Nocked Senseless Read online

  “At least the monster’s dead.”

  “It’s not dead.”

  I jerked to a stop. “It’s not?”

  She ignored me, apparently figuring I was too ignorant for a response.

  I hurried to catch up again. “Then the curse still holds?”

  This time she jerked to a stop. I almost ran into her. Her beautiful eyes fixed me with unmasked hostility. “What do you know about that?”

  I shrugged. “Only what the Fates could tell me. Not all that much.”

  Her hand shot toward my throat but I caught it before it connected. She looked surprised that I had stopped her. Jerking her hand from my grasp she turned away. “Stay out of my affairs, Cupid.”

  I fell into step beside her again. “Nope. I’m going to help you get rid of it.”

  She laughed and the sound was filled with bitterness. “Yeah, because you’ve been so successful against it to this point.”

  I ignored the stomp on my metaphorical balls and plowed onward. “I wounded it. I’m getting better.” I grabbed her slender arm and felt the steel beneath the softness. Pulling her around to face me, I lowered my face close to hers. My intention had been only to enforce my point by getting into her space but instead I’d succeeded in stirring the ever ready embers of my lust by yanking her lush body into mine. My cock stirred and thickened uncomfortably beneath my jeans.

  “I’m going to help you, Nidras, whether you want my help or not. I’m thinking we’ll be more effective if we work together, rather than fighting each other as well as the monster.”

  The thick lashes over her beautiful eyes fluttered in surprise. She stared at my mouth for a moment and then licked her lips. I nearly groaned as her pearly whites came out and closed on the peach lushness of her lower lip. I strongly suspected I was being played like a Stradavarius but it felt damn good nonetheless.

  “Why?”

  My mouth moved a fraction closer. “Why what?”

  Her tongue swept out and slid over the tiny indents her teeth had made on that lush lip. “Why do you want to help me?”

  It was a reasonable question. And I had what I’d thought was a reasonable response. But suddenly it didn’t seem so reasonable. Because you turn me on? Because my formerly dead heart finally feels something when you’re near? Stupid, stupid, stupid. “Because the gods asked me to help you. This curse thing is rubbing them the wrong way.”

  I nearly held my breath while waiting to see if she’d buy it. To me, knowing the gods pretty well, it sounded weak and almost as stupid as the truth. But after a moment she inclined her head slightly.

  “Okay. I’ll let you help me.” She pulled away and started walking.

  Biting back a retort I hurried to catch up with her. Again.

  Chapter Four

  Partners?

  “So what do we do first?”

  She swore softly.

  “What’s wrong?” I glanced around, my hand going to the sword at my waist.

  “I forgot to print out my agenda for the night.” Those lush, peach tinted lips tipped upward.

  I chuckled. “Okay, okay. But I don’t like being in the dark.”

  This time she turned and a small finger jabbed at my chest. “Then you should only come out during daylight. Didn’t your mommy explain to you that bad things prowl the darkness? Things that go bump in the night?”

  I grabbed her finger and yanked her hard, up against my body. Using the powers the gods gave me, I sensed the beginning of the energy surge that would put me on my ass if I wasn’t paying attention.

  I grabbed her other wrist and twisted it behind her back. “Not so fast, demon woman.”

  Rage danced quickly across her features before she could tamp it down. Her lips parted slightly as she tried to pull away.

  I held on tight, trying to ignore the way her soft belly rubbed against my growing erection. “I’m not a fan of sarcasm,” I informed her. “Especially when it’s directed at me.”

  She shrugged. “That’s unfortunate. Sarcasm is one of my better things.”

  I lowered my lips until her soft breath touched them. “I’m sure you have other talents you could fall back on.”

  The corners of her mouth tipped upward. “I already tried kicking your ass.”

  My head dipped lower. We were so close we shared the same air, our lips just a whisper apart. “Then maybe you should try kissing it instead.”

  I closed the splinter of space between our lips and groaned with pleasure as her soft sweetness enveloped me. My hands slid around her waist and tugged, pulling her against the spot where I ached and pulsed. A small corner of my brain was sending me warning bells that I chose to ignore. All I could think about was burying myself deeply within her body and staying there for a very long time.

  Nidras moaned and grabbed my ass in both hands. She ground herself against my raging hardness and kneaded the flesh of my butt cheeks roughly. Her mouth opened in sensual invitation and, without thinking, I plunged my tongue between her sweet lips.

  Her teeth clamped onto my tongue.

  She bit down. Hard.

  Pain jolted through me. I stilled and my eyes flew open. “Lebged gbo.”

  She shook her head.

  She bit down harder. I could taste blood in my mouth. I frowned. “DNidrabs!”

  Warm, soft breath bathed my face as she laughed.

  There was a tiny flash and the pain on my tongue disappeared…along with Nidras.

  I reached up and touched my tongue. My fingertips came away covered in blood. “Bitch!” I screamed into the night.

  Soft laughter floated back to me on the wind.

  Then I realized the worst of it. I’d finally found my demon princess, only to lose her again because I’d been stupid and impulsive.

  I threw back my head and growled my frustration to the night air. This time only silence met my cries.

  *

  The tones of Bach’s Sonata da chiesa formed a lively backdrop for the gentle tinkle and scrape of silver against china and carefully muted conversation in the grand dining hall of Zeus’ castle.

  Across the table from me sat Arion and Christian, their heads pushed together intimately for much of the meal, lost in their own little world. Next to me was the goddess Aphrodite. She was a beautiful woman to be sure, with her thick, auburn hair, worn in long, gentle curls sliding like fine silk over her shoulders and dipping into the flawless, white vee of her cleavage. But her hungry gaze and pouting, cherry colored lips were a bit much for me.

  So far, just during the soup and cheese courses, I’d had to remove her hand from my thigh three times and once from my crotch. I was doing my best to ignore her constant attempts to catch my gaze, which meant I had my head turned away from her, toward the opposite end of the table.

  That was the end where Zeus held court. It was always interesting to watch the body language around Zeus. The Court of Gods was never at a loss for intrigue and sizzling passion. Though Zeus had held his spot at the head of all this intrigue through millennia, it had been a rocky path at best.

  Over the centuries, he’d been forced at times to rule through strength, force and sometimes even base brutality. But he was known as a fair and, when possible, even kind ruler.

  That didn’t stop those beneath his rule from existing in a state of near constant jealousy and bitterness. Everybody thought he or she would make a better ruler.

  Personally, knowing the whole lot of them much better than I cared to, I highly doubted that.

  The cheese course was removed and a plate of fish was settled in front of me. I grimaced at the dish. In my opinion, there was only one thing worse than fish on a plate and that was fish that still had its eyes in its head lying on a plate.

  Since I had no intention of eating the nasty stuff, I focused on Poseidon, across the table and just two gods up from Zeus, for a few minutes. With his violent temper and atmosphere-altering outbursts, Poseidon was always good entertainment.

  At the moment he was havin
g a rather calm conversation with Adonis but I was hopeful something would piss him off soon. The last time he’d gotten irritated at one of these dinners there’d been a full-on rain storm inside the hall and the fish course had been returned to its natural element.

  Looking down at the glassy-eyed monster on my plate I couldn’t help feeling that would be a vast improvement. “Bring it,” I murmured hopefully.

  Unfortunately, Aphrodite took this as verbal encouragement and grabbed my thigh again. Leaning close, she placed her cherry lips close to my ear. I jerked as her breath washed delicately over the ticklish organ. “I’ve been waiting all night for you to say that, Cupid. I must say, you’re the yummiest dish this party has served up yet.”

  I fought a full-out eye roll. Fortunately the goddess and I were both distracted by a slight commotion at the door.

  A man and a woman entered the room, arm in arm. The man was enormous, easily seven feet tall and broad-shouldered, with arms that were as big around as my thighs and legs that spanned the width of my waist. He looked like a human king of old, wearing deep red velvet robes, trimmed in white fur, probably ermine, flecked with gold beads. His brow was wide and deeply lined, his jaw square. He wore a jewel-encrusted crown atop his long, mahogany colored hair.

  The woman on his arm wore a skin-hugging velvet gown, its low, wide décolletage, sleeves and hem trimmed in ermine. The gown was simple and elegant and clung tightly to her perfect form.

  Her face was a pale oval beneath glistening black hair and seemed vaguely familiar. When the couple moved into the room, after being greeted warmly by Zeus, I realized why.

  A second couple entered the doorway. A much younger couple. The man was tall, slender and blond, dwarfing the woman on his arm with his height. But nothing about him could possibly dwarf the woman’s presence.

  Nidras fairly shone with power and purpose. Her small body was rigid with evidence of royal birth and training. But her eyes flashed with her force of will and her expression dared all who faced her to get in her way. I felt the tension level in the room change just from her appearance there.

  Amazing.

  The room filled immediately with murmurs as she swept it with her haughty gaze. I jumped to my feet when her gaze landed on me. But a slight shake of her head kept me from striding across the room to her.

  “What in Hades is she doing here with him?” Aphrodite murmured into my ear. I realized then that she’d stood too. In fact the whole table had stood up when I did. I looked around the room in shock. Showing homage to a demon king and his family. What was that all about?

  Zeus led the king and queen to a spot just down from where I sat. Nidras and her “date” took places on the opposite side of the table.

  I glared at the man who’d been lucky enough to enter the room on her arm. He didn’t even notice.

  Nidras pointedly avoided my gaze, focusing instead on her parents, the man beside her and Zeus.

  The only good thing that happened over the next few minutes was that the fish was taken away and replaced with a fine hunk of beef.

  Unfortunately I’d lost my appetite.

  Aphrodite didn’t seem to want her beef either. She appeared to be more interested in inserting her tongue into my ear.

  Damn. I hated these dinners.

  *

  “So why do you come?”

  I lowered my head. Having finally managed to isolate Nidras in a curtained alcove after hours of watching the tall blond man fawn all over her, the last thing I wanted to do was talk. My lips found her cheek and I placed a whisper soft kiss there.

  “Remember what happened the last time you accosted me? You’d think you’d learn.” Even the smile in her husky voice couldn’t dampen the roiling lust that made my court breeches bulge noticeably as I inhaled her scent.

  “I’m a slow learner.”

  She let her head drop back, exposing her slender neck to my travelling lips. She placed a small hand on my chest as if to hold me back but I pushed against it and she didn’t throw me across the room, so I figured I was doing okay. “Won’t Aphrodite be mad if she finds you here?”

  “She left. I think she’s having sex with a vaguely man-shaped lamp in the next room.”

  Nidras pretended my attentions didn’t affect her. But I noticed her voice was getting ever more breathless. My tongue came out and touched the delicate skin just below her ear. She smelled of musk and the finest royal roses. I licked a path along her perfect jawline, pausing briefly to gently suck her chin.

  She gasped and my skin tingled.

  I recognized that tingle. Grabbing hold of her waist with both arms I held on tight. “Oh no you don’t.”

  Her eyes flashed angrily. “I’ll not be seduced in some dark corner like a common trollop.”

  My nose nestled in her fragrant hair. The spikes were gone and it was long again, shaped in a very mature chignon with a diamond clip. “What happened to your hair?”

  She struggled to remove herself from my grip. “I grew it back. Now let me go!”

  “Not a chance. Not until you tell me about the buffoon you came here with.”

  She stopped struggling and sighed against my neck. My lips touched the pulse at the base of her neck. Every beat sent a wave of her incredible scent into the air. I felt as if I’d burst the buttons of my breeches at any moment.

  I fought an urge to pull her hip against my cock and grind into her. If I didn’t get inside her very soon I was pretty sure I’d go mad.

  “He’s my fate. And my worst nightmare.”

  My lips stilled on her throat. I straightened, fixing her with a purely incredulous look. “That is the nightmare you’re working so hard to avoid? That is your curse? That is the creature you’ll let your people die to avoid?”

  She grabbed my hands and pried them off her narrow waist. But instead of running away mad, she took a menacing step toward me, fire flashing in her lavender gaze. Leaning close she spoke in low but angry tones. The tiny finger was back in the center of my chest, poking me backward, toward the wall behind. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. You don’t know anything. You have no idea what’s in store for me. And you have no damn right to judge!”

  I opened my mouth but she plowed right over me.

  “You can’t even face your own tiny demons in life. I believe the first time I saw you you were living in a whorehouse sucking Brimstone twenty-four hours a day. Don’t you ever judge me!”

  She turned and walked out of the alcove, leaving me hurt, unsure and just pure pissed off. She was right. Who was I to judge? I had let a simple broken heart bring my world crashing down around my ears.

  I had no idea who the blond guy was or what he intended for her. But I knew one thing. I was definitely going to find out.

  Sooner rather than later.

  I stepped out of the alcove just in time to see her leave on the blond man’s arm. Hurrying across the enormous room, I knew I had to follow them.

  I was going to learn what I could about them both. And then I was going to figure out how to cut him totally out of the picture.

  Oh yeah. Then I had the soul sucker to deal with before she could be mine.

  I grimaced. One problem at a time.

  Chapter Five

  The Other Guy

  I stayed in the shadows and watched them walk down the golden streets of Olympus. Away from the speculative gazes of the hierarchy in the City of Gods, they spoke little and touched even less. Their body language looked much less like the language of love and more like a conclave of enemies looking for common ground.

  Though, as a Cupid I had decades of training in reading mannerisms and body language, in this case I had a strong suspicion that my perception included a strong dose of wishful thinking.

  They arrived at an extremely tall, narrow castle with sparkling white walls. The building’s face held a series of four large windows on each level, each window sporting a balcony whose rails overflowed with flowers and greenery. The scent of flo
wers filled the street beneath the beautiful castle.

  Four turrets rounded the corners of the building and stretched high into the sky, rimmed by archer notches at the top and showing arrow slits at each of the castle’s six visible floors.

  It was a beautiful castle, the diamond-like flash of its walls sparkling into the night like millions of twinkling stars. If I were going to pick the demon king’s castle from all the castles lining the streets of Olympus, the elegant building before me would have been the last pick on the list.

  I would have expected something in basic black.

  I stood in the shadows of the buildings across the street and watched Nidras climb the circular stairs to the castle’s front doors. The doors opened as she approached and a servant stepped to the side so she could enter.

  Nidras stopped just inside the door and lifted a hand, palm outward toward her date. He stopped and his body went rigid and still with obvious anger. She spoke a few words to him and then turned, going into the castle and leaving him standing on the steps.

  The doors closed and still the young man stood, glaring at the door with a rigid posture that told me he was mightily pissed. Then he turned, lifted his hands to the sky and screamed his rage. A flash of light exploded around him and intense heat rolled through the street, causing me to close my eyes and turn away, using the wall of the alley where I stood as a shield against the inferno.

  When I looked again he was gone, only a dusty mist remained. In the distance I could hear the heavy beat of wings on the air.

  I stepped out of the alley and started across the street. As I reached the circular steps, the wide double doors started to swing open. I panicked and slipped into the alley next to the demon king’s castle.

  I listened as the doors slid quietly closed and soft footsteps came down the steps. Some instinct told me to stay where I was and watch.

  A small form, dressed all in black, walked past, keeping to the shadows of the buildings. I could see the spark of jewels from the two deadly knives across her chest.