“Hey.” Arik’s deep, soothing voice penetrated her panic, and she realized she’d been looking at everyone but him. “My eyes,” he said. “Look at me. I’m right here.”
As if she’d grabbed onto a lifeline, she clung to his gaze, letting everyone else fall away. I can do this. For him, I can do anything.
Still, nothing came. There were too many secrets to choose from, and all were so horrible and hurtful.
Arik knew… bless him, he knew, and he came to the rescue.
“Since this is our wedding, maybe you can stick it to your ex?” He waggled his brows, dragging a small smile from her. “Do you have a secret about you and him?”
Fear soured her mouth, because yeah, she had a secret she’d never wanted to reveal, but if she was ever going to do it, now was the time, and this was the perfect place.
“I went willingly to my betrothal.” She cleared her throat. Her brothers’ shocked stares burned holes in her, but she ignored them, keeping her focus on Arik and praying he wouldn’t hate her for this admission. “I wanted to be Satan’s bride, and if he’d have had me at the time, I’d have done it.”
There. She’d said it. Her stomach was churning and her antiperspirant failing, but she’d done it. The silence in the room built as Arik stood there, stoic, his expression neutral.
“If you accept each others’ truths,” Idess said, “you may kiss.”
The wait… oh, dear Lord, the wait. Limos thought her heart might explode, and then, unbelievably, Arik stepped into her and slowly, so slowly, touched his lips to hers. Their blood mingled, their tongues met, and a powerful, intense pleasure washed over them both. She knew he felt it too, because in that moment, it was as if they were one being, merged together in an almost orgasmic ecstasy.
Tingles spread through her feather-light body, and what was that saying… the truth shall set you free? Yes. She felt freer than she ever had, and as Arik’s arms came around her, she felt safer too. Safe and wanted and free.
“Congratulations,” Idess murmured. “You are married.”
Arik never in a million years thought he’d be married. Or, more accurately, mated. Which, in the supernatural world, was a stronger bond than marriage, because generally, it was physical. The Sem brothers, for instance, couldn’t get out of their bonds unless their mates died.
According to Idess, the same deal applied here, too. Hopefully, Limos wouldn’t want a divorce anytime soon.
His body was on fire with pleasure as they stepped down from the stage, and he wondered how long the sensation would last. The blood and truth ritual had been powerful on so many levels—uncomfortable, frightening and, in the end, freeing. He hadn’t even known how much he trusted Limos until he’d voiced his truth, and when she’d come clean about her willing role in her betrothal, he’d experienced only pride that she’d trusted him with something that must have been a shameful stain on her soul.
People surrounded them, offering congratulations, hugs, and pats on the back. It seemed like everyone from Underworld General had come, and the marked absence of Arik’s R-XR and Aegis colleagues gave him a moment of surreal clarity; his world truly had changed.
He did wish Ky and Decker had been able to make it, but they were dealing with yet another attack on an Aegis cell as well as a sudden outbreak of demon attacks on human hospitals. Pestilence was clearly trying to cripple humans’ ability repair the damage he was causing. The bastard.
Eventually, everyone moved off to dive into the food and drink, giving Thanatos and Ares a chance to accost them. Sudden tension rolled off Limos.
“Hey.” She squeezed Arik’s hand so hard he thought he heard his joints crack. “What I said during the ceremony—”
“It wasn’t easy to hear,” Than interrupted. “But we all have things in our pasts we aren’t proud of. We can’t hold something you did thousands of years ago against you.”
Ares nodded. “You aren’t the person you were in Sheoul. We love you no matter what, Limos.”
Ares’s words should have comforted Limos, but as her brothers enveloped her in hugs, Arik caught a glimpse of worry in her expression, a falter in her smile. But maybe he imagined it, because by the time they sauntered off, she was back to her playful self, going up on her toes and putting her lips to Arik’s ear.
“We could slip away to one of Than’s empty rooms.”
He groaned, and his c**k twitched, and he was so on board with that suggestion. Too bad everyone was watching them. “As much as I’d love to, I think people would notice.”
“So?”
“So… I happen to know how protective brothers are—” he snared two flutes of champagne from a passing vamp with a tray “—and I don’t want yours to kill me for making your first time nothing more than a boff in a closet.”
“Boff?” Her laughter rang out, the beautiful sound suiting her.
He handed her one of the glasses. “Yes, boff. And if this doesn’t work, I don’t want everyone in the damned building to hear me yell when my fingers are chopped off.” The idea settled his errant c**k down, right quick.
“It’s going to work,” she said. “It better. I’m horny.”
Arik choked on his champagne, then choked again when Ares clapped him on the back a few times.
“You okay, man? No dying before you can get Limos out of her chastity belt.”
More choking. When had Ares developed a sense of humor anyway?
“Agreed,” Limos chirped. “I’ve been looking forward to losing this hymen for five thousand years.”
This time Arik didn’t choke. He just stopped breathing.
Ares gripped his shoulder. “Maybe you two should get going.”
Jesus. Ares was practically undressing Arik and shoving them toward a bedroom. “I, ah…”
“Until you two consummate your marriage, Limos is still under contract,” Ares reminded them gravely.
As much as it was a relief wamate yto know Ares wasn’t just anxious for his sister to get laid, the reality of the situation sucked. “We’ll sneak away in a little while,” Arik said. “This is Limos’s party, and I want her to enjoy it.”
Ares threw his arm around Limos and gave her a brotherly squeeze. “I think you did good with this human.”
Limos grinned. “Duh.”
Ares strode away, parting the crowd to get to Cara, who was scolding Hal for something. The hell mutt was looking at her with big, sad eyes, his ears drooping, but his tail was thumping on the floor. Arik hoped Cara knew she was being suckered.
“I’ll be right back,” Limos said, giving him a peck on the cheek. “I need to thank Idess and Runa for everything.”
He watched her glide away, his fingers itching to let down the hair piled loosely on top of her head. The style was stunning on her, revealing her slim, shapely neck, but he wanted her hair down and her dress off, and soon. Really, seeing her na**d would be worth a severed digit.
“Congrats.” Regan sidled up next to him with a bottle of water in her hand. For some reason, she grimaced at his champagne. Maybe she didn’t drink.
Maybe she was pregnant.
Oh, damn. Bile bubbled up in his throat. He’d just married Thanatos’s sister, and he was sitting on a f**king huge-ass pile of information about him. He got why The Aegis felt they needed to do this, and he might have agreed with their save-the-world thinking not long ago. But what used to be black and white for him was now blended in sickly shades of gray, and his sense of fair play was screaming.
Thanatos deserved more than to be used as a breeding stud. He should have a choice about bringing a child into the world.
He lowered his voice. “Are you pregnant?”
She snorted. “That would require sex.”
Thank God. “Don’t do this, Regan. Go home, and forget The Aegis’s plan for you.”
“What’s it matter to you?”
“I just married into this family. I can’t keep something like this from my wife.”
Regan pegged him with a hard stare. “See, this is why I’m never getting married. It takes away your independence and your ability to think for your own damned self.”
He wasn’t going to argue this, but he was going to make it very clear where he stood. “Leave here tonight, or I go to the Horsemen.” Tomorrow he’d pay a visit to The Aegis and convince them that Thanatos needed to be included in this decision.
Regan’s eyes blazed. “Fine. But you can explain to the Elders why I failed. And then you can explain to the entire world that the Apocalypse could have been prevented.” She glanced at his glass and gave him an evil smile. “Enjoy your champagne.” She stalked off, leaving him eyeing his drink and wondering why he felt like the jokt lmpagne was on him.
Whatever. The prickly Guardian wasn’t going to f**k up his wedding day. He found Limos, who drained her champagne, tossed the glass into the fire, shattering it, and then let out a loud whoop. All around, the room erupted in cheers and dancing. Limos grabbed his hand and dragged him into a semiprivate alcove.
“You little minx,” he said, when he realized what she’d done. “You distracted all of them.”
“Yup.” She cupped the back of his head and drew him down for a kiss. Her tongue was hot, her mouth wet, and in two heartbeats he was so into it that he had her pushed up against the wall. She purred her approval and wound her arms around his neck. He let his hands drift down her sides to her h*ps as he licked and nibbled at her lips.
God, she felt good, and when she arched, pressing her br**sts into his chest, he was lost to sensation.
Lost to her.
“I love you,” he whispered, and his heart nearly stopped when she froze.
“What did you say?”
Shit. He’d just ruined everything, hadn’t he? Well, there was no backtracking now. “I love you. I’m not sure when it happened, but it did, and I’m not sorry.”
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they glowed with a liquid purple light. “I never thought I’d hear anyone say that.” Her fingers threaded through his hair, clutching tightly. “I love you too, Arik. Also,” she said, “I want kids.”
“Now?”
“Yes.” She shook her head. “I mean… my biological clock has been ticking for five thousand years. Human women think they have it bad. But it wouldn’t be smart. Not until the threat from Pestilence is over. The worst thing I can imagine is to be pregnant and have my Seal break. But yes, I do want them, so we should practice. Lots.”
He swallowed over and over, until he felt like he could speak without sounding like a big sissy. “I think,” he breathed, “it’s time to go home.”
With a wicked grin, she dropped her hand to his crotch to stroke his straining erection through his pants. “Do you think you can make it?”
“Not if you keep that up.”
Her hands came back up his shoulders. “I can’t wait to make love to you,” she murmured. “I’ve waited so long, and now I’m glad I did. I’m so glad it’ll be you, Arik.”
She couldn’t have said anything better. Taking her hand, he led her out of the cove. They slipped through the crowd and out the front door unseen, but as they exited through the tent, Ares’s voice rang out.
“You thought you could sneak away, huh?”
“That was the plan,” Arik muttered, and then they were engulfed in Horsemen arms. Thanatos and Ares grabbed them both in thht="0ema bear hug.
“Come by in the morning,” Ares said. “I have a feeling the underworld’s going to be buzzing.”
“No doubt,” Than added. “Stay out of trouble.”
“Our sister has never been good at that,” a voice called out.
Arik and Limos whirled as Pestilence stepped out of the darkness.
Twenty-seven
Leave it to Pestilence to ruin Limos’s wedding night, and as he came closer, gripping a sword in one hand and a hellhound head in another, her stomach dropped to her toes. Arik tugged her close, putting one leg in front of hers in a subtle, protective blocking stance.
Pestilence plopped the severed head into the snow, the blood creating a grotesque slush around it. “Don’t worry, your guards aren’t all dead. Just drawn off by my minions.”
“What are you doing here?” Than growled. He’d armored up, and so had Ares.
“I was hurt that I wasn’t invited to the wedding.” Pestilence sheathed his sword, the clang of his armor ringing out in the frosty night air. “But I brought a gift anyway.”
Limos gripped Arik’s hand tight. “We don’t want anything from you.”
“It’s not for you, dear sister.” Pestilence’s toothy grin was the very definition of evil. “It’s for Arik. Keeping in the theme of the wedding, I brought you the gift of truth.”
Limos’s vision blurred with alarm as she pulled on Arik and prepared to throw a gate. “Come on. We’re leaving.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” Pestilence kicked the hellhound head, and it slammed into Limos’s gown, splattering blood all over the beautiful, satiny fabric.
“You bastard.” Arik lunged, and Limos, reeling with shock, couldn’t stop him.
Thankfully, Thanatos caught Arik around the waist. “Dial it back, bro. He’s not worth it.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t plan to kill Arik until he hears what I came here for.” Pestilence’s fangs glinted like icicles in the darkness. “Limos, tell your new mate and our brothers the truth about your escape from Sheoul.”