A Dangerous Fury (The Sentinel Demons Book 3) (12 page)

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away, sweetheart.”

She felt his arms tighten around her, and she buried her head against his chest. “I love you.” Athena knew that Hunter was completely in her mind now, could read her devotion to him. Still, it felt good to say it aloud.

“You can say it any time you want, Princess. I love you, too.”

Athena’s eyes fluttered closed and her body relaxed. The goddess essence had left her, and she was now Hunter’s
radiant
.

She fell asleep with a smile on her lips, thinking that it was funny that she didn’t really miss being a goddess at all.

“W
hat do you mean that your power loss wasn’t temporary?” Hunter asked gruffly as he ate the breakfast Athena had provided with her powers.

She looked around the colorful kitchen, admiring her handiwork before she looked at Hunter. “If I wanted to save your life, the power could never be recovered. It’s not as if I’m powerless. I just gave some of it to you.”

For Athena, it was no big deal. She’d lost her goddess essence, but she still retained what power she’d had left after transferring some of her magic to Hunter so he’d awaken long enough to mate and regain his own power. “So you have a little extra juice. Why does it matter?”

“Because I don’t want your power. What if you need it to protect yourself?” Hunter asked, his tone angry and concerned. “I have my own.”

Athena sighed and dropped her fork on her plate; her enjoyment of the omelet in front of her now disappeared. “I have my own, too. Yes, I drained some of my power, but I did it to save your life. I still have an enormous amount of magic. I also still have some of my goddess abilities that will never go away.” She waved her hand at the food they were eating spread all over the kitchen table. “I can still produce good food, and most importantly I’ll be capable of reverting the Evils to their original state. My mother said those abilities are inherent and never go away.”

She and Hunter hadn’t done a lot of talking this morning, their need for each other when they woke acute and irresistible. It was only when they finally sat down to breakfast that they began to talk, Athena sharing the details of what exactly had happened to her and her experiences in the Elysian Fields.

“I don’t like it,” Hunter grumbled as he stopped staring at her and began to eat. “You lose your power to save my life? It sucks.”

“Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing.” Athena’s brow rose in challenge.

“I would have drained myself dry to save you, Princess,” he admitted grudgingly, looking up at her with a lopsided grin.

Athena’s heart clenched, knowing Hunter was telling the truth. “Then why is it so bad that I sacrificed very little to get a lot?” He meant everything to her, and he was balking over a little loss of her power?

“You’re going to get it a lot,” Hunter agreed, his smile turning wicked as he deliberately altered the meaning of her statement.

“I think I already have,” she shot back at him with a happy smile. After last night and this morning, she was a little sore, but it had been so completely worth the discomfort.

His smile faded and his expression turned stormy as he asked in a graveled voice, “What can I give you in return, Athena? How does a man make up for needing to take his woman’s power to survive? I don’t deserve you, and I feel like any moment I’m going to wake up and you’ll be gone. Things like
you
don’t happen to men like
me
.”

Athena’s heart clenched hard when she saw the serious look on his face. She rose and walked around the table. She plopped her ass in his lap, and he was forced to push his chair back.

“I’m not going anywhere…not ever. We’re bonded to each other. Can’t you feel how happy you make me?” she asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Yeah. But I still can’t say I understand why,” he grumbled as he slipped his arms around her protectively to steady her.

It might take a day…or a week…or a month…possibly even years to convince Hunter that he was so much more than worthy of love. Those kinds of wounds from years of isolation wouldn’t heal in a day for either one of them. But Athena was determined to heal them over eventually. Someday, they’d both get used to having someone to lean on, someone who would love them unconditionally.

“Maybe this will make you happy,” Athena told him mischievously. “Since I’m no longer really a goddess, I can kill Evils.”

Hunter’s head jerked up to look at her face, his expression one of relief. “Really? Damn. That is pretty awesome.”

Only Hunter would think it was fantastic because she could lop off the heads of Evils. Athena smiled as she hopped off his lap. “My mother made these real,” Athena told him excitedly as the tiny stylized sword that decorated the nail polish on her right toe materialized into a large weapon. The grip of the saber fit her hand perfectly.

“Holy shit,” Hunter answered enthusiastically. “Nice. You’ll always carry protection that’s designed especially for you.”

“Do you like it?” she asked, running the tip of the weapon sensually down the front of his t-shirt. “I was a goddess of war when I needed to be.”

His eyes flared bright gold. “There’s something hot about a female who knows how to fight.”

Athena watched his throat move as he swallowed, the movement sexy because she knew he was salivating and hot to be inside her again. She returned the sword to its hiding place on her nail and plopped back into Hunter’s lap.

“Okay…so tell us what happened.” Drew’s voice was concerned as it sounded behind Athena and Hunter. “You look good,” he continued, sounding relieved as he looked at his brother holding his mate on his lap.

“Your timing sucks,” Hunter complained, shooting a glare at Drew as Athena sprung from his lap and he turned around.

Athena smiled at Talia, who was at Drew’s side as Zach and Kat popped into the room to join them. Kat didn’t hesitate to throw herself at Hunter, and he stood up to catch her as she wrapped her arms around him.

“I was so worried!” Kat exclaimed, hugging Hunter tightly.

Athena smiled as Hunter hugged the voluptuous redhead back, his clumsy acceptance of affection from anyone else but her still evident. She wondered how long it was going to take for Hunter to realize that he was loved.

“I’m fine.” He blew off Kat’s concern huskily, patting her awkwardly on the back.

Talia moved in for a group hug as their mates looked on with displeasure.

“Okay. Enough hugging. We can all see that Hunter is okay.” Drew pulled his wife back to his side, and Zach did the same.

Hunter smirked, and Athena knew he was enjoying his brothers’ discomfort because they interrupted an intimate moment for him.

Athena made the table bigger and manifested breakfast for everyone while they discussed what had happened to her and how she’d saved Hunter’s life.

“So your power isn’t as strong?” Kat asked curiously as she devoured her breakfast since she knew it was calorie-free.

“I can still make food with no calories,” Athena said, smiling at both of the women. “And I can kill Evils now that my goddess essence is gone. I’ve essentially become a very powerful
radiant
with my inherent goddess skills. I’m still capable of returning the Evils to their original state. Some things I’ll never lose.”

“If Hunter absorbed some of your power, does he still have it?” Drew asked inquisitively.

“Please tell me I can kick both of their asses now,” Hunter begged jokingly.

Athena nodded slowly. “I’m afraid he does. He’ll always be a little stronger than the average Sentinel. But it’s a power he can use. He is and always will be a
stabilizer
, but the added power will help keep him steady.”

“And so do you,” Talia added knowingly.

“Being mated to me will help him. Since I’m no longer a goddess, my powers are no longer subject to the balance between good and evil. But Hunter will always feel the need to balance things to some extent. It just won’t be an obsession he can’t control anymore.”

“Now I have a new obsession,” Hunter mentioned roughly.

Drew and Zach looked at each other and grinned. “Welcome to the world of having a
radiant
, brother,” Zach told Hunter, his voice dripping with humor.

Drew nodded and added, “It’s an obsession that never goes away.”

“Like the female
radiants
don’t suffer just as badly?” Athena asked drily.

Kat and Talia nodded emphatically as they continued to eat.

Hunter looked at Athena, his heart in his eyes. “I never said I was suffering. I just said it was an obsession. I’m not complaining, Princess. You’re the best obsession I’ve ever had.”

Her heart melted as she looked at his earnest expression. Dammit! Hunter could move her with just one comment, calm her irritation with a look.

“That goes both ways, Princess,” Hunter told her quietly.

Kat put down her fork as she said hesitantly, “Maybe we should leave you two alone. You’re newly mated. I’m sure you’d like some time to yourselves.”

Athena knew that Kat had picked up on her and Hunter reading each other’s thoughts. “We need to discuss our rescue plan for Kristoff.” Her body and heart was clamoring to be alone with Hunter, but she’d have time for that after they’d discussed a plan. “We need to get him out of the demon realm as soon as possible.” She was worried about her longtime friend. Kristoff was strong, but he wasn’t immune to the torture she knew he was suffering in the demon realm.

“We’ll get him out,” Hunter told her adamantly.

“We’ll
all
get him out and restore the balance.” Athena eyed Hunter warily, afraid she was going to have to assert herself again. Every one of them needed to be at the battle for them to have a chance to win. “I just got a chance for a new, wonderful life with my soulmate. I want to enjoy it in peace once Kristoff is safe.”

“Drew and I have chosen the warriors and they’re readying everything we need. We’ll meet and talk about strategy later today. We should be able to execute the rescue shortly,” Zach informed her flatly, obviously still not happy about the women participating in the mission.

Athena nodded. “Good. Things will have to be perfectly executed for this to work. They’ll still have greater numbers and they’ll be fighting on home ground. But we’ll have the element of surprise.”

“We could rally greater numbers, but I don’t think it will help. It’s likely to be more of a hindrance if we have untrained Sentinels who aren’t prepared to battle with Evils,” Drew said, his expression pensive.

“You’re right,” Athena agreed. “Better to have smaller numbers and more skilled fighters.”

The talk continued, everyone adding their input and all of them in agreement about how the mission should happen. Drew and Zach left with their mates with an arrangement to meet with Hunter later in the afternoon.

“You’re worried,” Hunter observed, wrapping his arms around Athena from behind.

She sighed. “If anything happens to any of them, it would be horrible. We’re bound to have casualties.” It was something she hadn’t wanted to mention to anybody, but it was fact. She’d seen very few battles where some weren’t lost.

“We’ll get through it, Princess. And we’ll get Kristoff back,” Hunter said soothingly in her ear.

She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I hope you’re right.”

“You’re tense.” Hunter rubbed her shoulders with his strong hands. “Can we stop talking about war for a while and focus on something more pleasant?” His tone was deep and seductive.

Athena locked eyes with Hunter and the tension instantly fled from her body. The time was coming for the Sentinels to go to war, but it wasn’t happening yet. The man in front of her was her own personal miracle, and she wasn’t going to let the impending battle with the Evils spoil her happiness right now.

“You’re right. Let’s focus on this.” Mischievously, she sent him a mental image of her tasting him until he threw his head back and roared as an explosive orgasm seized him. “I never got to finish this.”

He retaliated, sending her another scenario, both of them climaxing while they tasted the other at the same time. “I don’t want to be selfish,” he told her huskily. “If I’m coming, I want you to be right there with me.”

It was a sexual act they’d never tried before and Athena looked up at Hunter innocently. “Is that possible?”

He shot her a wicked grin. “Most definitely.”

“Then teach me,” she requested hotly, pulling his head down to devour the sexy smile on his face.

Athena moaned as Hunter grasped her ass and pulled her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. She melted into him, and as usual, every thought in her head disappeared except for Hunter.

Soon the time would come to think about the upcoming war, but for now there was only this…only Hunter.

Athena let herself get lost in his embrace as the two of them disappeared to Hunter’s bedroom, both allowing themselves a short time to think about nothing except each other.

The enormous house echoed with the incoherent cries of passion from a lonely ex-goddess and her angry, isolated Sentinel demon who had found their happiness in each other…at last.