Entwined

  Oh…she shouldn’t. One taste and she knew she’d be a goner. He’d nearly ruined her once before with his wicked promises of pleasure. If she let him in now…

  His hands shifted on her back, slid lower. When he cupped her ass and lowered her so the hard ridge of his arousal brushed the cleft between her legs, she gasped.

  He didn’t wait for an invitation. Or give her brain time to catch up with the moment. His tongue slid deep into her mouth without hesitation, and he kissed her, taking exactly what he wanted while she went a little mad at the feel of him after so very long.

  Ten years. Had she so totally forgotten what he tasted like in that time? What he felt like? She groaned as memories of yesterday converged with the reality of today. Sweet, like honey. Dark, like danger. Mysterious, like the ultimate forbidden fruit. He was all of that wrapped up into one sinful concoction, enticing her to let go. But she’d been here before. She knew what would happen if she did.

  Her fingers dug into the flesh of his shoulders. Her entire body tensed. She knew this was the jumping-off point for her, that if she didn’t end it right this second there’d be no turning back.

  Something finally clicked in her brain. She pushed against his chest. Reared back. Somehow managed to break free from his wicked and talented mouth. “I can’t. Zander. I—”

  “You can. I’ve seen it.” His lips were pink and close and way too tempting. She swallowed hard. “And I’m not giving you time to think of a reason to say no.”

  His mouth covered hers again, with a little more urgency and a lot more forcefulness. She moaned at the way he nipped at her lip, at the way he changed the angle of the kiss, at the way he dipped his tongue inside to slide over and around hers until she felt drugged from the dark taste of him. But when he pulled her hips tighter against his, brushing the hard, bare length of him against her most sensitive spot, whatever bit of self control she’d been hanging onto evaporated right out of her grasp.

  She melted. Groaned. And latched on to the unbridled ecstasy she knew only he could provide.

  Her hands found their way up into his hair. She wrapped her fingers around the golden strands and kissed him back. He groaned his approval, stroked deeper with his tongue and lifted her up and down in the water to rub harder against her, right where she wanted it most.

  Electricity zinged along her nerve endings. Water from the pool slapped the rocks at his back as he moved. She inhaled the sweet male scent of him and reveled in the taste on her tongue.

  He turned her easily, as if she weighed nothing, and then she felt the smooth rocks behind her. But all she could focus on was the hot, hard Argonaut at her front. His mouth slid to her ear, her throat, down to the hollow indent near her collarbone in a way that had always driven her wild. Fleetingly she wondered if he was strong enough for sex, but then she dismissed the thought. His wounds had already sealed shut. And in the water she was nearly weightless.

  “Zander…” She tipped her head back, closed her eyes, lifted her hips to rub in time with his. “Oh…”

  “Gods, you taste good.” He hefted her higher in the water, until the surface of the pool hit at her lower ribs. “I need more.”

  Desire burned in her center. He had the straps of her camisole down before she could protest. The cool air of the cave and the water droplets sliding down her chest puckered her nipples into stiff peaks, but it was the way he groaned his approval at the sight that supercharged her blood and sent her libido into overdrive.

  “Taste me,” she whispered.

  The arm around her waist tightened. The heavenly erection pressing into her panties throbbed. He cupped his free hand around her breast and squeezed, then lowered his lips to draw her deep into his mouth.

  And the feeling…oh…better than she remembered. Hotter. Wetter. His tongue was on fire and so much more erotic than she’d dreamed. Her whole body contracted as he laved her nipple, ran his teeth over the point and sucked deep all over again.

  He hitched her over to the side, moved to the other breast and laughed against her straining nipple. “Oh, yeah. Do it. Come for me.”

  She was about to. She’d heard of females who could orgasm simply from nipple stimulation, but she’d never been one. She lifted her chest higher, pushed against him. And then realized she was rubbing against his thigh like a dog in heat.

  Embarrassment burned her cheeks. She hesitated. But his mouth was on hers before she could say anything, and he shifted her back so his cock once more pressed against her satin-covered slit.

  “That’s right. Stay with me,” he whispered.

  She groaned. Kissed him back. Shivered when his fingers found their way to the edge of her panties to follow the line of silk from her hip to her inner thigh.

  “Do you want me to touch you?”

  She could barely form a coherent thought, let alone answer. Desire clogged her throat as she tightened her arms around his neck and lifted her hips, granting him access. Somehow she managed to nod.

  His smile was a little bit smug and completely delicious as he took her lips again and slipped two fingers beneath her panties to run along her folds.

  “Oh, man, you are wet,” he said as his mouth moved to her ear and his hot breath wound down the sensitive skin of her neck. His fingers stroked up and down, over and around, until she was moaning and riding him all over again.

  “Do you want me inside?” She nodded. Grabbed tight to his hair. Nearly came when he circled her clit again. “Say it.”

  “Yes,” she gasped. “Inside.”

  He pushed in one finger. “Like that?” Pulled out.

  Tension gathered. She could feel it building. Needed him to keep going. “Oh…”

  “More?”

  “Yes…” She groaned when he did it again, this time using two fingers to fill her. “Zander, oh, gods…”

  He stroked her deep, just the way she liked. His lips found hers again, his tongue dipping inside to stroke her mouth like he was doing with his fingers. She was already so close she knew it wouldn’t take much to push her over the edge. She tightened around him, enjoying every slide and tug but wanting so much more. Her arms pulled him closer; her mouth gave exactly what he took. And she relished the groan that tore from his chest when she sucked on his tongue and wouldn’t let him go.

  His fingers left her heat abruptly and she moaned in protest when he tore his mouth from hers. But then his hands were pushing and pulling and her moan turned into a yes when she realized he was stripping her of her panties.

  “No more games,” he growled.

  Her underwear flew by her head to land somewhere behind her on the rocks. His eyes burned into hers as he moved closer. She was so hot and needy she didn’t even mind that her camisole was around her waist or that if she wasn’t careful he’d see the scars on her back. Right now the only thing that mattered was him and what she desperately needed him to do to her.

  “Tell me you want me,” he whispered as his hands wrapped around her waist and he lifted her in the water all over again.

  She gasped as he pushed his way between her legs. He braced her back against the flat rocks, leaned down and drew her earlobe into his hot, wet mouth. Between her thighs, his hard thickness pulsed as it slid up and down her naked slit.

  “Tell me,” he insisted, this time sucking hard on her lobe until a shot of pain licked its way up her skin. But it didn’t hurt. If anything, it felt good. He lifted his hips, rubbed up and down, found the apex of her opening.

  The last ten years of wanting condensed into this one moment. “I do,” she whispered. “Oh…Zander…yes…”

  His hips surged, and she sucked in a breath as the tip of his erection wedged its way inside her. She groaned. Found his mouth. Kissed him hard. It had been so long, she’d forgotten how big he was, how much strength was gathered under those corded muscles, how insanely wicked he felt between her legs.

  He pulled all the way out, pushed in just a bit more. Groaned himself as his tongue stroked hers. “Callia. Gods.
You’re so fucking tight. I won’t be able to last if you don’t ease up. You’re protected, right?”

  She was quaking. So close to coming herself, and he was only an inch inside her. She quivered at the thought of the full length of him thrusting deep into her body.

  He pulled out again, reached down and pinched her nipples. She gasped as electricity shot between her thighs and breasts. “What kind?” he asked.

  “What kind of what?” she muttered as she tried to pull him back. Why was he bothering to talk when all she wanted was him?

  “Protection,” he said as he lowered his head to stroke his tongue over her nipple. “I can’t chance you getting pregnant again, not when Isadora and I are about to be bound.” He drew her breast deep into his mouth, licked and sucked like he had before.

  Only this time his mouth at her breast didn’t have the same effect. Something went cold inside her. Something that only moments before had burned red hot. “You’re still”—she swallowed hard—“binding yourself to Isadora?”

  “Of course.” He moved to her other breast. Licked the nipple. Squeezed with his hand as his cock found its way back to her crease. “I gave the king my word.”

  He was serious. There was no humor in his voice. And like a bolt of lightning, reality hit.

  This wasn’t a reunion, as she’d foolishly convinced herself earlier. While she was totally wrapped up in the emotions of being close to him after all this time, for him this was nothing but sex. And he didn’t have any qualms about fucking her right this minute while his fiancée waited for him back at the castle.

  Callia’s stomach pitched. And a thousand different I-told-you-so’s hit her from all sides.

  She braced her hands against his shoulder and shoved. Hard. “Zander, stop. Wait. There’s something you need to know.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Callia pushed hard against Zander’s shoulder, but it was like trying to move a building. “I’m not protected. I’ve been in a cleansing period for the last ten years.”

  He stilled against her while she went cold all over. Her heartbeat hammered so loud in her ears she was sure he had to hear it. He stared down into her eyes, and she waited for him to say something, to acknowledge the fact she’d just told him she hadn’t been with anyone since him or take some kind of ownership over the fact he was the reason she’d had to be cleansed in the first place. But he didn’t do either. He just studied her with those cold, intense eyes as if he didn’t believe her.

  Silence settled between them. An eternity seemed to pass. The water suddenly felt cold and tainted.

  Finally, he shrugged. And her heartbeat kicked up when he dipped his head and nipped her earlobe. This time hard enough to hurt. “I still want to fuck you.” His hands found her hips and he pulled her close to rub against her swollen tissue all over again. “If you get pregnant you can always get rid of it again like you did last time.”

  Her eyes flew wide. “What did you say to me?”

  “You heard me. And we both know you, of all people, know how that’s done.” His voice hardened. He reached down to maneuver his cock into position. “No more talking now, Callia. Let’s fuck like we both want.”

  Callia could barely see straight, but with his hand beneath the water she didn’t even hesitate. She lifted her leg, braced her bare foot against his rock-hard stomach and pushed as hard as she could. “You son of a bitch! How dare you!”

  He stumbled backward in the water, his face full of shock and irritation when it lifted to hers. “What the hell?”

  She was shaking as she jerked her camisole back up and shoved her arms through the straps, then hauled her naked ass out of the water. Only this time her tremors had nothing to do with arousal. They were spurred on by contempt. And bone-jarring anger, the kind she’d never given herself over to. Not even after he’d left her.

  “Fucking A,” he muttered in the water behind her as she searched for her underwear. “You’re gonna get all pissy now? Can’t you wait ten fucking minutes until we’re done?”

  “Go to hell!” A red haze covered her vision, but she finally spotted her panties three feet across the damp rocks. She crossed to them and pulled them on, then moved back to the bedroll Titus had set up for Zander before he left, and yanked on her pants.

  She should have let him die. She never should have let Titus talk her into coming here…

  He was out of the water and at her back before she ever heard him move. One strong hand closed around her upper arm and jerked her around to face him. “You selfish little bitch. Don’t go getting all high-and-mighty on me.”

  “Let go of me.” She braced both hands against his chest and pushed hard. Only it did little good. He was like a granite statue. Immovable. “How dare you say something like that to me!”

  “How dare I what?” he mocked. “Tell the truth?” He dropped her arm as if she’d burned him, shook his head. Whatever arousal had darkened his features before was long gone. Disgust now etched its way clearly across his chiseled features. “I could have called a spade a spade and told you what you really are, but I didn’t.”

  “Because you wanted to fuck me,” she tossed back. “Not because you care about me.”

  “I stopped caring a long time ago. You made sure of that.” His gaze took a heated stroll across her body, as if he had the right. As if he owned her. The need to cover herself swept over her, but she resisted the urge. “But I’ve wised up. You’re the last female I’d ever want to fuck. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”

  Her jaw clenched at the disdain in his eyes and the way it made her skin crawl as if she’d done something wrong. “And what am I?” she asked, lifting her chin in a clear shot of challenge.

  His eyes narrowed to menacing slits. “A murderer.”

  Her mouth dropped open. She was too shocked to whisper more than “What did you call me?”

  “I asked you for one thing,” he growled as if he hadn’t heard her. “One fucking thing. Just to wait a few days so I could work things out with Theron. But you couldn’t do even that much for me, could you? You ran right off to your father and did exactly what he wanted. You got rid of my child like it meant nothing!”

  Something clicked in her brain as she glanced around the dark cave, tried to reconcile what he was saying with what had happened nearly eleven years before. “Are you saying you think that I…you think I had an abortion?”

  “I know you did!”

  Her anger ebbed as ten years of confusion and hurt finally made sense. “Zander, I didn’t…couldn’t…” She shook her head. “I never—”

  “Don’t try to lie to me,” he ground out. “I went to that human clinic.”

  Slowly, she lifted her eyes to his. Only the Argonaut standing in front of her was not the hot and bothered almost-lover she’d shared that pool with. He wasn’t even the injured and battered one she’d saved from paralysis. This one was a warrior tensed for attack. A threat. A killer. One who could rip her to pieces with his bare hands if he wanted.

  She swallowed hard, took one step toward him and tried to defuse his rage. He’d warned her once it was in him, that as he hailed from Achilles’s line, it was his curse to bear, and that he always fought against it so it didn’t control him. But she’d never seen it full force. At least not until now.

  “You were there?” she whispered.

  “Oh, yeah, I was there.”

  “Then you know—”

  “I saw the chart. Talked to a nurse. By then you and your father were long gone, hiding somewhere because of what you’d done. Did you think I wouldn’t find out? It was all right there. In black and white.” His voice lowered. “You didn’t even have the decency to tell me. You just ran off in the night like the murderer you are.”

  “Zander.” She took a deep breath, tried to calm herself because one of them sure needed to be rational here. “I didn’t run off. After you left me to take care of whatever it was you needed to do, there were complications. I was bleeding. I thought I was
having a miscarriage. I couldn’t go to an Argolean healer because then they’d have known about…us.”

  “Liar,” he whispered.

  “I’m not lying. I was scared. My father found me. He took me to the human realm so I could get help. I didn’t abort our baby, Zander. I tried to save him.”

  “Liar!”

  “You have to believe me.” Panic closed in as she stepped closer. The menace in his eyes was something she’d never believed possible in anyone—especially him. “I would never have hurt our child. I loved our baby. When he was born…you don’t know what I went through for him.”

  “Liar!” he screamed again. “I’ve heard enough lies from your mouth to last an eternity.”

  “I wouldn’t lie. Not about this—”

  His hands closed over both her arms and squeezed hard. “I said enough!”

  All her life she’d been a healer. Even as a child she’d known she was special, that while other Argoleans had powers that benefited themselves, hers benefited others. But when Zander grabbed her, forcing her palms to push against his chest to keep him away, the only thing she could think of was defending herself against someone who so obviously hated her with every fiber of his being.

  Power rushed into her hands as if she was pulling it from some unseen force, and without thinking, she directed it right back at the threat in front of her. It flowed out of her body and she pushed it with her mind as hard as she could, without even realizing she was doing it.

  Zander’s eyes grew wide. He barely made a sound as he crumpled to the ground at her feet, then gasped in several breaths as if his lungs suddenly weren’t working.

  Her hands vibrated from the raw power that had just rushed through her, and Callia stumbled back, shocked and repulsed by what she’d done. Remnants of a rage she’d never experienced trickled through her body, leaving her nauseated and unstable. Her vision blurred, darkened, but she shook her head to clear it. Not once had she purposely hurt someone until now. Never had she known she had it in her.