The Darkest Touch

by Gena Showalter

  "Of course it was Lucifer," she mocked. "Always blame the other bad guy."

  Hades leaned against the door, his arms crossed over his chest.

  "What did you do with Torin?" she asked.

  He snapped his teeth at her. "You should be nicer to me, pet. I hold his fate in my hands."

  "Return him. Unharmed."

  Ignoring her, he said, "I brought you a gift."

  The walls shook more intensely. Steady. "Oh, goody," she replied dryly. "Something else for me to return to sender."

  "This you'll want, I promise you."

  "All I want is Torin. And if you dare tell me your gift is your penis, I will shove another dagger between your ribs."

  His pearly whites flashed in an unrepentant grin. "Do you want my penis? Because all you have to do is ask, and I will give it to you. Over and over again."

  Men! "Torin. Now."

  His smile did not dim. "One day you'll change your mind about me."

  Not likely. "Return Torin."

  "Return the competition? Not wise. And I am a very wise man."

  "Your presence here proves just how wrong that statement is. You lied to me, used me, tricked me, humiliated me, destroyed me and stole centuries of my life. I will never want you again."

  "Give me a reason to free him, then."

  "I just gave you six. But here are a few more. Because you owe me. Because he's done nothing to you. Because he makes me happy, and I deserve a little happiness. Just because! Take your pick."

  A flicker of pain in his dark eyes--an emotion she'd never before seen from him. A trick, surely.

  Can't soften.

  "Keeley," he said on a sigh. He scrubbed a hand down his face. "I truly regret what I did to you."

  "You think that's good enough? That it erases centuries of agony? Clears your ledger of crimes?" She flew to him and slapped him. Hard. Then, because it had felt so good, she slapped him again. "Return Torin."

  Hades could have stopped her, but he didn't. He took it.

  She slapped him again. "Return Torin!" Again. "I mean it."

  As she raised her hand to deliver a fifth strike, Hades flashed to the table beside the bed and placed two metal armbands on top. Both were gold, the head of a snake at one end, its tail at the other. A pair of serpentine wreaths. "For you to use however you see fit."

  "And what payment do you expect?"

  "None."

  Ha! This male had never given anything away without demanding some sort of payment.

  "You have my word," he added.

  "Not good enough."

  "My blood oath, then." He flashed a dagger into one hand and slashed the other. As drops of crimson dripped to the floor, he said, "No payment is expected for the wreaths."

  He...actually meant it. How shocking. She lifted her chin and snapped, "I won't say thank you."

  He nodded, as if he'd expected no less. "How about when I give you this?"

  A harried but unharmed Torin appeared in the center of the room. He spotted Hades and a dramatic change overtook him. His muscles visibly expanded, seeming to double in size as he prepared to attack.

  Hades pegged him with a hard stare. "I can remove your demon and ensure you live. And I will."

  Torin took a step toward him, only to stop.

  Keeley could almost hear the creak of wheels rolling in his head. Don't listen to him, she longed to shout. His bargains never end well--for the other party.

  Then, as she'd expected, Hades laid out the condition. "I'll do so...the moment you walk away from Keeleycael, never to see or speak with her again." With a smug, toothy grin, the king of darkness vanished.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  BASTARD.

  Everything Torin had thought he'd ever wanted had just been offered to him. To be demon-free, able to touch anyone at any time, to fight anyone at any time, to have sex, and never have to worry. Never hurt another unless purposely. Never experience guilt or sorrow or regret over something he could not control. But of course, all he had to do was give up the woman he loved and craved more than breath. Never touch her, when finally he would be able to do so without harming her.

  Not gonna happen.

  He didn't have to mull it over. Keeley was his, and he wouldn't give her up. Not even for a dream.

  Keeley turned away from him. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but...you can take Hades up on his offer, and you won't ever have to worry about hurting my feelings. I'll make sure he keeps his end of the bargain before I put you in the Time Out box, just like you once demanded."

  "No." He would not be forgotten. Ever. He strode to her, the fire in his heart spreading through every inch of him. "I'm not letting you go. Never letting you go. I'm keeping you."

  "No. This is what you've always wanted. What you need."

  "You are what I need."

  "No!"

  Losing her. "He's evil. I don't trust him." When would Hades do the removal? In a few centuries? How would he do it? What state of alive would Torin be left in? Like entering the Cage of Compulsion and being commanded to separate from the demon and live--yes, he would live, but not well. He would remain in a vegetative state. At least in theory.

  It wasn't worth the risk.

  Nor was Hades. With the king of the damned, there were too many variables. Not that any of them mattered.

  "I told you," she said. "I'll ensure he keeps his end of the bargain."

  "Screw his bargain!"

  "No, Torin, listen to me."

  "No. You listen to me, Keys." She was determined to end things--for him. He got that. Been there, done that. As stubborn as she was, nothing he said would change her mind. She would do what she thought would make him the happiest in the long run, with or without his approval.

  Can't let her.

  Desperation seized him as he realized there was only one way to proceed. Words wouldn't work, but actions would. He had to prove they could have everything they'd ever wanted.

  "You know what?" he said. "No more listening, no more talking. I want you. Fully. And I'll have you." He would prove how much he needed her. Would satisfy her so completely she would never wish to leave his side. "Afterward, you won't sicken."

  Her eyes widened--and he knew he'd hooked her. "How?" she asked, breathless.

  "I'll show you." If he screwed up and accidentally touched her skin-to-skin, she would do as she'd threatened. He knew that. Can't screw this up.

  The pressure was on.

  Bring it. "Are you willing?" he asked.

  "I...I..."

  Reeling her in. "You're strong--there's no one stronger. You can withstand anything. And how many times have you told me the prize is worth the consequences?"

  "Countless." She pressed her lips together, shook her head. "Let's think this through first."

  "Princess, Hades isn't my only option for freedom, and he's certainly not the most reliable one. You're forgetting the Morning Star."

  "Not forgetting. Just not counting on it anymore. I tried to find it, and I failed."

  Losing her again...

  "Besides," she added, "you were willing to leave me before, even though the Morning Star was a possibility. What if I try again and again and can't find it?"

  "What if you can?"

  She shifted from one foot to the other. Opened her mouth, closed it.

  She teeters...no better time. He pounced, picking her up by the waist and tossing her onto the bed. When she finished bouncing, he was pleased to note she remained where she was rather than scrambling off, her breaths coming quick and shallow.

  He moved to the foot of the mattress. Her golden hair was splayed over the pillows, and her passion-glazed eyes remained locked with his. Mine. His blood rushed through him, a newly awakened river, the dam utterly shattered.

  "We are doing this," he said. He withdrew a jacket from the closet, one that was thin, the material capable of repelling water, and tossed it at her. "Remove your bra, leave on your shirt, then put this on."

  She lick
ed her lips as she obeyed. "Are we going all the way?"

  Softly asked, but no less powerful.

  He gave a slow incline of his head. "All the way."

  Slowly she lay back against the bed. Through her shirt and the part in the jacket, he could see her nipples were already hard and ready to be sucked.

  "The jeans," he said. "Get rid of them. Panties, too."

  She shimmied out of both and tossed the material aside.

  Such long legs, stopping at the new center of his universe. Pink...damp. His heart almost stopped.

  He walked away a second time--surely the most difficult task of his life.

  "Torin?"

  He'd thought about this. A lot. Thought he'd found a way to have everything he yearned for--everything she yearned for. He found a pair of cotton pants and a pair of gloves and gave them to her. Her tremors intensified as she pulled on both.

  As she watched, her eyes practically crackling with flames, he opened his fly and removed some of the pressure from his throbbing erection; but he didn't discard a single piece of his clothing. And he wouldn't.

  He donned a condom before crawling up the mattress. Keeley sucked in a breath. With deliberate leisure, he moved toward her. When finally he was situated between her legs, he curled his fingers around her ankles, the brilliant heat of her skin burning through the layers between them. She moaned as he traced his thumbs against the arches of her feet, then up...up...stopping when he reached her knees.

  "Do you like having my hands on you?" he asked.

  "More than anything," she gasped out.

  He continued up...up...and when he reached the center of the cotton, he leaned forward, placed the edge of the jacket between her legs and pressed in with his tongue, her body totally protected from his. Even from his saliva. He licked over her hidden but not to be denied by him core. She writhed, arching her hips, seeking more of him, and he worked his tongue in harder, faster circles.

  "Torin!" Moaning, she dug her feet into the mattress and reached out to run her gloved fingers through his hair. "Feels amazing."

  Men often spent their whole lives searching for a woman like her. But he had her. Him. Only him. The one without experience. The one who could harm her irrevocably. And yet she couldn't seem to get enough of him.

  "Wish I had your honey dripping down my throat." He continued working his tongue against her, wetting the resistant material even as she wetted it. It wasn't long before he imagined he could actually taste her. So sweet, so damn good.

  She moved against him, with him, and he brought his teeth into play, nipping at her...then sucking at her...then nipping again...and she quickened the speed of her arches, arching, arching against him, and then crying out his name, her voice a broken rasp as she came swift and hard.

  But he wasn't finished with her.

  He journeyed upward. Through the jacket, he licked at her navel. He'd never given this particular area any thought. In his fantasies, he'd gone for chest and core--what he'd considered the good stuff--nothing else even a blip. But every inch of this woman was precious to him. A feast to be devoured.

  "What do you want me to do to you?" she asked and gasped as he nipped at her nipple. "Please let me--"

  "I just want you to enjoy. I've never had this before, and I want to give you all, everything." He kneaded her breasts, her soft, lush breasts, as he fit his lips over one of her nipples, sucked, then did the same to the other.

  She'd opened her mouth to say something else--not that he would listen to anything other than "Yes, Torin, whatever you desire, Torin," but the words were replaced by a moan of surrender as her pleasure built to another fever pitch.

  He sucked, hard, and the moan turned into a groan. She cupped the back of his neck, holding him in place. Her knees ran up and down his sides as he slinked a gloved hand down her stomach, tunneled under the waist of her pants... She stilled, though her grip tightened on him. He balanced on the edge of a razor-sharp cliff as he pressed his fingers against her moist heat.

  Tremors rocked her against him. She groaned, then begged for more, harder. He rubbed in circles...up and down...circles again...until she was gasping, muttering incoherently, her legs spreading wide, wider.

  "Fill me," she pleaded. "Please, fill me up."

  Helpless to resist, he fed her a single finger. Her inner walls clamped on him, so wonderfully tight; he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from spilling then and there. He leaned his forehead into her sternum, his muscles flexing with a flood of intoxicating desire, his veins expanding with a new rush of blood, pumping white-hot pleasure to every inch of him. Sweat trickled down his temples, between his shoulder blades.

  "So good, Torin. It's so good. It's driving me...mad...not sure I'll...survive. Who knew...this is how...I'd die? What are you...doing to me?"

  Giving you all that I am. He fed her another finger, moved it in and out, slowly at first, then thrusting faster...even harder...like he wanted to do so desperately with his shaft. Not yet.

  "Can you take another, princess?"

  He didn't wait for her answer, just worked in the third.

  *

  KEELEY WAS ON fire with realization and need. Torin had chosen her above all others, above everything, and now her body ached from his fierce attention, her skin tingled underneath her clothing, and her limbs trembled. Magnificent.

  He was magnificent.

  She should have followed through and ended things, should not have pushed him to this point. And maybe she would regret it...tomorrow. With Torin stretched over her, his weight pinning her down, his heat and scent surrounding her, she was utterly consumed with pleasure. It saturated her bones, submerged her mind, tickled her every cell. She was alive with decadent sensation.

  And Torin was...

  Oh, yes! He was moving his fingers in and out of her, taking her to new heights, because he was the one doing the pleasuring. And oh, she had to make sure he received equal measure. No, greater measure. He was new to this, and should be--

  His fingers brushed a spot inside her that had her screaming and pleading for more, her thoughts utterly consumed by him. Reached the point of no return.

  Like the accomplished warrior he was, he settled in to take full advantage of this chink in her armor, rubbing and rubbing...so good!...and rubbing...

  She reached between them, wanting her hand wrapped around his shaft. But he pinned her arms above her head with one hand and continued to torture her so exquisitely with the other, always moving in and out of her, in and out.

  "Torin."

  "You're so wet, princess."

  "Yes," she panted. "I want you. Want everything. Give it to me. It's been so long, and I've never yearned for anyone the way I yearn for you."

  *

  TORIN WITHDREW HIS fingers from the hot clamp of Keeley's delicious wetness to pinch her chin and force her gaze to rest on him. Her cry of disappointment was music to his ears. Her eyes were glazed but glowing brightly, her cheeks flushed to a deep rose. Never had she been lovelier.

  Soon she would belong to him in truth.

  "I won't give you up," he said. "That's never going to change."

  Her lashes fluttered closed as she arched up to rub her breasts against his chest. Those hard, luscious nipples created a heady friction. "Please. Please. Torin, it hurts."

  "Don't want you hurting." A tremor swept through him, undoing him. Keeley would be his first lover...and his last. He would never want another the way he wanted her.

  Other men might have panicked, thinking only one, but Torin rejoiced. He would never have to settle for a pale substitution, in memory or in deed.

  "Ready for me, princess?" His steel-hard length stretched through his fly, and he made sure the latex remained in place. His blood burned hotter and his heart raced faster as he rasped, "Grab the headboard."

  When she obeyed, he ripped a hole in the center of her pants and settled in between the cradle her legs provided. He positioned himself for entry, just the tip breaching her
inner walls, and oh, hell, he could feel her molten heat already, the tightness of her, and had to bite his tongue against the instant torrent of rapture.

  He trembled, battling through the unending waves of ecstasy, as he pushed in slowly, an inch at a time, giving her time to adjust to his girth. Giving himself time to adjust to his first taste of unadulterated euphoria.

  He'd wanted this for so long. Had waited for it. Dreamed of it. Spent centuries cursing his lack of it. And here it was, being given to him by a woman who overshadowed all others.

  "Torin!" She planted her feet on the mattress and lifted her hips, driving him deeper...so damn deep...until he was in her all the way to the base of the condom.

  The tremors intensified. It was...he was...there were no words.

  No, not true. There was one. Forever.

  Will have this forever.

  Will have her forever.

  She was tight around him, tighter than any fist. She was scorching hot, luscious and soft. He wasn't sure how he'd lived without her, and knew he'd never be able to do so again.

  "Move," she gasped out. "You have to move in me."

  Yes. Oh, yes. As he drew back, felt the hot glide of friction, the sense of euphoria intensified and he couldn't breathe from it; she wrapped her legs around his waist, applied pressure, trying to force him to slide back in. But he didn't. He resisted, continuing to pull back...until he was almost all the way out of her. He hovered there for a moment, taunting the frayed edges of his control, knowing what awaited him when he surged back in, so hungry for it. Starving.

  "Torin!" she cried.

  Wanting her hunger to build, he waited just a little longer...just a second longer...before thrusting back in with all of his strength. The entire bed rocked, the headboard banging against the wall. A portrait fell, the glass shattering.

  "Yes. Yes, yes, yes." She threw back her head, shouting, "Again."

  Nothing could stop him.

  He pulled back and once again hovered at her entrance before surging inside her. After that, a dam broke. There was no more hovering, no stopping him. He thrust, faster and faster, harder and harder, the banging against the wall constant. She was so wet, the glide easy despite the tightness of her hot, inner clasp. He chased his pleasure--no longer a want, but a necessity. Going to shatter.

  For the first time, he would come inside her. Inside his woman. He would experience with her what he'd never experienced with another. He would know her, all of her. Have her, all of her. Would give her all that he was.