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  “Calm down, psycho.” I tell him. “I’m here for a reason.”

  “To kill Eden’s fourth? Yeah, we already found that out. You won’t get near her again. I’m about to make sure of that.”

  “Her fourth?” I act like I don’t get what he’s talking about. The thought of it is starting to piss me off. Eden was predestined to be with four guys, and I was never meant to be one of them. Of course I wasn’t. I can’t stand any of them. That opportunistic prick Asher Reynolds, psycho-cop Eli Ramirez, and Nick Levine; that damned sleazy nightclub owner from L.A. Could fate have picked worse partners for her? Eden must be more saint than Goddess to put up with those assholes.

  “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.” Eli sounds pissed.

  He hauls me back and I can tell he’s about to drag me to his car. Fuck. I need to warn Eden and he’s not going to let me get anywhere near her. Why the hell didn’t I just make that phone call as soon as I figured out what was going on?

  “Eden,” I roar at the top of my lungs, hoping to cause enough commotion to get her to take notice. “Eden, I need to speak to you. Eden!”

  Then Eli clamps his hand over my mouth. It’s too tight to open my jaw and bite a chunk out of his hand for that bullshit move. I growl and push him back, making him stumble. When he lets go, I rush back toward the gates, yelling for Eden to get her gorgeous ass out of that damned mansion.

  The front door opens and Nick tries to hold her back. She pulls away from him, her eyes wild. The pain in her gaze as she rushes towards me is enough to make my chest ache. I loved her so fucking much and she tore my heart out without even meaning to. Somehow knowing the concern in her eyes is all for me is worse than having her hate me.

  “Logan?” She stares at me at her mouth falls open. She stops at the gates. “What...” Her mouth closes before she finishes her question. Her gaze has drifted to my chest.

  The blood. Shit. I should have changed. I wasn’t thinking.

  Her eyes well up with tears. “It was you?”

  How could you? It’s written all over her face. Shame fills me. Whether it was within my control or not, I’ve done something to pain her. I can’t stand to see her hurt this way. I have to explain.

  “Catherine used me. I didn’t know what I was doing. I buried her alive, but she got out. It’s why I came here. You have to get the hell away from here, Eden. Away from her. She’s dangerous.”

  Tears spill down her cheeks as she opens the gate. Waiting for the iron bars to part, I fight to keep my breathing steady. She believes me. Relief is already starting to pour through my veins. Eli is holding onto my cuffed wrists as Eden steps closer and touches my face, but it doesn’t distract from what’s happening. I’m captured by her gaze as she looks me over in worry. Her hand grazes the stubble I didn’t notice I was growing. I’ve barely noticed anything these last couple of days. But her gentle stroking feels so much like home I can barely stand it. I sob out a breath as she pulls me into her arms.

  “Oh, Logan. I’m so sorry.” Her hand strokes through my hair as her Goddess light spills through me.

  She erases my pain swiftly, healing my heart with her touch. I don’t think I’ll ever be done grieving Diana and everything we could have been, but for a moment, however brief, I feel relieved of that hurt. I’m filled with gratitude, happy that for a time, however fleeting, I knew love. A flood of precious memories of my dark-hearted lover pours through my mind, making my heart lighter.

  “Thank you,” I whisper, wishing my arms weren’t restrained behind my back. Maybe it’s fitting that they are. This is the first time our embrace is about Eden comforting me, not the other way around.

  She steps back, rubbing at her eyes. “I know about Catherine.”

  “I came to warn you, before I went out to look for her.”

  “Logan, that isn’t safe.” She shakes her head, then she shifts her gaze and locks eyes with Eli. “It’s not safe for either of you. Come inside. We’ve been working on a plan.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Eden

  Seeing Logan and feeling his grief put everything into perspective. As painful as it’s been finding out about Blake’s death, I know my feelings for him were only beginning to blossom. Losing Diana, when she’d just become pregnant with his child had to be a million times worse. My sympathy overrode everything else. I wanted to take his pain away and I did, even if it was only temporary.

  I explain why he’s here to Nick who’s eyeing him suspiciously.

  Nick takes everything in and frowns. “So what you’re saying is Logan killed Blake?”

  “Catherine used him as a weapon.” I glance Logan’s way. “He didn’t know Blake.”

  My heart still hurts for his loss. He’s leaning against the counter, head down. The blood on his shirt belongs to someone else Catherine had him kill. A stranger. It doesn’t really comfort me. She was able to use him too easily. We’re going to run out of time to do something about her. I know what has to be done, but I also know none of the men in this room will let it happen.

  “She used him twice already, apparently,” Eli tells me, his jaw tense. “She could be preparing to use him again right now.”

  I shake my head, but the thought has crossed my mind. He’s the perfect weapon. He’s trained in efficient ways to kill. He’s not going to resist her commands to take a life. And she has a very personal grudge considering he’s the reason her daughter turned her back on life as a destructive forces Goddess.

  “We need to work together on this.” My words are for the others. I don’t truly believe them because I don’t think brainstorming is going to solve anything. I need to go out there and face her myself, but I need to know where she is first and I kind of need Lawson for that part. Or Cupid, if he’d even bother showing his infuriating face. I also need a way to keep these three occupied.

  “She can get inside anyone’s head,” Logan says, looking up finally. “She can make any of you do anything. If it hadn’t been me, it would have been one of you.”

  I take it in, and remember something Lawson said. “Actually, no. She can’t make Eli or Nick do anything. She can try, but they can resist.”

  Logan stares at me for a long moment, his haunted pale blue eyes searing through to my soul. He could have been a part of this, but he couldn’t handle it. The thought burns me up inside, the wound he left when he rejected my offer re-opening. It’s as if I’m back in that moment, when I had to run away because I couldn’t stand to look at someone who couldn’t love me the way I needed to be loved. Why couldn’t he just love me enough to be okay with this?

  Logan nods slowly, understanding. “She can’t reach them because they’re yours.”

  “So you’re the only threat inside this room.” It’s only the truth, but his sad gaze burns through me, wrenching those memories and making me wish things were different. I still love him. The realisation sinks in slowly and I feel stupid for not knowing it sooner. Of course I still love him. Feelings don’t just go away. Not the same way people do.

  “And that would be why I’m still cuffed,” he says with an empty smile.

  “Sorry.” I mean it, in so many ways. I wish he didn’t have to be here. It’s only hurting us both.

  Nick puts an arm around me, seeming to just know I need his touch. I lean into him, crossing my arms.

  I’m going to have to play this carefully. I need to go to Catherine and find her heart. There must be something she cares about. I shake off the thought that there can’t be. What kind of mother could kill her own daughter like that? I can’t think about it. She’s evil, but there must be some small ray of light inside. Something I can use. If those Gods with their cult and their depraved ways could be broken by my touch, surely she can too.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Logan

  Eden’s being quiet, she’s behaving the same way she does when she’s been given a tough decision to make. That’s why I know she’s going to slip the net at the first oppor
tunity. Get out of here when her boy scout and that bar tending playboy are none the wiser. She’s going to find Catherine herself. She thinks she’s the only one who can stop that bitch.

  Sorry, Eden. That’s my job you’re trying to steal. Not gonna happen.

  “I should leave,” I tell them, not moving. “Catherine might not be able to convince either of you to hurt each other or Eden, but I doubt I’ll have any trouble given the same commands.”

  I watch Eden trade glances with her men. She knows I have a point, but something’s stopping her. She knows I’m hurting over Diana’s death, but surely she’s not going to risk these two just because she’s feeling sorry for me.

  “The cuffs need to go. I need to leave.” I push a little harder. “As soon as Catherine realises where I am, we’re all screwed.”

  Eli shakes his head. “Who knows what she’ll have you do if you leave? She used you to kill two men already. I should be driving you to the station right now.”

  There’s a look of shock on Eden’s face now. “Eli, you can’t arrest him.”

  He raises an eyebrow at her. “I can’t? He killed two men today, Eden. He admitted that.”

  “Catherine killed those men,” she tells him, her gaze turning icy. A ghost of a smile ripples across my lips. This is my Eden. The woman is incredible. No one can tell her what to think. Her frown makes Eli sigh softly. “She’s the one who deserves to be punished here.”

  “Even if we do manage to capture her, there’s no chance in hell she’ll confess, and besides, he’s the one who actually pulled the trigger so to speak.” Eli isn’t letting up.

  Eden sighs. “Logan wouldn’t have killed them without her influence.”

  The room turns silent. Nick hasn’t had much to say. It’s not like him. He tends to run at the mouth, from what I remember. Maybe he doesn’t have that much to say now that Eden chose him. He has no reason to try to provoke me anymore. No need to make me look like an asshole in front of her.

  I have to try harder to get out of here. Tensions are running too high. Eden’s going to get hurt. It’s only a matter of time. I clear my throat.

  “I have a funeral to organise,” I tell them, only willing to look Eden in the eye. “The world doesn’t revolve around Eden.”

  She flushes and I wish the others hadn’t made me feel the need to bring it up. My words feel harsh, but I know she understands. She nods. “Eli, take him into the dining room and chain him to one of the chairs. Bring him the landline if he needs it.”

  Yeah, okay, fine. Put me in a room alone. I’ll find the best way out of the house without their suspicious eyes on me. “I’ll need paper and pens.”

  Eli escorts me, making sure he’s as rough as possible. I glance at him as he shoves me toward a chair with arm-rests. “I hope you’re not this heavy-handed with Eden.”

  He draws me a disgusted look as I sit down. Yeah, kind of wish I hadn’t mentioned that either. The image it puts in my head is depraved. My cock twitches in my pants. I’ve seen Eden being fucked before. Kind of a hazard of the job. But thinking of this guy chaining her arms to bed posts and slamming his dick into her feels different to catching her going wild in reverse cowgirl on top of Hunter. Man, I’m losing it. I loved seeing her naked body when I caught that glimpse, the first of several, but then I spent most of the night pissed that I wasn’t the one lying under her.

  Thinking about Eli screwing her doesn’t fill me with that same undeniable rage. It just makes the blood flow to my cock. My pants tighten painfully around my erection. I’m so hard I can barely stand it.

  I’m seriously fucked up in the head right now. I think if I caught them together I’d want to do something a lot less violent than kill Eli for being with her. I’d want to watch. No, not really. At least that wouldn’t be all I’d want to do. No. I’d want to have her lips wrap around my cock and her mouth devour me greedily while that tight pussy of hers was being pounded hard. I’d want her to choke on my length as she comes beneath us, her cries muffled, before filling her sweet mouth with my seed and watching her swallow it all down.

  Oh fuck. It would feel so good. I groan as Eli pushes me forward, causing friction against the head of my straining cock. I bite back the urge to tell him to push a little harder. I’m so close to exploding in my pants I can barely stand it.

  What the hell is going on with me? Catherine’s orders must have really screwed me up.

  I try to quit thinking like a pervert. I’m going to have to, to get out of this. He un-cuffs one wrist and brings my arm forward to cuff me to the arm-rest. I should be thinking about escape but I know there’s something I’ll need to do to clear my head. Something depraved. I smile at my unchained arm and flex those fingers.

  Hurry up and leave, I think, frowning at Eli. He glances at the door. Or bring Eden back in here and fuck her over the table. So I have something interesting to watch while I stroke my rock hard cock.

  Focus, Logan. Don’t forget to ask for a pen if they don’t give you one. You still need to get the fuck out of here and find that bitch Catherine.

  As if he heard me, Nick enters and puts the phone down alongside a little notepad and pen.

  I don’t have any intention of making a single call. The ruse hurt to make, but I had to find a way out of here. I just needed a pen. And they gave it over without a worry.

  What else would they give over, if I asked? I gaze after Nick as he leaves, knowing the kinds of things he’d make Eden do in bed and finding the thought of those things more palatable than I ever would have before. Watching him with her would be strange. I don’t know if I’d like it. But I wouldn’t hate it.

  Christ, what’s wrong with me? I can’t stand that asshole. But I’d watch him take what he wanted from Eden? And fucking like it. I blow out a breath. I’m going insane, clearly. If only it didn’t feel so good.

  “Need something, knock on the table.” Eli tells me before he walks out the room.

  The door closes behind him. My chair is mercifully turned away from the door. I unbutton my jeans quickly and pull out my straining cock. I close my eyes. I can see Eden with them both, her gorgeous body being worshipped between them. My cock throbs between my fingers. I bite back a groan. What I wouldn’t give to be inside her again...

  She opens her eyes and beckons me over. “Logan, it’s time you came back to me.”

  I come to her and her other lovers drop to either side of her, their hands exploring her naked body. They part her legs for me as their kisses pepper her collar and shoulders. I thrust my cock into her wet warmth and breathe out a sigh. It’s like coming home. I never want to leave.

  I watch her other lovers’ hands stroke and tug at her nipples as I slam into her. She moans beneath me and I know. I had it all wrong before. I didn’t get it. Eden was never a slut or a whore for wanting this. She’s a Goddess, and she deserves to be worshipped. To never be left wanting. I slow my strokes as Nick’s hand slips to her clit. She gasps, and Eli’s tongue lashes over her breast. She comes for us together, moaning so low and deep it seems to pierce my soul.

  I gasp out a sharp breath as the warm burst of liquid spills over me. I open my eyes. I’ve come all over my hand.

  What a mess. I’m not sure which is worse. My head or my hand.

  I pick up a bottle of water Nick left with the rest and place it between my thighs to uncap it with my cuffed hand. I awkwardly clean my hand off with the water, letting it soak the carpet. Once I’m no longer sticky, I put the water back down and put my cock back into my pants. I wipe off the excess moisture on my jeans before I attempt to unlock the cuffs.

  I pick up the pen with the hand that grasped my cock moments before. It’ll work to get these damned cuffs off. Then I can be on my way. Get rid of that bitch Catherine before she can cause more harm to Eden. I glance around as I work the pen, figuring out my escape route. Too bad the room is windowless. I’ll need to just be extra stealthy when I’m leaving.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Nick
r />   Seeing the way Eden looks at him makes me wonder if Lawson was right when he named Logan her fourth. The thought makes me squirmy. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to tell her. What if Lawson was wrong? I know the way Eden thinks. She’d start considering the possibility if I mentioned it, and I wasn’t sure how I’d feel if she decided he was right. Am I being a selfish prick?

  “You okay?” Eden asks, concern in her voice.

  I nod, hoping it doesn’t show on my face that I’m lying. Logan had been a possessive asshole when he was her bodyguard. I hated to think how he’d be as a lover. I liked Asher and Eli. Logan, not so much. He would totally screw up the balance. Fuck. I can’t tell her.

  “I’m just worried about this whole thing with Catherine. It doesn’t seem like there’s a way out of it.”

  “There’s always a way. We just have to find it.” She smiles.

  “What’s wrong with Lawson?” Eli asks as he checks him on the couch.

  I moved him there when he passed out cold on the floor. “He went after Catherine, alone.”

  “Shit,” Eli murmurs. “When’s Asher due back?”

  Eden looks at the time on her cell and frowns. “He should be back any minute.”

  A loud yawn makes us all jump. I turn to see Sky coming down the stairs, screwing up her face.

  “What the hell did you put in those cocktails, Nick?” She shakes her head. “I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

  “Ha ha,” I say, glancing at Eden. Her fiery best friend is up and about and asking questions. Seems like this is the last thing we need. “There was nothing wrong with them. You’re just turning into a lightweight these days.”

  She snorts at me. “Say that again, a little louder. My fist didn’t hear you.”

  I roll my eyes. “Throw your empty threats at someone who cares.”

  “You look kind of pale, Sky. Are you feeling okay?” Eden speaks up, walking around to take Sky’s arm and lead her away from the living room where her man is passed out cold.