The Dark-Hunters (166 page)
Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Paranormal, #Vampires, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Paranormal & Urban
He’d reached that point.
She moaned as he grabbed her and pulled her close to his hard, muscular body. His erection burned against her hip.
“What do you want, Acheron?” she asked, but her breathlessness betrayed her affected nonchalance.
His hot gaze swept her naked body, making her burn even more. “You know what I want,” he said hoarsely in Atlantean. “After all I’m the top of the Food Chain and you … you’re the Food.”
His eyes flashed to red as he parted her thighs.
Artemis groaned and came as soon as he masterfully entered her. Her head swimming, she held him close, running her hands over his smooth, muscled back as he thrust himself deep inside her over and over again in a pounding rhythm that made her dizzy.
Yes, this was what she wanted. This was the Acheron she had fallen in love with. The man she would defy even the very gods to keep.
The man for whom she had broken every rule so that she could bind him to her forever.
He made love to her furiously, his hunger building and firing her own.
Artemis leaned her head to the side waiting for what she knew was coming.
Acheron’s eyes swirled like red fire an instant before he lowered himself and sank his teeth into her neck so that he could feed from her.
Artemis cried out as they came in unison. As his powers coursed through her, blinding her to everything except the powerful feel of him inside her.
She could pretend to rule him all she wanted to, but at the end of the day she knew the truth.
He ruled her.
And she hated him for that.
EPILOGUE
Bora Bora
Zarek lay on the beach letting the sun and hot wind sear his skin. Oh, the feel of it!
They had been here for close to a month now and still he couldn’t get enough of being on the beach.
Of being with Astrid, night and day.
He felt something cold fall on his chest.
Opening his eyes, he saw Astrid above him, smiling down as she watched him. She held a small bowl in one hand and a glass in the other.
“Careful, princess, you know I hate it whenever something cold touches me.”
She knelt down beside him, and set the bowl aside before wiping the drop of water off his chest, her touch more searing than the sun.
Her gaze traveled over his body, down to his swim shorts that now had a rather large bump in them.
She smiled wickedly at that. “You know, I remember watching a movie once…”
He was suspicious of the gleam in her eye. “Yeah?”
She pulled an ice cube from her glass and placed it in her mouth.
Zarek watched, transfixed by the sight of her licking it.
She pulled it out, then placed it on his skin.
“Astrid…”
“Shh,” she said, circling his nipple until it was hard and firm. She blew her hot breath across it, causing him to swell even more. “You know what the best part is about being cold, don’t you?”
“What?”
“Thawing you out.”
Zarek moaned as she lowered her mouth to him and flicked her tongue back and forth over his nipple.
When she pulled back, he whimpered a small protest.
She ignored it and dodged his hands.
“Before I forget—” she said, playfully pushing his hands aside, “and if I keep doing this, I will forget—I have something for you.”
Zarek leaned up on his elbows. “Please don’t tell me Scooby’s coming to visit.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “No. Sasha is staying at Sanctuary in New Orleans for the time being. Since we’ve been staying at the beach he refuses to come ‘see your naked ass’ lest he go blind from it.”
Zarek looked less than amused. “So what is it then?”
She handed him her bowl.
Zarek looked at the contents, which reminded him a bit of lemon Jell-O. “What is that?”
“Ambrosia. One bite of it and I can take you home with me to Olympus. Otherwise I have to leave you here in three days and go home alone.”
“Why?”
She smoothed the frown from his forehead with her fingertips. “You know I can’t live here on earth. I can only stay for a brief time. If you want to, you can stay and I’ll come back when I can, but—”
He stopped her words with a kiss.
Zarek pulled back. “What will the others say when you show up with a slave by your side?”
“You’re not a slave, Zarek, and I don’t care what they say. Do you?”
He snorted at that. “Not at all.”
She held the ambrosia up to his lips.
Zarek gave her a quick kiss, then ate the ambrosia and drank her nectar. He expected it to hurt or burn, but it went down just like the cotton candy she once gave him. The sweet, sugary taste dissolved instantly in his mouth.
“Is that it?” he asked suspiciously.
She nodded. “That’s it. What? Were you expecting fireworks or something?”
“No, I only expect those when I make love to you.”
“Aww,” she breathed, rubbing her nose against his. “I love it when you talk nice to me.”
Zarek kissed her hand, then started laughing as he thought over everything that had happened since he met her.
“What’s so funny?” Astrid asked.
“I’m just thinking, here I am a slave who touched a star who then made him a demigod. I have to be the luckiest bastard who ever lived.”
Her blue eyes burned into his. “Yes, you are, Prince Charming, and don’t you ever forget it.”
“Believe me, princess. I won’t.”
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
DANCE WITH THE DEVIL. Copyright © 2003, 2012 by Sherrilyn Kenyon. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
ISBN 978-1-250-00913-5 (hardcover)
Originally published in mass market format in December 2003 by St. Martin’s Press
First St. Martin’s Press Hardcover Edition: September 2012
eISBN 9781429976183
First eBook edition: April 2010
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KISS OF THE NIGHT
SHERRILYN KENYON
Contents
Thrylos
Atlantis:
Fabled. Mystical. Golden. Mysterious. Glorious and magical.
There are those who claim that it never was.
But then there are also those who think they are safe in this modern world of technology and weapons. Safe from all the ancient evils. They even believe that wizards, warriors, and dragons are long dead.
They are fools clinging to their science and logic while thinking it will save them. They can never be free or safe, not so long as they refuse to see what is right before their very eyes.
Because all ancient myths and legends are rooted in truth, and sometimes truth doesn’t make us free. Sometimes it enslaves us more.
But come, fair ones, and listen to me tell a tale about the history of the most perfect paradise that ever existed. Beyond the mythical Pillars of Heracles, out in the great Aegean, was a once proud land that nourished a race of people far more advanced than any who came before or since.
Founded in the ancient mists of time by the primordial god Archon, Atlantis took her name from Archon’s eldest sister, Atlantia, whose name meant “graceful beauty.” Archon conjured the isle with the help of his uncle, the ocean god Ydor, and his sister Eda (earth) to give the land to his wife Apollymi so that they could populate the continent with their divine children, who would have all the room they needed to romp and grow.
Apollymi wept with such joy at her gift that her tears flooded the land and made Atlantis a city within a city. Twin islands ringed by five channels of water.
Here she would birth her immortal children.
But it was soon discovered that the great Destroyer, Apollymi, was barren. At the request of Archon, Ydor spoke to Eda and together they created a race of Atlanteans to populate the islands and to bring joy again to Apollymi’s heart.
It worked.
Golden and fair in honor of the god-queen, the Atlanteans were far superior to any other race of man. They alone gave Apollymi pleasure and made the great Destroyer smile.
Peace-loving and just, like their ancient gods, the Atlantean people knew no war. No poverty. They used their psychic minds and their magicks to live harmoniously within the balance of nature. They welcomed all foreigners who came to their shores and shared with them their gifts of healing and prosperity.
But as time passed and other pantheons and peoples arose to challenge them, the Atlanteans were forced to fight for their homeland.
To protect their people, the Atlantean gods came into constant conflict with the upstart Greek pantheon. To them, the Greeks were children fighting for possession of things they could never understand. The Atlanteans tried to deal with them as any parent would an angry toddler. Fairly. Patiently.
But the Greeks wouldn’t listen to their ancient wisdom. Zeus and Poseidon, among others, were jealous of the Atlantean riches and serenity.
Yet it was Apollo who coveted their island the most.
A ruthless, cunning god, Apollo set into motion a means to take over Atlantis from the older gods. Unlike his father and uncle, he knew the Greeks could never defeat the Atlanteans in open warfare. It was only from within that one could conquer the ancient advanced civilization.
So when Zeus banned Apollo’s warring race, the Apollites, from their native Greece, Apollo gathered his children together and led them across the sea to the shores of Atlantis.
The Atlanteans sympathized with the psychic, godlike Apollite race that had been persecuted by the Greeks. They looked to the Apollites as cousins and welcomed them so long as they abided by Atlantean law and caused no strife.
Publicly the Apollites did as they were told. They made sacrifices to the Atlantean gods while never breaking their covenant with their father, Apollo. Every year they picked the most beautiful virgin among them and sent her to Delphi as an offering to Apollo for his kindness in giving them a new home where they would one day reign as gods.
In the year 10,500
B.C
. the beautiful aristocrat Clieto was sent to Delphi. Apollo fell instantly in love and sired five sets of twins on her.
It was through his lover and her children that he foresaw his destiny. At long last, they would lead him to the throne of Atlantis.
He sent his mistress and children back to Atlantis where they married into the Atlantean royal family. As Apollo’s older children had intermarried with the native Atlanteans and blended the two races together, making his children even stronger, so would they. Only he would keep the royal bloodline pure to ensure the strength and loyalty of the Atlantean crown to him.
He had plans for Atlantis and his children. Through them, Apollo would rule the entire earth and cast down his father as his father had cast down the old god Cronus before him.
It was said that Apollo himself would visit the queen of every generation and father the male Atlantean heir on her.
As every eldest son was born, Apollo would then go to his oracles to find out if this son would be the one to overthrow the Atlantean gods.
Every year he was told no.
Until 9548
B.C
.
As was his custom, Apollo visited the Atlantean queen whose king had died more than a year before. He came to her as a phantom and fathered his son on her while she slept dreaming of her dead husband.
It was also that year that the Atlantean gods became aware of their own destinies. For the queen of the Atlantean gods, Apollymi, found herself pregnant with Archon’s child.
After all the centuries of aching for a child of her own, the Destroyer at long last had her desires granted. It was said the island of Atlantis flourished that day and knew more prosperity than ever before. The god-queen celebrated joyously as she told all the other gods of her news.
As soon as the Fates heard her announcement, they looked at Apollymi and Archon and proclaimed that Apollymi’s unborn son would bring about the death of them all.
One by one, the three Fates each spoke a single line of prophecy.
“The world as we know it will end.”
“All our fates will rest in his hands.”
“As a god, his every whim will reign supreme.”
Terrified of their prediction, Archon ordered his wife to slay the unborn infant.
Apollymi refused. She had waited too long to have her child to see him needlessly dead over the words of the jealous Fates. With the help of her sister, she birthed her son prematurely and hid him away in the mortal world. To Archon, she delivered a stone baby.
“I’ve had enough of your infidelities and lies, Archon. From this day forward you have hardened my heart toward you. A stone baby is all you will ever have from me.”
Enraged, Archon trapped her in Kalosis, a nether realm between this world and theirs. “There you will stay until your son is dead.”
And so the Atlantean gods turned on Apollymi’s sister until they forced a confession from her.
“He will be born when the moon swallows the sun and Atlantis is bathed in total darkness. His queenly mother will weep in fear of his birth.”