Darkness & Lies: A Brotherhood Novel (#1) (5 page)

Their tongues danced as he slowly walked them to the bed, easing her onto her back before pressing his weight into her. She opened her legs, cradling his body deeper
,
a
l
lowing his erection to press against her core. They both groaned at the pleasure of it. Slowly, painfully, he took his time with her, touching, kissing, until he thought she was receptive enough to accept more.

Rising, he drew her up with him, raising her arms over her head and pulling her gown up and off. He hissed when he
had seen
that she was bare underneath, her full, round breasts staring back at him. Stripping quickly, he lowered himself over her once more, placed a chaste kiss to her lips then worked his way down her jaw until he reached his goal, drawing one perfectly beaded nipple into his mouth, kneading the other with his
hand.

His erection pressed into her moist
core,
and she arched her hips, trying to
draw
him closer. “More,” she
moaned.

“S
oon,” he told her. He knew she was a virgin, as all women were expected to be, and he wanted to make her first time as painless as possible.
He tended her other breast, nipping and sucking until she writhed beneath him before moving lower.

“Wh-what are you doing?” She gasped, when he ran a finger down her moist folds.

“I’m going to taste you.” Before she could utter a
n
other word, he swiped his tongue across her most intimate area causing her to scream his name. He smiled, laving her with his tongue until her body shook uncontrollably. And just before he pushed her over the edge, he stopped. Cove
r
ing her body with his once more, he kissed her, giving her a taste of her own honeyed flavor.
“Ready?” h
e asked, his voice rough. She nodded, placing another kiss to his lips. Reaching between them, he positioned himself at her ope
n
ing and
—

“Hello, anybody home?”

Hands waving in front of his face, Erias focused on the blond once more, no longer able to hide his irritation.

“Did you hear anything I just said to you?” Her hands went to her hips, her eyes glaring.

“No, I didn’t.” He gave her another nudge
,
taking her further out the gate.

“Well, I was saying, I know you said we had a deal, but we had fun
,
right? So, I was thinking, maybe we could get together again sometime? Maybe have a little more fun next time.” She pressed herself against his chest, reaching around to grip his ass.

“Goodbye,” he said coldly, prying her manacles from his gluts and returning them to her sides. “There will not be a next time.”

Her brown eyes widened with fury, her mouth snapping open and closed like a fish. Erias gave her a polite nod goodbye and shut the gate in her face. It didn’t do much to close her out seeing as it w
as wrought iron and slatted. So
as he walked
away,
she cursed after him
,
until he shut himself safely behind the hotel’s stuccoed
walls.

Tucked away in his “luxury” suite, Erias fell onto the
king-sized bed
and stared blankly at the vaulted ceiling. His life was such a shit hole.
Tomorrow,
he would hit the road again, moving on to the next town, the next identity. He had already used this one too long. Again. He would have to come up with a new name, forge a new I.D. and find a new job before anyone took notice that he was an unaging freak of nature.
Again.

Weary, Erias closed his eyes
,
hoping to get a fra
c
tion of sleep, just an hour (hopefully more) that wasn’t plagued by memory.

He heard the
blood-curdling 
screams first. They ricocheted off
of
the rock and debris piled around him
,
stabbing into his ears like
spikes 
being driven into his brain. Erias dug his way clear,
his body cut-
up and broken. Determination filled him, giving him the strength he nee
d
ed to rise to his feet. He stumbled free, over the mounds of stone and down the crumbling steps that once led to the e
n
trance of the
temple.

The skies were black as soot, heavy roiling clouds blotting out any and all light. Pained cries rent the air around him, the screeching of animals abounded. Erias took an unsteady step forward when something heavy and solid slammed into his shoulder knocking him further off balance
and
sending him to the ground.

With a grunt, Erias searched the ground, squinting through the blanket of darkness surrounding him until he found his assailant. Reaching out, he wrapped his fingers around the warm, fleshy object and brought it to his face for closer inspection. Slowly, his eyes focused. In his
hands,
he held a long, weighty object. Tan and warm, soft yet hard. Moist and slick. Turning it, running his hand down its length
,
he came to one of the ends where it branched off in several
directions, each
branch short and thick. In horror
,
he realized what he held and tossed it as far as his tre
m
bling muscles would
allow.

An
arm. He had been holding someone’s severed limb in his hands. Stomach twisting in knots, Erias fell once again to his hands and knees and wretched until his stomach had emptied itself onto the dirt road. More screams. More thuds as more solid objects he could only guess at dropped from the sky with sickeningly wet thuds.

“Helena. Emile,” h
e rasped, his throat dry and scratchy. “Helena,” he tried again, scrambling to his feet. Stumbling like a drunk, Erias dodged broken limbs missing their owners
,
searching for his family, his ears nearly bleeding from the
ear-piercing 
screeches sounding
ove
r
head.

Afraid of what he would see, Erias peered up and with a start
,
realized the clouds were moving, undulating in a savage dance as they tore apart his townspeople and tossed their mangled pieces to the ground.

“Not clouds,” a sweetly smooth voice said from b
e
hind him.

Erias whipped around only to meet another wall of darkness. “Who’s there!” he demanded, his throat scratc
h
ing painfully. A small pinprick of light perforated the ve
l
vet sea of black, growing in size as it approached him. E
r
ias stepped back, afraid of what horrors would step forth from that light.

“I have heard your plea, Erias Son of Atheros.” A small willowy female appeared. White robes draped over her
thin frame
and pooled at her
slender
toes. Her golden hair was piled
atop her
head,
and her heart-
shaped mouth curled at the corners
,
forming a disingenuous
smile. 
 

“My plea?” h
e asked
,
confused. Her smile grew
wider,
and though Erias knew it was meant to
sooth; it
only served to make him wearier. What did she want from him? “Who are you?” he wondered aloud.

She clutched her chest
,
feigning shock. “Why
,
E
r
ias, you do not know? You wound me.” He did not offer a response, just stood before her with the same confusion laced expression. Her face grew hard with annoyance, her lips flattening into a
thin
line. “I am Persephone, Goddess of the Underverse. I have heard your plea
,
human, and I am here to inform you that I accept.”

“But I did not make a plea.” Had he?

“Perhaps you were knocked on the head too hard
, V
iking. I assure
you; you
did make a plea.” At his obvious confusion, Persephone sighed. “Fine, giver that I am, allow me to refresh your memory.  Mere moments ago you were sprawled on your bel
ly crying for the g
ods not to touch your precious fam
ily.
Very unbecoming a man of your sta
t
ure
, mind you, but I digress. Y
ou went on to say that you would do
anything
they wished in return.”

A god, a
real-live 
g
od. Erias was floored. He had always believed in them as a child, worshiped at his mot
h
er’s side, made offerings to appease them. He had even been afraid to speak ill toward them in fear of b
e
ing struck down. That is
,
until his mother took ill and his pra
y
ers went unanswered. He had made blood sacrifices thinking he needed something more powerful, but they i
g
nored that too. Until she died. He had never forgiven them the
injustice.

At the mention of his family, Erias jumped on the hope her words offered. “My wife, my son, where are they? Are they here? Helena! Emile!”

“Calm
,
human. They are not here, but
—”
she raised her voice when he went to open his mouth, “they are
safe. I
assure you. Never again will any hard come to them. They have been left ‘untouched’ as you requested.” Erias breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe. Untouched. “Now, as to your debt
—”

“You said never again. W
hat did you mean by that?” he asked.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, her unfailing p
a
tience, failing, Persephone clenched her teeth and swa
l
lowed down the urge to smite him where he stood. Remin
d
ing herself that he was now her toy to do with as she pleased, bonded to her by his own words. And oh did she love her toys.  “Exactly what I said, no harm will befall them. Ever.” Her words were harsh and layered with such force that he cowered, realizing that he would do well to shut his damn mouth. 

“What do you wish of me, Goddess?” He bowed at her feet.

That was much better. “It is simple really. From
now,
until…well, whenever I decide I do not need you any
longer; you
will serve as my warrior. You will guard my husband’s gate with your life. And in
return,
you will be graced with infallible beauty and of course,
immortality.”

She said it as if she were rattling off her din
ner o
r
der. “Im-immortailty?” h
e choked. She only smiled in r
e
turn. And what gates? He knew of none in these parts. What would he be guarding against? So many questions, but his mind screamed for the answer to one above all else. One
that,
for
some reason,
made his insides quiver as if they already knew the answer and were just waiting for his brain to catch up. “Who
—
who is your husband?”

Her grin spread across her face, a row of brilliant white teeth flashing behind those full red lips. “Why,
Hades,
of course.” He paled at her words. She stroked her neck, running her hands down her throat and over her chest. “I believe y
our people refer to him as the devil. Or Satan. I prefer Angel of D
arkness myself. He really is an angel
,
you know. So sweet, so thoughtful, so sinfully delicious.”

As she droned on, Erias was lost to his thoughts. Horror at the idea that, if he believed what he was seeing and hearing before him right now, he was in league with the devil and his…wife. He must be unconscious still. That knock on the head must have really thrown him for a loop.
Wake up wake up wake up
.
H
e squeezed his eyes shut, wil
l
ing himself to return to wake from this awful nightmare. He had to get to his family and get them out of there before they ran out of time.

“And quit your daydreaming!” Persephone stamped her foot like a child throwing a tantrum. “I do not like b
e
ing ignored!”

“S-sorry, Goddess.” He blanched. “Please, go on.”

Smoothing her hair back
,
she recovered herself. “As I was
saying
.
I understand that this is a lot to take in, but you had better get used to it, and fast.  You are my property now, forever indebted to me. My plaything to do with as I please.
Forever, or
until I decide I no longer require your
services, whichever
comes first.” She waved a flippant hand about. “Your first order is to clean up this mess. My husband’s children have decided to have a fun day against his wishes
and as 
see, are making quite a bit of trouble. You are to collect them and bring them
home; however,
long that takes.”