Darkness & Lies: A Brotherhood Novel (#1) (22 page)

She could definitely see his reasoning. If those d
e
mons—she was still trying to get used to the idea that they really existed—ever got out, the devastation would be u
n
paralleled. And she wasn’t eager to be the cause of the end of the world.

“Okay. I won’t tell them. I don’t know what I’m g
o
ing to say, but I’ll come up with something,” she assured him.

“Good.” Erias grinned, pulling her to him and slan
t
ing his mouth over hers. Her lips parted, accepting him in without
hesitation,
and he rewarded her by plundering her
mouth.

But he didn’t want to spoil her. Pulling away a
b
ruptly, Erias leapt from the bed and pulled her up with him. “Time to eat,” he announced, laughing at her crestfallen expression. “Hop in the shower and I’ll join you after I o
r
der breakfast.”

Nodding, Cheyenne grabbed her robe, prepared to pull it on, when Erias yanked it from her fingers. “You won’t be needing that.” She grinned, then, naked as the day she was born, slowly walked into the bathroom, flashing him a devious smile as she eased the door closed.

Erias growled low in his throat. The woman was a
tease,
and he was going to punish her accordingly as soon as he was finished making his call. He’d love her, then he’d feed her, then he’d love her again. After putting in the order for their food, he headed for the bathroom, pulling off his jeans as he
went.

Pushing
the door open,
he could just make out Cheyenne’s voluptuous curves through the thick blanket of steam, and got the sneaking suspicion that he might never get enough of his
woman.

His woman. The thought hit him like a ton of bricks. She was his woman. It had taken over nine-hundred years, but he’d finally found someone that made him feel the way that Helena had made him feel.

Like he was home.

Grinning like a mad man, Erias pulled back the shower door and stepped inside, pulled Cheyenne into his arms and proceeded to make love to her.

A terrible, ear piercing screech ripped Cheyenne out of her dreams and into a scene best fit for the big screen.

Dressed in a flowing, sheer white chignon, a woman of exquisite beauty was tearing at the blankets that covered her and Erias. A wild flurry of fluffy feathers floated cal
m
ly through the air catching in her buttery blond waves.

Who the hell was this lady?

Looking to
Erias,
who wore a look of absolute ho
r
ror, she got the sudden sinking feeling of what this picture
meant.

She slapped him hard across the face. “You’re ma
r
ried?”

“What?” Erias scowled at her absurdity.

“I knew it! You asshole!” Springing from the
bed,
she grabbed the remaining blanket
and wrapped it around her then
tore off to the bathroom
,
leaving Erias fully e
x
posed to the irate
female.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. How had she known? But then his questioned was answered as soon as he thought it.

“Behr told me that you were shacking up with a human,” Persephone hissed. “I can’t believe you would do this to me.”

If he didn’t already know that she was heartless
,
E
r
ias would have sworn that she was about to cry. As it was, he just wanted this nightmare to be over.

No matter who she was married to, Persephone was one hell of a jealous creature. He never could understand her fascination with the men of the
Brotherhood,
and even less her total obsession with him. It was almost as if she thought he belonged to her and should worship the ground she walked
on.

As if.

He couldn’t stand the bitch. She was moody, egoti
s
tical, violent, prone to emotional outbursts of violence, po
s
sessive, violent, inconsiderate, violent, thoughtless, and oh yeah, violent.

She and her “Angel” were made for each other.

Thrashing her fists against the bare mattress, her h
air whipping around like a hard
core head banger, she screamed and roared until she was spent. Turning a hateful glare on him
,
she curled her lip
in an ugly snarl.
“What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? Nothing!” Shooting off the floor, Pe
r
sephone stood over him with fire in her eyes and looking every bit the fallen angel she was. She drove the heel of her white stiletto into his chest.

“What do you want m
e to say, Seph? A man has needs,” h
e said coolly
, folding his hands behind his head
.

The best way to deal with Persephone was to pl
a
cate her. Make her think that she was number one in ever
y
thing. Even though she thrived on their little cat and mouse game, she always expected to be the only important thing in his life.

In all their
lives, but
mostly
his.

Her screwed up face slowly smoothed out, showing the infallible beauty residing underneath. It was a false
beauty,
though, because beneath it all, she was one of the ugliest people he had ever
known.

Crouching down over him, Persephone toyed with the crisp, short hairs dusting his chest. “So, she’s just a
n
other one of your play things then?”

He wanted to tell her th
e truth, which was no, Cheyenne—
the  woman
who was
currently holed up in the bathroom probably crying her eyes out and regretting every
second they had shared together—
was much more than just a play thing to him.
In fact, h
was pretty sure he was in love with
her.

He loved the way she smiled at him, her determin
a
tion and wit, and he loved that she wasn’t afraid to stand up to him.
Few 
people could do that. Just thinking about her made him stiff with
need.

“You know me, Seph,” he hedged. “I’ve never been one for the serious stuff.”

She eyed him speculatively. “Yes, I do know you.” Seeming to accept his explanation, she ran her finger over his lips, down his chin, his chest, then his stomach before reaching between them and taking his now ridged length into her hand.

Thinking she was the cause of his arousal, she g
rowl
ed
with satisfaction that she could still make him r
e
spond,
then
gave him a quick jerk before releasing him.

“I hope there will be no hard feelings between you and Behr,” she told him, walking around the room, toeing the mess of feathers coating the carpet.

“Naw, we’re cool,” he lied. Behr was so dead. Just wait until he found the bastard. He was going to wrap his hands around his neck and squeeze until h
is eyeballs popped out. Then he
was going to rip that blasted goatee from his face with his teeth. He wanted blood. He wanted vengeance. And every part of his body screamed for it. Demanded it.

And he was going to give it.

“Wonderful. You two have been such good friends. I’d hate to be the one who came between you.”

Sure she would. He couldn’t really see her losing sleep over
it, unless
of
course,
one of them killed the other. Then she would be royally
pissed.

Maimed, disemboweled she could
do. That
stuff was child’s play. With a snap of her
fingers,
she could make it as if it had never
happened.

Unless she wanted them to suffer a while. Then she could leave them to regenerate
,
and that was a bitch.

He knew from experience.

“I hope you understand me though, Erias
,
and why I can’t take any chances.”

“What are you talking about, Seph?”  Sitting at full attention
now
, Erias narrowed his eye
s
on her. He knew that tone. She was up to
something,
and he was sure that whatever it
was; he
wasn’t going to like
it.

“I’m talking about the fact that, even though I can appreciate that you have needs, I can’t have you getting
distracted, not
at a time like
this.”

Cheyenne
suddenly
appeared
in the room beside
her, bewildered, the sheet still wrapped around her. “What is going on?” she asked, both angry and terrified.

She had been listening to their conversation through the thin door and knew enough to surmise that they weren’t married, but also heard enough to know that there was more to their relationship than
just
work.

Then
suddenly
she was standing in the middle of the room wondering how she’d gotten there.

An aura of incredible power emanated off of the woman he called Seph
,
and when she turned her green eyes on her, Cheyenne felt such malice directed at her that her first instinct was to run and hide.

Except
her feet seemed to be glued to the floor.

Looking toward Erias, she pleaded silently for him to explain what was happening but was met with such cold disconnect that it sent a shiver running through her.

She was on her own.

“We’re going to have a little girl time while Erias here takes care of his duties,” Persephone said sweetly.

Cheyenne felt an instant mistrust. This woman was not
right,
and she was definitely not going anywhere with
her.

“Yeah, thanks
,
but I have things to
do,
so I’ll just be
—”

“What?” Persephone cut her off. “You’ll just be climbing my mountain and releasing my husband’s staff? I don’t think so.”

“I don’t even
—”

“Leave her out of this, Seph,” Erias bellowed. Crossing the room with no care that he was completely u
n
clothed, he went to stand in front of Persephone. He needed to try and distract her. To make her believe that Cheyenne wasn’t a threat.

“She means nothing. She knows nothing.” He i
g
nored Cheyenne’s gasp of pain
at the words that stabbed deep. His own heart clenching, he resisted the urge to pull her into his arms and smooth away the hurt he’d caused.
Stepping closer, he began caressing Persephone’s arms. “She’s just a pitiless human. We could just wipe her and move on. Easy.”

“Wait a minute,” Cheyenne said
,
a bit panicked. They both looked at her, a united front. “What exactly are you planning to wipe?”

A cruel smile twisted on
Persephone’s
thin lips. “I can see where you may be right.” She turned back to Erias. “But as Angel always says, it’s better to be safe than so
r
ry.”

Before he could move an inch or try to sway her to listen, she disappeared, taking Cheyenne with her.

Chapter 17

Pounding his face into the floor felt amazing. Erias simply couldn’t get enough. The need for blood to be spilled was overtaking
him,
and he could feel himself lo
s
ing control.

Oh who was he kidding? He had lost control ages
ago, but
he had lost his mind the second Persephone had taken off with Cheyenne to gods only knew
where. 
 

“Okay
,
buddy,” a gruff voice said, approaching him from behind. “That’s enough. I think you’ve had your fill.”

Grabbing him around the arms, two men pulled him off of the unfortunate man. Drunk and covered in the man’s blood, Erias wrenched his arms free
from the bouncer’s harsh grasp
and stumbled back.

“Keep your fucking hands off of me!” he bellowed. Completely outraged, he lunged at the man again as he tried to stand. The men caught him about the waist and hauled him towards the door.