"Another curse." His voice cracked with emotion. "I killed a woman, and now I must die as she died." He had not wanted Ashlyn to know what he'd done, but it wasn't fair to keep her in the dark when she'd revealed all her secrets.

Ashlyn gripped him tightly. "Who was she? Why did you kill her?"

"The woman I told you about. The warrior, the one given the task I desired for myself. Pandora."

Her eyes stretched wide. "The Pandora?"

"Yes."

"That's the box you opened? Dear Lord, I don't know why I didn't piece this together before. Why didn't the G.o.ds just put the demons back inside the box?"

"Punishment. But more than that, the box was gone, with no way to be re-created."

"How did you kill..."

"My demon had overtaken me, and-"Again he could hear the torment in his own voice, and wondered what Ashlyn thought. "I lost control, became Violence completely, and my sword did irreparable damage to her. I have regretted the action ever since, doubt me not."

"But immortals can't be killed eternally. Right? I mean, you're proof of that."

"Most can be killed. Not easily, but it is possible."

"Well, everyone makes mistakes, and you've paid for yours," she said, her understanding surprising him. Warming him. Felling him. "I sort of wish you'd killed those G.o.ds who cursed you, too, because they're vile, disgusting-"

Wincing, he plastered a hand over her mouth, cutting off her words. "She did not mean it," he said, eyes traveling ceilingward. "I will willingly take any punishment meant for her as my own."

Lightning did not strike them. The earth didn't rumble.

Locusts didn't swarm, eating at their flesh. Maddox slowly relaxed. "Never curse the G.o.ds. They hear all." Unfortunately.

She reluctantly nodded and he removed his hand.

"I'm not bait," she said.

"I know you're not.""Really?" she asked hopefully. She angled her head, peering up at him.

"Really."

Her features softened; she even smiled. "What convinced you?"

"You." He looked at her in wonder because it was still a surprise to him. "Your sweetness, your ability. Your virginity."

"So you... wanted me?" she asked, unsure now. "Not because you desired answers from me but because..."

"But because," he a.s.sured her. "You make me burn."

Happiness sparkled in her eyes, like rays of sunshine stamping out the night. She snuggled still deeper into his side, b.r.e.a.s.t.s meshing into his chest. "I'm glad the Inst.i.tute brought me to Budapest."

His body had begun to stir, to ready, to desire more. Until the Inst.i.tute was mentioned. Violence growled. "You are not going back to them."

"You and your demands." Not realizing his sudden turmoil, she continued blithely, "You know, I've heard a few tidbits about Pandora's box here and there. Did I tell you that the Inst.i.tute is always interested in tracking down supernatural relics mentioned throughout history in myth and legend?"

He stiffened. "Will you tell me what you heard about the box?"

"Let's see..." She tapped her chin. "I heard that the box is hidden. Where, I don't know. But supposedly it's guarded by Argus and even the G.o.ds themselves can't get to it."

Maddox absorbed this news with shock. Argus was a huge beast with over one hundred eyes, enabling it to see everything that happened at all times. Legend claimed it had been killed by Hermes, but legend was often a lie told by the G.o.ds to fool mortals.

"I also heard a conflicting story," Ashlyn continued, "that the box is actually guarded by Hydra, not Argus. The common denominator in both stories, though, was that the-" She gave another gasp.

"What?"

"If the box ever resurfaced, the demons would be sucked back inside. That's good, right?"

He shook his head. "For the world, perhaps, but not for me. Without the demon, I will die."

"How can you know that? I mean-"

"I know it," he interrupted, thinking on what she had said. Hydra. A poisonous serpent with multiple heads. If that was true, the box was buried deep in the ocean. But which story was he to believe? One or both or neither? If the rest of what she had heard could be believed, that the demons could be sucked back inside if the box were found...

"I could, I don't know, do a more thorough search for the box. Make it my top priority."

"No!" That would entail having her leave the fortress, placing her in danger. "I know I told you to tell me everything, but now we must choose a less volatile topic." Violence was prowling his mind, more agitated with every word. While Maddox now believed the demon did not want to hurt Ashlyn, he wasn't willing to take a chance. He would talk about flowers and moonbeams-he cringed-if it meant maintaining this delectable inner peace.

"Is there a way to break your death-curse?" Ashlyn asked. So much for flowers and moonbeams. "No." He shook his head. "There is no way."

"But-"

"No." He would not allow her to try and bargain with the G.o.ds, hoping to find a way to save him. He was not savable. More than that, he was not worth the effort. He was more monster than man, even if he sometimes tried to convince himself otherwise.

"That is a subject best dropped, as well."

She trailed a fingertip down his sternum, deliciously warm breath fanning him. "What subject can we talk about, then?"

He splayed his fingers over her bottom and squeezed. "Have you heard any more voices during your time here?"

"Unfortunately." She arched slightly, the action nearly imperceptible, in an effort to be closer to him. "I heard every word spoken by those four women. Who, by the way, should be released immediately."

"They stay."

"Why?"

"That, I cannot tell you."

She drummed her fingertips. "At least tell me what you plan to do with them. They're nice. They're innocent. They're scared."

"I know, beauty. I know."

"So you're not going to hurt them?" she insisted.

"No. I'm not."

Her palms flattened, just above his heart. "Does that mean someone else is?"

His blood heated erotically, singeing his veins. "I'll do everything in my power to make sure they aren't. All right?"

Her lips pressed into his neck and her tongue flicked over his pulse. "All right, but I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure they aren't, either."

He hated denying her anything, so he clasped her chin, forcing her to face him, and gave her what he could. "I'm sorry you had to listen to their conversations. Never again will I put you in a room where humans have been."

"It wasn't so bad this time." Her fingers curled around his wrists, soft, gentle. "And I don't hear anything when you're around, no matter who's spoken."

"I wonder why. I am not complaining-I am glad, just curious."

"Maybe the voices are afraid of you."

He almost grinned.

"Actually, I wonder why I can't hear any of your friends' past conversations. I mean, I've always been able to hear other supernatural beings."

"Maybe we operate on a higher tier of existence."

She did grin."Still, we will make sure I am always around you," he said, and it would be his pleasure. "That way, the voices will never bother you again." What about when you're dead? The thought caused him to stiffen. There was no one to watch her then. No one to protect her.

Sensing his anger, she frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He would not think of the coming death now. He had Ashlyn in his arms and he was going to enjoy her, savoring this small amount of time they had together. "No more talk of the women or curses."

"Well, now you've taken away most of our common ground." Her gaze lowered, fastening on his lips. She shivered. "I've traveled all over the world for the Inst.i.tute, but I never dreamed I'd meet someone like you."

"Strong?"

A chuckle escaped her. "Yes."

"Handsome?"

"Of course."

"Sharp of wit and skilled with a sword?"

"Absolutely." Another chuckle. "But I mean a man... friend... guy. Oh, I don't know what to call you!"

He savored her amus.e.m.e.nt-and her earnest words. "Just call me yours. That is all I want to be."

Everything about her softened. "Tell me something about yourself." She tugged her face from his clasp and once again snuggled into his body. She didn't remove her hands from his wrists but slid them down his arms and around his neck, as if she feared letting him go, even for a second. He feared it, too. He wanted her desperately. And would have her, he swore, after they showered, all traces of blood and death removed. "Something you've never told anyone else."

He could tell her that he liked cla.s.sical music rather than the hard rock his friends preferred, but that information lacked the deeply personal touch she obviously craved. And Maddox found that he wanted her to know him better than anyone else in the world.

His sense of peace-true peace-deepened. All because she was here with him. Because she had cried for him and cared for him. Because she didn't judge his past sins or revile him. Because she wanted to learn about him, too. Because only he eased her torment.

Because, when she looked at him, she didn't see Violence. He suspected she saw man. Her man. A heady thought. Drugging.

Shocking. Enough to earn his eternal devotion.

"There have been a few times over the years that I wished to be human. And have a wife and-" he gulped, confessing "- children." He'd never told his friends, who would have laughed. He should laugh at the ridiculousness of it.

Violence? Near children?

Ashlyn didn't laugh, didn't scold him. "That's a beautiful dream," she said, and there was a wistful catch in her voice. "You'll make a wonderful father. Fierce and protective."

Humbled by her proclamation, though he knew he would never be given the chance to prove her words, he traced circles over each of her vertebra. "Tell me one of your secrets now."

Shivering, she drew her finger over the ridged peak of his nipple. His c.o.c.k jumped in response; his blood blistered. No longer simply heating, but already an inferno. Still, he didn't kiss her, didn't roll on top of her. However much it pained his body, now was a time for talking.

"I didn't learn to read until last year," she admitted shamefully. "Until then, I had to give all of my reports verbally, rather than typing them, and everyone knew why. I just couldn't concentrate long enough to decipher the words. The voices were always there, disturbing me. When I was a kid, my boss would read stories to me, fairy tales so magical I could almost block out the whispers. That was when I became determined to learn on my own. But it took a long time to actually do so."

He didn't care if she could read or not. But she cared, and he sought to comfort her. "That you learned at all is worthy of praise."

She gifted him with a brilliant smile. "Thank you."

"I didn't learn to read until hundreds of years after my possession, and then I only did so because I didn't like others knowing something I did not. See? You are ahead of me already."

She chuckled, relaxing further, "Once I learned, I went online and ordered every romance novel I could find. They're fairy tales for grown-ups. They were delivered straight to my door and I devoured them as fast as I was able."

"I will have Paris buy you some in town. An entire boxload."

"That would be lovely. Thank you," she said again, giving him another of those smiles.

His chest ached as he kissed the top of her head. "I've seen a few romance novels." Paris had left a few lying about the fortress, and Maddox had-maybe, perhaps, might have, would never admit it aloud-picked them up. "Had I read them-" cough, cough "-I would probably think they were-" s.e.xy, fun, enlightening "-interesting."

Her grat.i.tude morphed into pure wickedness. "Maybe... maybe we can read one together or something."

"I would like that."

As hungry as he was for her, Maddox found it amazingly pleasant to pa.s.s the time just talking. She told him how she'd spent part of her childhood inside a lab, being tested-sometimes painfully, which meant he now had a list of scientists to kill-and how she still spent most of her time alone, just to escape the noise. She'd never really been part of a family. Only one man had ever treated her as anything more than an animal, and Maddox found himself indebted to that human.

But Maddox seethed with the need to chase away those memories and replace them with better ones, happier ones. More than that, he seethed with the need to avenge her. "You deserved better," he said, Violence finally stretching its arms and yawning.

"I didn't mind my upbringing," she said. "For the most part, that is. I was always hearing things, so solitude was actually welcome."

But she'd missed playing and being touched, loved. He heard it in her voice, a need she couldn't quite hide. You know her so well do you? Yes, he thought. He did. A part of him, a part buried so deep he hadn't realized it was there until she had materialized in his life, had known her from the beginning.

She was his. His woman. His... everything.

He caressed her arm and felt a small, hard, unnatural lump. He frowned and glanced down. "What's that?"

"Birth control," she said, cheeks heating to a dark pink. "Standard agency procedure. A while back, a woman was raped on the job by a rabid goblin. She became pregnant and the child was...not normal. Now the Inst.i.tute teaches us self-defense and gives all female employees the option of having the implant."

Violence arched its back and fluttered open its eyes, awakening further. The thought of this delicate beauty being forced was abhorrent to both man and spirit. She was a virgin, but that didn't mean she had been left completely alone. "Were you ever hurt?"