A Dangerous Fury (The Sentinel Demons Book 3)
Page 12
Athena smiled as Hunter hugged the voluptuous redhead back, his clumsy acceptance of affection from anyone else but her still evident. She wondered how long it was going to take for Hunter to realize that he was loved.
“I’m fine.” He blew off Kat’s concern huskily, patting her awkwardly on the back.
Talia moved in for a group hug as their mates looked on with displeasure.
“Okay. Enough hugging. We can all see that Hunter is okay.” Drew pulled his wife back to his side, and Zach did the same.
Hunter smirked, and Athena knew he was enjoying his brothers’ discomfort because they interrupted an intimate moment for him.
Athena made the table bigger and manifested breakfast for everyone while they discussed what had happened to her and how she’d saved Hunter’s life.
“So your power isn’t as strong?” Kat asked curiously as she devoured her breakfast since she knew it was calorie-free.
“I can still make food with no calories,” Athena said, smiling at both of the women. “And I can kill Evils now that my goddess essence is gone. I’ve essentially become a very powerful radiant with my inherent goddess skills. I’m still capable of returning the Evils to their original state. Some things I’ll never lose.”
“If Hunter absorbed some of your power, does he still have it?” Drew asked inquisitively.
“Please tell me I can kick both of their asses now,” Hunter begged jokingly.
Athena nodded slowly. “I’m afraid he does. He’ll always be a little stronger than the average Sentinel. But it’s a power he can use. He is and always will be a stabilizer, but the added power will help keep him steady.”
“And so do you,” Talia added knowingly.
“Being mated to me will help him. Since I’m no longer a goddess, my powers are no longer subject to the balance between good and evil. But Hunter will always feel the need to balance things to some extent. It just won’t be an obsession he can’t control anymore.”
“Now I have a new obsession,” Hunter mentioned roughly.
Drew and Zach looked at each other and grinned. “Welcome to the world of having a radiant, brother,” Zach told Hunter, his voice dripping with humor.
Drew nodded and added, “It’s an obsession that never goes away.”
“Like the female radiants don’t suffer just as badly?” Athena asked drily.
Kat and Talia nodded emphatically as they continued to eat.
Hunter looked at Athena, his heart in his eyes. “I never said I was suffering. I just said it was an obsession. I’m not complaining, Princess. You’re the best obsession I’ve ever had.”
Her heart melted as she looked at his earnest expression. Dammit! Hunter could move her with just one comment, calm her irritation with a look.
“That goes both ways, Princess,” Hunter told her quietly.
Kat put down her fork as she said hesitantly, “Maybe we should leave you two alone. You’re newly mated. I’m sure you’d like some time to yourselves.”
Athena knew that Kat had picked up on her and Hunter reading each other’s thoughts. “We need to discuss our rescue plan for Kristoff.” Her body and heart was clamoring to be alone with Hunter, but she’d have time for that after they’d discussed a plan. “We need to get him out of the demon realm as soon as possible.” She was worried about her longtime friend. Kristoff was strong, but he wasn’t immune to the torture she knew he was suffering in the demon realm.
“We’ll get him out,” Hunter told her adamantly.
“We’ll all get him out and restore the balance.” Athena eyed Hunter warily, afraid she was going to have to assert herself again. Every one of them needed to be at the battle for them to have a chance to win. “I just got a chance for a new, wonderful life with my soulmate. I want to enjoy it in peace once Kristoff is safe.”
“Drew and I have chosen the warriors and they’re readying everything we need. We’ll meet and talk about strategy later today. We should be able to execute the rescue shortly,” Zach informed her flatly, obviously still not happy about the women participating in the mission.
Athena nodded. “Good. Things will have to be perfectly executed for this to work. They’ll still have greater numbers and they’ll be fighting on home ground. But we’ll have the element of surprise.”
“We could rally greater numbers, but I don’t think it will help. It’s likely to be more of a hindrance if we have untrained Sentinels who aren’t prepared to battle with Evils,” Drew said, his expression pensive.
“You’re right,” Athena agreed. “Better to have smaller numbers and more skilled fighters.”
The talk continued, everyone adding their input and all of them in agreement about how the mission should happen. Drew and Zach left with their mates with an arrangement to meet with Hunter later in the afternoon.
“You’re worried,” Hunter observed, wrapping his arms around Athena from behind.
She sighed. “If anything happens to any of them, it would be horrible. We’re bound to have casualties.” It was something she hadn’t wanted to mention to anybody, but it was fact. She’d seen very few battles where some weren’t lost.
“We’ll get through it, Princess. And we’ll get Kristoff back,” Hunter said soothingly in her ear.
She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I hope you’re right.”
“You’re tense.” Hunter rubbed her shoulders with his strong hands. “Can we stop talking about war for a while and focus on something more pleasant?” His tone was deep and seductive.
Athena locked eyes with Hunter and the tension instantly fled from her body. The time was coming for the Sentinels to go to war, but it wasn’t happening yet. The man in front of her was her own personal miracle, and she wasn’t going to let the impending battle with the Evils spoil her happiness right now.
“You’re right. Let’s focus on this.” Mischievously, she sent him a mental image of her tasting him until he threw his head back and roared as an explosive orgasm seized him. “I never got to finish this.”
He retaliated, sending her another scenario, both of them climaxing while they tasted the other at the same time. “I don’t want to be selfish,” he told her huskily. “If I’m coming, I want you to be right there with me.”
It was a sexual act they’d never tried before and Athena looked up at Hunter innocently. “Is that possible?”
He shot her a wicked grin. “Most definitely.”
“Then teach me,” she requested hotly, pulling his head down to devour the sexy smile on his face.
Athena moaned as Hunter grasped her ass and pulled her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. She melted into him, and as usual, every thought in her head disappeared except for Hunter.
Soon the time would come to think about the upcoming war, but for now there was only this…only Hunter.
Athena let herself get lost in his embrace as the two of them disappeared to Hunter’s bedroom, both allowing themselves a short time to think about nothing except each other.
The enormous house echoed with the incoherent cries of passion from a lonely ex-goddess and her angry, isolated Sentinel demon who had found their happiness in each other…at last.
Kristoff Agares could bear the physical pain the Evils dished out in the demon realm. They could tear the flesh from his body piece by piece, set his body on fire, and beat him until he lost consciousness.
The Evils had already given torturing him with physical brutality their best shot. If making him cry like a child had been their objective, they’d failed. Not a sound had left his lips; not a word or scream had escaped his mouth. He bore the physical torture stoically, willing his brain away from the pain and thinking about the fact that his daughter, Talia, was still alive and well with his loyal Sentinel and friend, Drew.
He visualized the love Drew and Talia had for each other, and
how happy they’d be, withdrawing himself from the demon realm altogether as he focused his attention on the daughter he’d never knew he had until recently. He would have liked to really know her, spend time with her, but it had to be enough for him to know she was safe.
The technique of removing himself mentally from his body had worked for a while. Unfortunately, the Evils—Goran in particular—wasn’t satisfied with a Sentinel demon king who didn’t cower at his feet, or beg for mercy.
That’s when the mental torture had begun.
Kristoff started to drift off to sleep on the filthy mattress in his prison cell, his hands and legs chained to the stone wall. He’d been stripped of his clothing long ago, when the Evils had been dedicated to only inflicting physical pain. Periodically, he was drained of power so he always felt listless.
He was tired, so damn tired, but he wouldn’t let himself sleep. He went somewhere in between, in a twilight world where only his will kept him from succumbing to the torturous nightmares that Goran was orchestrating himself.
Occasionally, Kristoff couldn’t fight his exhaustion anymore and he’d enter the dream world, only to relive the hell of seeing his daughter raped and murdered by Evils and his friends torn to pieces right in front of him while he was helpless to save them. Another of Goran’s favorites was a scene where Athena, his virgin goddess creator and friend, was also brutally assaulted and then beheaded by the Evils.
Image after image had been run through his head like a never-ending horror movie while he slept, and he’d jolt back awake again, sweating and delirious, not certain what was truth and what was simply illusion.
“I’m not sleeping,” he told himself fiercely, refusing to give into real sleep. The physical torture was relatively easy to deal with, but the nightmares where he wasn’t able to separate reality from dreams were terrifying.
He shifted on the putrid mattress he was lying on, trying to stay awake. If he tried to put himself into a twilight sleep right now, he’d go over the edge into the dream realm. It had been too long since he’d really slept.
The clanging of the shackles on his limbs kept him from tipping over the edge for a few minutes, and he continued to shift position and make some noise.
I can’t go to sleep. I can’t.
With every incident of the mind fuck the Evils were doing on him, he knew he lost a little more of his sanity. He was headed down a slippery slope to complete madness. If he couldn’t stay rooted to reality, he’d be nothing except a shell of a man, living in terror inside himself.
Not. Happening.
There was nothing Kristoff wanted more than to deny Goran the satisfaction of taking over his mind.
Stay. Awake.
His submission was inevitable. He’d reach the point where he couldn’t stay awake anymore. But dammit, not yet.
Kristoff?
The lyrical female voice called to him only in his mind. He didn’t know her, didn’t recognize the voice, but it beckoned him.
Kristoff, come to me. I know who you are and I promise to keep you safe. Sleep now.
“No,” he rasped to the seductive voice in his head luring him to sleep, suspecting it was another mind trap.
Sleep now. Come with me and I’ll keep you safe.
She sounded so sweet, so comforting that Kristoff had a hard time fighting the urge to join her in slumber. He fought the instinct, but eventually he couldn’t resist the dream world any longer.
Having no choice, he put his trust in the soothing female voice and slept.
~The End~
Read the final book in the Sentinel demon series, A Dangerous Demon King, coming soon.
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Books by J. S. Scott:
The Billionaire’s Obsession Series:
The Billionaire’s Obsession
Heart Of The Billionaire
The Billionaire’s Salvation
The Billionaire’s Game
Billionaire Undone
Billionaire Unmasked
Billionaire Untamed
Billionaire Unbound
The Sinclairs:
The Billionaire’s Christmas
No Ordinary Billionaire
The Forbidden Billionaire
The Vampire Coalition Series:
The Vampire Coalition: The Complete Collection
Ethan’s Mate
Rory’s Mate
Nathan’s Mate
Liam’s Mate
Daric’s Mate
The Sentinel Demons:
A Dangerous Bargain
A Dangerous Hunger
A Dangerous Fury
The Curve Collection: Big Girls And Bad Boys
The Changeling Encounters Collection