Immortal Rider_ Lords of Deliverance Series_ - Larissa Ione [47]
“There,” he said, a little breathlessly. “You wanted me to feel. I felt. But I’m still not convinced this is real.” He might not be sure, but his dick was, and he casually adjusted his erection.
Limos pulled back from him, and though her eyes were lust-glazed, her lips wet from his kiss, she was alert, and the horse tat on her arm was writhing. “It is real.” She sounded as breathless as he was, to his satisfaction. “Come with me. I’m not done proving it.”
The mouthwatering scent of flame-broiled beef hung in the air as Limos led Arik to the dining room. Though he hadn’t argued, he moved slowly, warily, like a cat in dog territory.
Hekili had placed two plates at the round table, as well as two ice-cold bottles of lager from her favorite Hawaiian microbrewery. She normally drank “girly” drinks, as Ares liked to say, but every once in a while she liked a beer with her burgers.
“Sit.” Limos gestured to the seat that offered a view of the beach, and Arik took it, his body so rigid she was amazed his joints worked.
Limos stood across the table as Arik sat in his chair, staring at the burger, which was slathered with Hekili’s private recipe barbecue sauce and a thick slice of pineapple. “Arik, please. Eat it.”
He just stared.
God, this had to work. The idea had been Ares’s, his experience with what was now called post-traumatic stress disorder beyond vast. He’d come by with Than to discuss Sartael’s coin and Reaver’s no-show to Than’s summoning, and Ares had taken one look at Arik’s comatose body and nodded decisively.
“Stimulate him.”
“Ah… excuse me?”
Ares rolled his eyes. “Not like that. Overload him with all the senses. Shock his system out of the 2-D world inside his head.”
Ares had promised to talk to Cara to see if they could get some hellhounds here to help guard the house, and then he and Than had left moments later, drawn to some catastrophe Pestilence had caused. Her own insides were quivering with the need to gate herself to a rapidly spreading famine in China, but she was going to wait until the last possible second. So here she was, trying to ply Arik with a damned burger.
“Arik, listen to me.” She sank down in the seat opposite him and took a swig of her lager. “I know you’re having a hard time with this. But I promise you won’t be punished if you eat. { ifk aAll the food we’ve been giving you has been real. Well, some people might not consider haggis real food, but it really wasn’t dog chow.”
He lifted his gaze, which had darkened. “Bullshit.”
“I’m telling you the truth.” Truth. It struck her that even though Pestilence had re-ignited her desire to lie, it wasn’t coming second-nature the way it used to, and she was finding it easier to resist. Back when she’d lived in Sheoul, and for a good thousand years after she’d come to the human realm, lies were the only things that came out of her mouth. Maybe this relapse wouldn’t be so bad.
At least, it wouldn’t be bad as long as no one learned about the things she had lied about.
Arik’s gaze dropped back to his plate, his voice haunted. “You tricked me.”
Yes, she had, and she didn’t feel bad about it at all. “You had to eat. And I wasn’t going to give you… what did you call it… eyes and guts?”
For a long time, he did nothing. Then, slowly, he reached for the burger. His hands shook, and he cursed, put them back in his lap. Another five minutes passed, and he tried again. Just as his finger touched the bread, a bird chirped, and he reared back, hands up to defend himself, as though he expected a blow.
Limos’s heart cracked wide open. How odd that her brothers, who had started out as tender, gentle babies, had grown hard as they got older, but Limos was the opposite. She’d been raised by demons who expected her to live and breathe