Goddess of Pain - Katie May Page 0,35

hour or two.

Tate’s right.

The human world is depleting us of our powers.

Will we continue to lose bits and pieces of ourselves until we’re nothing but mere mortals? Is that this person’s master plan?

Or is he or she attempting to kill me completely?

“I wonder which one of us got the closest to killing you,” Sin continues. “My guess is Tate.”

All three men hurl metaphorical daggers at my oblivious God of Flames.

“Who is this man?” I ask, redirecting the conversation to the topic at hand. Using the toe of his boot, Desmond turns Burke over until I’m able to see his face clearly.

“Don’t know.” He shrugs his broad shoulders, his black shirt pulled tight over his muscles. “Have you ever met him before?”

My brows furrow in consideration. “Not that I know of.”

“Could he have been a customer at Georgie’s?” Avery asks, and Sin releases a low, guttural growl.

“Georgie?” He jumps from the counter and stalks forward, every inch the dangerous, unhinged predator. “That better be a fucking girl.”

“Nah.” Avery flashes the other man a shit-eating smirk. “He’s a guy.”

With almost bruising intensity, Sin grabs my arm and drags me towards him. I stumble over my feet, catapulting forward until my hands are on his well-defined chest.

“Did you sleep with him?” he growls. Before I can answer, he continues, “Have you slept with any men since you’ve been here?”

The silence that follows is more pronounced than ever before, and I know that I have all of the men’s undivided attention. Even Tate, slowly waking up from his Helio-induced slumber, pauses at Sin’s question.

“Err…”

“I’ll kill them all,” Sin warns. And I don’t doubt him for a second. He’s fine with sharing me with the others, but that’s only because he knows and trusts them—in a way only a man like him can. But anyone else? He’ll light them on fire and watch them burn with a giddy smile.

I have no doubt that the others will help, even Helio, my more level-headed mate.

Tate pushes himself onto his elbows and scowls at me, but I ignore him.

“Okay, let’s clear the fucking air. Have any of you been with another woman when you had your memories wiped?” I ask, my nails digging into my palms. “I won’t be mad as long as you’re honest. You didn’t remember me.” I take a deep, calming breath. I’m afraid a part of myself will die with their response, but I work hard to keep my face blank.

The men exchange glances, but not one of them speaks.

“Be honest with me,” I warn. “Raise your hand if you’ve been with another woman.”

Squeezing my eyelids shut, I brace myself. Fuck, this is hard. So hard. I’m afraid I might physically die of jealousy.

When I reopen my eyes, not one of my men has their hand raised.

“Huh?” I ask, gaping.

Tate rolls his eyes, slowly ambling to his feet. “What? Is it really too hard to believe that we’d be celibate? Dammit, Em, you really have no faith in us.”

“You…haven’t…”

“Nah.” Sin shrugs his shoulders. “No girls interested me.”

Helio simply grunts and shakes his head.

“You know I only ever loved you,” Avery replies with a cheeky grin.

“I thought there was something fucking wrong with me,” Desmond admits, still avoiding eye contact. “I couldn’t even stand a woman’s casual touch.”

Tate just glares at me. “What about you, Emily Lopez? Has any man touched those silky thighs of yours? Kissed your neck or lips? Kneaded those perfect breasts?” He scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling. “Are you really that much of a hypocrite?”

“I didn’t fucking ask you not to have sex!” I hiss, wheeling on him. “I didn’t even know you!”

He drops his arms and balls his hands into fists. “No, but a part of you must’ve known when you asked us this question that none of us would even fucking look at another woman. But you probably didn’t have the same qualms, did you? How many men have you fucked? How many—” Before he can even finish his statement, I’m across the room and slapping him across the face. His head whips to the side, eyes darkening, but he doesn’t lift a hand to stop me.

“I’ve dated, yes,” I seethe, already knowing that Avery and Sin will track all of these guys down and make them pay. Fortunately, they have no way of knowing who they are, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try. “But I never touched another guy. Something always stopped me, and now, I know what it is. A part of