The Guardian (11 page)

She couldn’t believe the honest sincerity behind that one question. “Because it’s wrong. You don’t hurt

people.”

“They hurt me.”

“No. They don’t. People are decent and—”

“Wretch!” A female screech echoed through his room, cutting Lydia’s words off. “Here. Now!”

“Azura,” he whispered. “I have to go.”

He vanished instantly.

Lydia sighed in disgust. She couldn’t believe she was trapped here. With him. But at least she wasn’t

being beaten.

Yet.

However, as she sat there, listening to a silence that was deafening, she had a bad feeling
that
wasn’t

going to last much longer.

Something horrible was coming for her.

She knew it.

Lydia tapped her fingers against the Guardian’s desk in total boredom, waiting for him to return.

You still have the laptop, you know.

Yes, yes, she did …

And with it, she could e-mail Solin! Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier?

’Cause I’m an idiot.
And honestly, she didn’t want to get caught doing something that would get her hurt.

But …

He wasn’t here right now.

Her heart pounding, she went to her gmail account and prayed she had enough time to finish before the

Guardian returned.

Her fingers flew over the keys.

Solin,

I’m still here in Azmodea. I know you didn’t abandon me by choice, but I need a way home. My powers

are gone. I can’t get them back by myself. I don’t know how long the Guardian intends to keep me. For

now, I’m safe and unharmed. Please tell me what you’re planning.

Whatever you do, do not give him the key, whatever it is. I’m not worth it.

Love you always,

Dee.

He was the only one who’d ever cal ed her that and it was her way of letting him know that e-mail was

real y coming from her. She hit the send button and held her breath until she was sure it’d gone through.

With any luck, he’d check his mail soon and get back to her.

Even though it hadn’t been said explicitly, she had a real y good idea that the Guardian was holding her

until Solin handed that key over.

And to save her life and free her, Solin would. Without hesitation.

Please don’t.
Her life wasn’t worth what would happen to the world should Noir tap the power of Zeus.

Under no circumstances could that be al owed.

She reloaded her e-mail, hoping for a response.

For over an hour, she did that to no avail … until she felt the Guardian’s return. There was no way to miss

the change in the air whenever he was near. His powers were tangible.

As was that fierce presence.

But he didn’t come into the bedroom. Rather he was in the shower.

At least she assumed he was the one running the water in there.

After logging out of her e-mail, she went to check for sure. ’Cause if it wasn’t him, she was going to give

someone a lot to regret.

She crept slowly toward the closed door, ready to bolt if it was another demon in there. Not sure if she

should do this, she shouldered it open, then froze.

The Guardian’s armor lay in a heap on the floor outside of the shower. A shower she hadn’t realized

earlier had a glass door.

Now she saw it.

And she saw him.

All
of him.

The hot water slid over a magnificent body that rippled with chiseled muscles and sinewy grace. Oh yeah,

baby. He’d make a fortune with a Web cam.

Holy cow … Not even the bruises and scars detracted from the absolute beauty of him.

Oh my word. I want a piece of that.
Never in her life had she wanted to bite a heinie so badly.

Her throat went dry as a wave of desire burned through her blood like lava. Unaware of her presence, he

scrubbed at himself with such vigor that she was surprised he didn’t remove skin with it.

He turned slightly to get more soap, then froze as he caught sight of her.

Time hung stil as they stared at each other through the glass and steam. Her eyes widened the instant his

cock began to swel .

“Sorry!” she shouted before she jumped back through the door and slammed it shut.

Oh good grief! She was mortified at being caught …

* * *

watched him?

How long had she watched him?

Did it matter?

Sighing, he returned to bathing. It stunned him that he could get hard again, given what Azura had just put

him through. But al he had to do was think of Lydia and his body reacted against his wil .

Damn treacherous beast.

He turned the water off and summoned his loose black pants and a loose, long-sleeved black shirt. He’d

never liked showing off any part of his body. Not after what had been done to him.

Grabbing a towel off the bar, he considered putting his makeup back on, but why bother? She’d already

seen his real face and hair.

And hopeful y both Noir and Azura were through with him for at least a day.

I just want a some peace.
If only it was possible.

He rubbed the towel against his wet hair as he opened the door to find Lydia, stil red-faced, sitting in his

chair. “Did you need something?”

She shook her head, refusing to look at him.

It was just as wel . “Is there anything I can get you?”

“Besides my powers?” The sass in her tone caught him off guard.

She was ever persistent. Not that he blamed her. “Yes, besides your powers.”

“I’m good. Real y, real y good.”

But he wasn’t. He wanted to walk over to her and brush his hand through her dark hair to feel its softness

again. More than that, he wanted to bury his face in the hol ow of her throat and inhale her scent until he was

dizzy with pleasure.

He’d also want to kiss her again if her kisses weren’t as violent and painful as everyone else’s. Between

Azura’s mouth and Noir’s fist, his lips were always burning and aching. And when it came to a she-

demon …

Yeah. At least Lydia’s bite hadn’t left a scar.

It made him wonder if she bit Solin like that whenever she kissed him.

And for some reason, the thought of her with the dream god made his blood boil. He had no idea why.

She was Solin’s, after al .

But he didn’t like it. Not one bit.

Lydia swal owed as she felt him draw near her. Every molecule of her body perked up, aching for her to

reach out and rub herself against that long, hard body.

She glanced up, hoping his war paint would settle her desire, and remind her of who and what he was.

But when she met those light blue eyes set into an unbelievably handsome face that was framed with thick,

unruly spiral curls, she melted even more. Until then, she hadn’t realized how young he was in appearance.

He didn’t look any older than his midtwenties. Actual y, if not for his whiskers and the sprinkling of hairs on

his chest, and the cut definition of his muscles, he’d probably look even younger.

And how much more handsome would he be without the bruises and cuts on his cheeks and lips? Without

his jaw swol en and the broken blood vessels in his eye?

Her heart aching for his pain, she dropped her gaze to the swal ow’s tail and wing tip that peeked out

from beneath his shirt. “Does that have any special meaning?”

In response to her question, he began clawing at it as if he wanted to scrape it off. “No.”

“Then why did you—”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

He moved the towel to cover the tattoo, and it was then she saw the additional bite marks on the other

side of his neck and along the underside of his jaw. Two of them were over what appeared to be real y bad

hickeys. She also realized his lips were more swol en than before, and the upper one was bleeding again.

And when he brushed his hand through his thick hair, there were bleeding fingernail marks on the back of

his neck.

“Are you al right?”

He nodded, but didn’t speak as he paused by her side. That familiar scowl returned to his beautiful

features. “What is that noise?”

She listened careful y, but didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. “What noise?”

He pul ed the laptop closer so that he could bend over and place his ear near it.

She laughed as she realized what he’d heard. “You mean the song?” She’d turned it low when she came

back after the shower fiasco.

A light that could almost be cal ed joy shone in his eyes. “You have music?”

“Yeah. I downloaded some while you were gone.” She turned it up for him.

He didn’t smile with his lips, but his eyes did. She’d never seen him look like that. Like a poor kid at

Christmas who’d received everything on his list. “I’ve never heard anything like this.”

“It’s OneRepublic. ‘Come Home,’ from their album
Dreaming Out Loud
.”

“I swear I only understand about half of what you say.”

She smiled at him. “I get that from a lot of people.” She watched as he closed his eyes and listened to the

lyrics of one of her favorite songs. He was so close now that her hand itched to touch those dark red curls

and feel them wrap around her fingers.

But she knew he wouldn’t approve. Nor would he let her.

Frowning while he explored her playlist, she couldn’t get past the harsh bruise on his cheek and the sight

of his abused lips. Against al sanity, she wanted to get him away from this place. To show him that the

world wasn’t what he thought it to be.

That he could be happy.

She was desperate to teach him to smile and to laugh. To give him real sunlight. Not some flat picture

whose only warmth came from the electrical charge of a power cord.

Most of al , she wanted to protect him—like that made any sense given the size of him compared to her.

He was so powerful and strong, and yet vulnerable in a way she’d never dreamed possible.

He actual y jumped in startled alarm when the next song, Sevendust’s “Never,” started playing.

“Sorry about that. I should have warned you. That one’s a little heavy.” She reached to turn it down, but he

stopped her.

“I like it.”

She barely understood his words. Her attention was focused on how good his rough hand felt against her

skin. And how much she’d like to feel his touch somewhere else on her body.

Seth recognized the lust in her gaze as she stared at his lips. He ached to taste her again.

But he was in enough pain for one day. The last thing he wanted right now was to have his back clawed

again. Or his lips ripped open.

If only he could convince his body of that. It stil wanted a piece of her even if it meant being ravaged.

I am such a sick bastard.

Suddenly, she opened her mouth and yawned. Then she yawned again. “Goodness. I’m so sorry. I didn’t

sleep wel last night.”

“I understand.” He moved away from her. “You may take the bed. I won’t bother you in it.”

“What about you?”

What about him? A thousand years of torture had ruined his ability to close his eyes for any length of time.

“I don’t sleep much.”

“Why not?”

Because he didn’t like being weak. Sleep left him open to attacks from creatures other than Noir and

Azura. Cowards who would only come out when they thought they were safe. He despised them most of al .

She waited expectantly for his reply.

Instead, he conjured her a warm nightgown and held it out to her. “Here, woman.”

Lydia was touched by his gift. Mostly because she knew how rare it was for him to do this. “Thank you.

And by the way … my name is Lydia. Not woman.”

He nodded and stepped away from her. “Sleep in peace, Lydia.”

She felt a knot in her stomach at the sound of her name on his lips. With his accent, it sounded more like

Lah-deeah. And al she wanted to do was rise up on her toes and kiss him.

If only she could.

Taking the white cotton gown, she went to the bathroom to change.

When she came out again, he’d dusted off his bed and turned the covers down for her. For a man who

didn’t believe in any sort of kindness, he certainly was showing a lot to her.

But that just made it al the more special. Such things didn’t come natural y for him. He had to make an

effort to think of them.

As she walked past his desk and went to the bed, he glanced askance at her, but made no comment. He

was stil playing her music while he looked at more pictures of sunlight.

Her poor demon. Soon she would be gone from here, back home. And he would be …

She choked back a sob at the thought of them torturing him. “Good night, Guardian.”

“Good night,” he said without looking at her.

She slid beneath the covers and tucked her arm underneath the pil ow so that she could watch him. As

promised, he didn’t disturb her at al . He was too consumed by his smal window that showed him a world

he couldn’t visit.

Blinking, she wanted to stay awake for a little while longer, but she’d been through too much for that. Al

too soon, she was adrift in her other realm.

Seth knew the moment Lydia was asleep. Her breathing leveled out and her body went completely limp.

Only then did he dare look at her. One hand dangled over the side of the bed while her black hair spread

out over her and the pil ow. But the cutest part was her toe that peeped out from beneath his furs.

I hope Solin knows what he has in you.

Obviously, he did. Why else would he have fought so desperately to save her?