Шеррилин Кеньон: Dark Side of the Moon

“For eternity?”

“For eternity.”

His features softened as he dipped his head down to nip her on the back of her neck. Susan shivered in pleasure an instant before he slid himself deep inside her. Her hand burned as she rose up on her tiptoes, then lowered herself down onto him, taking him in all the way to his hilt.

He kept one hand on her hip while his arm crossed her body, holding her against him. It was the most incredible moment of her life. So this was mating…

She liked it.

Ravyn growled deep in his throat as he thrust against her hips, and she met him stroke for stroke. She was so warm and wet that it almost drove him over the edge, but he wanted to time this carefully. This was the first time they would make love as mates and he wanted them to come together.

She was his. A wave of possessiveness consumed him. So long as they lived, he would never again be able to take another woman. Susan alone would sustain him, and it wasn’t just because the Fates decreed it. It was because he loved her. Deeply. With every part of himself.

There had been a time when that kind of commitment would have sent him running for the door, but after all these centuries, he was looking forward to having her in his life.

She wasn’t just another lover to come and go. She was a companion. A friend. She alone knew how much he liked to have his ears rubbed. And even though it made her hand itch, she always made sure to rub them at night while they lay in bed. Just as she was doing now.

Her touch sent chills over him, and when they came together, it was the most blissful moment in his entire life.

He quickly released her hand before their union went further. He wasn’t ready to bond with her just yet.

Not until she was as committed to him as he was to her. She still had her own life to live and he didn’t want to trespass there. Having had his life taken from him by one person’s selfishness, he wasn’t about to do that to her.

“I love you, Susan,” he said, kissing her gently on the cheek.

Susan purred as she continued to rub his ear with her hand. “I love you, too, Ravyn.”

Stryker sighed as he sat at his desk, looking for his cell phone, which was no place to be found. “Trates!”

He winced as he accidentally called for his old second in command. Damn, he was never going to get used to Davyn being here and Trates being gone.

It was almost as bad as having lost Urian.

Before he could call for Davyn, Satara appeared in the room beside him. “Hello, Brother.”

Her presence amused him and he wondered if either Artemis or Acheron knew that he had a direct link to whenever Ash visited Stryker’s auntie. “I take it Acheron is back on Olympus.”

She nodded as she leaned against his desk. “Have you thought about what I said earlier?”

She’d had one hell of a plan to give them an informant that no one would ever suspect. Of course it hinged on her being correct, and he wasn’t so sure that she was. “I have.”

“And?”

“If he’s really alive and you can convince him to go through with it, I’ll convert him.”

She laughed deep in her throat as she tapped him on the chin. “Oh, Brother, you constantly underestimate me.” Leaning back, she snapped her fingers, and an instant later a Dark-Hunter was standing between them.

Stryker actually gaped at the sight. Satara had been right after all.

It was Acheron’s friend from New Orleans. The one Desiderius had caused to kill himself. “Gautier…”

Nick looked around as if confused. “Where am I?”

Satara licked her lips as she leaned against him and rested her arm on his shoulder. “I told you, sugar. This is where you can get what you need to kill Acheron. And this is the man who can do it.”

He narrowed his eyes on Stryker, but lucky for Stryker, Gautier didn’t know him by sight and it was obvious Satara hadn’t given his name to the man.

Good for her. She was a clever girl.

“He’s a Daimon,” Nick sneered.

Dub … Stryker masked his Daimon’s aura. “Not entirely, Dark-Hunter. Not entirely. I’m also the son of a god.”

He saw the confusion on Nick’s face now that he could no longer sense him as a Daimon. “How can you mask your essence?”

“I told you. I’m the son of a god, and I can share those powers with you. If you’re willing.”

Suspicion darkened his eyes. “At what price?”

“Submission to me. You have to agree to abide by my rules. Same as Artemis required of you… only with a twist.”

“Yes,” Satara said. “You’ll actually get your Act of Vengeance with us. Unlike Artemis, we won’t deny you.”

Nick’s eyes gleamed at the prospect. “Is that all I have to do?”

“Not quite,” Stryker said honestly. “Once I convert you over so that you can share my powers, you’ll be required to drink from me in order to live. If you go too long without feeding, you will die.”

Nick was silent as he considered that. The idea of drinking blood disgusted him. The idea of drinking it from a man…

He shivered in revulsion.

But you could kill Acheron.

That idea thrilled him. Ash had taken everything from him. Or if not taken, he’d allowed it to be taken by others. And Nick wanted revenge. A vengeance Artemis had refused him when she’d taken his soul. But for Ash, he would still be alive. More than that, his beloved mother would be alive. New Orleans would still be intact. Rage darkened his vision.

“Is it a deal?” the Daimon asked.

“Yes,” Nick said before he could chicken out. “Give me what I need to kill him.”

Stryker stood up slowly as he savored this victory. Now here was something Acheron wouldn’t see coming. Because he loved Nick, Nick’s future was shielded from him. He’d never know this man was going to betray him.

Not until it was too late and the death blow was upon him.

Thrilled, Stryker unbuttoned his shirt so that his neck was exposed. He sat down on the corner of the desk so that Nick would have an easier time reaching him. Though Dark-Hunter blood had been made poisonous to Daimons, Daimon blood wasn’t poisonous to Dark-Hunters. The fact that Dark-Hunters could drain emotions and powers from others was why they were banned from drinking blood. Nick was about to learn one of many secrets Acheron kept from his Hunters.

“Whenever you’re ready, Dark-Hunter.”

Nick stared at the Daimon’s neck and the vein that throbbed there. If he did this, there was no way back for him. None.

And then he saw his mother’s gentle face. Saw her sitting in her favorite chair, dead in their house on Bourbon Street.

Ash needed to pay for the people he’d allowed to die. The people he hadn’t brought back to life.

His breathing ragged, he took a step closer and sank his fangs into the Daimon’s neck.

Stryker laughed as heat poured through his body. He cupped Nick’s head in his hands and tilted his head so that Nick could drink his powers into him. Stryker knew what was happening to Nick’s body. The lust and craving the man was feeling as Stryker’s life force invaded him. There was nothing else like it.

And when Nick became more feral from his newfound strength, Stryker pushed him away, into Satara’s arms.

Nick whirled on her then and pinned her to the wall before he feverishly kissed her. He needed to release the fire in his body or it would consume him.

Wiping at the blood on his neck, Stryker licked it from his fingers. “Call me when he’s through with you.”

He wasn’t sure Satara could hear him as Nick furiously pulled at her clothes. Stryker left them alone to screw while he savored this moment.

He now had two of Ash’s Hunters. One Ash knew about. But the other…