flash,” he said, hoping to soothe the hurt he’d caused, “half the people in this room have slept with Paris.”

Hope bloomed, the gold consuming her eyes, overshadowing even the silver, only to swiftly wither and die. “You’ll never be able to get over it. Not really. Not with me.”

Okay, a little damage control was in order. “Allow me to iron this out completely. Am I jealous? Yes. Are you going to do it again? Hell, no. Not if you like him breathing. Am I worried about
our
first time because of him? Yes. What if I’m not as good? But do I cast stones about what happened? No. You’re talking to a borderline man-whore, Kaia. Like I really have room to judge.”

“You’re jealous?” The lustrous gleam of her skin suddenly peeked past her makeup as her body temperature rose.

His heart galloped into an unsteady rhythm and his mouth watered. A taste, soon, very soon. He had to have one. “Yes. And here’s another news flash.” His words were slightly slurred, as if he were drunk on desire. “I’m possessive. That’s not going to change.”

“I don’t want that to change. I like that about you.”

“Good.” The few times he’d tried the relationship thing, that possessiveness of his had gotten old, fast.

“And I—” She frowned, the gleam dimming just as her hope had. “You’re just saying all of this because you expect me to win the Paring Rod for you.”

Wrong as she was, he deserved the doubt, he really did. Plus, he couldn’t stop a wave of guilt from sweeping through him. No matter what he next said, no matter whether she believed him now, she would think he’d lied when he actually did steal that damn Rod.

Worry later.
“Does the Rod have sexy red hair and a body that wraps around me just right?”

Her sexy lips puckered. “No.”

So kissable… “Then I’m pretty sure I like you for being you. I mean, what’s not to like?”

“True,” she said, but she didn’t relax against him. “I
am
pretty awesome.”

“Better than pretty.”

“I know. And no one can ever convince me otherwise. No matter how hard he tries.” A direct hit, reminding him of all the times he’d pricked at her pride to save himself from craving her.

Not that it had ever worked.

Defeat perked up and Strider gave him a mental shove into a darkened corner. He didn’t want the demon’s interference right now. This was between him and Kaia.

“I’m sorry I ever said otherwise,” he added sincerely. “Clearly I was suffering from some kind of brain injury.”

“I suspected.” Her expression softened, but still she
didn’t cave. “So what do you like about me besides my amazing hair and body? Because last time we talked about this, you said I was too much trouble. You said I challenged you at every turn and you didn’t want the hassle of dealing with me.”

“Are you going to throw everything I’ve ever said in my face each time we argue?”

“Absolutely.” She admitted it freely, with no hesitation.

“Okay. Just checking.” And here was a shocker. He liked that. You had to use every weapon at your disposal to win a fight, and she wielded his past stupidity like a razor. She cut him with it, at the same time teaching him how to soothe
her
wounds.

“Well?”

“You
are
a challenge at every turn, there’s no denying that.” She stiffened, and he hurried on. “But I’m finding that I don’t mind.”

Anger flashed, a stormy silver with no hint of gold. “You don’t
mind?
Well, aren’t I a lucky girl? If one of your past girlfriends ever told you that you have a way with words, she was lying.”

Kaia unhooked her ankles and dropped her legs. He didn’t release her, though. He hefted her back up, forcing her to remain in place. Flush against him, rubbing just right without stimulating too much.

“Look,” he said. “You amuse the hell out of me. You excite me. And I’m finding that what I thought I wouldn’t like about you is actually my favorite part. Besides, I know I’m no picnic in the park, either.”

She’d begun to soften. At the last little bit, she flashed her pearly whites in a grimace. “You’re just digging a deeper hole, you big moron.”

“Come on, baby doll.” He spread his fingers, covering more ground as he angled toward the greatest roller-
coaster ride on earth. “I’m new at being a consort. Give me some wiggle room.”

Yeah, he knew it was funny that he was asking for emotional wiggle room when he wouldn’t let her move physically, but come on. He was a guy. This was par for the course. But then she realized what he said and froze, not even seeming to breathe.

Suddenly utter vulnerability radiated from her. “Is that an admission that you’re mine?” she asked.

Was it? “Yes,” he said as realization struck. “For the next few weeks I’ll be the best damn consort you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. After that, I can’t promise. I’ve never done the long haul, forever thing. We’ll have to reevaluate, see how we feel.”

A thought short-circuited his brain. What if she
couldn’t
forgive him for stealing the Rod? What if that act proved to be more than “almost anything”? There would be no reevaluation because she wouldn’t want anything to do with him. They would be over, done.

A sense of urgency overtook him. He had to get her to agree to have him, all of him, now. That way, later, she would have a harder time shoving him out of her life.

Not that he would want to stick around. As he’d told her, he’d never done the long haul thing before. A few months, but never more than that. And yet, just then he couldn’t imagine
not
wanting Kaia. Just then he despised the thought of being without her. So, yeah, he had to get her to agree.

“Give me a chance,” he beseeched. “Please.”

Win?
Defeat said.

Go back to your corner.

In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that the music had changed, the tempo harder, faster, but he refused to accelerate the slow grind he had going with Kaia.

Her shoulders sagged, but rather than stomp away in
disappointment because he hadn’t agreed to stay forever, she flattened her hands on his chest and whispered, “That’s not good enough. I wish it were, but…”

“For now, it’s all I can offer.” He cupped her jaw, forcing her attention to remain on his face. “I do know that I hate the thought of you with anyone else. I know you’re the only woman I desire.”

She started nibbling on her bottom lip again, and he almost,
almost,
replaced her teeth with his own. But not yet. Not until she agreed.

“What changed your mind?” she asked. “I mean, it certainly wasn’t my mad street fighting skills since I crashed and burned at Tag.”

His stomach churned as an image of her blazed through his mind. Her body limp and covered with blood. Her face swollen, her limbs mangled. Never again, he thought darkly. He would protect her.