Elysia stopped at the edge of the clearing and listened for the rumble of a waterfall, searched the tree line for some kind of cottage, or tent or structure where this seduction lesson was supposed to happen. All she saw was a field and Damon standing in the moonlight, facing away from her.
“Catch.”
She looked up to see a wooden object sailing toward her. Reflexively, she winced but caught the training sword just as it reached her.
“What is this for?” she asked, staring down at the sword.
“For training. Which you sorely need.”
Her gaze lifted across the moonlit meadow. In his hand, Damon held another wooden sword.
Two things clicked in Elysia’s brain at once. One, he hadn’t brought her out here for any kind of seduction training. And two, he didn’t have any intention of teaching her about seduction at all…probably ever again.
“You’re sucking up the tail end of the class,” Damon said. “If you’ve got any intention of moving on, you need to get a lot better fast.”
Elysia glanced back at the sword in her hand. “So this is…”
“The only thing that’s going to save your ass.”
Disappointment swept through Elysia. A disappointment she had no one to blame but herself. “And the seduction training—”
“Is a waste of time.”
Her gaze met his. Moonlight highlighted the thick muscles in his arms and neck, his hard jaw, his focused eyes. But there was absolutely no friendliness in his features. The male before her now was but a shadow of the one she’d met on Pandora. “Then how will I pass that portion of the training?”
“I write your evaluation. I’ll give you high marks.”
“Just like that? Without any work?”
“We both know that’s all it would be. Work. So let’s save ourselves the time and energy and move on to something we know you can improve on.”
Rejection burned through her. Rejection and a swift shot of pain because she realized she’d hurt him way more than she’d thought. He’d told her he had no memory of his life before Olympus. He knew nothing more than being a servant to the gods and had no choice about his station on Olympus. And she’d faulted him for that. Faulted him and accused him of being a whore.
Her mouth grew dry. “If you don’t want to be my seduction trainer, then why are you doing this?”
“Because we’re required to spend our evenings together for the next few weeks. And because you need the extra help.”
Even after all the pain she’d caused him, he still wanted to help her. A tiny ray of hope wriggled its way through the rejection. An apology wasn’t going to work here. He’d never believe her, and he’d probably think she had ulterior motives if she tried. The only way to make it up to him was to re-form the connection they’d forged on Pandora. Which meant taking things slow, as they’d done there.
“Lift your sword,” he said. “You need to learn how to defend yourself the correct way.”
She didn’t want to lift her sword. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him. But she couldn’t. Not yet at least.
Drawing a breath, Elysia held out her sword and stepped forward. And told herself she could do this. She had to. Because she didn’t believe their meeting was a random coincidence anymore. Somehow, she had to make him remember that he didn’t believe it was a coincidence either.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Damon was sweaty, hot, and more than a little sexually frustrated.
Five nights spent tutoring Elysia in archery, sword fighting, and marksmanship techniques without touching her had left him horny as hell. Especially when she showed up for their sessions in skintight spandex, a crop tank that revealed the sexy strip of skin across her belly, or when she’d pause to take a breath, then smile at him all sultry and absolutely adorable in the moonlight.
He shoved his muddy boots in the bottom of his locker, pulled out the fresh pair, and sat on the bench in the locker room. Around him, trainers prepared for their evenings with the recruits, showering, changing, shaving…laughing and razzing each other about whose recruit was the fastest learner. Most of the trainers resided in the compound during the training segments, but their dormitory was on the far end of the compound and not easily accessible after a full day on the field. Damon frowned as he looked around. At least these lucky pricks got to get it on with their females after a day like this. Damon had to go right back to cut and thrust, fancy footwork, and the best place to slice a person to make them bleed out quietly.
Erebus caught Damon’s eye from across the room, and Damon quickly rose, pulled on his black T-shirt, and shoved his feet into his boots. Yesterday, he’d gotten stuck listening to Erebus drone on about what a natural Sera was at seduction. If Damon had to hear what she could do with her mouth one more time, he was going to explode. And not in any way he wanted to explode.
Running a hand through his damp hair, he headed for the door, thankful to escape before someone caught him. At his back, he heard his name called, but didn’t slow his steps. Though why he was rushing toward even more sexual frustration, he didn’t know.
He reached the clearing long before Elysia. Sitting on a log near the entrance to the meadow, he munched on a handful of nuts and mentally ran through the hand-to-hand combat moves he needed to show her tonight. It would mean touching her, which he wasn’t sure he was ready to do just yet, but the elimination checkpoint was coming up in a matter of days. If he didn’t show her some basic moves now, she’d pass everything else, fail combat, and still be cut.
She was doing better. Not great, but better. If she kept working as hard as she’d been working the last few days, she might skate through the checkpoint unscathed. She’d never be the best warrior in the group, but she had skills. She just needed to hone them if she wanted to someday be a Siren.
Did she want to be a Siren? The thought echoed in his mind. He wasn’t sure. Hadn’t ever asked her. He only knew that he couldn’t let the alternative happen. More than anything, he just wanted to get to a point where he didn’t have to worry about her. Where he wouldn’t have to spend his nights out here in the moonlight alone with her. Where he didn’t have to agonize over touching—or not touching—her every damn second of every stupid day.
Skata, he wanted to touch her more than he wanted food.
Frowning down at the almonds in his hand, he pitched them into the trees, then looked back in the direction he’d come. Where in Hades was she? She was almost forty minutes late.
He pushed to his feet, ready to go looking for her, when twigs cracking drew him to a stop. Seconds later, he spotted a silhouette moving toward him.
His body heated at just the sight of her, irritating him even more. “You’re late again.” Swiping his hands against his thighs, he fought back the arousal. “The moon will be setting soon.”
“I’m not late,” Elysia said in a soft, sexy voice. “You were early.”
“How do you know how early I wa—”
She moved into the light, and all words died on his lips.
Gone were the spandex and tank. In their place, she wore a soft yellow sundress with loose, ruffled shoulders, a nipped-in waist, and a hem that hit just at her knees. Pale yellow flats covered her feet, her hair was pinned up in a messy knot, and silver drops fell from her ears, catching the rays of moonlight shining through the trees.
The arousal came rushing back, hot and fierce. “What…? Where…?” He held out his hand. “You can’t train in that.”
She clasped her hands behind her back and smiled. A warm, gorgeous smile that lit up her entire face. “What? This?” She looked down at the dress, then back at him. “I didn’t have time to change.”
His eyes narrowed. “You weren’t wearing that on the training field earlier today.”
“Oh, you noticed.” Her smile widened. “I’ll take that as a good sign.”
She stepped past him, leaves and twigs cracking under her dainty shoes as she moved, and as she swept by, the scent
of honeysuckle surrounded him, reminding him of the sultry hours he’d spent with her on Pandora.
“I’m not really up for another lesson in combat,” she said over her shoulder, meandering through the trees, away from the meadow. “I think I’d rather go for a walk instead.”
Damon looked after her, stunned and…shit, hard. “And I think if you’re not serious about training, then maybe it’s time you went back to your barracks.”
She flicked him a flirty look over her shoulder but only kept walking away. Away from him. Away from the Siren compound. Away from anyone who might see what she was up to.
Her hand landed on the trunk of a tree, and she hummed a tune he couldn’t quite make out as she weaved through the birch and maple in the grove. The sleeves of her dress fluttered as she moved, dragging at his attention, and when she turned at the giant oak, then disappeared from view, his heart leapt into his throat.
His feet were heavy against the ground, his heart a whir in his chest. A walk? She wanted to go for a walk now? He didn’t buy it. A voice in the back of his head told him not to follow. The woman had already wrecked him enough for one lifetime. He didn’t need to trail after her like a freakin’ puppy dog. Again.
Skata. Forget being sexually frustrated. Now he was simply fucking frustrated.
And still horny as hell, dammit.
Muttering curses, he trailed after her, hoping she hadn’t already gotten herself lost. That was all he needed. To spend the next five hours out here in the dark, trying to find her before one of the Sirens realized she was missing.
Moving around a boulder, he finally spotted her ahead, a blur of yellow in the pale light. A frown pulled at his mouth, a mixture of relief and more frustration. Quickening his steps, he moved out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Then drew to a stop when he spotted her standing at the edge of a small pool, one foot out of her flats, her toes testing the water.
“It’s warm.” A smile split her lips. The same sexy grin she’d sent him on Pandora that had done crazy things to his blood.
“We need to go back. This is too far off the property.”
“There’s plenty of time for that. I think we should get in.”
His gaze shot to the water and the steam rising from the surface. Images of her naked and reclining in the hot liquid filled his mind and heated his blood all over again, forcing him back one shaky step. “We don’t have time for that.”
When she didn’t answer, he turned away and motioned with his arm. “Come on. Since you’re not dressed for a lesson, I’ll walk you back.”
One soft yellow flat landed on the path in front of him. He stilled, and his pulse ticked up. Slowly, he turned, then nearly swallowed his tongue. Because Elysia was already tugging the yellow sundress up her sweet and tempting body.
“No, thanks.” Slim legs made to wrap around a male came into view, followed by pale pink panties covering her tempting sex and the curve at her hips, a flat belly and luscious breasts resting in the cups of a pale pink bra. She pulled the dress over her head, tossed it on the rocks, and grinned with pure seduction as she reached back for the clasp of her bra. “I think I’d like to take a swim instead.”
His mouth grew dry as he watched her flick the clasp free and catch the cups of her bra before they slid free of her breasts. And the blood rushing straight to his cock made him as hard as the rocks beneath her feet.
“You should join me, Damon.” She let go of the bra. It fell at her feet, revealing her gorgeous, perfect breasts and pink-tipped nipples. Her fingers found the lace at her hips and stilled. “If you’re not scared, that is.”
Elysia knew she was being bad. But for once, it felt so good to be bad, she didn’t care what anyone thought.
She slid her fingertips beneath the waistband of her silky panties. Damon’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t move closer. Didn’t reach for her. Just continued to stare at her naked flesh as if he couldn’t look away. And even though that wasn’t exactly the reaction she’d hoped for, she took it as a good sign. She’d been flirting with him all week during their “lessons,” and she’d gotten absolutely nowhere. It was as if the male was suddenly immune to her charms. This was her last-ditch effort to break through his barriers, and if the bulge in his pants was any indication, that effort was slowly starting to have an effect.
She pushed the silk down her legs, stepped out of the undergarment, and kicked it toward her dress. His gaze zeroed in on the thatch of curls at the apex of her thighs, and her nipples pebbled, sending shards of heat straight into her sex as he continued to stare. But he still didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t reach for her. And she knew if she had any hope of getting through to him, she had to get him naked too. Right now.
She turned away, giving him a nice view of her ass, and picked her way over the rocks. Stepping into the hot springs, she sighed as heat surrounded her calves, her thighs, her hips and waist. “Gods, this is amazing.” She turned to face him and lowered herself into the water, groaning at the way her muscles immediately relaxed. “You should really get in.” Her gaze dropped to the bulge—even bigger, now—in his pants. “If you can move, that is.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game, oraios.”
Beautiful. Not my obsession as he’d called her before she’d fucked everything up, but it was a start. One she could work with.
She fanned her hands through the water and grinned. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You know exactly what I mean. Come on. Get out.”
“Nope.” She leaned back against the rocks, resting her head on a smooth stone, and closed her eyes. “I’m staying. You can go back if you want, though I’m sure Athena will pepper you with all kinds of questions about what happened to me when I turn up missing.”
“You’d do that just to get me in trouble, wouldn’t you?”
Doubt whipped through her, and she opened her eyes. Did he really believe that? Gods, she had wounded him. Horribly. He’d told her on Pandora that she was the first person he’d ever felt connected to. She was probably the only person he’d ever opened up to about his blank memories.
She sat upright, not even caring that her nipples were on the edge of the water or that she wasn’t posing sexily for him. All she wanted was to take back all the awful things she’d said and thought about him over the last month. All she needed was for him to know she hadn’t meant them. “Damon—”
“Fine.” He reached behind his head with one arm to tug his shirt up. “You can have your fun for now. But I’m not staying all night, so soak your fill. Then you’re getting out and going back.”
A tingle rushed straight through Elysia as carved abs, perfect pecs, cut shoulders, and muscular biceps came into view. Not to mention his gorgeous face and the hint of stubble that made him look that much more dark and dangerous. No male should be this beautiful. It wasn’t fair. And he wasn’t even a god. She was sure if the gods knew he was this hot, they’d punish him. Which, strangely, made his assignment with Aphrodite all the more understandable.
Not wanting to think about Aphrodite, she pursed her lips and relaxed against the rocks again as he bent and tugged off his boots. “Okay, Zeus.”
His fingers paused over the snap at his waistband, and he lifted his gaze to hers. “Do not call me that.”
The look was so adorably irritated, she laughed. “You don’t like the king of the gods?”
He pulled the snap free and pushed the dark fabric past his hips. “Can’t stand the pompous asshole.”
Elysia’s mouth went bone dry as she watched his thick, toned thighs, covered in a thin layer of dark hair, come into view. And when he kicked the pants away, straightened, and slid his fingers beneath the elastic waistband of his black boxer briefs, she was pretty sure she drooled.
His fingers pushed the fabric down an inch and stopped just as the carved V of his lower abs caught the moonlight. “You’re gonna turn around, right?”
It took several seconds for Elysia to realize he was speaking to
her, and she forced her gaze up to his face. “You saw me naked.”
“You didn’t exactly give me a choice. We both know you’re not interested in seeing this.”
But she was. She wanted to see everything. Her cheeks heated, and her gaze lifted back to where his fingers held his boxers in place. She wanted to tear the garment free with her fingertips. With her teeth. Wanted to lick and taste everything beneath.
Her heart pounded so hard, she was sure he had to hear it. But she swiveled away from him because she knew if she didn’t, he wouldn’t get into the water. And she needed him naked and in the water so she could move on with the rest of her plan to prove she wanted to pick up where they’d left off on Pandora.
Water splashed behind her, and her stomach trembled as she imagined all that warm water caressing his rock-hard muscles and tan skin.
“Well?” she asked, figuring it was safe to turn. “Isn’t it nice?”
He frowned and sank back against the rocks opposite her, the waterline hitting him mid-chest. “It’s okay, I guess.”
“You guess.” She smiled. “It’s awesome. After today’s workout, I needed this.”
Steam rose around them. He laid his head back on the rocks and closed his eyes. “I saw Minos had you running the obstacle course.”
She watched the water lap at his nipples, and her own nipples tightened beneath the surface. “Yeah.” She swallowed hard, working to keep her voice from shaking. “I can handle everything but the hill. After we come out of the mud, I lose it on the hill every time.”
“That’s because you’re trying to take the shortest route. It’s steeper there. If you go around the rock outcropping, the hillside is more gradual. You’ll pick up speed and beat the others to the top.”
Elysia hadn’t thought of that. No one went that way. She hadn’t even known it was an option. “Okay, I’ll try that next time. Thanks.”