“No,” he said, getting to his feet and scooping me off the floor.
Darkness carried me up the stairs and into his bedroom with effortless strength. He tossed me onto the bed, his lips curling into a knowing smirk. The dimly lit room cast a seductive ambiance, with shadows dancing on the walls like eager witnesses of what was to come.
Darkness eyes bore into mine, a fiery inferno that revealed an insatiable hunger. He eyed me as he dragged a thumb over his bottom lip. “I’m not finished with you yet.”
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Darkness savored every moment as he made love to me, each second stretching into an eternity of shared desire. I felt dizzy and out of control as time seemed to lose all meaning in the rapture of our mutual passion. Eventually, our bodies finally collapsed into sweet exhaustion, our limbs still entwined as we drifted to sleep.
As I woke, a shiver crashed through me as I noticed I was alone in the massive bed. Muffled voices ascended the staircase, their elusive words just beyond the grasp of comprehension.
A yawn escaped my lips as I extended my arms overhead, realizing I was still naked and my clothes were scattered on the floor downstairs. My eyes snapped to the closed bedroom door.
“Shit!” I said, seizing the top blanket and draping it over my shoulders. The last thing I wanted to do was go downstairs with Darkness’s blanket wrapped around my shoulders.
I rose from the bed, clutching the blanket tightly as I tip-toed to the door to see if I could discern the voices drifting up from below. As I walked past the dresser, I spotted my clothing meticulously arranged on the top.
A relieved breath escaped from between my lips as I let the blanket drop to the floor and hastily pulled on my clothes. If only I’d had the luxury of indulging in a shower and changing into a clean outfit.
As I smoothed my palms over the fabric to iron out the wrinkles, I stole a glance in the mirror. My hair was a tangled mess, as if I had engaged in hours of fooling around with Darkness. Of course, that was exactly what happened, but I didn’t really want to advertise that fact to whoever was downstairs.
I combed my fingers through my hair, attempting to tame the wild, unruly strands. Once satisfied, I turned away from the mirror, donning a facade of confidence as I walked to the door and slowly pulled it open.
The voice became a bit more clear. I could make out both Nightmare and Storm, but there was another voice I didn’t recognize.
As I reached the top of the stairs, Darkness stepped into view and held out his hand to me. “Join us.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, glancing toward the room as I took his hand.
“We’ve gathered the artifacts,” Darkness announced as he led me to the velvet chair. “Sit, please.”
“Thanks,” I said, placing my sweaty hands in my lap.
A young man with slicked-back hair grinned at me, well, more at the medallion around my wrist. “That’s the medallion, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Darkness said, gesturing toward the young man. “This is my brother, The Bringer of Honor.”
“Call me Gius,” he said, crossing his leg widely over the other.”
“She never calls us by our names,” Nightmare said with a chuckle.
Honor shrugged as he brushed an invisible piece of lint from his pants. “Whatever makes her happy.”
The young man exuded an enchanting magnetism, his features flawlessly symmetrical, and his eyes were like pools of liquid obsidian. He had a strong, chiseled jawline that seemed to mirror the sleek platinum hair, artfully styled with each strand perfectly in place. Honor exuded an unwavering aura of self-assuredness that made me feel very under-dressed.
“It’s so wonderful to finally meet you,” Honor said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied me carefully. “Not exactly what I was expecting.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I said, pressing my lips together.
“Quite the opposite,” Honor said, grinning. “Anyway,” he said, shifting his eyes to Darkness, who was standing beside the chair I was in. “Everything is here. What do we do now?”
Darkness glanced at Nightmare, who offered him a quick shrug. “Perhaps we give them all to Remy.”
“Balance,” Storm said, looking at her nails. “Let’s show her the same respect she shows us, hm?”
“Balance,” Darkness repeated, correcting himself.
I shook my head as I looked up at him. “It’s really weird to hear you call me that.”
“And you think I don’t prefer you to call me Mace?” he asked, raising a brow.
“We could worry about how to refer to one another at another time,” Honor said, reaching down and sliding a locked wooden box out from the side of the couch. “Everything is in here.”
He leaned back, fixing his gaze on the box as if he expected a snake to coil out from the top. It was clear he wasn’t super comfortable around the artifacts.
“Proceed,” he uttered, flicking me a brief look.
“What? Me?” I said, clasping my hands.
Darkness placed his hand on my shoulder. “Yes.”
“Why?” I asked, swallowing hard. “You’re all more familiar with all this stuff.”
“That is precisely why,” Nightmare said, pacing near the front door. “We are not sure we are strong enough to resist the power in these items.”
I shook my head. “Darkness had the medallion before I did.”
