Stygian (The Dark-Hunter World Book 28)

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Wanting something she knew she might never have another shot at, Xyn unpinned his chalmys and let it fall to the ground. When he didn’t complain, she made sure his chiton followed it down to their feet, exposing his chest to her hands. He sucked his breath between his teeth as she touched his hard, hot body.

  Gingerly, she traced a line over the healing wounds on his chest. “What happened?”

  He smirked. “Apparently, you’re not the only one I annoy.”

  “I don’t find you amusing at all.”

  “That hand you have on my cock says differently.” His voice was deep as he cupped her fingers with his palm so that he could show her how to stroke him.

  “You better be glad that I can’t harm you.”

  Heat stung her cheeks as he cupped her face in his hand and looked at her fiercely. “At this moment, my lady, I’ll take your attention any way I can get it.”

  Xyn smiled, until her gaze went to the Daimon mark over his heart. “When did this happen?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “My conscience says that it should.” Biting her lip, she wanted to pull away and leave him where he stood and not look back. If only it were so simple.

  Or easy.

  “You live by killing others. Obliterating their souls for all eternity.”

  “I do what I have to.”

  Her heart broke with those words. He didn’t even seem remorseful about the lives he took.

  His eyes darkened. “What do you want from me, Xyn? To lie down and die, or to fight and live?”

  She wanted him to be human. Whole. To live without preying on the souls of humanity.

  The hurt in his celestial gaze tore through her and made her stomach ache. She knew that look. It was what had caused him to divorce Xanthia. “I’m not judging you.”

  “Aye, you are. Don’t lie to yourself. And don’t lie to me.”

  She caught him as he started to leave. “Urian …” She used her powers to remove her armor.

  The moment she was naked, the anger evaporated from his eyes. Never before had she been more grateful to her brothers for their candor about how to immobilize a man or to catch his attention.

  It worked.

  Urian’s gaze darted all over her naked body and with every part of her those eyes licked, the hunger in their depths darkened. The air between them became charged.

  “I will always love you, Urian. Nothing you do will ever change that.”

  Closing the distance between them, Urian curled his hand against her cheek, then buried his lips against her throat. A thousand ribbons of pleasure tore through her as he nibbled a trail around her neck, his warm breath tickling as his tongue gently licked her skin.

  Xyn shivered as she ran her hand down his naked spine and pulled him closer.

  Urian shuddered in ecstasy. Never in his life had he felt this way. Never had he been with a woman and felt so welcome and wanted. All he could taste was this moment, and all he could feel was her love. Her warm acceptance. Even though she didn’t approve of his Daimon lifestyle, she still loved him.

  That was a miracle.

  He trembled from the force of it and from the need he had to possess this woman who was the closest thing to Katateros he would ever know.

  He pulled back and stared into her vibrant green, passion-dulled eyes. “You are beautiful,” he whispered.

  She answered his words with another kiss that left his lips tingling. And he had to remind himself to be careful with his fangs. She wasn’t an Apollite.

  Xyn was a dragon. And her boldness amazed and thrilled him. He pulled back slightly as she placed her lips to his jaw so that she could gently tongue her way down the line of it, teasing his whiskers. Urian closed his eyes as a thousand chills went through him.

  Her breath electrified every part of him and made him harder than he’d ever been in his life. He nipped playfully at her earlobe and smiled as he felt the chills spring up along the length of her body beneath his hands. Her nipples tightened to rigid peaks that beckoned him to taste them.

  Xyn sucked her breath in sharply as Urian dipped his head. Her senses reeling, she’d never felt anything like it. But then, she’d never been with a man before.

  Because she’d been sequestered here so young, there hadn’t been anyone she’d wanted. And once free …

  Her heart had stayed with Urian.

  There was no need to find another when she knew it wouldn’t satisfy her. She wanted this … Daimon. Good or bad, he was the only one who made her heart race and made it weak and strong at the same time.

  And when he picked her up to carry her to their cave, she laid her head on his shoulder, unable to believe it was real. How many times had she dreamed of this?

  She gasped as they entered it. “You’ve kept it up?”

  His eyes sparkled in the darkness. “It was all I had of you.”

  Tears filled her eyes as she realized he’d turned it into a shrine. Everything was exactly as she’d left it. “You still come here?”

  Laying her down on her pallet, he gave her a sheepish smile. “Only when I miss you.”

  “It looks like you miss me a lot.”

  “Of course I do.”

  Her head swam as he laid his body over hers and his naked flesh collided with hers. The hard planes of his chest pressed against her breasts, which hardened ever more as they brushed against his muscled pecs.

  Urian moaned against her lips as his hands pressed her hips closer to his. He could feel the soft curls at the juncture of her thighs against his swollen shaft as she ran her hands down his back.

  Damn …

  He was torn between ravaging her and taking his time. The two urges were killing him. He reached out and cupped her breasts in his hands, then skimmed his hand over her stomach toward her dark auburn curls. “Your skin is so flawless.”

  “The beauty of being a dragon. The skin doesn’t take much damage.”

  He smiled at that. Then dipped his head down to toy with her right breast.

  Xyn hissed as tendrils of pleasure shot through her. He trailed kisses to her other breast. She moaned, marveling at the mixture of pleasure and desire he stoked.

  He returned to her lips as his hands ran the length of her body, stroking and exploring everywhere they went. She craved his touch with a blinding need.

  Honestly, she didn’t think anything could feel better until he ran his hand down her stomach and touched the center of her body. Xyn curled her fingers into his hair and arched her back against the intensity of that pleasure. Never had she felt anything like it as all the heat in her body pooled to the point where her legs met.

  Suddenly, she felt Urian’s entire body stiffen as he pulled away from her with a curse.

  “Did I do something wrong?”

  His jaw slack, he stared at her in utter disbelief. “You’re a virgin?”

  She blushed at his question. “I didn’t realize you’d be able to tell.”

  He gaped even more. “Little bit, um, aye. You really weren’t going to tell me?”

  “Why are you so angry?”

  “I’m not angry.”

  She gave him a mocking, pointed stare. “Really? Then what would you call that tone? Where I live, it’s not happy.”

  “Confused.”

  “Not even close.”

  He snorted. “You’re being impossible. I’m upset that you’d hold back something so … so …”

  “Personal?”

  “Aye.”

  “My business?”

  He visibly cringed. “Now you’re making me feel bad.”

  “Good. You should feel bad.” She tweaked the edge of his nose with her fingertip. “Actually, that’s not true, you should feel special that I want you.”

  He took her hand in his and led it to his cheek and then his lips so that he could kiss her palm and then hold her hand against his heart so that he could stare into her eyes. “I’m just angry at myself. I wish I were as pure for you, Xyn. You deserve that.” />
  Those words touched her so deeply that for a moment she feared she might cry. Loving him more than she would have ever thought possible, she wrapped her legs around him and pulled him closer so that she could kiss him with everything she felt.

  Growling, Urian rose up on his knees between her thighs. The expression on his face was one of utter desperation. “I’m sorry, Xyn. I can’t wait for you,” he whispered. “I want you too badly.”

  She didn’t understand his words as her gaze ran down his muscled chest and lingered over the dark mark that covered his heart.

  He kissed her, then gently entered her body.

  Xyn cried out at the feeling of him deep and hard inside her as his muscled thighs pressed against hers. For a full minute, she couldn’t breathe. This was unlike anything she’d imagined. He was humongous! And it burned a lot more than she’d have ever thought.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Um-hmm.”

  “The bleeding death grip on my back refutes those words.”

  Sucking her breath in, she realized he was right and immediately withdrew her claws from his flesh. “Sorry.”

  “It’s fine, says the one who’s been flayed.” He glanced back at his side. “Is there a lot of blood loss?”

  Xyn wrinkled her nose playfully. “Minimal.”

  With a laugh, he leaned down to capture her lips before he began to slowly thrust against her hips.

  Her body on fire, Xyn held her breath.

  Urian buried his lips against her throat and made sure not to harm her with his fangs. He hated the way she remained tense. “Relax,” he breathed in her ear.

  But she didn’t. If anything his words seemed to distress her more.

  He cursed himself for not knowing what to do to alleviate her discomfort, but he’d never been with a virgin before. Wanting to make it better for her, he breathed in her ear and then ran his tongue over her lobe.

  She immediately moaned in pleasure and ran her hands over his ribs. He could feel her supple form against him as she surrendered herself to his touch. His body burned with need, but he forced himself to move slowly so that he didn’t hurt her.

  Xyn whimpered when Urian left her lips to nibble a trail down her cheek to her neck, and up to her ear. She writhed in pleasure as her body shook in response to his tongue while he swirled it around the outside, and then darted it inside the tender, sensitive flesh. Holy Olympus, she’d never imagined anything like this!

  Forget dragons … she couldn’t imagine anything better!

  His warm laugh echoed again. “Like that, do you?”

  “’Deed I do.”

  He moved lower with his kisses. To her breasts, her stomach. His warm breath tickled her while his whiskers gently scraped her skin as he licked her all over.

  Xyn closed her eyes and savored the feel of his warm skin against hers while he rolled his body against hers in the most delectable strokes and nibbled her in time to them.

  She buried her hands in his hair and lifted her hips to draw him in ever deeper. And this was why she knew she would never be able to share him with another woman. She felt too close to him right now.

  This wasn’t simply sex. Not with him.

  He was hers.

  As a dragon, that meant something. For they were a jealous breed and they shared nothing.

  But Urian would have to eat, and sex was part of that for his species. How she hated Apollo for what he’d done to Urian and his people. Damn him and all the gods of Olympus.

  Staring up into those blue eyes, she knew that she’d never want anyone else. Not like this. He was her best friend. The only one she felt truly comfortable with.

  In all things.

  A strange light came into Urian’s eyes a moment before he stopped moving.

  “Is something wrong?”

  The most wicked of grins spread across his face before he slid out of her and shifted his body. Xyn wasn’t sure what he intended as he moved lower down her body. Not until he gently parted her tender folds and took her into his mouth.

  Her head spinning, she cried out as pleasure ripped through her. Never had she felt anything more incredulous than the sensation of his tongue doing the most wicked things imaginable to her body.

  Relentlessly, he teased her, making her body hotter and hotter. Her pleasure greater and greater.

  Her ecstasy mounted until she was sure she’d die from it. And then, just as it became a very real possibility, her body exploded with pleasure far greater than anything she had ever experienced.

  Throwing her head back, she screamed out in release as her entire body convulsed from a force unimaginable.

  Urian took her hand into his and slid back inside her while her body was still in the throes of her orgasm.

  She cried out even deeper in her throat, then pounded the ground with her fist.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Aye,” she breathed, wrapping her body around his with a dragon death roll.

  Laughing, Urian closed his eyes to better savor the feel of her surrounding him. If he could, he’d stay like this forever. How he wished he could. That there were some way to convince her to stay.

  But it wouldn’t be fair and he knew it. If only he could leave with her.

  Yet sooner or later, he’d have to feed. While he could go back to blood donors, it was such a disgusting way to feed that he couldn’t bring himself to contemplate it.

  Not really.

  Why can’t I find a spell or a god who could lift this from me?

  But there was really no hope.

  Trying not to think about it, he moved slowly against her hips. Her sighs of mounting pleasure delighted him, especially when she began to move her hips so that she could meet his strokes.

  And when his release came, he thought he’d go blind from it.

  Xyn smiled as she felt him shuddering. Then he collapsed and gently laid himself over her like a blanket. She savored the sensation of his skin against hers. The feeling of him still inside her.

  For the longest time he didn’t move but simply stayed there until she feared he’d fallen asleep.

  Or worse, had died.

  “Urian?”

  “I’m here. Just thinking.”

  “About?”

  “The fact that when I get up, you’ll leave. And that when you do, my heart will go with you.” He lifted himself up on his arms. “Promise me something?”

  “What?”

  “That you’ll meet me at least once a year.”

  “Uri—”

  “It doesn’t have to be here, Xyn. I’ll meet you in the human world. Or wherever you pick. That way you don’t have to know about my meals, or even think about them. We’ll meet for one night. If you find someone who makes you happy, then we never have to meet again. You don’t even have to tell me. Just don’t show and I’ll know.”

  “And if you find someone?”

  He scoffed. “I swear that I won’t.”

  Leaning up, Xyn kissed him. “All right. I’ll meet you. And if you ever stand me up for another woman, Urian Deathbringer, I’ll kill you both.”

  October 30, 7383 BC

  Urian was starving as he sat at a table in an inn with his brother Theo and a friend. They’d entered the human realm from a portal not that long ago, and made their way into the city to find this out-of-the-way place where humans gathered to eat and find companionship and news after dark.

  How he adored this new modern age.

  Women had looser morals. So did the men.

  It was so much easier to find prey. These days, they gathered together for them. All they had to do was order drinks and pretend to be human for a bit. Although he’d heard of some Apollites who were beginning to open places like this that catered to their people to make it easier on them to find meals, both Apollite and Daimon.

  He hadn’t found one yet, but he was hopeful, especially as he was supposed to meet up with Xyn for their annual rendezvous.

  Theo laughed beside him
with his friend Manades. The two of them had gotten into Urian’s last batch of bloodwyne and were passing it around quite liberally.

  That had become a lucrative product in their world. Thanks to Ruyn.

  And Sheba. After all these centuries, Urian still thought about her from time to time, and wondered what it would have been like had she lived.

  Xanthia … she’d died a few centuries back when she failed to renew her soul on time.

  That was a delicate matter for them. One they had to be careful about, as it was as much guesswork as science. Each soul was different, and how long it would keep them alive was completely dependent on the person it belonged to.

  No two were ever the same. Some souls could last for a few months and some for only a few hours. Until a Daimon claimed the soul, he never knew its endurance. The exterior of a person was no guarantee. A tiny human could have a remarkable soul that wouldn’t be defeated, while the most arrogant giant could have a shriveled-up, cowardly soul that was good for nothing.

  When Theo went to guzzle the wine, Urian snatched it from his brother’s hand to take a swig. “Wish you would sober up. I need you both to pay attention.”

  “Sorry.” Theo snickered, which led him to believe that the apology wasn’t sincere.

  Urian rolled his eyes. Until he spotted a possible victim off to the right. It was a huge brute of a bastard and he was groping a tiny serving wench. She looked as if she’d rather be anywhere else, while the man laughed at her misery. When she tried to pull away, he backhanded her so hard that it was a wonder he hadn’t broken her neck.

  Yet no one lifted a finger to help her or even looked in her direction.

  Urian slapped at his brother’s arm and jerked his chin to let Theo know he’d found his prey.

  Yeah, that bastard needed to be removed from the gene pool. He wouldn’t mind listening to a soul that cruel beg for mercy for a while.

  They had to wait until the human decided to take a piss before they got up to follow him out back. Urian was already salivating for his soul, especially when he overheard his words to the girl asking her if she had a younger sister he could plow.

  Disgusted, he could barely refrain from murdering him.