Darkness Rising: The Dark Angel Series: Book Two (28 page)

Then everything
did
break, and I was shuddering, shaking, and moaning. He came a heartbeat later, groaning fiercely as his body stiffened against mine and his juices flooded deep inside.

I collapsed against him and rested my forehead against his. For several minutes, neither of us moved. Then he kissed my nose and gripped either shoulder, pushing me back a little.

“As foreplay goes,” he said, his grin wicked, “that wasn’t half bad.”

I laughed softly and sat fully upright. He was still deep inside me and already half erect again. Werewolves had
nothing
on this man when it came to stamina. “You haven’t exactly explained just what you’re doing here at this hour of the morning.”

He began to move his hips again. “I thought it was rather obvious.”

“Besides that, I mean.”

“Ah, well.” His expression became slightly distracted as he ran a finger up the inside of my thigh. “You may not be too pleased about the answer to that particular question.”

His finger met the junction of our bodies. I shifted slightly and his touch slipped between us, finding my clit then brushing it teasingly. A moan escaped me and I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation even as I tried to concentrate on the conversation.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning,” he murmured, rubbing his finger back and forth through my slickness, “that I sensed through our connection that you were about to attempt to find the keys, and I wished to be a part of it.”

Alarm stirred. I stilled my movements and opened my eyes. His expression was still distracted, and he didn’t seem to notice my sudden lack of participation. “Why?”

“Because the priests will not ignore such an attempt, and I wish to offer my help. I am, after all, Aedh, even if a maimed one, and I know more than a little about fighting them.”

“But if we do as you suggested and create a void, they will not even know we’ve accessed the book, let alone retrieved the key.”

His gaze rose to mine, studying me for several heartbeats. Then he gripped my arms and expertly reversed our positions, pinning me underneath him with the full length of his body.

“The Raziq will feel it the minute you touch the keys, because they are part of the process that created them—even if it was the blood of your father that provided the building blocks.” Despite his words, there was little in the way of concern in his expression, only a fierce determination. He wanted this fight badly, but it wasn’t for the reasons he was stating. “They will go to any length to retrieve those keys, and one lone reaper will not be enough to keep you safe.”

“Azriel can call on others—”

Lucian snorted softly, and it was a disparaging sound. “If that were possible, don’t you think he would have done it earlier? How many times have the Raziq attacked you now?”

“There was no need before now—” I started, but again he cut in.

“Was it a question of need, or is the real truth the fact that there were no resources?” He shifted his weight onto one elbow and lightly ran one finger down my cheek before circling my lips. Though the caress was light, it felt heavy, as if the weight of the conversation were bearing down on it. “The Mijai are few, and they are kept busy hunting the demons who slipped into this world during the brief time that the three keys were tested.”

And how did he know all this? Just how deep a connection had he formed? I wriggled, trying to get
out from underneath him, but he pressed me back down. “Damn it, Lucian, let me go!”

“Not until I get an answer. I want this, Risa. I
need
this.”

My heart hammered at the edge in his voice, and again I saw that fierceness. And suddenly, I realized why. “This is about revenge for what they did to you, isn’t it?”

His smile was a savage and wholly human thing. And it was yet more proof that Lucian was very different from other full-blooded Aedh.

“Totally. And if feeding my need helps your cause, why is that a bad thing?”

“So basically, your presence here isn’t about sex, but about gaining access to information on the Aedh that you might not otherwise get.” Even as I said the words, bitterness swirled through me. It seemed everyone new in my life wanted something from me. Lucian, Azriel, the Raziq, even my father. They were here for a purpose rather than any real caring.

Lucian studied me. “In truth, are we not using each other? I have a need for revenge, and you have a need for information about the Aedh. While we each pursue our goals, we take our ease in each other’s bodies. I cannot see how that is not a worthwhile exchange.”

Put that way, I guessed it was. Except that I thought he was a safe harbor, the one place I could go and
not
be on guard.

“You’re using the connection created through sex to steal information. That’s not right, Lucian.”

“I did not know who you were or what you were involved in when I intervened in the fight between you and the Razan,” he retorted. “It was only after
we’d become intimate that I realized the truth and seized the opportunity to combine my desires. And do not doubt that I desire you, regardless of what else I might seek from you.”

I couldn’t doubt his desire when the fierceness of it was pressed between us. It was a fierceness I fought to ignore, even though half of me wanted nothing more than to lose myself in the ecstasy of sex rather than a lingering sense of loss.

Although really, what had I actually lost? The truth was, we didn’t have anything in common other than an almost insatiable need for each other and great sexual chemistry. It was never going to be more than that, and I’d known that going in. He was Aedh, and they didn’t do emotions as we knew them. So why the hell was I angry?

I didn’t know. And there seemed to be a whole lot of
that
in my life of late, too. Between Lucian, Azriel, and my goddamn absent father, it was a wonder I wasn’t more of a mess than I was.

“How can I be really sure that you’re telling the truth?” I said, an edge in my voice.

“You can’t. But how can you be sure any of us is telling you the truth? Everyone has their own agenda, Risa, even the reaper who supposedly guards you.”

He pressed his knee between my legs and moved them apart, then thrust himself deep inside. Despite my apprehension and anger, it felt so good that I wanted to moan. But I didn’t—though only because I was fiercely holding on to the need to question him. If I gave into pleasure, I’d be giving in to a whole lot more. Even if I wasn’t entirely sure what that
more
was.

“But not everyone has direct access to my mind,” I said, my words a little breathless as he began to move, only—damn him—this was no slow seduction of the senses, but rather a ravishment filled with forceful and furious intent. And it felt so good that I had to battle to ignore the sensations threatening to engulf me.

“The reaper has, and his link is far deeper than anything I have achieved. If you want to fear anything, fear that.”

Before I could reply, before I could even digest the import of his words, he claimed my lips with a kiss that was as harsh as his lovemaking. From that moment on there was no more talking, only an intense and brutal sort of pleasure that swept me swiftly into rapture and then far beyond it.

For sometime afterward, I could only lie there, replete, exhausted, and still furious. But eventually, I pulled free from him, climbed out of bed, and strode to the shower.

“You’re angry,” he said, sounding oddly surprised. Like he hadn’t just seduced the hell out of me in an effort to get what he desired—information, if not consent.

I flicked on the shower and waited for the water to heat up. After a second or two, he seemed to realize I had no intention of answering him, and sheets rustled as he climbed out of the bed.

“Don’t touch me,” I said, long before he could. Not because of the anger, but because I knew that, once he did, I’d be putty in his hands again. I couldn’t resist him; or maybe I simply didn’t
want
to resist him. Either way, I simply wasn’t in the mood. I wanted to
hang on to my anger just that little bit longer, even if it was stupid and unreasonable.

He stopped in the doorway and crossed his arms, leaning a powerful shoulder against the door frame. “I don’t understand why you feel this way.”

He didn’t understand, and Azriel didn’t understand. Two sides of the same coin, and both of them incapable of giving me what I truly wanted.

And you knew this from the beginning, so what the hell is your problem? And what the hell
do
you want from the reaper?

Honesty
, I thought.
That’s what I want. That’s what I’ve always wanted
.

I stepped under the water and raised my face to the needle-sharp spray, enjoying its sting against my skin. But I was also aware of the weight of Lucian’s gaze on me.

After a while, I reached for the small bottle of shampoo and finally met his gaze. “I’m sick of people not telling me truth, Lucian. Everyone is playing their own game, and everyone is using me to do it, and yet no one is bothering to fill me in on all the details. And it’s pissing me off.”

“I only have one endgame, that I can promise you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Revenge?”

“Yes.” His expression hadn’t changed, but suddenly there was something very dark about him—something deep and dangerous and alien. This was the man I knew, and yet it wasn’t, because this version was consumed by a hatred so deep it was breathtaking.
He will do anything, absolutely anything, to get his revenge
. And that knowledge chilled me even
more than the alien darkness. “And I cannot see why you would not put that need to good use. If they attack en masse, you
will
need my help. And if they don’t, then you have lost nothing.”

It made sense, yet still I hesitated to agree and I wasn’t sure why. My gaze searched his, looking for lies and finding nothing but honesty. But that didn’t mean a whole lot given he’d been bound to earth for many centuries. I was betting he could lie so well that even someone with the most sensitive of bullshit detectors wouldn’t know it.

But what if he wasn’t lying? What if he was actually telling the truth? We probably would need help retrieving the keys, and the only other person I could really call on who would be of any use against the Raziq was Uncle Quinn. And I wouldn’t do that to Riley—even if she’d be madder than hell if she ever found out that I
hadn’t
asked him.

I sighed, more than a little frustrated by the twisting of my thoughts, and said, “Even you and Azriel might not be enough if they attack en masse.”

“The reaper has his sword. I have weapons of my own. Trust me when I say we will hold them off long enough to get you and the keys to a safe place.”

I finished washing my hair, then met his gaze again and said, “And how are you going to do that when all you want to do is kill the bastards?”

He grinned, and it was a ugly thing to behold. “Because merely killing them outright is not good enough. I want them to suffer as I have suffered. Finding these keys and having all their plans turn to dust is but one means of ensuring that.”

I believed him. It was impossible not to. “Okay,” I said slowly. “When we go look for the keys, you’re in. But not before.”

He frowned. “Will you not need help when you go read the book?”

“No.”

He studied me for a moment, then shrugged. “I don’t think that’s wise, but this is your game, not mine.”

His words had a trepidation stirring, and I couldn’t help wondering if I’d made my situation better, or much, much worse.

T
HE CAFÉ WAS PACKED WHEN
I
ARRIVED, AND
several staff members had called in sick, so both Ilianna and Tao were in as replacements and working the floor. Which, in Tao’s case, was a rare event that pleased his many fans—some of whom were young, many of whom weren’t, but all of whom were female. Given most of them were wolves who were not afraid of grabbing what they wanted, Tao ended the shift with a sore butt and more phone numbers than even
he
could handle in a year. But he wasn’t the only one who’d scored—although in my case, it was offers of drinks rather than actual dates. Obviously, I’d looked as if I’d needed to drown my sorrows, even though I’d tried to be my usual cheerful self.

As the evening shift swept in and took control of the madness, the three of us retreated upstairs, beers in hand. I didn’t drink often—except when Ronan was around—but sometimes, when things got really insane, there was nothing more refreshing than a crisp, cool beer.

And
insane
was certainly an apt description of my life at the moment.

“So,” Tao said, as he rolled the chilled bottle across
his forehead. “Ilianna tells me you’ve found a way to read the book without alerting the Raziq. When you attempt it, I want to be there to help.”

I opened my mouth to say no, then shut it again and took a drink instead. I’d known Tao long enough to realize he wouldn’t be dissuaded. And the truth was, with both Azriel and Lucian barred from entering the sacred site, we might just need him. Ilianna wasn’t a member of
any
coven, let alone the one that owned that ancient site, so there was no telling how the forest was going to react once she raised her magic in its midst.