“Hey,” Daimon murmured as he pulled back and brushed his palm across her cheek.
His eyes were soft as she looked up into them, filled with understanding that made her feel as if there was an invisible ribbon that linked them, allowing him to see into her mind and her heart.
She stared into them, her sombre thoughts weighing too heavily upon her for her to conceal how she was feeling. She had just turned her back on the only family she had ever known and the only place where she had ever belonged, and she needed to believe it had been worth it.
She needed to know she had made the right decision and that what she had with Daimon was going to last, that she wasn’t going to find herself alone in a few years or even months because he had grown bored with her.
Or had failed to fall in love with her.
Like she was in love with him.
His white eyebrows knitted hard above eyes that revealed so many feelings to her as they softened further, as they warmed and held hers.
She felt loved when he looked at her like that, as if she was his entire world and the sight of her in pain was killing him, filling him with a need to do something about it even when he no doubt knew he couldn’t.
He brought his other hand up and framed her face, his gaze earnest as he looked down into her eyes. His palms were cool against her cheeks, but she felt warm from head to toe.
“I couldn’t lose you,” he husked, his voice a sultry whisper that teased her ears, his words and the feelings she could read in his eyes lifting some of the weight from her heart. “I didn’t think about the consequences… I only thought about how much I needed you… and now…”
He trailed off into a sigh.
Brushed his left thumb across her cheek.
Smeared cool dampness into her skin.
She blinked away her tears, ashamed of them and not wanting to hurt him. She had done enough of that for a lifetime.
“Tell me what’s wrong. Talk to me.” His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes darted between hers, the look that filled them drawing the words up from her heart because he honestly looked as if he wanted to know. “Whatever is on your mind… you can talk to me.”
She couldn’t remember anyone other than Eric bothering to take the time to just listen to her woes and her worries.
It felt so nice to have someone who would do that for her.
Someone who looked as if he would move heaven and earth to make her feel better.
“They’re my family… Were my family. This is going to take a little getting used to and I’m…” She glanced at his chest as her courage faltered, and then blew out her breath and lifted her gaze to lock with his again, because she needed it out there. If she held it inside, it would fester and rot, eating away at her. “I’m… afraid… I’ll find I made a mistake in turning my back on them.”
His face darkened slightly, a brief hardening of his features that lifted a moment later as his eyes softened again, like a storm cloud passing over the sun.
He sighed. “You think I’m going to leave you.”
Before she could say a word to defend herself, he shook his head and sighed again, drew his hands towards him and lured her closer with them.
He stared down into her eyes, his swirling with white flakes that looked like the blizzard he had caused at the coven, tempestuous and wild.
“I’m not going to leave you, Cass. What I’m feeling…” He swallowed hard. Hesitated. “What I’m feeling isn’t going to change. Never. This feeling… This is forever.”
Another’s words echoed in her mind as she stared up into Daimon’s eyes.
Eric.
Asking her if she had ever been in love. She had told him never.
Eric had said that never was a long time and one day she would fall in love and realise what he had—that true love was forever.
Cass had countered that forever was a long time too—a long time to be stuck with the same person.
But as she looked at Daimon, as she realised that she was already in love with him, she finally understood Eric.
“Forever with you doesn’t seem long enough,” she whispered, feeling on edge as those words slipped from her lips, anxious as she waited for him to say something, fearing he would ridicule her.
Daimon tilted her head back, brushed his thumbs over her cheeks and smiled down into her eyes, one filled with love. “Doesn’t seem long enough for me either. So we’ll make it forever and a day.”
He dipped his head and kissed her, a tender exploration of her lips that had warmth rushing through her, had her insides lightening as she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He bent at the knee, banded his arms around her backside and lifted her.
Her legs fell open, his hips nestling between them as he walked with her, carrying her inside his home.
She kept kissing him, her lips dancing over his, feelings bubbling to the surface, ones she no longer wanted to fight.
Ones she no longer feared.
Cass sighed as he laid her down on the bed and covered her, stroked her fingers through his hair and clung to him, a different sort of fear washing through her. She had been so afraid she would never see him again.
The way he held her to him, the desperate edge the kiss gained, said she wasn’t alone in that feeling either.
She kissed him deeper, her tongue tangling with his, losing herself in it and the feel of him holding her, in the emotions that rippled through her, ones she had thought she would never experience.
Gods, she loved this man.
He broke away from her lips and kissed down her neck, nipped at it and sent a shiver tripping along her nerves. She leaned her head back into the mattress and relaxed into it, sighed as he stripped her corset away and worshipped her breasts.
Cass lifted her arms above her head and closed her eyes, a smile working its way onto her lips as Daimon drifted lower, as he eased her leather trousers off. She shivered as he pressed kisses to her bare thighs, as his skin brushed hers and she realised he was naked. An electric thrill chased through her as he covered her again, skin-to-skin, and kissed her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed into his mouth as he eased into her, as he withdrew and filled her again, his pace unhurried, stirring a deep sense of connection inside her. She had never felt anything like it.
Was sure she never would experience anything like it with anyone other than Daimon.
He kept saying that she had him, but gods, he had her too.
All of her.
Right down to her soul.
She stroked his shoulders as she kissed him, as his breaths mingled with hers and he thrust into her, feeling as if every part of them was connected.
Becoming one.
Release built achingly slowly and she savoured it, lost in the moment with him, feeling as if they were the only two people in the world.
When it swept over her, the depth of it rocked her, had her floating in his arms and never wanting to come down. She moaned into his mouth, each meeting of their bodies sending a fresh wave of pleasure through her, warmth that rolled over her again and again.
She swallowed his groan as he joined her, as he pulsed and throbbed in time with her.
His breath skated across her lips as he stilled inside her. He brushed his fingers through her hair, gazed down into her eyes with so much love in his that she melted a little.
She wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come.
All she could do was stare into his eyes, drowning in the love they held, warmed right down to her soul.
He skimmed the backs of his fingers across her cheek.
“I love you, Cass.”
Words she had never thought she would hear, and words she had never realised how badly she needed to hear from him.
“I love you too.” She choked a little on those four words, ones she had never thought she would say to anyone.
Ones that felt so right.
She never wanted to be without Daimon, and the lov
e she had for him would last forever.
And a day.
His phone vibrated and she cursed it as he pulled out of her, as the peacefulness of the moment ebbed. He gave her a fine view of his backside as he went for his phone though. Delicious.
She smiled wickedly as she imagined smacking it.
He straightened and the screen lit up, illuminating his face.
He went deathly still.
“What is it?” She bolted upright, fearing her coven had somehow managed to find him and were already seeking retribution.
Daimon swallowed hard.
“Esher is back.”
Chapter 28
Daimon stepped the moment Cass was dressed and in his arms, his mind whirling as Ares’s message ran around it. It had only been four words.
Esher back. Code red.
Code red meant everyone had cleared out of the Tokyo mansion because Esher was liable to kill anyone who set foot in it.
Daimon landed in the front garden of the single-storey building and looked at Cass, painfully aware of the danger he was placing her in by bringing her with him. He hadn’t been able to stop himself. He couldn’t leave her in Hong Kong, where she was vulnerable to not only the Erinyes who wanted to get their hands on her, but her coven too. He was under no illusion that the witches weren’t going to try to take her back from him.
Their fight wasn’t over.
He drew down a deep breath and looked at the closed wooden door of the mansion.
This fight was just beginning.
He could feel Esher inside, sense the rage that beat within his brother, darkness that pulsed like a wave over him.
Daimon took hold of Cass’s hand and led her towards the door, nerves rushing through him as he closed the distance between him and it. He wasn’t sure what to expect. Chances were, Ares had ordered everyone to leave the moment Esher had returned, and that was the reason the message had been so short.
Ares didn’t know what state Esher was in.
The scent of foul daemon blood hit Daimon.
His eyes widened as he realised he couldn’t only sense his brother.
He could sense the wraith too.
“I need a barrier, some sort of containment spell.” He looked at Cass.
She nodded. “Coming right up.”
It was handy having a witch for a partner.
“I don’t know what we’re walking into, but if there’s any distance between my brother and the daemon, use the spell on it.”
“And if there isn’t?” Light glowed from the palm of her free hand, casting a green hue across it.
He wanted to say to do it anyway, to encase both the wraith and his brother within the barrier, fear that Esher might attack Cass getting the better of him.
“Give me a moment to get Esher away from him. If I can’t…” He didn’t want to finish that sentence.
She nodded. “I got it.”
He stopped, turned and gripped her shoulders, holding them tightly as he stared into her eyes. “As soon as the wraith is caged, you go to my room and you don’t come out until I come for you… no matter what you hear.”
“But—”
He pressed his finger to her lips to silence her. “I know you can handle yourself… but Esher… You. I can’t bear the thought he might hurt you.”
The soft light that entered her aquamarine eyes told him that she understood. He didn’t want Esher to attack her. He didn’t want to have to fight his own brother, not when Esher wouldn’t be aware he was doing something wrong and would be acting on instinct.
Wanting to protect Daimon from someone he viewed as a threat.
Daimon stepped up onto the wooden porch and removed his boots, and waited for Cass to remove hers before he opened the door.
His heart pounded in his throat as the main room came into view.
Esher stood in the middle of it, clutching the right ankle of the unconscious black-haired male sprawled on the tatami mats behind him.
Relief hit Daimon hard, but it was short-lived as he took in the state of his older brother.
Dried blood and dirt caked every inch of him, streaked across his bare chest and arms, and matted his black hair and thick scraggly beard.
Cass tensed, the barest twitch of her hand in his as rain lashed down outside and thunder pealed overhead, the typhoon hitting out of nowhere.
He glanced through the open panels that revealed the garden.
Not a drop of rain touched it or the house.
It gave Daimon hope.
Hope that Esher was aware on some level that Aiko was liable to be here in the mansion and he didn’t want to hurt her. Hope that he could get through to his brother.
Daimon’s gaze briefly darted to Cass. She shook her head, silently telling him that she couldn’t cast the barrier while Esher was holding the wraith. He nodded and released her hand, held his palm up to her to silently tell her to give him a moment and to stay where she was.
He stepped into the room, drawing slow deep breaths to keep his nerves in check, closely watching Esher. He doubted his brother would broadcast his intent to attack, but it didn’t hurt to watch for the slightest twitch. There was a chance he could reach Cass and step with her before his brother managed to strike him down.
Esher continued to stare straight ahead, his face placid as he breathed hard, bare chest straining with each one. Daimon checked his wrists. Both of the braided black bands that limited his power were still in place. That was good. He lifted his gaze, fixing it on the trident inked on the inside of his brother’s wrist—his favour mark from Poseidon.
It was as black as night.
Not so good.
Daimon’s eyes leaped to the arrowhead pendant that hung from the black thong around Esher’s neck. The stone was tranquil blue. Daimon breathed a little easier with the knowledge that the moon was on his side at least and not affecting his brother. When the moon was full, Esher’s pendant turned black, a sign that it was messing with his power and his mood, pulling on him as strongly as it did on the tides.
When that happened, Esher had to be locked in the cage.
Daimon hated placing him in it, but it was the only way to suppress his powers and keep the mortal world safe from harm.
He rounded Esher, keeping his distance. When he could see Esher’s face more clearly, relief bloomed even more sweetly inside him.
His brother’s eyes were blue.
Not red.
His other side wasn’t fully in control.
But shit was still liable to go south at a moment’s notice.
It had been a long time since he had seen his brother this bad.
He glanced at the unconscious daemon. He needed to get his brother to release the male so Cass could cage him, but he wasn’t sure how to make that happen. The wraith was Esher’s trophy, the reward of a hunt that must have been intense judging by the state of his brother. If he tried to take that prize away from Esher, his brother would attack him.
He needed to convince Esher to release him.
Easier said than done.
Esher’s blue gaze didn’t shift from the wall at the other end of the room. Blood dripped down into his left eye, turning the white red and his iris a strange shade of purple. He didn’t blink it away. He just kept staring.
Locked in a battle with himself.
Daimon had seen it enough times to recognise it.
His brother was still under the influence of his other side, was waging war with it.
There was a sharpness in his eyes, cold calculation and darkness. Exactly how he looked when his other side was in control.
Daimon motioned at Cass to stay where she was and to keep quiet.
And then risked it.
He stepped into the path of his brother’s gaze, his nerve barely holding as he did his best to look unthreatening.
Esher still didn’t look at him.
“You’ve been gone a while. I was worried about you.” Daimon knew better than to mention we and ever
yone when Esher was so far gone.
He needed to just talk about him and Esher. In the singular. Man-to-man.
Bringing up his family was liable to send his brother into a tailspin that would end with him attacking anyone he viewed as a threat to it.
Daimon was deeply aware of Cass as he braved a step closer to Esher.
Esher’s gaze tracked him this time. His brother eyed him closely, that calculating edge to his gaze sharpening further. Daimon felt as if he was looking at another person—a cold predator weighing up its potential prey.
Was his brother really in there?
He kept his steps slow as he rounded his brother, hoping to draw his focus away from Cass’s direction, aware that if he moved too fast he could provoke a reaction from Esher.
Priority one was convincing Esher to release his prize and to secure the wraith before he woke up. His gaze flickered to the daemon, a glance he had hoped would be quick enough that Esher wouldn’t notice.
Esher growled and bared fangs at him.
His grip tightened on the wraith’s ankle.
The daemon moaned.
The male was alive, which was good. He could use that. Esher had clearly managed to retain enough control to convince himself to spare the wraith so they could use him for information on their enemy.
“You’ve done well. I have the daemon. W—I’m safe now.” Daimon hid his grimace as he subtly braced himself, hoping Esher hadn’t caught the fact he had almost said we’re. “I was worried about you. You have to rest now. Take care of yourself. Let me take care of you. Remember how I used to?”
He searched Esher’s eyes, hoping to see that he did.
Emptiness stared back at him.
“You’re my big brother and I was always the one who took care of you when you got into trouble.” Daimon slowly reached a hand out to Esher as his cold eyes began to brighten, losing their intensity. “Come on. Let me take care of you now, Esher.”
His brother’s expression darkened at the sound of his name, a frown knitting his black eyebrows together and causing the onyx crust that ran down one side of his face, from his hairline to the scruffy beard that coated his jaw, to crack further.
Daimon: Guardians of Hades Series Book 6 Page 25