Immortal Rider

Eighteen

Thanatos was one grumpy-ass Horseman. He’d asked Regan to feel up a ragged document for him, but he hadn’t explained why, and when all she could tell him was that whoerumver scribbled the writing on it believed they were translating a message from the Dark Lord, he’d nodded and shoved her out of the library. Since then, he’d avoided her unless he needed her assistance or she requested his help to translate something from his collection. Made it hard for a girl to seduce a guy.

She had, at least, determined that he wasn’t gay, if the constant female traffic was any indication. They came at all hours, in various states of dress, but the vampires always turned them away. She supposed that could mean Thanatos didn’t like women, but if that were the case, she’d have thought females would have gotten that news a long time ago. And if that were the case, where were the males?

There weren’t any. So basically, she was pretty sure he wasn’t gay. He was just an asshole who didn’t like anyone.

She had her work cut out for her, for sure.

She wasn’t sure where he spent his time, but it wasn’t at his freezing ice palace. His vampires handled her needs, from food to fresh towels, which had made her uncomfortable at first. She’d been raised to kill the bloodsuckers, not have them wait on her hand and foot. But the weirdest thing was that some of them could walk in the daylight. When she’d questioned them, they’d been silent on the subject. Interesting.

She’d spent most of her time either working out in Thanatos’s amazing gym or going through his library, which rivaled some of the Aegis libraries at the larger regional headquarters. Sure, her primary purpose was to sleep with the Horseman, but she’d also come to make use of his library and his knowledge… both of which were extensive.

She’d also offered some insight into documents he’d already pored over. So far, her help hadn’t provided any groundbreaking discoveries, but she’d been able to assist him in determining which documents had been written with a false hand.

The thing she found most curious was how, while he was obsessed with both finding a way to restore Reseph’s Seal and locating Limos’s agimortus, he seemed to be just as focused on finding his father. The difference was that when it came to the subject of the angel who sired him, he tended to guard his words, as if his personal quest was somehow wrong or selfish.

Or as if he was protecting himself from disappointment.

His search shook something loose inside her, because as much as she hated to admit it, she had a tender, raw spot when it came to fathers. Maybe it was stupid of her, but she’d spent a little extra time going over Than’s material that related to his history, wanting to help him.

Of course, helping wasn’t a hardship when it meant she got to spend hours in his library, which was stacked from floor to ceiling with books she’d never known existed.

Demon cookbooks. Fiction ranging from children’s’ books to romance and horror novels… all written by demons. And, for the record, demon erotica was freaking gross. She also found books about the Four Horsemen written by humans, demons, and even an angel. Many of the works were fiction—Thanatos seemed to collect everything that had anything to do with the Horsemen, from video games, TV shows and movies, to books—but several—re dozen were non-fiction. Lots of “first-hand accounts” and speculation.

The one that made her blush to her roots, though, was the book written by a succubus who claimed to have had intimate relations with all of the brothers.

The book read like a cross between an urban fantasy novel and a Penthouse Forum letter, and Regan found herself curled up on the oversized leather chair next to the cozy fireplace in Thanatos’s library, flipping pages as fast as she could. God, she didn’t even need the fire, not with the way her blood was running molten in her veins.

The succubus, whose name was Pilani, claimed to know some truly intimate details about the three brothers, had first spent some time with Ares after meeting him in an underworld pub called the Four Horsemen. She described his power, his furious and extremely rough lovemaking, and Regan squirmed. She’d only had sex once, and it wasn’t anything like what Pilani described with Ares. Fast, hard, lots of weapons.

Regan definitely hadn’t had that many orgasms or been that exhausted afterward. No, there’d been the one orgasm, during which she’d felt her power stir, as if it had wanted to snatch her boyfriend’s soul right out of his body. Regan had broken up with him that night and hadn’t risked sex again.

Pilani had moved on to Reseph, who she claimed was playful and gentle when the mood called for it, tireless, adventurous, and risky at other times. And, apparently, he really liked… Regan’s jaw fell open, and she turned the page, skipping past Reseph’s reported willingness to try anything.

Mouth dry and practically panting, Regan flipped ahead to Pilani’s experiences with Thanatos.

I approached him where he sat in the dark corner of the Four Horsemen, his eyes glowing as he watched me. I’d had his brothers, several times. In fact, Reseph watched with amusement from his own corner, where he was encouraging a Trillah female to feel him up even as other females gathered ’round him to join in what would surely turn into one of his notorious orgies.

I’d offer myself to him, of course, if Thanatos turned me down. I’d never found anyone who admitted to fucking the tattooed warrior, though I’d seen a few females disappear into the back room with him.

“Death,” I purred, and he growled the way he always did when someone called him by that name. The Horsemen were sensitive about their names, for some reason… all but Limos, who didn’t mind being called Famine.

“Go away.”

He put his ale to his lips. Lips I wanted to know intimately. I wanted to be the first of all the groupies, the Megiddo Mount-Me’s, to have scored a trifecta. Hell, if I managed to get Thanatos, maybe I’d try a little girl-on-girl with Limos and secure my place in Horsemen lore.

Naturally, I ignored him and took a seat next to him, making sure my skirt hiked up to show tantalizing hints of everything. He noticed, and the front of his breeches swelled. Shifting, I lifted my leg over his and palmed his cock.

“Let me suck it,” I murmured, and his eyes darkened. I had him. I knew it. And when he swept me up and carried me to the back room, where I’d been with both Ares and Reseph, I came the first time before he even set me down. The second time was when he—

“You enjoying yourself?”

At the deep rumble of Thanatos’s voice, Regan screamed and dropped the book. Her cheeks burned and her throat felt like she’d been breathing smoke.

“I—I… it was research.” Oh, God, she was babbling like a teenage girl caught doodling the name of her secret crush in her notebook. Or like a grown woman caught reading erotica.

Erotica about the very man standing in the room, leaning casually against the doorframe, one ankle crossed over the other, an amused smile tilting his mouth.

And whoa, she’d thought he was handsome before, but that smile put him at a number that was off the charts.

“Research, huh?” He moved close, his gaze never wavering from hers even as he leaned over to pick the book up off the floor where it had fallen. “My library is full of books that would probably be a lot more useful.”

“But not nearly as interesting,” she said, shooting for light and breezy, but failing miserably. She sounded breathless and desperate. Horny.

He opened the book to what appeared to be the very spot where she’d left off. One pale eyebrow lifted as he read, and then the other, and then… was that a touch of pink on his cheeks? Yes, yes it was.

Good. Maybe he was as embarrassed as she was.

“His fingers found my swollen pearl, wet with my honey,” he read, and okay, so maybe he wasn’t embarrassed. “He pushed one inside me, and I moaned as my body exploded with pleasure.”

Regan cleared her throat. “I see you can read. Impressive. Can we stop now?”

“You don’t want to know what happens next?”

“I assume she earned some sort of honor for banging all three of you and now has a commemorative tramp stamp on the small of her back or at the base of her tail or whatever.”

Thanatos stared at her for a moment, and then he threw back his head and laughed, and dear Lord, she had just revised her definition of melt-my-panties-hot.

“She does not have a tramp stamp,” he said, when he’d finished laughing, but the smile remained. “At least, I don’t think she does. Haven’t seen her in centuries. She gave birth to a few dozen little hellspawns and went her own way.” He closed the book. “And no, none of the demonlings are ours.”

“Demonlings?”

“It’s what Reseph calls them.” The smile fell from his lips, replaced by the familiar scowl. “Used to call them. I’m guessing now he calls them dinner.”

It was surprising to see his reaction to his brother’s transformation—up until now, she’d seen little from Thanatos but anger. Well, there was the little blip of amusement, but it was gone so fast she sort of wondered if she’d imagined it. Except that her heightened body temperature and racing heart were pretty clear evidence that he’d affected her in more than the angry way.

“Were you close to him?” she asked.

“He’s my brother.” He peeled off his coat and shoved up the sleeves of his black turtleneck.

“That’s not an answer.”

His gaze glittered like canary diamonds in the sun. “We shared a womb. We shared battle, pain, loss, and drink. He is my brother.”

So… that was a yes to her question. The intensity rolling off him shocked her. Not that she’d expected anything less of the Horseman who would be Death, but she hadn’t been prepared for the depth of his feelings for his siblings. Somehow that humanized him in her eyes… and at the same time, shamed her. She’d never loved anyone. Not like that.

She rubbed her arms, though she was anything but cold. “So even now, after what he’s become—”

“What he’s become is his own personal nightmare,” he interrupted. “We’ll find a way to change him back.”

“You’ve got to have some idea how.” Yeah, she was one to talk, since The Aegis still had no idea how Death’s child could save the world. Her stomach churned a little at that thought, because she’d been concentrating so hard on how to get Thanatos into bed that she hadn’t thought much about the consequences.

“I do have an idea. I’ve finally made a breakthrough.” He took a thick book off a top shelf and splayed it open on his desk. As he flipped pages, she realized it was a scrapbook, filled with notes, pictures, clippings from newspapers, even, and from what she could tell, most of it had to do with Pestilence. “I believe this is a clue.” He drew out the parchment he’d had her inspect the other day. “I’ve translated the text, and it basically says that disease is cured by death.”

“Well… yeah. Death sort of cures everything.”

He shook his head. “A few days ago, I found this in a demon temple dedicated to Pestilence’s worship. It was on an altar that wasn’t there the last time I checked, and it was wrapped around exact metal and wooden replicas of Deliverance and a scythe… my symbol.”

“Pestilence has a temple dedicated to him?”

“We all do.” He said it like a normal person would confirm that of course they had milk in the fridge. Like, who didn’t? He traced his finger over a photo taped to the next page. “Beneath the replicas was this writing carved into the stone altar. It’s a warning that Deliverance, if wielded by me at a precise moment, will restore Pestilence to his weakness, which, in evil demon terms, means he’ll become Reseph again.”

“So that’s it? You stab him and he’s better?”

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He paused, his gaze focused on the parchment. “We forged Deliverance so that stabbing him in the heart will kill him. Or any of us. But if this new information is to be believed, a perfectly timed jab of the blade will return him to Reseph. We just need to find out what that ‘precise moment’ is.” He tapped the writing with his forefinger. “At least the first part of the mystery is solved.” On his arm, the horse tattoo kicked. He looked down and ran his finger over the shoulder, and the lines seemed to settle down. So weird.

But he’d just given her the opening she needed to get her hands on him. “Can I touch it?”

His head snapped back. “What?”

“The horse. Can I touch it?”

“Why?”

Because in the Horsemen erotica it says you feel everything the horse feels in corresponding parts of your body. Oh, yes, she could use this to arouse him, to make him crave more of her touch.

“It’s fascinating,” she said truthfully. She might have ulterior motives, but she was also curious as hell. “Your other tattoos are multicolored and metallic. This one… it’s like a henna tattoo. Just lines, but it moves.”

“Because it’s alive,” he said. “Surely you’re aware that our horses are part of us.”

“Yes, and that’s what’s so interesting.” She stepped closer. “May I?”

He looked at her like she’d asked if she could chop his head off, but finally, he gave a curt, sharp nod and held out his arm. It was odd how the other tattoos were layered on top of each other, which should have caused a jumbled mess, but somehow they were distinct, multi-dimensional. But the horse lay flat on his skin with no other tattoos beneath or on top.

She took Thanatos’s hand, palm up, in hers, and his entire body tensed. Hers did too, as the inked bones on his wrist took on lives of their own, and in her head, she got their story—how they’d gotten there, and oh, wow… this Horseman was holding on to some serious pain.

She saw the female demon who was responsible for putting the tats on his skin. Regan wasn’t sure how it worked, but this demon took memories and feelings out of her customers’ heads and put them on their bodies. But why? These tattooed bones told her so much… the death he’d caused in one day. Demons… a demon war. He’d fought on the side of humans, had taken dead demons to a pit to be rendered down to their bones.

Her stomach rolled, and quickly, she shut off her unwelcome gift.

“You okay, Aegi? You’re turning green.”

“Yeah.” She cleared her throat of the raspiness. “Just overwhelmed. You know, being here with a legend.” Oh, gag, she sounded like a teeny-bopper mooning over Justin Bieber. But hey, flattery got you everywhere, right?

He made an indecipherable grunting noise, and she went back to what she was doing, which was trying to seduce the guy. Or, at least, le, aflattery garn the key to seducing him.

Tentatively, she touched the tip of her finger to the horse’s long neck. Even though she’d shut off her gift, faint stirrings of confusion, annoyance, and anger filtered in, but she couldn’t tell if it was coming from the horse or from Thanatos.

She traced the lines, working her way over the animal’s ears, jaw, nose, then down the front of his throat. When she slowly drew her finger along its chest, Thanatos inhaled harshly, and his pulse picked up, hammering into her thumb. He liked this, so she lingered, stroked. In the silence marked only by the crackle of the fire, she eased her fingertip along the beast’s belly and then up, over its back and down around the curve of its rump.

Again, she stroked, feeling the textures in Thanatos’s skin, the hard, pulsing veins that shot through the stallion’s lines. And under her thumb, his pulse quickened more.

“What are you doing?”

She blinked up at him innocently. “Tracing the lines. It’s exquisite. Can the horse feel it?”

A muscle in his jaw leaped. “Yes.”

“So he’s aware that I’m touching him?”

Another leap of muscle. “Yes.”

“Does he like it?”

“Yes.”

Hiding a smile, she ran her thumb over its belly again, and Thanatos hissed softly. “If your horse—Styx, right? If he was standing here, would he let me pet him?”

“He’s ill-tempered.”

“Like his master?”

“You’re funny.” He watched her fingers play, his throat flexing with his frequent swallows. “He seems to like… this. So he will probably allow your touch in person.”

What about his master? She didn’t say anything, but she did decide to forge a new path and see how far he’d let her walk down it. Pretending to be in awe of his other markings—which wasn’t hard, since she kind of was—she slid her hand up to the image of a bow and arrow that was half-hidden under his sleeve.

“And what’s this?”

“It’s the weapon I used to kill the man who raised me,” he said, his voice flat, toneless, and it turned the warm room cold. He pulled his arm out of her grip. “Enough. It’s late.”

She glanced at her watch, and sure enough, it was two in the morning. “Do you mind if I take one of these books to read in bed?”

“Can I make a suggestion?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Sure.”

A wicked, crooked smile lifted his lips as he reached for the Horsemen erotica. “This. In case you need to stay warm.”

In case you need to stay warm? What kind of crap was that? Than was an idiot. He didn’t need to be playing with fire, and Regan was a damned inferno.

What he needed was to get the hell away from her. He spun around, but she stopped him with no more than a word.

“Wait.”

He stared at the doorway, because hell if he was turning back to look at her. “What?”

“How does it end?” Her voice was soft as a whisper, just like her touch. “The story, I mean.”

“I told you. She has a bunch of kids, and—”

“No. Your part of it. After you were done with her. When you came back out into the tavern, and Reseph was with all those females. Did you share stories?”

“You mean, do I kiss and tell? Is that what you want to know?”

“Sort of.”

He had no idea what got into him, but in an instant, he was in front of her, one hand gripping the back of her head, the other at her waist as he tugged her to him. Then his lips were on hers, and his head was spinning, his blood was thundering through his ears, and her eager mouth was open to him. Their tongues met in a hot, wet tangle, and his erection was a throbbing rod of need against her soft belly.

He pulled away, enjoying the way her eyes had glazed over. “Do I kiss and tell? Guess you’ll have to find out for yourself.”

This time he stalked out of there, and this time, he intended to stay away. If five thousand years had taught him anything, it was that he could tease himself to the point of insanity and still come away without getting his dick wet.

There’d been a time when he’d taken himself to the edge, had drowned himself in females just to see how far he could go without plunging deep inside them. But he’d been young and dumb then. He’d enjoyed kissing, working females up, and for the first hundred years, he’d played games that had been… cruel. He’d used his status as a Horseman to bring a female home, and then he’d kiss and tease, and never once allow them the ultimate pleasure. It had been a way to torture them both. The females were always demons, and in a way, he figured he was torturing them for their part in his curse.

The males he just killed outright.

He stalked to his room, which he kept cold as the air outside. He stripped, relishing the blast of freezing temperatures. His skin shrank, but naturally, his cock wouldn’t care if he dipped it in liquid nitrogen. It wanted relief.

It wanted Regan.

Stupid bastard.

He fell onto his bed, hissing at the icy covers against his fevered skin. He sprawled out, staring at the rafters high above. His thoaboh

Even Limos was coming unraveled. The human male had thrown her off balance. That had to be the reason she was suddenly a bundle of nerves. She could be impulsive and flighty, yes, but raw panic and fear? Never. But she’d been terrified during the confrontation with Lucifer, and he’d seen the same terror in her eyes after she’d destroyed Sartael. Was her fear for Arik? Had she fallen for him? God, he hoped not. That would be a doomed relationship, for sure. The human wanted her—Thanatos could see it in his eyes, and a male like that wasn’t going to settle for heavy-petting.

Then again, that was what Than had to settle for. His lips tingled in remembrance of Regan’s kiss, and he palmed his cock, so worked up that his hips bucked at the touch, punching up into the ring of his fist. He wasn’t going to last long at all.

He didn’t want to imagine himself with Regan, but she was there in his mind anyway, naked, on her hands and knees as he pumped into her from behind. Her tight, wet heat gripped him, and he groaned. He squeezed his shaft, building sensation, and then he dropped his palm to his sac, wondering what it would feel like to slap against her swollen flesh.

Slowly, he slid his hand back up, now imagining that he’d flipped her and was driving into her in the way a male made a female his—face to face, mouths fused, hands clasped. He knew he shouldn’t think that way, because there were some fantasies that were too hazardous to even consider. When he dreamed of having his own female, depression darkened his mood and dangerous ideas popped into his head.

Sometimes, at his lowest points, he thought he should just fuck a woman and get it over with. His Seal was going to break eventually, so why put off the inevitable? He wanted sex, dammit. But there was the problem; if he was going to break his Seal and bring down all of mankind, he wasn’t going to screw some random female. He wanted one to love. Which created the next problem: how could he possibly make love to a woman he cared about, knowing that as soon as it was over, he’d turn evil and she would probably be the first to die by his hand?

Yep, it was a nasty circle, a catch-22 he’d never get out of.

Viciously, he jerked his thoughts in another direction, flipped the imaginary Regan over again, and plowed into her as he pinned her against a wall. She was whimpering in pleasure as he hammered into her, and yeah, that was better. Keep it impersonal.

His cock kicked in his palm, reminding him that this was as impersonal as it got. Him, alone in bed, with only his hand as his date. Awesome.

Fuck.

He snarled, pumped his fist from root to tip, pausing to smooth the drop of precum around the smooth head. The sensitivity multiplied, and he pretended his thumb was Regan’s tongue.

That did it. His climax brought his hips off the bed and made a strangled groan rip from his throat. Hot jets of liquid shot onto his stomach and chest as his balls clenched.

The difference was that the empty bed thing was, for her, only temporary. Eventually, she’d go back to her human life, to her human job, her human house. And if she wanted, she’d find a human male to fill her bed.

And fill her.

Thanatos snarled, spun, and put his fist through the wall.