The daemon trembled with such force, Apophis knew it realized death was but a breath away. “I…she…”
“Your fate will be a thousand times worse with me than your mistress, I guarantee it. The princess. Now. I grow tired of this conversation.” He held up his hand for effect and watched the daemon’s eyes grow even wider as it stared at the power pulsing inside his newfound skin, the blue glow backlighting the bones and veins and tendons within.
The daemon swallowed hard. “In the human realm. An island. She sent them to…Pandora.”
“Who else is with her?”
“An Argonaut. At-Atalanta’s son.”
Apophis’s brow lifted. Now this was an interesting bit of news. The conniving, vengeful goddess had a son who was an Argonaut. He wanted to know just how that had transpired, but a stronger curiosity left him wondering if the princess knew what evil lurked alone with her on that island.
The ramifications of what Atalanta might very well have done slammed into him. He needed the princess alive, with her virginity intact, if he had any hope of gathering the strength he needed to open the portal and draw his army of witches through with him.
“Pandora, you said?” He glared down at the shaking daemon. “How did she send them?”
“Th-through a portal.”
Of course she had. One of the many benefits to being of the god class. You could poof people and things around the earth wherever and whenever you needed. Including yourself. But lucky him, even though he wasn’t one of them—yet—he had the Orb of Krónos. And that was almost as good. Soon, it would be better.
“Thank you, daemon.” He pushed to stand.
“Wait. My arms. My legs.”
The left side of Apophis’s—Gryphon’s—mouth turned up. “You won’t be needing them where you’re going.”
True horror erupted over the daemons features. “But you said—”
“Never trust a warlock.” He blasted the daemon with one shot of energy, which severed its spinal cord. The daemon gasped; blood vessels burst in its eyes and skin. Its airway constricted until it choked to death on its own fear.
From across the barren field, a roar sounded in the main house, so strong it shook the forest where Apophis stood staring down at the lifeless daemon. Atalanta had just discovered her archdaemon was no more. He smiled as he reached inside his coat for the Orb resting against his chest from a chain around his neck.
“I’m coming for you, Princess,” he whispered as he placed his index fingers over the sign of the Titans branded into the center of the disk. The portal opened before him. “And this time, you will be mine forever.”
Chapter 16
His skin was on fire.
Demetrius groaned at the flames rushing across his abdomen and hips. Something burned hot against his chest, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt good. Way too good. And that—oh, shit—that feathery sensation against his throat was pure heaven.
Electricity zinged along his nerve endings. Blood heated his groin, tightened his balls. The whispery-soft caress moved up to the base of his ear, then over his earlobe. Warm air blew across his neck to send shivers up and down his spine.
His whole body tensed, arched. Something silky brushed against his chest, his abs, the pressure point between his leg and torso. And his cock grew impossibly hard, just that fast.
“I’ve always wondered…”
Dimly he heard the sexy female voice, followed by what could have been a gasp or a sigh, he wasn’t sure which. Either way, though, he knew that voice. It was the same one he’d been fantasizing about for years. The same one he’d been trying to keep his distance from the last few days.
Soft, sweet lips pressed against his belly button, his lower abs, the tendons in his groin, wiping away all thought. He groaned all over again, even as his hips lifted as if they had a mind of their own. But the dream, fantasy, whatever it was, didn’t cooperate, because no matter which way he twisted he couldn’t seem to get what he wanted.
“Skata.” His cock absolutely throbbed. He wanted those lips there. Wanted her. Finally. Even if she was just a dream.
Quiet laughter rose up from his toes. Followed by pressure around the base of his cock as delicate fingers encircled his shaft. But what caught his attention wasn’t the wicked touch. It was the fact the sound hadn’t come from him. And it definitely wasn’t in his mind. Where it was supposed to be.
He froze. His heart rate shot up. And very slowly he peeled his eyelids open to look down his body. His very naked body. Except—holy Hades—how the hell was he supposed to focus on anything when that small hand was stroking the length of his erection from base to tip, squeezing the head until he moaned, then repeating the caress all over again?
Ah, gods.
In the dim light he watched Isadora’s mouth curl in a tempting smile. She leaned over his hips and pressed her lips against his groin again. Her hot little tongue snaked out just before she sucked the tender flesh. Heat erupted everywhere, spiraled in, and gathered beneath her hand, still squeezing, stroking, sliding up and down until he thought he’d die.
“I want to kiss you here, like you did to me. Is that okay?”
Okay? She wanted to know if that was okay? It was better than okay. It was exactly what he wanted. Everything he’d dreamed of. Paradise and Heaven and the Elysian fields all rolled into one.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from what she was doing. Had no idea what the hell had happened and why she was doing it, but he definitely didn’t want her to stop. “Kardia…”
Carefully her lips found the base of his cock. His whole body tensed. Anticipation thrummed through his veins. She slid her hand higher, making room for her mouth. He groaned again as she kissed her way up his length, and arched his back.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she whispered.
Her sweet little tongue flicked out to taste the tip. Pleasure arced through his pelvis, radiated outward from that one spot until it was all he could focus on. His whole body tightened as she ran her tongue along the flared underside. Then she lifted her desire-filled eyes to his and sank down until he filled her mouth.
“Ah…fuck.” His head fell back as he gave in to the sensations. She explored slowly, with her tongue, her lips, licking him gently, then sucking, shallow at first then deeper as she grew more confident. He lifted his hips instinctively, lowered them, showing her what he liked. She caught on fast, her sucking picking up strength and speed until he thought he was going to black out. But it wasn’t until she scraped her nails over his balls that he realized how gone he really was.
He needed to touch her. Wanted to drag her up his chest and dive into her hot, wet mouth. Wanted to feel her whole body tense in release as she came around him.
Frantic, he reached for her, only to realize his arms were pinned up near his ears and that he couldn’t move them.
Hold on, wait. That wasn’t right. That was—
She took him all the way back in her throat, cutting off his thoughts. He groaned as his climax steamed closer.
Yes, yes, yes. His cock grew impossibly hard in her mouth.
Just before he erupted, she let go. The pressure eased from his cock and balls. Her lips slid over his abdomen, his chest, then to his throat, where she nipped and kissed and drove him wild all over again with her warm breath and succulent lips.
“I want you, Demetrius.” She kissed his ear, his cheek, worked her way across to his mouth, just like he wanted. Then her lips were on his, parting his, drawing him into her wet heat, blocking out everything but the need to feel her. Everywhere.
She eased back, smiled. Her eyes were a warm chocolate that glistened in the flickering light. He swallowed hard against a rush of emotions that pummeled his chest from every direction. “Wh-where did you learn to do that?”
“I read. A lot.”
She read? Bloody hell, just what kind of books was she reading up in her castle suite?
Her hard little nipples brushed his chest. The downy hair betwe
en her thighs tickled his abdomen. As her hands came up to frame his face and she leaned down to kiss him again, he realized she was naked. Naked and straddling him right this second.
“Kardia…Let my arms go.”
“I can’t,” she whispered between kisses.
“Why not?”
“Because every time you get me worked up like this, you pull back. I don’t want you to pull back this time. I just want you.”
He tried to clear the sex fuzz from his mind. Clenching his hands, he discovered they worked but his arms were definitely pinned back, and even though he was ten times stronger than her he couldn’t free them. While she moved to kiss his jaw and neck, he glanced from side to side, then spotted the spell book from Jason’s trunk on the floor beside their makeshift bed.
The little vixen had cast an immobility spell on him. His eyes shot back to her blond head, moving down his chest, back up to nip his ear. He should be pissed. He should be irate. But as her lips found his again and her hand slid down his torso to grip his shaft, he couldn’t help but think that was the most erotic thing he’d ever known. His entire body trembled with renewed lust.
“Ah, gods,” he whispered as he turned himself over to her touch. She stroked him, kissed him, drove him absolutely wild with her fingers and mouth and the heat of her compact little body. “I’m so going to hell.”
“At least I won’t be alone then.”
He knew her words were meant as a joke, but they hit. Hard. Smack in the center of the chest. And when nothing else broke through his raging need, that did.
His conscience pushed in, dragged reality on its heels. Yeah, he wanted her to the infinite power, but this…this was wrong. This couldn’t happen. This was exactly what he’d been trying to avoid for too damn long.
“Isadora. Wait.”
“No more waiting. I’ve been doing that my whole life.” She eased back. Her inner thighs brushed the outside of both of his. Her fingers found his cock again and she drew her hand up slowly, the sensation so intense it messed with his resolve. “I’m tired of waiting, Demetrius.”
“You don’t know what’s at stake here. You don’t know—”
“Yes, I do,” she whispered. “I know exactly what’s at stake. Everything.”
He sucked in a breath as she settled over him, brought the tip of his erection so close it brushed her folds. “Let me…” Oh, fuck, she was so wet. Wet and hot and his. He swallowed hard. “Let me pleasure you.”
“I intend to.”
Panic rushed in as she ran his shaft over her clit, sighed in pleasure, and did it again. If she kept that up, he wasn’t going to be able to stop himself. “Let me use my mouth.”
She stilled over him, and her rich brown eyes lifted to rest on his face. In that one look he saw she wasn’t quite as confident as she seemed. “Don’t you want to make love with me?”
Something in his chest cracked open. The sound of her voice, the look in her eyes, the feel of her body ready to take him in…he wasn’t sure what caused it. But it cracked open wide, right there for her. “Yes,” he whispered. “Gods, yes.”
“Okay, then,” she said in a decisive voice as she moved back into place.
“Wait.” She was rushing things. She wasn’t ready. If she was bound and determined to do this, he wanted to make sure she enjoyed it. And he needed to cool himself down about ten thousand degrees before that happened so he’d stay in complete control. “Slow down. Let my arms go. Give me a minute to—” The head of his cock found her opening, and she sank down, just until he was buried inside her one reaching inch.
She gasped and froze. He groaned, closed his eyes, and clenched his jaw to the point of pain to keep from thrusting up into her scorching heat. She was so tight he was afraid he’d come right there and then if he did. “Kardia…”
She braced her hands against his chest. Her fingernails dug into his skin. And when she didn’t move a single muscle, only breathed deeply above him as if she were in pain, he finally realized she wasn’t nearly as close to going over the edge as he was.
His eyes popped open. He focused on her face, scrunched up tight. Then remembered that she was the heir to the throne. And female. And as such, by law, untouched. In every sense of the word. “Isadora—”
“You’re bigger than I thought,” she gasped. “Just…just give me a minute.”
“Let my hands go.”
“I…can’t,” she managed. “I’m…having a little trouble remembering the words of the spell right now.”
He glanced at the book, just out of his reach. Knew he wouldn’t be able to reach it without hurting her more. “Then give me your fingers.”
“My—?”
“Your fingers. Put them in my mouth.”
She looked at him as if he were insane, but listened and eased her weight onto her left hand. Slowly she brought her right hand to his mouth. He sucked her index and middle finger, got them good and wet, then pushed them from his mouth and said, “Touch yourself.”
She hesitated; a flush rose up in her cheeks. And he couldn’t help thinking how sexy she was right this minute. His command embarrassed her, but she wasn’t embarrassed over the fact she’d tied him up, seduced the hell out of him, and now held him on the brink of sexual frustration. Nodding encouragement, he watched with rapt attention as she carefully lowered her hand, found her clit, and rubbed a slow, easy circle around the hard little nub.
“Oh…” Her body relaxed one muscle at a time. Her eyes slid closed. Her perfect face transformed from taut and scared to flushed with desire all over again. And as she worked her fingers over herself and he felt her growing wetter with each brush and stroke, he lifted his hips, a fraction at a time, deeper with every thrust, until finally he was seated fully inside her and her hips rested against his.
She opened her mesmerizing eyes, seemed startled at what he’d done. “That didn’t hurt.”
Not for her. But he had a feeling for him the pain was just beginning. “Let my hands go.”
She glanced at his arms pinned back behind his head and bit her lip in indecision. “Let’s wait on that.”
Her mouth closed over his and her tongue slid out to tangle with his. She moved her hips slightly and gasped into his mouth and he realized, bloody hell, she wasn’t gonna let him go.
The knowledge superheated his blood, juiced him to within degrees of boiling. His cock jerked inside her, teased by what was possibly the most erotic moment of his life. But he couldn’t—wouldn’t—give in. This was about her. He could grit his teeth and ride it out. And when she finally came around him, he’d pull out before it was too late.
Her hips picked up speed. He watched her ride through heavy-lidded eyes, marveled at how beautiful she was, slicked with sweat and on the verge of orgasm.
He wanted this. He wanted her. He was inside her—finally—and every stroke and glide…it was the most incredible feeling in the world.
“Gods, yes. Ride me, kardia. Let me have your mouth.” She answered with a kiss that stole his breath and pushed his hips higher, searching for that spot he knew she needed rubbed most. And when she tensed, when she pulled back and stared into his eyes and he saw she was close, he thrust harder, deeper, until she braced her hands against his chest, cried out her pleasure, and came all around him in a soul-deep tremble he felt everywhere.
“Demetrius…”
That was his name on her lips. That was his body deep inside hers. She was his soul mate and the only person in this world or the next that mattered.
The sound of her release, the feel of her tight channel gripping him, pushed him over the edge. His climax slammed into him, raced down his spine, and exploded before he could stop it. Brilliant white light erupted behind his eyes, pierced the center of his chest, until the blackness he lived with every day had nowhere to go but out. In that one moment, he knew what it felt like to be home.
She collapsed against his chest, drew deep, shattering breaths. He kissed her temple, her hair, whatever he could r
each, and tried to keep reality at bay.
But the afterglow didn’t last long. Now that his need was slaked, the truth rushed in on a tidal wave. Thanks to his never-ending weakness, nearly two hundred years of doing the right thing had just crashed and burned. And because of Hera’s curse, he’d most likely just given Atalanta exactly what she wanted.
***
Isadora’s heart raced so fast she thought it might sprout wings and fly right out of her chest. Sprawled over Demetrius, she breathed deeply and tried to steady her quaking pulse. “Wow…that was…I had no idea.”
“Let my hands go.”
She smiled, her entire body more relaxed than it had ever been, and pushed up to look down at him. Only when she saw the furrow in his brow and the way he was staring at the ceiling as if he couldn’t wait to get away from her, wariness pushed out the euphoric feeling and replaced it with dread. “What’s wrong?”
“I want my arms back. Now.”
This suddenly wasn’t the same guardian who’d rocked her world only moments before. No, this one looked a whole lot like the Argonaut who’d despised her for years.
You’re letting your insecurities get the best of you. He hasn’t changed. He still wants you.
She brushed aside the worry, gently disengaged, and reached for the spell book on the floor. “I didn’t really think it would work. I’ve never cast a spell before. But Orpheus said my link to the Horae might give me extra abilities.”
“Yeah, I’ll just bet he did,” he muttered.
“Here it is.” She found the right page, flipped over onto her knees, and reached for his arms while she chanted the words. Even before she finished the last phrase his arms came down, he rolled away from her, and lurched to his feet.
Torchlight flickered over his toned body. Desire stirred deep in her core as she watched him grab his pants from the floor and wondered how long they had to wait until they could do that again. But then he straightened and the light hit his side just right. And she saw the fine white lines—the scars—all across his hips, his buttocks, and his upper thighs.