She wouldn't be this angry at them if she were guilty of what he'd said.
She'd never been with another man.
Only him.
That knowledge floored him.
He couldn't begin to understand why she would offer him something she hadn't offered to anyone else.
It didn't make sense in his world.
"Why do you want to be with me?"
She paused as she dressed and glared in his direction. "I have no idea. You are surly. Rude. Obnoxious. I have never in my life seen anyone more ill-mannered and… and… aggravating. You have no respect for anyone, not even yourself. All you can do is pick, pick, pick. You don't even know how to be happy."
Astrid opened her mouth to continue, then stopped as she became aware of the tone of Zarek's voice when he had posed his question to her.
It had been gently searching. Not accusatory.
Most of all, it had come from deep inside him.
And so she answered it from her heart. "You want to know the truth, Zarek? I want to be with you because there's something about you that makes me hot and shivery. Whenever I feel you near me, I want to reach out and touch you. To slide you into me so that I can hold you close and tell you that everything is all right. That I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you."
"I'm not a child," he said angrily.
Astrid reached out through the darkness and found his hand on the floor in front of her. She took it into hers and held it tight. "No, you're not a child. You never were. Children are supposed to be protected and cared for. You had no one to hold you when you cried. No one ever soothed you. They never told you stories or made you laugh when you were sad."
The tragedy of his life reached out to her then, penetrating her heart, making her want to weep for all the injustice that had been dealt him.
Things she had taken for granted as a child had been denied him. Friendship, happiness, family, treats. And most of all, love.
His life had been so unfair.
She trailed her hand up his muscular arm, to bury it in his hair so that she could stroke his scalp. "Make love to me, Zarek. I can't take away your past, but I can hold you now. I want to share my body with you, even if it's only for a little while."
He pulled her forcefully against him and kissed her heatedly. She moaned, arching her back as he laid her back down on the floor.
Astrid kicked her shoes off, then removed her pants and panties. She pulled her shirt off and unsnapped her bra.
She should be embarrassed—she'd never stripped in front of anyone before. Never been naked while they were clothed.
Yet she was not ashamed.
She felt powerful with him. Womanly. She knew he wanted her and she desired only to please him.
She lay back against his icy floor.
Mesmerized, Zarek couldn't move as Astrid bent her knees up and opened her legs in invitation.
Her nipples were puckered from the cold and her desire. Her hair was loose, spilling over her shoulders, and her hands rested on her stomach.
But it was her core that he stared at. She was already wet for him, her body swollen with need just as his was.
"I'm cold, Zarek," she whispered. "Will you warm me?"
He should get up and leave her there like that.
He couldn't.
No one had ever offered him such a precious gift.
No one but Astrid.
He grabbed the blankets from his pallet and covered her with them. He stripped his own clothes off, then joined her. Spreading her thighs wider, he took a moment to stare at the most private part of her body.
She was beautiful.
He ran his fingers down her rigid cleft, making her shiver even more under the warmth of his furs. Using his thumbs, he spread her open, then dipped down to take her into his mouth.
Astrid gasped at the sensation of Zarek's tongue sweeping against her. He licked and teased her, his breath warming her bottom.
His hot hands cupped her hips, pulling her closer to his mouth and to the prickly skin of his face.
He moaned as if the taste of her were heavenly. Licking her lips, she reached down to cup his face while he pleasured her.
Her heart pounded at the feeling of his jaw flexing under her hands.
In her dreams his touch had been incredible, but in reality it was far more intense.
Far more satisfying.
Her head swirled as her heart raced. Unbridled ecstasy danced through her and left her calling his name as she pressed herself closer to his lips.
And when she came, she screamed out, holding his head to her while her body disintegrated into a thousand sparks of pleasure.
Still he licked and teased her until she was whimpering from the bliss.
Zarek pulled back to see her panting on his floor. The top part of her was covered by his furs and blankets, but her lower half was bare, glistening in the low light of the lantern from the combination of her juices and him.
Her face was flushed, her eyes bright.
He'd never had a woman in his place before. Most especially not a naked one.
He pulled his covers away from her. She gasped as they scraped against her swollen, sensitive breasts. Zarek moved away from her only long enough to remove his clothes.
She reached out for him as he laid his body down over hers and let her heat warm him.
Zarek growled as her hard nipples rubbed against his chest. The tip of his shaft pressed against the damp hairs between her legs.
Astrid covered them with the blankets again and cradled him with her body.
Gods, how good she felt under him like this. Face to face. Her legs wrapped around his waist. Her hands stroking his naked back.
He lowered his head and kissed her, probing her mouth with his tongue.
But it wasn't her mouth he wanted to penetrate…
He trailed his hand down her arm until he could lace his fingers with hers. Holding her hand above their heads, he deepened his kiss.
Astrid swallowed as she felt Zarek shift his weight, bringing his entire lush, rippling male body flush with hers.
He pressed the tip of his shaft against her core. She arched her back, waiting for him to fill her.
He deepened his kiss and, with one thrust, slid himself deep inside.
Astrid cringed and whimpered at the sudden pain that overrode her pleasure.
Zarek pulled out immediately. "Oh, God, Astrid, did I hurt you? I'm sorry. I didn't know it was going to hurt."
His contrition was so immediate and heartfelt that it stunned her more than the pain had.
Apologies and Zarek were two things that went together like porcupines and balloons.
Obviously, he didn't know what she did.
"It's okay," she said, kissing him until he relaxed. "It's supposed to hurt the first time."
"It didn't hurt the first time I did it. Believe me."
She laughed at that. "It's a woman thing, Prince Charming. It's okay, really."
She reached down his body and found him still hard and throbbing. He groaned deep in his throat as she stroked him.
Biting her lip, she guided him back toward her.
He tensed, refusing to let her carry him home. "I don't want to hurt you."
Joy filled her. "You won't, Zarek. I want you inside me."
He hesitated a few minutes more before he slowly slid himself into her again.
They both moaned.
Astrid arched her back at the incredible feel of him deep and hard inside her. He was so full. So commanding.
She ran her hands up and over his muscular back and shoulders.
The only thing more perfect would be to be able to look into his eyes as he loved her. That was the only part she missed from having him in her dreams. Even though the sensation of him was so much richer now, she wished she could watch him again.
Moaning her name, he buried his lips against her throat, scraping her skin with his fangs as he rode her slowly, forcefully.
&nbs
p; Zarek's heart raced as he savored the warm, wet feel of her. He allowed the softness of her body to soothe him.
There was heaven in her touch. Heaven in the sound of his name on her lips.
Not once had he dreamed that taking a woman like this could feel the way she did.
She cupped his face in her hands.
"What are you doing?" he whispered.
"I want to see you."
He placed his hand over hers and then turned his face so that he could kiss her open palm.
Astrid melted at the tenderness of his actions as he moved slow and hard against her. His whiskers pricked at her hands, but his lips were soft, gentle.
He was like a tamed panther. One that was still wild at heart but that might come up and nuzzle your hand so long as you took care of him and didn't move too fast.
He leaned forward over her and buried his lips against her neck. She shivered as she ran her hands over his strong back, down to his hips.
How she loved the feel of him there. The feel of his hips thrusting against hers.
She brought her hands around to the front of him and slid them between their bodies. His hairs gently scraped her skin as she encircled his wet shaft with her hands so that she could feel him sliding in and out of her.
Zarek held his breath as she touched him while he rode her. Oh, the sweetness of her hands on him…
He kissed her as she explored where they were joined, and when she gently squeezed his sac he growled as he came dangerously close to orgasm.
"Easy, princess," he breathed, pulling her hands away from him. "I don't want to come yet. I want to feel you for a little while longer."
Astrid smiled at his hoarse words. He held her arms above her head and dipped his head down to gently nip her breast.
How she loved this man.
Faults and irritability and all.
"I'm all yours, baby," she whispered. "Take your time."
And he did. He kissed every inch of her he could reach while still inside her.
The effect of every tender caress was heightened because she knew the rarity of the gesture. This wasn't a man who cuddled up to just anyone. He didn't go willingly to any woman who smiled at him.
He was her fox who only left his den when he heard her footsteps.
She alone had tamed him.
He would never belong to anyone the way he did to her.
Astrid came again calling out his name.
Zarek quickened his strokes and joined her in bliss, his head spinning.
He lay on top of her panting and weak, listening to her heart pound against his chest.
There was no place he'd rather be than with her, letting the smell of her sweet, sweaty skin lull and soothe him.
He'd never been so warm. So sated.
So happy.
All he wanted was to lie here naked with her and forget all about the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, it was the one thing he couldn't do.
Kissing her gently, he pulled back. "We should get dressed. I don't know if Thanatos will come here, but my money says he will."
She nodded.
Zarek hesitated as he saw the blood on her thighs from where he had breached her hymen.
Clenching his teeth, he turned away, ashamed of the fact that he had taken her on the floor like an animal after all. She didn't deserve this.
She didn't deserve him.
What had he done?
He had ruined her.
She sat up and touched his shoulder. The sensation of it tore through him. It was familiar.
It was sublime.
Why then did it make his stomach ache?
"Zarek? Is something wrong?"
"No," he lied, unable to tell her what he thought. She should never have lain with something like him. He was so far beneath her that he didn't deserve her kindness.
He deserved nothing.
And yet she reached out and touched him. It didn't make sense to him.
She leaned her cheek against his back and encircled his waist with her arm. He could barely breathe as she ran her hand over his chest in a comforting gesture.
"I have no regrets, Zarek. I hope you feel the same way."
He leaned back against her and tried not to let his aching heart overshadow what they had shared.
"How could I regret the best night of my life?" He laughed bitterly as he remembered everything that had happened since Jess had shaken him awake. "Well, except for the Terminator who's after us and the goddess who wants me dead and—"
"I get the picture," she said with a laugh. She nuzzled his neck, sending chills over him. "It does seem hopeless, doesn't it?"
He thought about that. " 'Hopeless' implies that at one time there was hope. And that's another word I don't understand. Hope only exists for people who have choices."
"And you don't?"
He toyed with a strand of her blond hair. "I'm a slave, Astrid. I've never known hope. I just do what I'm told."
"Yet you never have."
That wasn't exactly true. As a human, he had never dared open his mouth to protest anything. He had taken beating after beating, degradation after degradation, and done nothing.
It was only as a Dark-Hunter that he had learned to fight.
"Do you think Sasha's okay?"
Her sudden change of topic surprised him. "I do. Jess is a whiz with animals. Even Katagaria."
She chuckled at that. "Why, Zarek, I do believe you are learning to comfort someone after all. I half-expected you to say you were hoping he'd be lying dead in a ditch somewhere."
He looked down at her small hand on his skin, resting just above his heart. It was true. She was taming him.
Changing him.
And it scared him more than the monster that was out to kill them.
Thanatos he could deal with, but these emotions…
He was helpless before her.
"Yeah, well, with any luck he'll be beyond all help."
She laughed at that, then kissed him lightly on the back. She pulled away to dress.
Zarek watched her, his heart pounding. What was it about her that made him want to be something more than what he was?
For her, he actually wanted to be decent. Kind.
Humane.
Things he'd never been.
Forcing himself up, he tossed his old clothes into the trash can and pulled new ones out of his wardrobe. At least he no longer had the hole in the back of his coat. He took a couple of minutes to button her into one of his old parkas.
"What's this?" she asked as he draped it over her shoulders.
"It'll keep you warmer than your coat."
She put her arms through the much-too-long sleeves while he gathered up gloves, hats, and scarves for them.
"Where are we going? Won't it be dawn soon?"
"Yes and you'll see. Sort of."
Once he had her dressed properly and had pulled on his insulated boots, he moved the wood-burning stove aside so that he could reach the trapdoor underneath it.
He helped Astrid down the hole, then climbed down after her and closed the trapdoor. Using his telekinesis, he moved the stove back into place.
"Where are we?"
"The tunnels."
Zarek turned his flashlight on. It was darker than a tomb down here and colder than hell. But they would be safe. For a little while, at least.
If Thanatos came back during daylight, he wouldn't know about this place. No one did.
"What are the tunnels?"
"In short, my boredom. After I had carved up my cabin, I started digging under it. I figured it would give me more room to move about during the summer, and it's not quite so hot down here in summer or so cold in winter. Not to mention I was always paranoid Acheron would come to kill me one day. I wanted an escape route he didn't know about."
"But the ground is frozen solid. How did you manage?"
"I'm stronger than a human and I had nine hundred years to work on it. Being trapped and bored te
nds to make people do insane things."
"Like try to dig a tunnel to China?"
"Exactly."
He led her down the narrow corridor to a small room where he had weapons stored.
"Are we staying here for the day?"
"Since I don't want to spontaneously burst into flames from the sun, I think it's the safest thing to do, don't you?"
She nodded.
Once he had as much firepower as he could carry, he took her to the end of the longest tunnel. The trapdoor above them opened into the dense forest that surrounded his cabin. It would be a safe place to leave from after dark.
"Why don't you go ahead and get some sleep?" he said.
Without thinking, he pulled his musk-ox parka off and made her a small pallet on the floor.
Astrid started to protest, then stopped herself. Acts of kindness were alien to Zarek. She wasn't about to complain over his good deed.
Instead, she lay down on his coat.
But he made no move to join her. He walked around the limited space and seemed to be waiting for her to go to sleep.
Curious as to what he had planned, she closed her eyes and feigned slumber.
Zarek waited several minutes before he picked up the cell phone Spawn had given him. He climbed up the stairs and opened the trapdoor to the forest so that he could get some reception for the phone.
He made sure not to let the predawn light in.
Zarek didn't know if this would work or not, but he had to try.
He dialed Ash's number and pressed send.
"Come on, Acheron," he said under his breath. "Answer the damn phone."
Astrid lay quietly, knowing the cell phone would never ring where Ash was. Artemis wouldn't allow it.
But then, Artemis didn't control everything.
Using her limited powers, Astrid "helped" the signal.
Ash jerked awake the instant his phone rang. Out of habit, he rolled over in bed to reach for his backpack, only to remember where he was and that he wasn't allowed to answer his phone while in Artemis's temple.
Come to think of it, his phone shouldn't be ringing at all. It wasn't as if there was a cell tower on Olympus to carry the signal.
Which meant it had to be coming from Astrid…
But if Artemis caught him talking to the nymph, she'd go ballistic on him and recant their deal. Not that he cared what she did to him, but he wasn't about to unleash Artemis's temper on Astrid.
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