Damon increased his pace. She wiggled against him. Hit his back again—several times—but he only tightened his hold on her legs and kept walking.

  “Damon, dammit. I said put me down!”

  He yanked the ridiculous heels from her feet and threw them into the shrubs. She yelped and pushed up, trying to wriggle her way out of his arms. He didn’t let go of her until he reached the middle of the meadow.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” she yelled in the moonlight as he dropped her on her bare feet. “You can’t just waltz into a room and—”

  The roar sounded again. But before it could drag him under, Damon grasped both of her hands in his and pictured the beach.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The ground disappeared. Elysia’s shriek sounded in Damon’s ears, but in the burst of light as the portal opened, he couldn’t see her. Wind rustled his hair as they flashed, stilling only when sand formed beneath his feet.

  “Oh my gods.” Elysia immediately jerked her hands free of his. “You flashed us back to Pandora. Are you mad? It’s the middle of the damn night!”

  The cap on his temper finally blew sky high, but he remembered the monsters on the island and kept his voice to a harsh whisper. “You’re fucking right I’m mad. I’m gone for a couple of days and you fall into bed with the first asshole who looks your way?”

  “I didn’t fall into bed with anyone,” she hissed.

  “You were on the fucking bed with Petros.”

  “I was sitting on the bed. Not fucking on the bed. And what do you care anyway? You clearly don’t. You couldn’t even be bothered to show up for our sessions. I’ve seen you in the training field during the day. I know you haven’t been out on some mission for Athena. If something had come up, you could have gotten word to me. But no, instead you made me wait in that room alone for you, night after miserable night.”

  His eyes widened as he looked down at her slinky black dress. “So you decided to get dressed up like a whore and screw the first guy who came along?”

  The flat of her hand connected hard with the side of his face, cracking his head to the side. “Fuck you, Damon.”

  She turned on her heel and made it five steps down the beach before he grasped her upper arm and yanked her back to face him. “Fuck me? I don’t think so. You’re the one who clearly wants to get fucked.”

  Her eyes narrowed to hard, sharp points. “Don’t.”

  “Why not?” Something in the back of his head said not to push this, but he couldn’t stop. He dropped her hand, but instead of moving back, he stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “You did your hair and makeup. You slipped into this slutty little dress. You’re wearing those fuck-me heels. Obviously, you were hoping to get a little tonight.”

  She moved back a step. “I thought you sent this outfit.”

  He moved toward her again. “You obviously realized it wasn’t me when you got to that room. I saw the wine. And the fire. Did that guy turn you on, oraios? Did he do it for you?”

  “No.” Her dark eyes glistened in the moonlight. “I wasn’t interested in him.”

  “I think you’re lying.” He moved closer still. “I think that’s all you want. Just a warm body to fuck.”

  She stopped moving and stared at him with hurt eyes. And the minute the words were out of his mouth, the pressure re-formed in his chest, telling him he’d gone too far.

  Regret immediately swamped him, and he softened his voice. “Emmoní…”

  Tears filled her eyes. He reached for her, cursing the fact he’d let his emotions get away from him—something he’d never ever done before. Her fingertips landed on his biceps, but instead of letting him pull her in, she hooked her leg around the back of his knee and jerked. Air whooshed over his spine before he realized what was happening. His back hit the sand with a crack.

  She planted her hands on her slim hips and glared down at him. “The only person I wanted to fuck was you, you son of a bitch. But not anymore. I don’t have any desire to be with someone who doesn’t really want me.”

  She swiveled in the sand and made it one step before his brain kicked into gear.

  She’s mine…

  He captured her ankle and pulled. She hit the sand with a grunt. Flipping her to her back, he climbed over her, braced both knees against her hips, and pinned her hands near her head. “I do want you, emmoní. You’re all I want. You’re all I can think about, and it’s making me fucking crazy.”

  She struggled against his grip. “You’ve got a really twisted way of showing it.”

  He did. She was right. And he knew only one way to make her believe it was true.

  He lowered his mouth to hers. She grunted and struggled harder against his hands. Forcing her lips apart with his tongue, he dove in and kissed her deeply.

  Pain spiraled across his tongue, and he jerked back when he realized she’d bitten him.

  “Don’t kiss me,” she growled.

  Fire flared in her eyes. Fire and heat and passion. The same passion he’d seen the other night in Athena’s temple. But now it was fueled by anger and what she perceived as rejection.

  “You like it when I kiss you.”

  “No, I don’t.” She struggled again, tossing her head on the sand so her hair flew all around her. “Let me go.”

  He couldn’t. At this point, he knew he could never let her go.

  His hands continued to pin her wrists to the sand, but he scooted back with his knees and lowered his face to the curve of her neck, breathing hot all over her silky flesh. “You love it when I kiss you here.”

  He pressed his lips against the base of her throat. She swallowed hard and pulled at his grip once more, but the fight was already fading. “I hate it when you kiss me there.”

  He smiled against her skin and trailed a hot, wet line of kisses to the other side. “I bet you hate it here as well, then.”

  She bit back a moan, but he felt it rumble deep in her chest. His blood warmed. His cock came to life, thickening in his pants. He shifted lower, dragging his lips down the exposed V of her dress and across the top of her cleavage.

  The tip of his tongue traced the line between her succulent breasts. “And here.”

  “Don’t do that,” she whispered, rocking her hips from side to side between his knees.

  “Why not?” He licked at the spot again.

  “Because you’re an ass.”

  He lifted his head and met her gaze. Her gorgeous, mesmerizing gaze. “I am an ass. But I’m your ass. And you belong with me. Not with Petros. Not with anyone else. Just with me.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “And you thought attacking him would prove that to me?”

  He shifted her hands together, pinned them with one of his, then reached down to grasp her dress at the V. “No, I think this will.”

  He yanked hard. Fabric ripped all the way to the hem, revealing her sexy black lace bra and matching low-rise panties.

  Elysia gasped and lifted her head. “You prick.”

  He smiled, because there was no venom in her words. Only heat. A heat he recognized was about to flare out of control.

  He lowered his mouth to hers, and this time when their lips touched, she opened and drew him in, licking and tasting with the same force and fury consuming every inch of him.

  He shoved the tattered sides of her dress open, flicked the clasp on her bra, and freed her gorgeous breasts. Soft flesh filled his palm. He pulled away from her mouth and lowered to her nipple, taking the pink tip between his lips and sucking until she moaned. She wiggled against the grip he still held on her wrists, but he didn’t let go. Moving to the other breast, he licked the tip, then took the whole areola into his mouth and suckled.

  “Damon…” Her breaths grew shallow. Fast. “Let my hands go. Right now.”

  He released his grip on her wrists but didn’t lift his head. Pressing kisses all along her toned belly, he shifted lower, trailing his tongue down to the edge of her lacy black panties.

  She moan
ed. Dropped her head back in the sand. He grasped the lace between his teeth and pulled.

  Elysia’s fingers threaded into his hair. She lifted her hips as he tugged the lace down. When he reached the top of her thighs, he let go with his teeth and yanked her panties the rest of the way with his hand.

  “Open your legs, emmoní.”

  She dropped her knees open, and he drew in the heady scent of her arousal. Moving between her legs, he groaned as he looked down at her swollen flesh. His gaze lifted, skimming her gorgeously naked body up to her beautiful face, illuminated in ribbons of moonlight.

  She’s mine. Only mine. Always…

  Emotions closed his throat. Made his cock swell so hard. Parting her sex with his fingers, he lowered his head and licked. She moaned. Lifted her hips. The sound turned his blood to fire. He dragged the flat of his tongue down to her opening, pressed in, out, in again. Fucking her with his tongue the way he wanted to fuck her with his cock. She groaned again and let go of his hair, dropping her hands to the sand as she lifted her hips higher and rocked against his face. Trailing his tongue back up her silky center, Damon found her clit and flicked it back and forth before finally drawing it between his lips and suckling.

  “Oh my gods.” Elysia tossed her head from side to side on the sand and pressed against his mouth. “Oh gods, yes…”

  Her orgasm was rising. But he didn’t want her to go over without him. Pulling his mouth from her dripping sex, he pushed to his knees and grasped her hips to flip her over.

  She grunted and caught herself on her hands and knees. Jerking the ruined dress free, he threw it into the darkness, then grabbed her hips again and pulled her back into his groin. She groaned and rocked her ass back into him. With one hand, he trailed his fingers through her dripping arousal. With the other, he yanked his pants open and freed his aching cock.

  “Damon…”

  He fisted his cock and pressed forward, sliding the tip through her silky wetness. “Is this where you want me to fuck you? Right here?” He drew back. Stroked himself and brushed the head over her clit until she shivered. “Say yes. Say yes, and I’ll give you what you want.”

  She moaned and pushed back. The head passed over her opening, and a tremor racked her luscious body. He pressed inside, just until it stretched her, then pulled back again.

  She dropped her forehead and groaned.

  “Say it. Tell me to fuck you, and I’ll give you what you want.”

  “Oh my gods…” She gasped and lifted her head, arching her back ever so slightly in the process, revealing more of herself to him. “What are you doing?”

  He did it again, stroking himself there until she trembled. “Tormenting you. And me.”

  She dropped her head once more and groaned, her breaths shallow and fast as he slid a fraction of an inch in and back out again, then down to circle her sensitive spot. “Tell me to fuck you, and I will. Tell me you want me. Tell me, and I’ll give you everything. All of me.”

  “Oh gods…” Her body quaked. “Yes. Yes. Give it to me. Fuck me, Damon. Fuck me so hard…”

  Oh yessss... Shifting his hips forward, he slammed inside her in one deep thrust.

  She cried out when he hit bottom, groaned as he slid back and almost free, then shoved deep once more. A shudder rushed down his spine, and he did it again, her slick channel gripping him so tightly, closing like a hot velvet fist around his slippery cock every time he thrust in, out, in, out…

  “Damon…” She spread her legs wider. Dropped to her forearms on the sand, arching her back so he could drive in one more reaching inch. His hand slid down between her legs to find her clit, and he flicked in time to his thrusts, wanting to feel her climax around his cock, wanting her to send him over the edge into sheer, mindless oblivion with her.

  Sweat beaded his forehead. Tingles rushed down his spine. He needed to get her off before he lost it. Needed to take her with him. Bracing one hand on the sand near her head, he leaned over her sexy spine. Plunging deep with long, hard, slow strokes, he struck her G-spot again and again. She squeezed tight around him, sending electrical charges all through his body. His balls drew up tight. His cock pulsed and twitched inside her. At her ear, he whispered, “Elysia. My Elysia. Only mine. Say you’re only mine.”

  “Oh…” She pushed back against him. Curled her hands into fists in the sand.

  “Say you’re mine.” He flicked faster with his finger. Her pussy grew wetter, tighter, slicker, hotter…

  He drove deeper and pinched her clit hard, and when she rocked into him, when she dropped her head back against his shoulder and groaned at the mix of pleasure and pain, he knew she was his. “I’m yours. I’m yours, Damon. Oh gods… I’m yours. Don’t stop… Don’t ever stop…”

  “Yes, emmoní. That’s what I want. Come for me.” Damon grunted as he thrust into her and let go. The orgasm raced down his spine, exploding through his balls. The moment his cock swelled and his seed erupted inside her, she shattered, contracting around him in a release that sent him spinning through a sea of erotic pleasure that sucked him under and seemed to have no end.

  Long minutes later—or maybe it was hours, he had no sense of time—Damon blinked and realized he was lying against Elysia’s back, pressing her into the sand. Groaning, he pulled free of her sensual body and flopped onto his back as the last dregs of the most incredible orgasm he’d ever felt flittered through his veins.

  Elysia grunted beside him and rolled to her back. Waves lapped against the sand near their feet, and high above, some kind of bird cawed.

  “You decimated my dress.”

  Damon dragged his eyes open and stared up at the twinkling stars, still trying to catch his breath. “I hated that dress.”

  She shifted her head on the sand and looked up at him. “I thought you sent that dress. I wouldn’t have worn it if I’d thought it had come from anyone else.”

  He looked over her beautiful face. Shards of moonlight highlighted the gentle slope of her nose, her high cheekbones and plump lips. And as he stared at her, everything that had just happened—that he’d done—came back in a rush of memories.

  “Skata.” He covered his face with his arm in abject mortification. “I’m a complete dick.”

  She laughed and rolled toward him, plastering her naked body to his side in the sand. “Maybe not a complete dick. But close. Good thing I like your dick. Oh my gods, that was good.”

  He lowered his arm and looked at her, amazed she could laugh and flirt and be so happy after the things he’d done. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I assumed the worst. I’m sorry for what I did to you in the sand. I’m—”

  “Look at me.” She climbed over him and braced her hands on each side of his face. “I’m not sorry. I’ve spent the last four days thinking you didn’t want me anymore. This, us, here like this… This just proved you do want me.”

  His heart squeezed tight. “I always want you. That’s the problem. I can’t stop wanting you.”

  Her sweet little brow wrinkled. “Then I fail to see the problem.”

  He sighed. “It’s a problem because I don’t understand it. Because it’s never been like this for me. Because…” He searched for words but came up empty. “Because I can’t control it.”

  “Neither can I,” she whispered. “But I don’t consider that a bad thing, Damon. Right now, after what you just did to me, I consider that good. Very, very good.”

  Emotions closed his throat, and he wrapped his arms around her slim waist, pulling her down to his mouth for a kiss that started with their lips and traveled through every cell in his body.

  His cock thickened against her thigh. He wanted her again, but he didn’t want her to think this was just about sex. Because it wasn’t. What she did to him, the way she overwhelmed him, the things she made him feel, it was way more than sex. It was deeper. Stronger. A connection that was only intensifying with every passing hour.

  Breathless, she rested her forehead against his and just held him. “Don’t pull away fro
m me, Damon.”

  “I won’t.” He trailed his fingers up the pearls of her spine. “I won’t again, I promise. Unless you wear that dress. I lost it when I saw you in that thing.”

  She chuckled. “I think you’re safe there. You shredded it. My only choice now is to walk around naked.”

  No way anyone else was seeing what belonged to him. “You can wear my shirt.”

  She smiled. “Staking your claim?”

  He closed his eyes and drew in a deep whiff of her honeysuckle scent. “Absolutely.”

  They held each other long moments in the sand. Finally, she said, “You know…we might want to think about getting up. You flashed us to Pandora. It’s night. Anything could come along and spot us.”

  Any kinds of monsters, she meant.

  Reluctantly, Damon let go so she could climb off him. Pulling off his T-shirt, he handed it to her, then tugged up his pants and buttoned them.

  She pushed to her feet and fluffed her hair out of the collar of his T-shirt. The black cotton fell to her thighs, looking more like a dress on her than a shirt. “It’s getting late. We really should start getting back.”

  Damon dusted sand off his legs as he rose. “We’re not going back to Olympus.”

  “What?”

  He reached for her hand. “They’re trying to take you away from me. I can’t let that happen. You’re mine. No other trainer is touching you.”

  She frowned up at him in the moonlight. “And you didn’t think to discuss this with me first?”

  “There’s nothing to discuss.”

  She tipped her head and lifted her brow.

  Something in his chest pinched, almost a stab of pain telling him he’d fucked up…again. Which he totally didn’t understand. “Fine. Yes, I should have discussed it with you. But we can’t go back now. Petros has probably already told Athena what I did. She’s looking for an excuse to separate us. You heard him say I was going down. I’d rather live one day on the run with you than a lifetime without you. You’re mine.”