THE DARKEST ANGEL (15 page)
Authors: Gena Showalter
William sighed. “If Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger had a love child, I’m one hundred percent certain the kid would look at me just—like—that.”
More men he hadn’t met. Which annoyed him greatly! He had no need for daily reminders the world had ticked along just fine without him.
“My brilliant sense of humor is lost on you. Noted. Ladies,” William said, reclaiming the bottle of whiskey and his glass, “tell Baden what carnal delights you’re prepared to offer him.”
One by one, they breathlessly described different scenarios. The shy virgin. The naughty librarian. The punishing dominant. The devoted girlfriend.
When Baden had lived in Mount Olympus, he’d dated his fair share of women, but he’d never loved one. He’d wanted an equal, not a weakling only using him for protection, placing his power before her sentiment.
“Well?” William prompted.
“I desire none of the scenarios offered.”
Give me truth
,
or give me nothing.
He met each beauty’s gaze. For the chance to tame the beast and return to his friends... “Who will bend over and simply take it?”
Perhaps he
was
lacking in charm.
William shook his head and muttered, “You should be embarrassed.”
Meanwhile, two feminine hands shot into the air.
“Me! Pick me!” The brunette.
The blonde elbowed her in the stomach. “I’m the one you want.”
“How are we friends?” William asked him.
“We aren’t.” Baden had twelve friends. Only twelve. The men and woman who’d suffered demon possession right alongside him. The warriors who’d bled with him and for him—the people he’d only disappointed since his return. They wanted him to be the man he used to be, not the bastard he’d become.
Another log on the fire of his guilt.
His experiences had changed him, and those experiences were his fault.
“Tears. Sadness.” William placed a hand over his heart, as if he’d been stabbed. “Now. Choose your girl. I’m going to do you a solid and take the other three.”
“What type of immortal are you?” Baden asked the two girls, who still had their hands in the air.
“Phoenix,” the brunette said, her pride evident.
“Nymph,” the blonde said, her voice smoky.
“You.” He pointed to the blonde. “I choose you.” Nymphs needed sex more than they needed oxygen. At least she’d get something other than a wad of cash for her trouble.
The brunette wilted with displeasure, surprising him.
“I’ll make it up to you, petal,” William told her with a wink. “With him, you’d have to work for every cent. With me, you can sit back and enjoy. I don’t want to overhype my skill, but I invented the female orgasm.”
Whatever. Baden stood and, without initiating contact, led the blonde to the exit. He opened the door and motioned her through. The faint scent of white oleander accompanied her. He followed her into a narrow hallway, maintain a safe distance.
“Pick a room,” she said, her voice still low and throaty with what might have been anticipation. “Any room.”
He selected the first one on the right, entering before her in case someone waited inside, intending to attack. No assailants jumped out at him, but he did find a camera hidden in a clock on the mantel above the unlit hearth. William’s doing?
After disabling it, he conducted a more generalized search. The room had a king-size canopy bed with black silk sheets, a nightstand full of condoms and different lubricants, and a recliner next to a bear-shifter rug.
The blonde traced a fingertip between her breasts. “What do you want me to do, sugar?”
The beast growled. He didn’t like her, didn’t want her, and didn’t want to do this. Baden would be distracted, left vulnerable, so
he
would be left vulnerable.
Still Baden said, “Strip and bend over the edge of the bed, face-down.”
The beast cursed him, then the girl.
Who
are
you?
Baden demanded.
With barely a pause, the beast replied,
I
am Destruction.
Don’t miss
THE DARKEST TORMENT
by
New York Times
bestselling author Gena Showalter
,
the latest book in the
LORDS OF THE UNDERWORLD
series featuring the ruthless
,
beautiful Baden who will stop at nothing to claim the exquisite human with the power to soothe the beast inside him...
From Gena Showalter and HQN Books.
Copyright © 2016 by Gena Showalter
ISBN-13: 9781488010149
THE DARKEST ANGEL
This is the revised text of the work, which was first published under license by Harlequin Enterprises Limited in 2010.
Copyright © 2010 by Gena Showalter
Revised text copyright © 2013 by Gena Showalter
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