Valen (Guardians of Hades Romance Series Book 2) Read online

  She shook her head, mostly because she hated it when he called her that, partly because the ache grew stronger as he spoke, his British accent filling her ears.

  “It’s been a long day,” she murmured, closed her eyes and drew down a deep breath.

  The heavy feeling in her head faded a little, but it came back when she looked across at Benares.

  He smiled at her, something about it setting her on edge, even though he didn’t look any different to how he normally appeared. His green eyes shimmered with warmth, heat that always made her want to leave, to get away from him even as she wanted to get closer.

  “Apparently so,” he said in a low voice laced with a warm, teasing edge that curled around her. He ran his green eyes over her, lingering on her breasts and her hips, and then lifted them to meet hers. “You had quite the work out.”

  She frowned at him again. “I did what you wanted. I’m done.”

  Her stomach dropped when he shook his head.

  Her blood ran cold.

  This was exactly what she had expected, but she hadn’t anticipated the jolt of fear that had run through her on having him confirm that he wanted her to do something else.

  He wanted more from her.

  She was beginning to fear what that more was.

  She was beginning to wish that bitch was present, because being alone with him set her on edge and she couldn’t stop her eyes from leaping between him and the door, betraying her nerves.

  “You seem… tense,” he husked and a hot shiver ran through her, melting some of that tension from her muscles. He sighed and shook his head. “He obviously did not do a very good job. If it had been me in that position, between your thighs, you would have been boneless, my angel. Sated for days.”

  She schooled her features as fear flooded her and resisted the urge to look at the door again, desperately trying to keep her feelings hidden from him.

  Something was wrong.

  Off.

  This wasn’t right.

  He was different. Usually he flirted with her, but tonight there was an edge to it, a darkness about him that rang alarm bells in her head.

  Was he angry with her?

  Or with Valen?

  Was he jealous?

  She had seen what jealousy did to men. She had witnessed how it drove the weaker ones to do terrible things, to take out their anger on the one they felt had betrayed them and hurt them, believing the object of their desire would only want to be with them then.

  Her own father had been such a man. Abusive. Vicious. Jealous of every man who had so much as looked at her beautiful mother. Her mother had been loyal to him, had defended him whenever he had hurt her, had loved him despite his terrible flaws, and because she hadn’t stood up for herself, her brother had walked in their father’s footsteps, believing it was alright to behave that way, to treat women as if they were objects, possessions.

  Slaves.

  Anger flashed through her, heating her blood to boiling, and she clenched her fists as memories assaulted her, images of all the times her father had hurt her mother, of all the times her mother had made excuses for his behaviour, and of all the times her father had betrayed her trust. How many women had been his mistress in the years he had proclaimed to love her mother, in the years he had told her how faithful and loyal he was being to her despite how disloyal and unfaithful she was to him by allowing men to just look at her?

  Her mother had been a fool, but she hadn’t deserved any of it.

  She hadn’t deserved to be used, hollowed out of all her feelings and slowly destroyed, simply because she had loved someone and they had only pretended to return that love.

  No one deserved that.

  “My angel?” Benares whispered into her ear and she tensed.

  His hands came down on her shoulders, warming her leather jacket, and she went rigid as he closed his fingers over her, the pressure of his grip sending a cold tremor through her. Dangerous. She shouldn’t have lost awareness of her surroundings like that, allowing him to move without her knowing it. Damn it.

  But she might be able to work it to her advantage.

  He had left the couch and now stood behind her, which meant the path to the door was clear.

  She shirked his grip and turned on him, backed off a step and placed some distance between them.

  Placing her closer to the exit.

  He frowned at her, his green eyes darkening, and then smiled. “Are you sure you are not unwell?”

  She nodded, brushed her short black hair out of her face and laughed it off. “I’m just tired. Are we done?”

  “No,” he said, no trace of feeling in his deep voice, and sighed as he looked her over. “You should take more care of yourself. It would not do for such a beautiful flower to be allowed to wilt.”

  Wilt?

  Eva arched an eyebrow at him and glanced off to her left, to the object in the room that disturbed her most.

  An entire wall of mirrors.

  She had been sure Benares was vain the moment she had met him, but this mirror went beyond vanity and it wasn’t there for the sake of making the massive room appear larger.

  Ice crept down her spine.

  It was there for other reasons.

  Reasons she didn’t want to think about and that kept her firmly on edge around him, aware that she was in a dangerous position.

  She stared at her reflection in the mirror, his voice ringing in her ears. She hadn’t bothered to fix her make-up after showering, or dry and style her hair. She had wanted the meeting over with as quickly as possible so she could get back to Valen with the information she had promised.

  “It’s been a long day,” she said with a false smile and turned back to Benares. “Sometimes a woman needs a day off.”

  He shrugged, bare shoulders rolling in a way that made his pecs dance and reminded her that he was only half dressed. “It is no problem. You are still beautiful… perhaps even more so without the trappings of human nature. I think I almost prefer you in your raw, natural state.”

  Another shudder went down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

  She glanced over her shoulder at the door.

  When she looked back at Benares, he had moved closer to her.

  “Is something wrong?” he murmured, concern in his eyes that she wanted to believe was real, even when she felt certain it was all an act, designed to set her at ease around him and make her enamoured with him.

  “I’m just waiting for that woman to show up.”

  “Woman?” He frowned down at her, and then at the wooden door, and then it melted away and he smiled, charming to the last. “My sister? She will not be back tonight.”

  Eva’s stomach turned. Jin hadn’t been lying. They were siblings. She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat and barely resisted clutching her stomach as it churned. The way they acted around each other had led her to believe they were lovers, and now they were brother and sister. She wanted to be sick.

  Benares pressed his palm to her forehead and she tensed. When the hell had he moved closer? She had to stop spacing out around him or she was going to end up in trouble.

  She brushed his hand away and paced the room, her boots loud on the wooden floor that had been polished so highly that it reflected the grotesque golden furniture and red walls.

  “You are unwell,” Benares said and she didn’t bother to deny it this time, because it would be a good excuse for her vomiting all over his expensive Italian leather shoes.

  “I think I picked up a cold in the rain,” she muttered, hoping it would be enough to get him off her case.

  “Perhaps you have been putting things in your mouth that do not belong there and that has made you sick?”

  What the hell was that supposed to mean?

  She turned to ask him whether he was making insinuations about the things she had done with Valen, and whether Jin had been giving him a blow by blow record of events over the phone, and then thought the bett
er of it. He stood at the opposite side of the room, his arms folded across his bare chest and his handsome face set in a black scowl.

  Jealousy.

  Her father had looked like that too often, on the verge of losing his temper, fighting the need to lash out.

  She didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Benares’s anger.

  The darkness lifted from his eyes and his face softened as he crossed the room to her. “I am not myself today. I apologise.”

  She didn’t stop him when he raised his hand, smoothed his palm across her cheek and tilted her head back, lifting her eyes to meet his, because rejecting him would be the push he needed to shove him over the edge.

  Instead, she allowed the caress, allowed him to be this close to her when all she wanted to do was push him away, and she hated herself for it.

  She was just like her mother.

  Eva broke away from him, unable to bear it after all.

  She was stronger than that.

  She would never allow anyone to use her that way, to lead her on and use her feelings against her. She wouldn’t let someone play her for a fool.

  “What is it you want me to do now?” She zipped her leather up, trying to make it clear that they were done and she was going to leave.

  Benares stood just a few inches from her, his green gaze locked on her face, a myriad of emotions playing across his eyes, ones she wanted to decipher because she feared they were all about her.

  His pupils dilated and his eyes dropped to her lips, and her heart started a slow pound against her chest.

  That wasn’t what she had meant by her question.

  “Am I to seduce the mark again?” She kept her tone level, voice empty of emotion, and schooled her features again to hide all of her feelings from Benares. All business. “Or do you want me to kill him?”

  His eyes snapped up to hers. “Kill him?”

  Darkness crossed his features.

  “As much as I would like it, that is not part of the plan.” He curled his hands into fists at his side and she had the feeling he really did want to kill Valen, and he was angry that he couldn’t order his death.

  Why couldn’t he?

  “So what is the plan?” she said, more curious than ever.

  “Keep him under your spell.” There was bite in his tone, anger that she had never heard before, and it compounded the feeling that he wanted Valen dead but it wasn’t allowed, that they needed him alive for some reason and it was killing Benares. “Bring him to the villa. You have three days.”

  So he wanted Valen alive, and unharmed, but under her spell, and she had three days to deliver him. Her curiosity grew and she wanted to voice the questions filling her mind, but held her tongue and kept her cool.

  Her heart provided the answer to the question plaguing her the most.

  Had this been the plan from the start?

  Yes.

  Benares had said the drug was a means to an end when she had questioned him. He hadn’t meant that it would kill Valen. He had meant that it was the only way to get what he wanted.

  He knew more about Valen than she had thought.

  He had known that she wouldn’t be able to deliver the drug to Valen because he was too strong and far quicker than she was, and that she would end up exposed to it instead, and that Valen wouldn’t be able to resist her when that happened.

  He had known that Valen would sleep with her, and that it would affect him.

  That she would become a weakness he could exploit.

  They didn’t want Valen dead.

  They wanted him vulnerable.

  Why?

  The answer hit her hard.

  Benares didn’t only know about Valen. He knew about Valen’s brothers too. He knew about the crazy shit that surrounded them and that they were different.

  He knew everything, including the fact that Valen already felt like an outcast.

  She had realised Valen felt that way when she had witnessed how his brothers had treated him and how he had reacted when she had confronted him about it. He believed they couldn’t love him, that they hated him.

  Valen was already vulnerable.

  Benares was merely using that to his advantage, employing her as a weapon against him, one designed to turn Valen to his side.

  She was going to be the instrument of his downfall.

  A cold shiver chased through her and she wanted to tell Benares the deal was off, to scream at him that what he was doing was cruel and vicious, and she wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t hurt Valen by using his feelings against him.

  Benares watched her like a hawk.

  Eva pulled herself together and steadied her racing heart. She wasn’t going to hurt Valen because she wasn’t going to do what Benares wanted. He didn’t need to know that though. She needed to keep up the act, and keep her shit together or Benares was going to see straight through her and see that she was playing him.

  And then he would kill her.

  “I’ll do it in two.” She flipped her hair out of her face and shot him a smile.

  “Three will suffice.” He closed in on her again. “My sister will be well fed by then.”

  Fed?

  She must have looked confused, because he smiled.

  Calmly said, “You do not want to know.”

  She didn’t but he obviously wanted to tell her, and that meant whatever he was talking about would frighten her.

  “Three days it is then.” She turned towards the door and gasped when she found him standing right in front of her, blocking her exit.

  What the hell?

  He advanced on her and against her better instincts she backed away, moving further into the room, towards the wall of mirrors she felt sure served an erotic purpose.

  “I’m a little hungry myself.” He raked green eyes over her, from head to toe and back again, and strange heat bloomed in the wake of his gaze but quickly turned to cold as it moved on, lifting towards her face. “You seemed pleased earlier, when I said Jin was out.”

  She hadn’t been pleased, wasn’t sure where he had gotten that one from. She had been trying to stop herself from throwing up.

  He closed the distance between them and towered over her.

  “Is it my sister’s absence that pleases you… or being alone with me?”

  His mouth was on hers before she could respond, fierce and hot, forcing her to open to him. She pressed her hands to his bare chest and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, pinning her against him. His tongue invaded her mouth.

  Eva bit down on it.

  He growled and reared back, and she shoved at his chest, struggling against him and trying to break free as her heart thundered, fear sending adrenaline coursing through her veins. Fight won this time. She brought her knee up hard between his legs.

  He grunted and released her.

  She staggered backwards, legs trembling and pulse racing, battling for control over her body and her mind.

  Escape.

  She had to escape.

  She edged sideways, towards the two couches, and the door.

  Benares breathed hard, doubled over and clutching himself as he muttered dark-sounding things in a language she didn’t know.

  She eyed the door again, and then him as she finally gained control of her fear and fury rushed in to fill the void it left inside her. Her memories pummelled her, battering her from all sides, disjointed snippets of how her father had treated her mother.

  Eva wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, revulsion sweeping through her on the heels of her anger. “You kiss me with the same mouth you kiss your sister with?”

  “Not the same mouth,” Benares muttered and slowly lifted his head.

  A cold wind blasted through her, chilling her so fiercely her feet froze to the wooden floor and she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  Bright white embers glowed in his eyes, his pupils nothing more than thin vertical slits in the centres of his irises, and the skin around them
turned dark and then cracked, forming jagged fissures that shone bright blue. He rose to his full height and seemed to grow even taller as he straightened. Blue markings like lightning streaked over his shoulders and down his arms, caressed his sides and glowed as fiercely as the ones around his eyes. Around those markings, his skin darkened to the colour of ash. The tips of his ears stretched into points and his hair blackened at the roots and bled into crimson at the ends.

  His lips flattened, darkened to obsidian, and sharp teeth flashed between them as he spoke.

  “This is the mouth I kiss my sister with.”

  Eva screamed and kicked off, breaking left towards the door.

  Benares grabbed her right arm and she shrieked as he pulled it so hard the socket blazed and pain near-blinded her, making her vision wink in and out of the darkness.

  He whirled her to face him and she clawed at him as he kissed her, lips fiery hot on her neck. Heat swept through her, carrying away her will to fight as it invaded her flesh and then her bones, sinking deep into her. She wanted this. She wanted him.

  No.

  She didn’t want this.

  She didn’t want him.

  He was a monster.

  Eva gathered herself and shoved against him, slapping at his face and his shoulders, and he growled into her neck and held her closer, pressing claws into her sides.

  “Get off me.” She shoved with all of her might, slamming her palm into his jaw and knocking his head back and his lips away from her. “You disgust me.”

  She hit him again and managed to break free this time but she didn’t get far.

  He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, and her eyes went wide as his lips came down on hers. Heat flowed through her, driving out the fear and the fury, replacing it with strange calm. She surrendered to it, losing herself.

  But then a thought pinged into her head.

  It wasn’t right.

  This wasn’t the man she wanted to kiss.

  “Get your damn hands off me.” She wrapped her hand around his throat and squeezed as hard as she could.

  Benares snarled, the sound dark and unholy. “You will give in to me.”

  “Never.” She stamped on his foot and shoved with her hand, pushing him off her again.

  She threw a hard right hook, slamming it into his nose.