Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page B

happier than it should.
    Gods, she was so sweet. So soft. The warm scent of her skin intoxicated him. He’d almost forgotten how good it felt to hold a woman who knew who and what he was. Then again, she had seen into a part of him that no one else had ever seen. It was a part of himself that even he didn’t want to know existed.
    He cupped her face in his hands as his senses swirled. All he wanted was to feel her naked against him. To have her long, graceful fingers stroking him. Have her long legs wrapped around his hips as he lost himself deep inside her body.
    But instead, she pulled back to stare at him. Her wet lashes glistened as she looked up through them. “I’m sorry for what you’ve suffered.”
    â€œDon’t be. You didn’t do it.”
    Kat swallowed at his empty tone. No, she hadn’t done it all, but damned if her entire family hadn’t had a hand in it.
    It’d been her grandfather Archon she’d seen in bed with Sin’s wife. Kat wondered if Apollymi had known her husband wasn’t faithful. If Apollymi did, it explained another reason she hated the Sumerians so.
    The politics of the gods was always complicated. And usually painful, but never as much as it was in this case.
    Bowing her head, she took his hand into hers and stared at the burn and battle scars. His skin was so dark compared to hers. There was so much strength there. But it was the loneliness he suffered that hurt her most.
    â€œStrength through adversity.” That was what the Chthonian Savitar had once told her when she’d asked him why some people had to suffer such unbelievable strife. “The strongest steel is forged by the fires of hell. It is pounded and struck repeatedly before it’s plunged back into the molten fire. The fire gives it power and flexibility, and the blows give it strength. Those two things make the metal pliable and able to withstand every battle it’s called upon to fight.”
    It’d seemed so cruel to her as a child. Sometimes it still seemed cruel.
    But Sin had withstood it with grace.
    Lifting his hand, she kissed the worst of the burn scars on the back of his left wrist.
    Sin trembled at the tenderness of Kat’s actions. Honestly, he didn’t know how to deal with it. Insults and attacks he could handle.
    Gentleness …
    That terrified him. “I thought you hated me.”
    She let out a short laugh that sent a rush of air over his skin. “I do.” She looked up with an openness that seared him. “You know you shouldn’t condone Daimons working for you.”
    â€œMy handful of Daimons haven’t wrecked nearly as many lives as your mother and uncle, but I notice you still love them.”
    He did have a point. “Only on most days.” Kat cleared her throat and moved away from him. “You were going to train me to fight the gallu.”
    Even as she said the words, she saw the image of his daughter in her mind. Ishtar had been ripped open by the demons. Literally torn apart. And by the look on his face, Kat could tell he was having the same thought.
    â€œDon’t worry,” she assured him. “I can handle them. I’m born of two gods.”
    He scoffed at her bravado. “So was Ishtar.”
    Yeah, but Ishtar wasn’t her and didn’t have the same genetic makeup. “My father is the harbinger of death and destruction. My grandmother the Great Destroyer. My mother is the goddess of the hunt. I think I’ll be okay.”
    â€œYeah,” he breathed, stepping away from her. “You do have the history of absolute terror and cruelty in your veins.”
    She winked at him. “Remember that if you ever come between me and my chocolate bar.”
    â€œI’ll try.” His tone was less than convincing. He didn’t think her much of a fighter, but he would learn. She’d show him exactly what she was made of.
    â€œSo how many Daimons do you have in your