CHAPTER TWELVE
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He sighed and let his head sink. “Fuck.”
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“I’m sure you’re not called that, so get talking before I scream this house down or have a nervous breakdown, because I’m it feeling like I’m about to have one. A big one right about now,” she said.
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He reached for her. “Sophia.”
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She flinched back and he dropped his hand. “Speak.”
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He started with the things he could say. “My name isn’t Liam Lewis, and I’m not an undercover cop.”
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“No shit. How did you know I was in that cult?”
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He didn’t like the way she looked at him. The way she drew the sheets tighter around her body. The way she trembled.
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“How did you kill those men at the bridge? It’s not an old police technique, is it?”
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He slowly sat up. This type of news couldn’t be delivered naked and prone on printed daisies. “You’re probably not going to believe me.”
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“I believe that you’ve healed from a wound that would have probably killed another man. I believe that there is no trace of that wound on your body where you should have a deep hole. I believe the best healing practices on the planet couldn’t have resulted in anything close to that. Who are you? Where have you come from?”
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He drew a steeling breath, hoping like hell Danu was going to let him speak because he really didn’t feel like watching her have a nervous breakdown. “I come from a place called Amaru Elora, the immortal plane. I am Riordan, Lord of Death, commonly known as the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse. I was banished to Earth because of a disagreement with the goddess Danu who sentenced me to walk the planes of the Earth before she will accept my apology. I knew you were in a cult because I harvested the twenty souls on that day. I watched you try to breathe life into the bodies of the dead. I took the lives of those men under the bridge because I do not just represent Death. I am Death. Personified.”
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Her mouth opened and closed. And opened again. A small, strangled sort of noise escaped her mouth before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted. While he was surprised he was able to get the whole tale out, he admitted to himself it would be a shock hearing it all at once.
He gathered her up and gently laid her on the bed, arranging the blankets over her to keep her warm. He pulled on his jeans and then lay next to her. There was a scrambling sound at the end of the bed and the kitten trotted towards them.
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“You’d better calm her when she wakes up,” he said.
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The kitten locked its large green eyes on him and mewed. He grunted and watched as it stalked over her legs and settled on her chest. It curled into a little ball of fur and began to purr.
Sophia’s eyes flickered open. She blinked several times before they focused on him. “Don’t scream. You’ll scare the kitten.”
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It lifted its head and mewed. “It isn’t a normal kitten, is it?”
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He shrugged. “Probably not.”
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Her eyes roamed the bedroom. “Is this your house?”
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“I think so.”
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“How did you get here?”
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“The limo brought me.”
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Her brows pulled together. “Do you even have a driver?”
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“No. But I think it’s my horse.”
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Her eyes flared wide open. “Of course. The horsemen have horses.”
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“I have a giant silver steed who rides into battle with me. His name is Hades.”
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“So your horse is a limo and you’ve been thrown out of the immortal world. Why?” she asked.
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“We insulted the goddess Danu when my brothers and I told her that the human race is a waste. She threw us down here as punishment.”
“And do you still think that?’
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“Think what?”
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“That the human race is a waste.” The kitten rose its head, as though listening to their conversation.
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“No. Not entirely. I don’t think it’s black and white anymore. Not since I met you.” He traced her lower lip with his fingers, absorbed with how soft and pillowed it felt. The tip of her tongue darted out and licked his finger. His cock jerked in his jeans, her servant.
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“What are you doing to me?” Her voice was a mere whisper.
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He leaned closer and replaced his finger with his lips. “The same thing you are doing to me.”
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The kitten mewed, a satisfied little sound, before it hopped off the bed and trotted out of the bedroom.
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He slowly drew the blankets down, revealing her body to him as though he was unwrapping a gift. He was. “Beautiful.”
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“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
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“Then don’t think,” he said.
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She brought her arms around his neck while he teased her mouth, her breasts, and the heaven between her thighs, then she honored him by accepting him into her body again, and together they forged their own little slice of heaven.
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