“You, Elysia,” she said as she lifted her fingers from his skin, “can now add healer to your list of attributes.”
He almost burst out laughing at the way she was talking to herself, but bit his tongue to keep from giving himself away. Disappointment and relief swirled through him at the loss of her touch. But it was quickly overridden by the realization that she’d said her name.
Siren recruits weren’t supposed to remember their names. They weren’t supposed to remember anything about their old lives.
“So why aren’t you awake yet, Mr.—” She gasped and, seconds later, whispered, “Oh my.”
And right then, Damon knew she’d spotted his hard-on.
So much for feigning sleep.
He held his breath and waited for her to call him out, but she didn’t. Long, silent seconds passed. Finally, she muttered, “Screw Siren training. Looks like I can already add seductress to that list.”
The sexy little smile that curved her lips sent the blood rushing right back into Damon’s cock, and even though he knew he was supposed to be hightailing it back to Olympus right this second, he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay right here in this cave and figure out what it was about this recruit that fascinated him so.
Because there was something special about her. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. And before he left her, he wanted—no, he needed—to know just what that was.
The sound of shuffling dragged Elysia out of a delicious dream. She’d been playing in the surf when a sexy sea god had risen up from the warm, waist-deep waters, drawn her into his strong arms, and consumed her with a hot and heavy kiss.
She blinked several times, pushed up on her hands, and stilled. The shuffling sound that had awoken her wasn’t the wind or the waves. It was the brush that she’d piled in front of the cave’s opening last night being pushed aside.
“Sorry.” The man she’d rescued from that manticore ducked under the overhang and stepped into the cave. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Slowly, she sat up and focused on the torn black pants that rode low on lean hips, exposing the carved V of his hipbones that drew her gaze down. To what he kept hidden underneath those pants. To what she’d watched come to life last night when she’d touched his leg.
She swallowed hard and forced her gaze up, over cut abs and pecs, to strong sexy shoulders, and finally that stunning face. His features were the same chiseled angles and lines she’d studied last night, except this morning his eyes were open. And in the sunlight shining in through the cave’s opening she could see the color. Deep brown rimmed in a halo of gold. Spellbinding eyes. Hypnotic. Captivating.
He laid a piece of bark on the sand in front of her, and set a bunch of bananas on top. “Not as impressive as whatever you cooked last night, but it should suffice for breakfast.”
Elysia’s mouth went dry, not because he was awake and feeding her. Because he was the spitting image of the sea god she’d just been fantasizing about.
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, her stomach churning with both nerves and uncertainty. “Um, thanks.”
“Damon.”
She glanced up to his face. His really gorgeous face. “Excuse me?”
“My name’s Damon.”
“Oh. Um, I’m Elysia.”
“I know.” He sat in the sand across from her and rested his forearms on his updrawn knees. “I remembered hearing you say your name last night. I was kind of in and out a bit then, I’m afraid.”
Her fingers stilled in the process of peeling a banana. Crap, he’d heard her talking to herself. Yeah, that made her look totally tough.
“Thank you for saving my life,” he said in that same sexy voice she’d heard in her dream.
Heat rushed to her cheeks. How the heck had she dreamt about his voice? He hadn’t spoken last night. She’d never heard his voice before.
She quickly pulled the banana open, broke off a piece, and popped it in her mouth. “Oh,” she said around a mouthful. “You’re welcome.”
He watched her eat, making her feel even more self-conscious. And halfway through her meal, she realized she was eating something shaped suspiciously like—
Ooookay. Not going there. She set down the rest of her banana and swiped her hands on her skirt.
“I’m not a god.”
Her hands stilled, and that heat swept down her neck. Had he somehow sensed her dream?
“I’m sure that’s what you’re wondering,” he said quickly. “I mean, because of what’s on this island and all. But I’m not. I’m mortal. Like you.”
She wasn’t sure what she was. At the moment, she was having trouble just remembering her name.
“And I’m not a Siren recruit,” he went on. “Obviously.”
From the corner of her eye, she watched the edge of his lips curl in a sexy smirk. One that pulled on the scar near his upper lip and made his entrancing eyes absolutely sparkle.
The heat shifted to her breasts and trickled down her belly to pool between her thighs. And the memory of that dream—of the sea god’s mouth covering hers—made her legs tremble.
“So I’m sure you’re wondering what I’m doing here,” he continued.
She was. But she couldn’t quite find her voice to ask. Her throat was too thick, her mind too clouded to stumble over words.
“I was a plant. By Athena. Part of your fifth labor.”
“Fifth?” Her brow wrinkled. “But I haven’t received my fifth labor yet.”
“You completed four and five out of order. But trust me, you finished the fifth one already.”
She had no idea what he was talking about. “Athena sent you?”
He nodded. “I work with the recruits. I’m one of the trainers. In this phase, we’re used to weed out those who will move on from those who aren’t strong enough.”
“So my fifth labor was…”
“To rescue someone from danger.”
“Oh. Well. It’s a good thing I stumbled across you, because I was pretty sure I was alone on this island.”
“Not alone.” He winked at her. “Not even close.”
The simple act ignited a low burn in her belly. One she liked. Too much. Especially considering where she was.
She swiped her hands across her skirt again, averting her gaze. “So you’re one of the trainers I’ll be working with on Olympus? If I make it that far?”
“Possibly. There are many trainers.”
“Are they all mortal, like you?”
“Most are. The gods employ many mortals on Olympus to aid in their endeavors.”
Elysia chanced a look at him in the dim light. He wasn’t human. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, she just did. He had some kind of otherworldly blood in him, she just didn’t know what kind.
Her gaze strayed to the rose tattoo on his right shoulder and biceps. His skin was tan and unmarked save for that rose, his muscles ripped and distracting, but her gaze kept flicking back to that tattoo. “The rose is a symbol of Aphrodite, is it not?”
“It is.” His gaze narrowed. “How do you know that?”
Elysia’s mind spun. How did she know? She’d learned it somewhere, she just couldn’t pull the memory into focus. “I’m not sure.” When her gaze met his, she realized he was studying her speculatively. “Was I not supposed to say that?”
He was silent for several seconds, staring at her with such intensity she was sure she’d said something wrong. Nerves tightened her belly.
“I’m surprised, to be honest. All Siren recruits’ memories are wiped clean. The memories are eventually returned, usually in the third phase of training, but that’s not for many years. You said your name last night, which also surprised me. Most recruits don’t know their name. What else do you know or remember?”
Elysia looked around the dimly lit cave. “Just bits and pieces really. Nothing concrete. I remember being in some kind of classroom, learning about the Olympians.”
“Do you remember where you grew up?”
br /> She tried to put the pieces together, but all she saw were fragmented scenes—being in a school, running through a forest, chasing a blond-headed boy and a dark-haired girl, glimpsing a city of white marble and stone from the hillside and feeling a rush of…contentment.
Was the city of white her home? She couldn’t put a name to the city. Couldn’t even put a name to the boy or girl she saw in those visions.
After several moments, she shook her head. “No. I have no idea.”
The intensity left his gaze, and he seemed to breathe easier. “I guess whoever wiped your memories didn’t do a very good job. I’m sure that will be addressed if you make it through the seventh labor.”
Elysia’s stomach tightened. She didn’t want to lose what few memories she had. “Maybe I—”
A shrill whistle echoed from beyond the cave opening, and Damon turned that way. “Speaking of…” He pushed to his feet and moved for the opening. “That sounds like your next box.”
Elysia wasn’t sure she was ready for another box. She just wanted to go on sitting in this cave with the sexy man she’d rescued, wondering who he was and fantasizing about that dream.
When he stepped out into the sunlight, a whisper of worry rushed through her. Did that mean he was leaving? He’d said he was only here to aid her in the fifth labor. Was he heading back to Olympus?
She quickly pushed to her feet and followed. Sunlight blinded her as she stepped into the warm morning. Blinking several times, she searched for him, then relaxed when she spotted him ten feet away, lifting a small box from the ground.
Muscles flexed in his strong back and shoulders as he rose to his full height and dusted off the box. And her stomach did a weird flip when he turned her way, smiled that sexy half grin, and handed her the box.
“I think this is for you.”
Hesitantly, she reached out. Their fingers brushed against the smooth wood. And the moment they did, sparks of heat and electricity ricocheted into her fingertips, up her arm and down to her chest, bringing everything else to a standstill.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” he asked in that deep, familiar voice.
Her gaze narrowed. She knew him from somewhere. They’d met before. A long time ago. She was sure of it. She just didn’t know where.
“Oraios?”
Beautiful. He’d called her beautiful. Something in her chest went all warm and liquid at the simple word, and her stomach did that weird flop thing again as he stared at her.
No, she definitely didn’t want him to leave. She wanted to know more about him. Wanted…something she was pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to want as a Siren recruit.
She wanted him.
Heat rushed up her cheeks, and she pulled her hand from his, looking down at the box. What was this thing she was feeling? Yearning, craving…lust? Sirens were highly sexualized warriors—Elysia knew that—but she wasn’t supposed to feel lust so early in her training… Was she?
She cleared her throat and focused on the box. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be feeling, but she knew if she wanted off this island, she had to get through these labors. Her fingers shook as she worked the latch, and embarrassment rushed through her when she realized he had to see it.
Great. Now he knew she was interested.
She freed the latch and pulled the scroll from the box. Then frowned.
“What does it say?” he asked.
“It says I have to find something called an aegis. It’s hidden somewhere on the island.”
“The aegis is a shield, sometimes bearing the head of a gorgon.”
“Do you know where?”
“No.”
Her gaze dropped to his firm mouth, and she watched as his top teeth sank into his bottom lip. A burst of heat rushed through her, imagining those teeth nipping at her own lip. But it faded quickly when she realized he was probably leaving at any moment.
Why wouldn’t he? His job here was done. Disappointment washed through her all over again.
“I might have an idea where to look,” he said.
Hope lifted her gaze back to his eyes—his mesmerizing, hypnotic eyes—and that heat came rushing back. “Does that mean you’ll help me find it?”
He grasped the spear leaning near the door of the cave, took her elbow with his other hand, and steered her into the jungle. “That depends on whether or not you want me to stay.”
Ribbons of electricity arced from her elbow into her chest and down to her groin, warming her in a way she’d never felt before. Electrifying her in a way that made her feel alive.
“I want you to stay,” she said quickly.
He smiled down at her as if he liked that. “Then for now, oraios, regardless of the consequences, I’ll stay.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Damon walked behind Elysia as they trekked through the jungle, mesmerized by the sway of her hips in the short skirt and the flex of muscle in her thighs and ass. He really needed to pull his head out and stop drooling over her. She was a recruit. Assuming she made it through the labors, odds he’d be assigned to her during her training were slim. The attrition rate for recruits was high. The likelihood she’d be booted before she made it to seduction training was even higher.
All kinds of sultry, erotic images filled his mind as he thought of training Elysia in the art of seduction—her naked in Aphrodite’s pleasure pools, tied blindfolded to his bed, writhing as he drove her to the brink with his hands and tongue and body.
Tearing his gaze from her delectable ass, he swiped the perspiration from his forehead and told himself she was just a recruit. Just a recruit. So she was hot. They were all hot. So she’d rescued him. She was supposed to rescue him. And so she remembered things she wasn’t supposed to remember. That didn’t make her special. It just meant whoever had wiped her memories had done a shitty job.
If she isn’t that special, then why in Hades haven’t you left yet?
“Good fucking question,” he muttered.
Elysia glanced over her shoulder. “Did you say something?”
“No. Don’t mind me.”
“Huh.”
Fabulous. Now she was trying to piece together what he’d said. He swiped at his forehead again and looked down at the path to keep from staring at delectable backside. He shouldn’t be here. They’d been wandering around this damn jungle for a good four hours, and he had no idea where that stupid aegis was located. He wasn’t helping her. She didn’t need him. The smart thing would be to forget this mini-obsession and head back to Olympus before Athena cued into the fact he’d gone AWOL.
His chest smacked into something hard, and a soft grunt sounded at his front. Too late he realized Elysia had stopped and that he’d run right into her.
“Damn it.” He reached for her shoulders so she didn’t fall facedown and pulled her back against him. “Sorry.”
“Shh.” Her hand gripped his at her shoulder.
Heat rushed from her back into his chest and stomach and thighs, and with just that little contact, he grew hard and achy, exactly as he’d done last night.
Holy hell, he wanted this female. Wanted her in a way he hadn’t wanted another in he couldn’t remember how long.
“Do you hear that?” she whispered.
He couldn’t hear anything but his pounding heart and raging libido. But her words forced him to focus on the jungle around them. When brush rustled somewhere to their right, he realized they weren’t alone.
Adrenaline spiked, kicking him into action. Grasping her hand, he pulled her off the path, his eyes scanning the vines and trees around them for anywhere they could hide.
A hillside rose to their left. He pulled Elysia with him as he moved around the base, looking for a copse of trees or a boulder where they wouldn’t be seen or—
He spotted what looked to be another cave. Moving quickly, he pulled Elysia in with him, only to realize it curved to the right six feet and stopped.
“What are we—”
“Shh.” He pushed he
r as far back into the darkness as he could, until her back was pressed up against the rocks and he closed in at her front. “The monsters on this island are only supposed to come out at night, but I wouldn’t put it past Zeus—or Athena—to change the rules.”
The gods were always doing shit like that. Twisting the order of things to fit their needs. He hated that about them. Hated their selfishness and how he was stuck in the middle of their stupid world.
“You’re still in the sunlight.” Elysia’s fingertips curled into his shoulders, and she pulled him into the warmth and softness of her body. “Get closer so they can’t see you.”
His adrenaline spiked all over, this time not from fear but from awareness. The silky skin of her thigh brushed his leg, but she didn’t stop. Just continued to pull him in tighter. He lifted his hands to brace himself against the rocks so she wouldn’t feel threatened, but the hard tips of her breasts grazed his chest, distracting him from his surroundings. And when she pulled him in again, his awakening erection pressed against her warm, soft belly, making all thoughts but her fade into the background.
Holy Hera. She had to feel that. It was highly inappropriate, not only because they were currently being stalked by monsters but because this wasn’t a seduction session. He wasn’t supposed to be turned on by her. He wasn’t even supposed to be with her.
She didn’t move, just held him tightly against her. He knew he needed to pull back, to put space between them, to do something, but he was too afraid to move and alert her to his raging erection.
Slowly, he released the rocks above his head, let his hands drop to her shoulders. Her skin was smooth and silky, the muscles firm and strong. His gaze drifted down to her face, but this far back in the corner, darkness made it hard to see her expression. He could tell she was looking up at him, though. Knew from the warmth of her breath against his neck that she was watching him. Sensed by the way her quick breaths lifted her chest to rub against his that she was as aroused by him as he was by her.