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How forlorn she sounded "Every living creature has made a mistake at one point or another Besides, you were a child Not yet sensitized to the feelings of others Do not blame yourself They should not have They knew better"

"What of you?" she asked, and this tied her

"What would you like to know?" he wondered

Slowly she grinned "Anything Everything"

That grin…one of the gods’ finest creations, surely His gut clenched His shaft hardened again

"I need a ated his human meain Before, thinking of those days had stung, for he’d known they were forever lost--but he reood thing Today, however, with the essence of Kadence all around hiht have been

"I was a wild child, unta I would worry her and every ed face flashing in his eline She calmed me, because I wanted to be worthy of her We married, as both our families desired"

Kadence stiffened Even paled The hand she’d been dancing at his temple stilled "You are…wed?"

"No She left me"

"I am sorry," she said, but there was relief in her tone

Relief? Why? "Don’t be" Had he not given his soul for Evangeline, she would have died And had she not left Geryon, he ht Lucifer when the tiht not have lad of soh the distance, trailed byup all pretense of being winded, Geryon popped to a stand, lifting the goddess with hi the distance

The horde was several yards away But as he watched, a fiend separated froht for them

CHAPTER NINE

GERYON SHOVED K ADENCE behind him Another touch-- warmth, satin skin, perfection--and he yearned to revel in it He didn’t, couldn’t He’d agreed to come with her to save the human realoddess and not because she was thehe’d ever beheld, but because, in this single day, she had made him feel like a man Not a beast

"Remember that I swore to let no harm befall you," he told her A minute, perhaps two, and the creature would reach thereat distance to cover, the streets of Hell stretching endlessly "I will keep my word"

"Geryon Perhaps I can--"

"No" He didn’t want her involved in this fight Already she was tre in fear She was so scared, in fact, she had yet to realize her hands were resting on his back, twin conductors of inexorable pleasure Had she known, surely she would have jerked away "I will fight it" Should she try to do so, it would feed off her fear, beco at thereen scales, its forked tongue flicking out as if blood already coated the air Glowing red eyes glared at the where pupils should have

Warrior instincts demanded Geryon stride forward and ht there, like true soldiers Yet his every male instinct demanded he stay where he was To put any distance between hier Another de for the chance to pounce on her Another of the horde could separate, circle around and try to take her from behind

"This is un to relax, my fear of this place is bone-deep And that fear is like a beacon to them, isn’t it?"

He chose not to answer that, too afraid of scaring her further by acknowledging the truth of her words "When it reaches us, I want you to run backward Press against the wall and scream for me if you see any hint of another demon"

"No, I want to help you I--"

"Will do as I said Otherwise, I will defeat it and leave this place" His tone was unco her here, whether the wall needed defending or not Whether innocents needed saving or not

She was ainst him, but didn’t offer another protest

A cry of "Mine, mine, mine" rent the air

The creature closed in, faster…alrabbed his opponent by the neck Multiple stings erupted on his face, followed by the trickle of wars

Only when the tein to battle He tossed the creature to the ground and leapt upon it, knees pinning its shoulders One punch, two, three

It bucked, wild and feral Saliva glea from its bonyfailed to subdue it in any way