Son of No One

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  "Really?" she asked, suddenly apprehensive of Cadegan.

  Acheron nodded. "I almost killed my wife once in the throes of it. And I'd sooner cut out my own heart than make my Tory frown."

  Cadegan hesitated at those words. Since he was so seldom around others, and never someone he loved, he hadn't even considered that. "Is this true?" he asked Leucious.

  "Sadly, yes, brother. But you know that. It's what led me to banish you. You unleashed the demon within and killed without reason."

  Aye, he had. But, unlike Josette, those humans had meant nothing to him. Suddenly, fear rose up inside him. He tightened his grip on her hand. "Then I should be apart from you."

  "Not on your life, bucko. Call me Velcro. You go, I go. I promised you that, and I never break my word, either." Her eyes darkened as she passed a knowing smile to Styxx. "Would you mind showing us to our new home now? I should like to introduce Cadegan to my three children."

  He choked and coughed at that. Was she serious? "Pardon, lass?"

  Jo blinked innocently as she heard the panic in his voice. "Didn't you know, sweetie? You're a father."

  The expression on his face was priceless.

  "Only you could make stark cold terror look sexy, Cade." She kissed his cheek. "Relax, sweetie. It's just my three dogs. You'll love them."

  Finally relaxing, he shook his head at her.

  Laughing, Styxx returned to their sides. "If you're ready?"

  Cadegan nodded.

  One second they were at Karma's with all the group that had rescued Cadegan. The next, they were inside an ancient temple that had been built on a steep hill, nestled among others of a very similar style. Bright sunlight cut across the white marble foyer where they stood.

  Confused, Cadegan glanced to Styxx for an explanation.

  "That is where I live with my family." Styxx jerked his chin toward the window that showed the temple closest to this one, farther up the hill. "My wife, Bethany, is the Atlantean goddess of woe. She and I and our youngest son live in her temple, all year long. Our oldest son, Urian, lives in the small temple, just through those trees, whenever he's here and not with his wife's family in Minnesota. The building on top of the mountain is Acheron's home, and it's where Simi, her sister, and his friends stay. Since Acheron's wife was human, they tend to spend most of their time, with their sons, in New Orleans ... in a house not far from Karma's. Whenever you're settled and ready, I'll introduce you to everyone."

  Styxx offered him a kind, patient smile. "I know exactly how overwhelming all of this is ... For now, my Beth has set this temple up for the two of you to live in. You should have everything you need ... if not, we're only a call or visit away." He folded his arms over his chest. "We all thought this would be an easier adjustment for you than moving straight into the human realm. Though you are welcome to live there if you desire, I should warn you, modern humans are fucking nuts."

  Jo laughed at something that baffled Cadegan. But then if those people were anything like what he'd met thus far, he could deduce Styxx's meaning.

  "They're short a few bales?"

  Styxx clapped him on the back. "Oh, the stories I will tell you when you're feeling up for mead and beer, my friend." He started for the door.

  Cadegan frowned. "Styxx?"

  He paused to look at Cadegan. "Aye?"

  "Thank you. For everything."

  Styxx inclined his head to them. "If either of you need anything, just let me know." He vanished instantly.

  Finally alone, Josette turned to face Cadegan. "How are you doing with all this? Really?"

  It wasn't in him to confide in anyone. Yet when he looked into her dark eyes, he was lost and the truth poured out of him. "Much moithered, lass."

  She nodded in understanding. "Too much hand-holding?"

  It took a second to realize what she meant. "Moithered, not mothered."

  She mouthed the two words as if struggling to comprehend them. "Yeah, you say that like there's no difference in the two words.... No, silly, it's dip, not dip." She elongated the second word to comical effect. "See, you sexy wombat you, it makes no logical sense."

  Snorting, he shook his head. "Confused, lass." He sobered instantly and swung his arm out to indicate the temple around them. "By all this."

  "You're really not bound, Cade. I made them swear to that. You can always leave here. But we all thought you'd prefer to take baby steps back into the real world so that you'd not feel out of place there."

  Her compassion stung his heart. It was why she meant so very much to him. No one else had ever considered his feelings before. In any matter. They merely ordered him about, regardless of his opinion. But never his Josette.

  To her alone, he mattered.

  "That I would, love. Thank you."

  "Yah! We guessed right." Laughing happily, she tugged at his hand and led him through a door into a small solarium. The moment they were in it, three huge white dogs with vibrant blue eyes came running up to them with happy barks and licks.

  Kneeling down, she gathered them into her arms. Her bright smile was even more blinding than the sun. "My furry little babies!" she said in the same high-pitched tone most people reserved for speaking to infants. "How have you been, huh? Did you miss your mommy? Your mommy missed her babies! Yes, she did! My little baby punkins! I love you so! Yes, I do! Come here, my babies! Gimme me kisses. Lots and lots of kisses!"

  She cuddled and loved on each of them before she introduced them to Cadegan. "Henri's easy. He's our only son." She rubbed noses with the largest. "Then we have Belle." She clucked her tongue at the smallest, who also had a patch of gray around her eyes. Then she draped her arm over the back of the third one. "And last but never least in my heart is my precious Maisel, or Maisy Waisy, as I often call her." She went back to her baby talk. "You're just a beauty, aren't you? Yes, you are, my sweet Maisy Waisy." She hugged them again, then gestured to Cadegan. "Go meet Daddy! Go on. Say hi! Tell Daddy you love him, too."

  They assaulted him instantly.

  Cadegan stumbled back, unused to such furry attention. "They're a little..."

  "Spoiled is the word you want. And yes. They are very. I've worked hard to make them that way."

  Laughing at the way her dogs openly accepted him without question, he looked up, and the minute their gazes met, he saw in her eyes the same hunger that had gnawed at him since she'd held her hand out to him. His humor died instantly as it was swallowed by an overwhelming need to be alone with her.

  She raked a hot stare over his body. "Why don't we get you out of those clothes, huh?"

  He arched a brow at her bold words. "Meaning?"

  "You know my meaning, hot stuff." Chewing her nail in the cutest of ways, she scowled at the multiple doors. "I wonder which one goes to the bedroom." She headed for the nearest one, which turned out to be a closet. "Oops. Too small."

  Laughing, he watched her explore and become more and more frustrated as she ran afoul of her plans to molest him.

  When she finally found the door to a hallway, she took his hand, and together, they went in search of a bed. Strange how she made the search fun. Every time she guessed wrongly, she stripped a piece of his clothing from him.

  He watched as she pulled his gauntlet from his left hand. "I've never played this game before."

  "Strip Christopher Columbus?" She paused to rake another look over him. "Yeah, I guess you haven't. You predate him, too, don't you?"

  "You make me feel old, lass."

  "You are old."

  "But do you have to remind me? And so often?"

  She grinned evilly as she finally found the right room and pushed him into it, near the giant bed. "Yes, I do." She pulled the robe over his head. When she struggled with his mail, he used his powers to strip them both.

  Nodding in approval, she nipped at his chin. "That is still my favorite power of yours. That and the one you have that makes me horny every time I look at you."

  He laughed. Until she dropped to her knees in front

of him. Just as he started to ask what she was doing, she cupped him in her warm hand.

  All thoughts scattered as pleasure sent him reeling. For a moment, he feared his legs would buckle and send him to the floor. Thankfully, the wall was behind him so that he could catch himself, otherwise he might have fallen.

  His breathing ragged while she thoroughly pleasured him, Cadegan buried his hand in her hair as she slowly, methodically explored every inch of his hard cock with her mouth. "Lass, you've no idea what you do to me."

  She laughed deep in her throat as she cast an impish glance his way that told him she knew exactly what she was doing. And that she meant every bit of it.

  In that heartbeat, he knew how much he loved this woman. How quick he'd die at her bidding. There was nothing else in this world that mattered to him.

  And he would never be able to take another day without her.

  Even though it was the last thing he wanted, he withdrew from her and swung her up in his arms to carry her to the bed.

  Jo held her breath at the fierce expression on his face. While there was no sign of the demon, he held an almost possessed quality to him. "Are you okay?"

  He answered her with a kiss so hot, it left her breathless and weak. He literally ravaged her mouth as he pressed his body against hers and parted her thighs with his knees.

  His hands and lips took turns exploring and teasing her with pleasure until she came from it.

  She was in the middle of her orgasm when he entered her and heightened it even more. Screaming out his name, she clung to him as he thrust himself against her hips.

  He laughed as he cupped her cheek in his hand and stared down into her eyes. She saw the hunger inside him. But more than that, she saw the love and adoration. No man had ever looked at her that way.

  "I love you," she breathed.

  "And I, you." He took her hand into his and kissed it. Holding it against his cheek, he buried himself deep inside her and came.

  She watched ecstasy play out across his face before he collapsed against her and held her tight.

  "Thank you, lass."

  "For what?"

  He lifted his head to stare down at her with a searing sincerity. "For keeping your word to me. No one has ever done that before."

  Her heart broke for him as she fingered his whiskers and lips. "They were great fools, me lord," she said, trying to duplicate his accent.

  He rewarded her with a bright, impish smile. "Your fake accent is terrible."

  "And yours isn't. I could listen to you speak all day."

  His eyes gentle, he kissed his way from her lips to her stomach, where he placed his cheek and sighed. Jo played in his hair while his breath tickled her skin. In a matter of seconds, she felt him relax and realized he'd fallen asleep with his body between her legs.

  Smiling, she laughed. Her poor Cadegan. Like this, he seemed so harmless and sweet. But she knew the violence he was capable of. The rage.

  This wasn't a man she'd let into her heart. He was one of the fiercest demons ever born.

  More than that, he was a demigod.

  What have I done?

  Jo held her breath as reality crashed into her and she glanced around a room that was the temple of a god in a mystic land that existed outside of human time and space.

  You don't believe in this crap.

  Yet she could no longer deny it. This was as real as the demon god sleeping in her lap.

  Holy cow. She hadn't merely dipped her toe into the paranormal pool, she'd cannon-balled it. And Cadegan would have enemies after him for the rest of his life.

  Thorn had warned her of that. It was part of the reason they'd decided to put him here, where no one and nothing could reach him. Only Acheron and those he invited directly could access the Atlantean heaven realm. Here, they would always be safe.

  At least that was her thought until a bright light appeared beside them.

  One moment, Jo was lying peacefully with Cadegan. In the next, she was ripped from his arms and pulled from the bed.

  18

  "Brit? Is it really you?"

  Jo blinked at the incredibly beautiful red-haired woman in front of her. "Excuse me?"

  The woman gripped her chin and angled her head so that she could peer deep into Jo's eyes. "It is you!" she breathed with a bright smile. Tears spilled down her face as she seized Jo into a happy hug and held her there.

  Bug-eyed, Jo stared over her shoulder to where Cadegan was now rising from the bed to confront the woman holding her.

  "Release her!"

  The woman turned around and snorted dismissively. "And you!" She pulled him in for a tight hug. "I've missed the two of you terribly!" Growling at them, she shook her head. "Why did you ever want to be mortal? I've never understood your reasoning. And you must have reconsidered, otherwise you wouldn't be you now, would you?"

  Cadegan exchanged a baffled grimace with Jo. "And here I thought you were the one who confused me most, lass."

  Sadness darkened the woman's vibrant green eyes. And now that Jo thought about it, she looked a lot like Acheron's daughter Kat. "You don't remember me at all, do you?"

  "Artemis?"

  The joy returned to her beautiful face at Jo's guess. "You do know me! I knew you couldn't forget. Not after all we did for each other!" She pulled Jo into another tight hug. "I should never have allowed you to go to Britain. Icky place, that. Why didn't you come home?" She pouted at Jo, then smoothed her hair. "But you're back now, aren't you? Both of you!"

  Jo bit her lip, unsure of how to answer.

  Artemis patted her shoulder. "It's all right. You will remember me. In time. I know you will." She dropped her gaze and turned bright red as she realized Jo was standing there naked and she'd interrupted them in bed. "Oh ... oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't even think. When Katra told me that you were back ... I wanted to see you immediately. Forgive my intrusion!"

  She took Cadegan's hand and Jo's and pressed them together. "You two were always my favorites. And this time, there will be no more of this talk of mortality. No more talk of leaving me or each other, ever again. You are two halves of a whole and I love you both too much to ever stand to see you pulled apart again. Damn the witch's curse. This will be undone. My word to you both." She vanished instantly.

  Completely stymied, Jo stared at Cadegan. "Is it just me, or do I attract every weirdo in the universe?"

  He laughed at that. "You attracted me, so I be thinking I shouldn't comment on it."

  She kissed him then pulled back with a scowl. "Do you feel reincarnated?"

  "Not really. You?"

  She shook her head. "Weird, huh?"

  "Any idea what she meant about the gwiddonod?"

  "English, dude! Speak English."

  Laughing, he kissed her. "Witches, love. She spoke of a witch's curse."

  "No idea." She trailed her gaze over his long, muscled body and felt the heat inside her build again. Stepping closer, she lifted her chin so that she could nip at the sexiest jawline she'd ever seen.

  Cadegan closed his eyes as he savored the sensation of her lips and tongue on his flesh. Pleasure ripped him asunder. "You keep doing that, lass. And we'll never leave this place."

  She reached down to cup and fondle the part of him that was already growing hard for her again. "I'm good with that."

  He covered her hand with his and rocked himself against her palm, enjoying the warm pressure of her touch.

  Jo frowned as he spoke in his thick Welsh to her. "What?"

  "You are the light in my darkness, lass. Without you, I have no hope. No faith. I barely exist. And all I ask is that if you ever leave, you will do me the mercy of tearing out me heart, rather than leaving me lost inside the forever night without you."

  Tears choked her, not just at his words, but at the honest, raw emotion that backed them. "I wish I could be that poetic, Cadegan. I suck at romance and relationships. I always have. Never have been able to find the right words at the right time. But I do love you. Now and always. And I never want to live without you."

  He kissed her then, and drove himself deep inside her body. This time, when he made love to her, it wasn't soft and gentle, but demanding and fierce. As if he was afraid he might never see her again.

  Jo lost herself to the sensation of him hard and thick inside her. She met him stroke for stroke as she sought to ease the pain that never left his eyes. At least not entirely.

  But whenever he looked at her, it lessened. And that made her feel special and cherished.

  That was all she'd ever wanted. To matter to someone. To have someone she could depend on when she needed them. Someone who wouldn't break faith with her. Life wasn't easy. It wasn't supposed to be. Yet with the right person, even the worst journey was tolerable. More than that, it could be fun. It wasn't about learning to suffer through the storm to make it to the daylight. Life was about running through the rain and laughing even while it soaked you to the bone. Dodging the lightning strikes and daring it to come for you.

  That was what Cadegan made her feel. In his arms, she was invincible. Not because she couldn't be hurt, but because she knew he wouldn't leave her cold and alone. He would pick her up and fight by her side until the storm passed.

  She wrapped herself around him and came in a blinding wave of ecstasy.

  Growling deep in his throat, Cadegan joined her. And even then, he didn't release her. Still on his feet, he kept the whole of her weight without complaint.

  And when he met her gaze, she saw the yellowish eyes of the demon inside him.

  Unafraid, she pressed her hand to his cheek and kissed his lips.

  Cadegan savored her taste that shook him to the core of his being. "Marry me, lass," he breathed. "Stand with me, forever."

  She dipped her head to pass him a playful frown. "What is that look?"

  "What is what look?"

  She narrowed her gaze. "You don't really doubt my answer, do you?"

  "I doubt any time me life is going good."

  Nipping his chin, she squeezed him tight. "You should never doubt me, Cade. Of course I'll marry you. Name the altar and I'm there, with Selena's bells on."

  "Selena's bells?"

  "My crazy cousin who sews them into the hem of her skirts. She thinks it keeps evil away."

  "You wear that and it would keep me away."

  She tsked at him. "You're not evil. Wicked, definitely. But not evil."

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