CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Isabelle rested her head against his shoulder, her hands still gripping his arms. She couldn’t string two thoughts together. Her brain was on hiatus and she so didn’t care. Her whole body was tingling, floating happily in the glowing aftermath. Gods she wanted this to last. She didn’t want to return to reality. Letting out a soft sigh, she pulled her mind back to reality, sitting up with a slow smile.
“Let’s do that again. As many times as is humanly possible.” She looked around the bathroom, her skin flushed from pleasure. “I have decided I love this bathroom. We’re never changing it.”
“As my lady wishes, although…” He lifted his head and took a good look at the tub, a smile spreading on his sinful lips. “Jets, we need jets. Many jets.”
Isabelle blushed all over. She knew what jets could do when positioned in just the right place. She had been a virgin, not dead. Power showerheads were a single girl’s best friend, at least when your batteries died, anyway.
The idea of jets and showerheads had her mind contemplating all sorts of sexual experimentation. A grin grew on her lips. Her demon had no idea what he had unleashed in her. She slid from his lap, reclining in the large tub. The water was lukewarm now, but she wasn’t one to waste resources. She would deal with it as is.
Her mind travelled back to the moment she’d awakened, recalling his words. He’d said losing her would be worse than his time in the Pit. She turned suddenly to study him. This whole experience had rocked him, she could see it in the strain around his eyes and the way he wouldn’t stop touching her. Just the smallest touch, his hand on her ankle, his fingers brushing her leg.
“Mammon, tell me what happened after Hades took you.”
His eyes moved from the water to her. “After hiding Kathrine, I knew I wouldn’t get away scott-free. I expected punishment. I just didn’t expect Hades to lose his mind completely. The Pit is a dark place in the underworld where my Father locks away the people who have displeased him. I displeased him. Greatly.”
He reached for her and she willingly let him pull her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and brushed his lips against her shoulder. He kissed each small bruise from Cercyn’s grip. She allowed him to do so, knowing he needed to have this measure of control over the situation or he would never be able to get through his story. He took a breath and rested his chin against her shoulder.
“Five hundred years in the Pit was my punishment for letting Kathrine go. I’m pleased to say he never got a track on her again, or you might not be here now.” He brushed her wet hair to the side and placed a kiss behind her ear. “The things that happened to me, even though I know they changed me, made me harder. And despite it all, I wouldn’t change what happened. For the Fates righted the injustice by bringing you back into my life when I needed you. Trust me, I am angry at Hades and the Fates for separating us the way they did. But everything happens for a reason, right?”
She nodded in his arms, and his grip tightened around her.
“The time in the darkness made me the man I am today,” he continued. “The man who loves you.”
He’d said it! The words every little girl dreams of hearing from her knight in shining armor. She touched his face, a smile on her lips. Maybe he was correct. Maybe he had to go through such pain so he could fight the Malakhim now. That knowledge, however, didn’t make her feel any more kindly towards the Fates and their meddlesome tendencies. As for Hades, she had a feeling he regretted what he’d done. Unfortunately for the old god, he was either too stubborn or too clueless to work out how to fix it. She was sure it was a bit of both.
She could see the painful memories flashing over his features. He purposely kept his eyes down, not looking at anything just staring, frozen in the past. He finally lifted unseeing eyes, and Isabelle kissed his forehead, then his temple, trailing feather light kisses down to his lips. After a moment, he responded pulling out of the memories, his eyes lightening. He would always be dogged by his past, but it would be a fight they would face together. She was determined she would break this cycle of memory and burn the images from his soul.
“Is there any soap by chance?” Isabelle’s soft question brought a smile to his lips. She secretly hoped so. Her hair was in desperate need of a wash. Lack of shampoo notwithstanding, she would rather have semi-clean hair than greasy hair any day.
Mammon exited the tub, and she took ample opportunity to ogle his fantastic naked backside as he made his way to the door. He returned with a pile of blankets, towels, clothes, and even a bar of soap. On top of the pile was his phone with a flashing text message light. He handed her the soap and placed the towels at the edge of the tub within easy reach.
Isabelle sunk into the tub, humming with pleasure as she lathered up her hair. Later she was going to take a long hot bubble bath with candles, wine, and all that girly shit, but until then, this was heaven. She rinsed the suds from her hair, pulled the plug on the tub, and grabbed a towel. As she dried off, Mammon reached for his phone, his forehead creasing in a frown as he read the message.
“What is it?”
He looked up at her, his eyes tense. “My brothers have gone to Tartarus. Cerberus and Hades were attacked by the Malakhim. They’re going to help defend the box. Isabelle…”
“Go, help your family. I am a big girl. I can take care of myself.” She grabbed a second towel from the stack and began rubbing her hair.
“I almost lost you less than an hour ago. I can’t leave now.” His grip on the phone caused his knuckles to turn white. She fully expected the plastic case to shatter under the pressure. Clearly he was torn between protecting her and his need to aid his family. His eyes were frantic with indecision.
“Mammon, you must go to them. I can’t bear the idea of you losing a brother out of concern for me.” He swallowed hard and pulled her into his arms, his lips pressed to her hairline as he spoke.
“You don’t leave this building. Understand? Abbadon left some clothes for you. Asmodeus is upstairs with Cercyn. Stay with my brother. He knows what you’re to me. He knows I can’t lose you.”
Isabelle tilted her head back to place a kiss on his chin. “I will do as you ask. Now, go help your brothers.”
Mammon was at war with himself, leave her and take up the fight, or stay behind and quite possibly lose his brothers. Even her words didn’t help. He pulled her against him and breathed in her sweet scent, which calmed and aroused him all at once. His heart rebelled against the choice he knew he must make. He wanted to be the one to protect her. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Asmodeus, but it was an imperative pounding in his blood. The idea of leaving her here, even with Asmodeus, made his heart stop in his chest. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to take her and leave.
But he was also one of the Seven Deadly Sins. As the youngest brother and son of Hades, he had an obligation to his kin and to his father, to the oath he took on the day of his creation. He lifted his hand and rubbed the mark that had been branded on his shoulder. He pressed a gentle kiss to Isabelle’s lips and gave her a small smile.
“Damn it, woman. You have gone and done it now. Making me think about others before myself. Promise me you will not leave Asmodeus’s side?” He was shaking, his voice tense when he spoke.
“I promise.”
He nodded, finally releasing her to grab a towel for himself. Gathering his clothes from the floor, he rushed to dress. He had to get to Tartarus before he changed his mind.
Isabelle had watched him leave. Half the time she had expected him to turn around. He had kissed her like his life depended on it, making sure she was soft and pliant, her eyes dazed, before he released her. She couldn’t help the fear tightening her gut. He was going off to fight, and she was stuck here. Not that she would be much help in a fight; she would just be in the way. Isabelle would rather his attention were fully on the task at hand, than on her and her safety.
Pushing open the door to the upstairs, she could hear Asmodeus moving around somewhere in the room. Her eyes came to rest on the blood-stained carpet, once a rich cream color. A shiver went through her. She made her way to the bedroom and knocked on the door. She entered to find Asmodeus leaning over Cercyn, changing a bandage.
The demon that had attacked her was sprawled across the bed, bandages covering his arms and legs and many more on his chest. He was no longer in demon form. Right now, he looked like any normal man, his skin pale in the light, white hair stained red, dried blood on the side of his face. Slowly his eyes opened, locking on her. They were the most amazing shade of orange and yellow, the colors of a spectacular sunset.
Asmodeus straightened, smiling wide. The Sin of Lust was in his ‘I’m related to Hades’ form. Tall and lithe, his face was smooth, not a trace of stubble on his chin. His blue eyes looked up from his task, and he gestured her over.
“Isabelle, I am glad to see you’re okay. We worried Cercyn here had inadvertently harmed you in his crazed state.” The voice of Lust had one goal: to turn you into a puddle at his feet and beg him to take you. When she’d first met him, she’d felt it, the tightening of her skin, her insides turning to mush. Now, however, it was just a normal voice to her ears. He grinned and suddenly she was caught up in a bear hug, her laughter filling the room.
“It’s so nice to finally be around a female who doesn’t start stripping the moment I open my mouth. At first I thought I was the luckiest son-of-a-bitch alive. Look what I can do! It got old pretty quick.” Letting her down, he turned his head back to the resting demon.
“He didn’t mean to harm you. You know that, right? Cercyn is a bit of a pushover. Only things he gets mad about are his brothers and when people call him a dog.”
“I heard that.” A broken voice came from the bed. Asmodeus turned around with a grin, Isabelle smiled, moving to sit on the bed next to him.
“How are you feeling? You seem to be healing well.”
The demon watched her, his sunset eyes skimming her, finally stopping on her throat where the small bruises marred her skin. The look that flashed over his face told her all she needed to know about what was going on in his head right then. Shame might as well have been written on his face in Sharpie.
“What I did to you is unforgivable. Even if you were not a Seer, no male should harm that which he is assigned to protect.” Isabelle felt it then like a breath over her skin, a surge of disgust at his own failure, his belief they should have let him die. She narrowed her eyes at him.
“Stop it! No one blames you—”
“No one but Mammon blames you.” Asmodeus just had to insert that little gem into the conversation. Isabelle glared at him. The ass didn’t even have the good grace to look sorry, he just smiled.
Cercyn gently took Isabelle’s hand into his, holding it as if she would shatter like delicate glass. “My life belongs to you, Seer. From now until eternity I will protect you.”
Isabelle opened her mouth to tell him she didn’t need his protection, but Asmodeus spoke for her placing his hands on her shoulders. “The Seer gratefully accepts your fealty, warrior. May your sword keep her safe, your presence be her protective wall.”
The demon visibly relaxed, a smile pulling at his lips before sleep claimed him once again. Isabelle stood and Asmodeus steered her out the room so as not to wake the exhausted Cercyn.
“Okay, what the hell?” She stared wide-eyed at the Sin of Lust. Demon or not, she was going to kick his ass.
“Cercyn is old. Like very old. We’re talking before Hades was relegated to being the human boogeyman old. That means old world practices and customs are ingrained in him. To him, harming you should have meant his death. He would have tried to harm himself to bring about that end. Better than living with the shame of hurting you. This way he not only gets to forgive himself a little, but also he gets to feel like he is making up for his egregious mistake.”
“Egregious? Did you get that off a word-a-day calendar?” Isabelle crossed her arms over her chest. She hated the idea of the demon thinking he owed her. It had been an honest mistake. But if what Asmodeus said was true? She couldn’t live with herself if he tried to end his life over this.
Asmodeus just smiled and headed towards the kitchen. He pulled two beers from the fridge, placing one on the counter for her. He opened his, knocking it back like a university champ. Isabelle slid onto a bar stool and opened hers, watching him. The demon let out a happy belch and leaned against the fridge.
“Sorry, I am usually only in solid form when seducing someone. This time I am expending vast amounts of energy to hold this shape. As food is usually a rarity for me, I take every opportunity I can to indulge.”
“That has to be very lonely.” Isabelle sipped her beer, the cool, hoppy ale a little bitter on her tongue.
Asmodeus shrugged before grabbing himself a second one. He paused with a hand on the fridge door. “Sometimes. Being the Sin of Lust has drawbacks. Sex is well…dull. I find no pleasure in it any longer. It is a job, nothing more. Due to my Sin, I feed off the sexual energy of those I am assigned to cleanse. That, in turn, ensures my body does what it is supposed to. Taking on the form of whomever that person finds the most attractive.” He cracked open the beer, this time drinking it slower.
“I am what popular culture calls an incubus. I need sexual energy to survive, yet feel no sexual desire myself. I can see into a person’s darkest desires, things they don’t even acknowledge in their deepest hearts. I give it to them. Only those who have become Blighted, of course.”
Isabelle hated how sad he looked right then, bottle of beer against his lips, downcast eyes staring at the floor.
“Do you have your own body?” Her question interrupted his daze.
Asmodeus blinked and tilted his head a little. “I don’t remember. I must have done once. But I have forgotten what it looked like. I pick this form because Hades is my father, and as such, I guess I should look like him, at least a little. But this is just another empty face.” He gestured to himself, pushing away from the fridge. “One thing I am insanely happy about is you, Isabelle. I can’t read your desires at all. It is such a wonderful feeling, not having to see such things all the time.”
Her heart broke for him. He sounded just like she had the day she met Mammon. The day she found him, she’d felt nothing but blissful silence. No pain in her brain, just peace. The fact she could bring such a thing to this man pleased her greatly. Isabelle smiled and sipped more of her beer. She knew she was going to like spending time with Asmodeus.