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She was wearing the fluffy pink robe that wrapped her from head to toe. Her hair was dripping wet, her makeup gone, and her gorgeous eyes were swollen and red-rimmed. What was it with women crying in the shower? He remembered his mom and sister doing the same thing. They’d denied it, but he wasn’t stupid, and sometimes he’d hear the sobs over the sound of the water.

He’d been so helpless back then, but never again. It went against his nature to let a female suffer, and he came to his feet to move to her.

He’d only gone two steps when the door burst open and Ares strode inside, his expression a black cloud. He sized the situation up in a heartbeat, knew the threat to Limos had passed.

At least, the threat to her from the underworld had passed. The threat from Ares was still on the table, and Arik moved to intercept.

“Let’s give this some time,” he began, but Ares cut him off with a snarl.

“Time? She had five thousand years of time to comof height="0e clean.”

“Ares.” Limos’s voice was desperate. “Listen to me—”

“I’ve done enough listening!” Ares moved forward, and Arik met the big guy head on.

“Don’t, Horseman. Not another step. I suggest you leave now.” He waited, chest to chest with Ares, aggression winging through the two inches of air between their noses.

Arik had no doubt he was going to be beaten to a pulp, but hell if he wouldn’t cause some damage before he went down.

Ares bared his teeth, and a low, animal growl rumbled in his chest. “She’s my sister. I’ll handle this.”

“She’s my wife,” Arik shot back. “Husband trumps the brother card. So get the fuck out and don’t come back until you have your temper under control.”

A tense heartbeat passed. Then two. Then about a million, and just as Arik thought he might as well throw the first punch and get the party started, Ares gave a curt nod.

“I’ll go because I respect you, human. What you’ve done for us can’t be repaid.” His black gaze shifted to Limos. “But this isn’t over.”

Ares left, and Arik swore the entire island sighed in relief.

Limos’s hand came down on his shoulder. “Do you hate me?”

Closing his eyes, he turned into her. “No.” He folded her into his arms, his anger ebbing as his adrenaline crashed. “I hate that you lied to your brothers for so long, but I don’t hate you.” He pressed a kiss into her hair. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think your brothers hate you either.”

A shudder shook her frame, a reminder that for all the power she carried in that body, she was still vulnerable to pain, and right now, she was as emotionally fragile as she’d probably ever been. The desire to fix this made his heart ache. Give him a disassembled M-16 or a Humvee engine on the fritz, and he knew what to do.

A broken female left him with that awful feeling of helplessness… and a primal desire to kill whoever had hurt her. Unfortunately, her brothers had the immortality thing going for them.

Her arms wound around his waist, and she buried her face against his neck. “Make love to me, Arik. Make all of this go away.”

That, he could do. No, nothing could make what had happened tonight go completely away, but he could distract her for a little while.

Finally feeling like he could help her, he let his hands drift down the back of her robe, caressing, easing the tension out of her muscles. Slowly, she began to respond, kissing his throat, pressing her full breasts against his chest.

“Oh, yeah,” he murmured, his body coming alive a lot faster than he’d expected. But he should have known better, given that Limos had a way of turning him into a live wire from nothing more than a sultry look.

She gazed up at him, her eyes darkening to a rich, smooth amethyst. “Touch me.” Her words were both a command and a plea, and hell, yes, he was going to touch her. And taste her.

He held her with his gaze as he smoothed his hands around to the front of her robe and untied it. The sash fell away, and the fabric parted. Her magnificent body was exposed, ripe, waiting to be plucked and eaten like a juicy peach. His mouth actually watered.

Arousal tested his patience, because as much