The Darkest King

by Gena Showalter

  The urge to mate consumed her.

  It felt as if their conversation had flipped a switch labeled Forever Turned-On. As if every drop of arousal she’d ever experienced had returned and doubled...tripled in strength.

  She didn’t have to wonder what this was.

  Mating season had started early.

  “William,” she said, panting. Was that plaintive tone truly hers? “It’s happening...mating season.” Too soon. Now all of his efforts were for naught. The condom reminders would only work outside of the actual mating. If he remembered, she wouldn’t be able to come, making sex a form of torture for her. “You need to leave. Please. No. Stay. No! Leave. But first, the chains! Hurry!”

  Blink. He vanished. Blink. He materialized at the foot of the bed. Heat pulsed from him, caressing her. “I’m not going anywhere, sundae.”

  “But you’re worried, and I understand, I do. But I won’t be able to come without your come. Without it, you’ll just make everything worse.” She lowered her gaze to his erection and licked her lips, her inner walls contracting. Pin him down. Sink my nails in his chest. Impale myself on his massive shaft. She’d ride him and come so hard she’d see stars.

  “You are my female. My woman,” he said. Snarled, really. “What you need, I provide. If it’s my seed, then so be it.”

  “No!” She thrashed her head in denial.

  “I’m going to worry regardless. Fear has me in a chokehold. What if we’re forced to part because of the curse? What if you attack me? There’s no way in hell I’ll harm you either way, but pregnant...” He shuddered. “You’ll succeed, which means you’ll be left alone with a child to raise. You’ll both be a target for Lucifer, and that is what I do not want.”

  He only wanted to protect her. He might even love her, despite everything stacked against them. But...

  She loved him, no question. Because there, in that moment, Sunny surrendered her heart to William of the Dark, the Ever Randy, son of Hades, prince of Hell. He’d put her first, put her needs above his own, and any remaining resistance had shattered.

  I love this man. He’s mine, and I’m his. They would be together forever. A family. A pack. Her pack. Her everything.

  “Baby,” she said, using her best schoolteacher voice. “I want this with you. I do. Vow to lock me in the dungeon after mating season and stay away until the curse is broken, and we can be together this way. Right here, right now.”

  His expression softened, oh, so tender, before dark desire took over. Nothing would stop this man from having her. If Bjorn or anyone else dared to barge into the room, she had no doubt William would tear them to shreds. No male had ever looked more menacing. Or aroused.

  “I will destroy worlds to keep you safe,” he snarled.

  Oh, yes. He does. He loves me.

  So why don’t I want to kill him?

  “Take me, then. Hard.” This was the last time she’d see him before she broke the curse. Why not make as many memories as possible?

  Without hesitation, he gripped the collar of his shirt and tugged it overhead. Mmm, how she loved when he removed his shirt like that. His muscle-cut torso made her stupid, as usual. And she hadn’t gotten over his pecs, that eight-pack or the goodie trail. But today’s winner? The head of his erection, stretching past his leathers, fighting to break the zipper.

  He stroked his length, watching her watch him. “This is what you crave?”

  More shivers. If sex had a voice, it was William’s. Husky, low and deep, an auditory caress that reached every atom of her being.

  “More than anything,” she rasped. Already her control burned away... “Give it to me.”

  With a wicked smile, he snagged her ankle and yanked her to the far edge of the mattress. She squeal-laughed as he ripped her dress down the middle, the sheer garment basically disintegrating, leaving her clad in her panties. The ones she’d worn just for him. Her granny panties.

  He noticed and immediately flipped his gaze up to hers. The look he gave her...hot, amused and tender... “You are a treasure, sundae.” He hooked his fingers inside the panties and slid the material down her legs.

  Cool air kissed her overheated skin. Moaning, she undulated her hips, seeking contact. Little growls left him. He set her feet on the bed, right where he wanted them, keeping her knees parted, and her butt halfway off the edge.

  “Stay just like this.” He released her and kicked off his boots, then pulled down his zipper and let his leathers drop. His erection bounced free. He was naked, and he was magnificent. “Tell me this is mine, sundae,” he commanded, cupping her sex.

  “It’s yours.” She reached out to wrap her fingers around the base of his shaft.

  “Uh-uh-uh.” He plucked her hand free and said, “I’m going to outlast my unicorn.” After kissing her palm, he sucked two of her fingers into his mouth. At the same time, he slid one of his fingers deep inside her. When he circled her little bundle of nerves with his thumb, she cried out and lifted her hips. “You, lost in the throes...this portal to paradise soaking my hand... It’s the most beautiful sight in all the worlds.”

  He was the most beautiful sight in all the worlds. Leaning over, he pulled his finger free of her. She groaned in protest, until he planted his fists beside her hips and rested his shaft atop her mons. The contact—

  She sucked in a breath, a hot, needy haze descending over her. So good! Heat to heat. Hard steel to damp silk. Still leaning...grinding his erection into her clitoris...he bent his head to suck a nipple into his mouth. Rapture shot through her, glorious in its intensity.

  After so many centuries of chaining herself in difficult-to-reach places during mating season, miserable and agonized, she would now experience it with William...the man she loved with every fiber of her being.

  Frantic, a little crazed, she looped her arms around him and raked her nails over his back. Not exactly what she’d imagined, but better. He sucked on her other nipple, one after the other, sending new tides of rapture to her core, then he licked and nibbled his way up her sternum, his brows drawn. A sign of pain? He continued to ascend. As he placed the most tender kiss at each corner of her mouth, ravenous hunger filled his baby blues.

  He needs me as much as I need him.

  He licked the seam of her lips. When she opened, he thrust his tongue past her teeth, rolling it with hers. A reverent kiss. But, as usual with them, it quickly burned out of control.

  Around them, the air charged with electricity. Pressure built, and desperation sharpened. Need friction so bad. She writhed, bowed her back and rubbed her clit against his shaft. She was panting. So was he. The sensual haze thickened, blocking out all other thoughts. The ache...the heat...the sheer need...they were too much. But I need more.

  “William, please. No more waiting. I’m going to die if I don’t come. Please!”

  “You need your man?” He remained unhurried, even as sweat trickled down his temples...as tension pulled the skin around his eyes taut.

  “Yes!”

  “Who is your man, Sunny? Say it.”

  “You. William.”

  Expression fierce, jaw clenched, he growled, “You care for me.”

  Why deny it? “I do. I care.”

  Sublime satisfaction blazed in his eyes. He maneuvered her to her stomach, then lifted her hips until he had her on all fours. But he didn’t enter her right away. No, oh, no. Her male trailed his fingers up the ridge of her spine before wrapping a blindfold over her eyes...

  37

  “People always show you who they are, it just takes time. And sometimes a dagger.”

  William had never known such frenzied, clawing need. Arousal infused his cells, turning his blood into lava. He burned. He ached. He craved this woman more than breath. She was the only person he knew willing to endure her worst fear—solitary confinement—for an extended and unspecified length of time, just to keep
him safe.

  No wonder he loved her.

  Will take this slow. Savor. They’d had sex before, yes, but they would be making love now. He would make this the best night she’d ever had, something to remember for the rest of their lives. A shared memory; the best kind.

  To keep Sunny grounded in the moment and discourage her fears, he’d blindfolded her. You will anticipate my every move, beauty...

  When next he touched her, gliding his fingers down her spine, she cried out with bliss. He kissed the indention above her ass before kneading and nipping a cheek. She panted her breaths, goose bumps spreading over her limbs.

  “Could keep you like this forever,” he said, utterly entranced by her.

  She rocked her hips, unable or unwilling to stay still. Had there ever been a more sensual sight?

  “Do you trust me, sundae?”

  She rasped, “You know I do.”

  Running his hands from the backs of her knees, up her inner thighs, he drew moans and groans from her. As he plunged a single finger into her core, those moans and groans increased in volume.

  Now he sucked in a breath. “So hot, so wet. So tight.”

  “Sooooo ready,” she said, chasing his finger as he withdrew it.

  “Ready, yes, but not ready enough.” He placed one knee on the edge of the mattress, then the other, looming behind her. On the next inward thrust, he inserted a second finger, stretching her.

  Crying out, she arched her back and fisted the sheets. Trembling, she said, “More.”

  His absolute favorite word, uttered by those rosebud lips. Gritting his teeth against the powerful avalanche of lust gaining new ground, snatching up more and more of his control, he scissored those fingers and worked them in and out, mimicking sex.

  Passion-fever spread over her skin, giving it a rosy undertone. The transformation entranced him and wrapped him in a blanket of heat.

  “William,” she said, breathless. She reached between them to gently squeeze his testicles.

  Control, damn it! “Someone likes to play dirty.” He barely managed to push the words out of his mouth.

  As he removed his fingers a final time, she babbled denials.

  Eventually, he cut her off. “Don’t worry, love. I’ve got something bigger for you.” He just needed to do something first... What, what? Casting his gaze through the room in an effort to remember, he noticed little notes posted everywhere. Oh, yes. The condom. The condom he couldn’t wear if he wanted Sunny to come.

  He absolutely wanted Sunny to come.

  With the tip of his shaft resting at her entrance, he clasped her hips and drew her backward slowly, impaling her on his cock. His breaths came faster, and far more shallow. Hers, too.

  Being gloved by all that wet heat... He fought the urge to come. Must last.

  He bit his tongue, tasting blood, as her body accepted the final inch. Tremors rocked her against him. He clasped her on both sides and drew her upright, putting her back flush against his chest. Her desire still wet his fingers—fingers he grazed over her lips, so he could lick away her feminine honey when next they kissed. A new addiction.

  With one hand, he cupped and kneaded her breasts while pinching her tight little nipples. With the other, he strummed her swollen bundle of nerves. All the while, her inner walls clenched around his length, wrenching curses from him.

  William kept his lower body still, ratcheting up her pleasure as he ran her earlobe between his teeth. Any minute she would—

  Sunny arched her back. Yes! Movement! Her breasts pressed against his palms, stealing his thoughts. Wild and wanton, she turned her head toward him, seeking his lips.

  Desperate for her, he captured her clitoris between two fingers and squeezed her hip, urging her up. His shaft inched out of her, nearly popping free...until he thrust forward once again, filling her.

  Her ragged cry echoed from the walls. A starting bell of some sort.

  William—utterly—unleashed.

  He pounded inside her, again and again, the bed shaking.

  Her next cry tapered into a breathless moan. “Yes, yes!”

  In, out. In, out. In. On the next retreat, he didn’t shove back in. Yet. Instead, he flipped her around, so that they faced each other. Only when she wrapped her legs around him, and he claimed her lips in another earth-shattering kiss, did William thrust home once again. Thrust, thrust.

  When he required greater friction than their current position allowed, he tossed her to her back. Thrust, thrust. Then she flipped him, straddling his waist as she rose above. He thrust harder... Harder. Faster.

  “So close, love. I’m going to give you every drop. You ready?”

  “Ready! Please, William. Please.”

  Never had he burned or ached like this. Never had he felt so sated before a climax. With his woman’s plea for more ringing in his ears, her breasts bouncing above him, her sex gloving his shaft with liquid fire...

  No stopping it. Finally he let go, hot jet after hot jet lashing from him.

  Sunny threw back her head and screamed, her entire body convulsing. When she collapsed atop him, he rolled her to her side, removed her blindfold, and held her close. Will never let her go.

  They hadn’t just had sex or made love. They’d communed, two souls made one. Exactly what the Lords had often spoken about when they’d explained the difference between sex with a stranger and sex with a mate. Until now, William hadn’t truly understood the difference. His satisfaction hadn’t come from his climax, but his partner’s.

  If anyone tries to take her from me, I will do murder. I will have this every day for the rest of my life.

  “We’ll get to rest a few minutes, then the urges will start up again,” Sunny told him between panting breaths. “If you can’t keep up—”

  “Can’t keep up?” he bellowed.

  A giggle escaped her, soon becoming a laugh. The sound enchanted him. The sight of her, too. Amusement lit up her entire face, making his heart race. As much as he wanted more sex and more afterglows, he wanted more of her merriment most of all.

  A smile a day keeps my homicidal tendencies at bay.

  “Let me rephrase,” she said.

  He arched a brow, all let’s hear this.

  “If, at any point, you have to leave, not because your stamina sucks and you need a break, but because...reasons, I’ll understand. I’ll ridicule you for eternity, but I’ll understand. Just be ready to be attacked the second you get home.”

  “I might have to leave to speak with Hades,” he replied, hurt crackling in his tone. “But there’s nothing I’d rather do than take care of my woman during a...difficult time. And, yes, giving you orgasm after orgasm is going to be difficult for me. A real hardship. When mating season is over, you’re going to owe me so big.”

  Another giggle. “So big,” she echoed. “As a reward, I might do a fashion show for you, and model my favorite granny panties.”

  “Maybe? No. You will,” he said with mock ferocity. “The offer’s been made and accepted. No take backs.”

  “Oh, I can—” She gasped, her blunt-tipped nails curling into his chest, holding her prey in place. “William, it’s starting again.”

  “First of all, my name goes on your roster for permanent mating season duty. Second, you just lie back and let your man do all the work.” He drew her bottom lip between his teeth. “You’re about to discover my stamina is unmatched.”

  * * *

  He never actually vowed to lock me away, only to give me what he thought I needed.

  After two weeks of sex, sex and more sex, Sunny awoke with a clear head for the first time in eons. Her fourteen-day deadline to decode the book had passed times two, yet William didn’t seem to mind. He seemed happ—

  The realization about him smacked her upside the head, and she jolted upright, her mind whirling.

  D
uring mating season, her man had perfectly divided his time between satisfying her and war. What she’d needed, her baby had provided. She’d luxuriated in a tide of bliss, losing count of the number of times she’d licked his tattoos, sucked him dry or rode him to climax.

  But now mating season had reached its conclusion. Yay! Boo! No, no. Definitely yay. William slept like the dead beside her, and a soft smile spread over her face. Poor darling. She and the war had exhausted him.

  As she stretched her sore, sated body, morning sunlight deluged the bedroom. More thoughts filled her head, things mating seasons had made her forget. No forgetting now. William’s curse. It had to be dealt with and fast. Only then could they truly start their lives together.

  Sunny extracted her limbs from William’s as carefully as possible and lumbered to unsteady legs. Dude. She kind of felt like she’d survived a nine-car pileup. Once she had the book in her possession, she gathered her diary and a pen, then returned to the bed to prop herself up on pillows. Satisfaction hummed inside her as William slept on.

  All right. Let’s do this. She opened the book to the page she’d last decoded and traced her fingertips over the symbols. In a snap, her blood heated. She frowned. Mating season hadn’t ended?

  Still heating...

  Sweat sheened her skin, yet the air seemed to cool by a hundred degrees, her limbs quickly freezing. Her teeth chattered.

  Steaming hot and ice-cold at the same time? Madness!

  Kill William.

  She gasped. Not this. Not so soon. She’d only just begun.

  So close to the end. Can’t give up now. Keep your eye on the prize and forge ahead. Break the curse, and the madness ends.

  She focused on the symbols. Kill him! Heating. Freezing. Her heart thudded, reminding her of a gavel after a judge delivered a life sentence. Kill, kill, kill.

  No. Never. Unless...she needed to kill him? Born to kill the princes of hell—wasn’t that her fate? Her only purpose in life? Yessss.