Enslaved

Chapter Fourteen

Gryphon’s head felt so light, for a moment he wondered if it would float off his shoulders and disappear into the clouds.

Of course, he had no idea if there were clouds up there. At the moment he didn’t know what the hell was up there. Above him. Below him. Shit, he didn’t know much of anything.

His body jostled against…something. A seat? He opened his eyes to see Maelea’s face, illuminated by an eerie green glow, one vaguely similar to the glow of the therillium in those caves.

Dashboard lights, he realized as he looked up at her. She was driving, and he was lying across the truck’s bench seat, his head pillowed on her thigh. A blanket covered him, but it was her heat—blessed heat—that seeped from her body into his that warmed places inside he hadn’t known had been cold.

Her hands were clenched on the wheel, her eyes focused straight ahead. She’d swept that long fall of silky dark hair around her neck to drape down her left shoulder, leaving her throat bare and beautiful from his viewpoint. And man, she had a great jawline—sleek, covered in the creamiest skin he wanted to taste and sample. An angular little chin that led up to soft, supple lips he only craved more of. Desire spread through his abdomen and burned in his groin as his gaze drifted to her breasts, only inches from his face. Small, firm, high. The perfect size to wrap his hands around. The perfect shape to draw into his mouth and suckle.

The truck rolled to a stop. The muscles in her legs flexed as she pressed on the brake. Surprise lit her eyes as she looked down. “You’re awake.”

“Just.” Was that his voice? Damn, it didn’t sound like him. It sounded as if he’d swallowed a mixture of sandpaper and gravel. And why the hell weren’t his eyes working? He could see her, but everything else was fuzzy. He should be over the effects of freezing those daemons by now.

“I thought I’d have to wake you. How are you feeling?”

“Tired. And sore.” Add to that light-headed as hell. And horny.

Shit. He hadn’t been horny in months. And after what had happened back in that motel… Yeah. He didn’t need a repeat of that. What he needed was to get his fucking head on straight and refocus on what was important. And figure out why the hell she was having this strange effect on him.

He tried to sit up and move away from her, but rethought it when the truck spun. Sweat broke out on his forehead. He lay back down.

“Wait here.” She popped the driver’s door, carefully climbed out of the cab, and threaded her fingers into his hair so she could ease his head onto the seat. The vinyl was warm from her body. And her fingertips…Tingles spread all along his scalp wherever she touched, seemed to shoot sparks straight to his dick, brought every inch of his body to life. And oh, damn, it was good. So good.

It was also gone way too fast. The door closed softly behind her. Her shoes crunching on gravel echoed through the cab, then faded. His skin chilled, and panic spread through his chest when he couldn’t hear her anymore. Darkness pressed into the truck. No streetlights, not even the moon, shone in through the windows. He tried to sit up again to figure out where she’d gone, only his head spun with such ferocity, he was afraid he might pass out.

Doooulas…

Fuck. He closed his eyes tight, pressed the heels of his hands against his eye sockets. He didn’t need this right now. Where the hell was Maelea? He breathed deep. Tried to get the damn truck to stop spinning. Tried to block out that fucking voice.

Long minutes later, the passenger door opened, and the darkness inside leaped with excitement, telling him Maelea was close. Followed by a wicked curl of heat through his abdomen and hips when she slid those tantalizing hands under his back and helped him up.

“Easy,” she whispered.

Easy. Right. Not the word he was thinking. Hot. Sultry. X-rated. All were words more suited to what was flooding his veins. All were words he shouldn’t be thinking. Her fingers skimming his bare back were electric. And her scent…sweet jasmine flowers…was way too exotic. She took the bloody towels from his stomach and dropped them on the floorboards of the truck as she helped him out. Cool air washed over his skin, tightened his nipples, did shit to cool him down.

“Where are we?” he managed, trying like hell to stay focused.

“Outside Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Come on.”

He had no idea where they were heading, but he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to protest. So long as they weren’t going back to the colony, he didn’t care.

She wrapped an arm around his waist, propped his over her shoulder so she could help support his weight, then closed the truck door with her hip. Gravel crunched under their feet as they moved at a snail’s pace. He had the impression of tall trees in the darkness, a narrow path, a downward slope, and the sound of water lapping a shore somewhere close. But it all swirled together in front of his eyes, making zero sense. And his legs and chest ached as if he’d taken the mother of all beatings, which made walking and focusing at the same time fucking hard.

“Why?” he asked as he kicked up gravel.

“Why what?”

“Why Coeur d’Whatever?”

“We needed to get as far from that motel as we could. I should have stopped sooner but didn’t want to risk it. You need bandages.”

He had no idea what she was rambling about. The forest swayed. His feet stilled. He reached out to brace himself on the base of a pine tree so he wouldn’t go down. Holy Hades, his head was seriously fucked-up and his legs felt like they were about to give out at any second. “I’m just gonna”—he let go of her, eased down onto the ground—“sit here a minute.”

He dropped to his butt. The ground was cold but solid. Yeah, that was better. Sitting kept the spinning to a minimum. Maybe he’d just lie here awhile too. He drew in deep breaths of mossy air, rested his head back against the tree trunk.

“Come on, Gryphon. It’s just a little farther.”

“No, you go. I’m…good.” He closed his eyes. Yeah, this was definitely better. With his eyes closed, he didn’t feel like he was on a freakin’ Tilt-A-Whirl.

“Dammit, it’s wearing off,” Maelea murmured.

Her hand brushed his side. Heat seeped from her into him, reigniting the arousal he’d experienced before when she touched him. Then her soft and silky fingers grazed his jaw, tipping his face her way. “Here, drink this.”

Something small and glass brushed his lips.

He opened his mouth to tell her he didn’t want anything, that he just wanted to sleep, but sweet liquid flowed across his tongue, and on instinct, he swallowed.

Warmth immediately spread straight down his chest, exploded in his belly, sent wicked flares of electricity through every limb that bounced back and condensed in his groin. His eyes rolled back in his head. Every muscle in his body relaxed, then surged with anticipation, quad-rupling the arousal from before until it was all he could focus on.

He dragged his eyes open, looked up to find Maelea cradling his head in her lap, her shadowed face expectant and worried.

Dark hair fell like a curtain around her face, but he could still see her mesmerizing eyes. And her small nose. And that luscious, kiss-me-crazy mouth.

Gods, he wanted to taste that mouth again.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Ss..fine. Better zan fine.”

Shit. What was wrong with his lips? He knew what he wanted to say, but it was coming out wrong. He frowned. Or tried. The muscles in his face weren’t working either.

Whatever. He didn’t even care. He just wanted her.

“Let’s get you up,” she said.

She pushed up on his shoulders, all but dragged him to his feet, then slid her arm around his waist again, wrapping his around her shoulder like before. Only this time, heat exploded everywhere they touched, drawing him to her like a magnet, making him want to curl around her, slide inside her, lose himself in every inch of her sweetly scented skin.

Gravel turned to wood beneath his feet. And through the haze ahead he saw something moving. Something big.

“Step over,” Maelea said. “Careful.”

The ground rocked, adding confusion to his already messed-up head. She pushed against his chest. His back hit something hard. Water slapped a solid surface nearby.

“Stay here for a second.” She eased her hips against his, using her weight to hold him upright. Heat and electricity flared once more in his groin, tightening his dick where she pressed against him. The door directly to his left opened. Her scintillating voice drifted to his ears. “That was easier than I thought it would be.”

She pulled him into the darkened room before he could ask what she meant, closed the door at his back, and helped him down a set of steps. As the floor rocked again and he tried to make sense of their surroundings, he realized they had to be on a boat.

“Where…we?”

“Someplace no one will see us.” She pulled him forward. A click echoed in the dark, and a steady stream of light illuminated the small cabin. “This way.”

He had trouble seeing, especially the way his vision kept coming and going, but it looked like they passed a small galley off to his left, a U-shaped padded bench and table. Ahead was a door that had to lead to a bedroom, and relief flooded through him at the thought of dropping on a soft, supple mattress. But Maelea turned him before they reached it, and pushed open a different door.

She shined the light around the closet-size bathroom. After pushing him in, she pressed down on his shoulder. He dropped onto the closed toilet lid. “Wait right here. And don’t fall over.”

He didn’t have much of a choice. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Gods, he could fall asleep right here, if it weren’t for that damn rocking. And the ruckus from the other room.

Drawers rattled. Shuffling echoed. When footsteps sounded close, he opened his eyes to a watery image of Maelea holding what looked like a handful of first-aid supplies.

She set the flashlight on the small sink ledge so light shone straight up, rippled off the ceiling, and illuminated the small space. Then she flipped on the water and ran a hand towel under the flow. “You’re not going to get sick, are you?”

Sick? No way. Seeing her kneeling in front of him like that, looking up with those wide eyes and that made-for-sin mouth, blood flowed straight into his cock, making him hard as hell all over again.

She squeezed water from the towel, turned toward him, and leaned close. “This might be cold. I’m not trying to hurt you.”

Her stomach brushed his erection as she splayed the cool rag across his abdomen. But it did nothing to cool him down. He closed his eyes, groaned at the wicked sensations running through his body. Fuck, if she touched his dick the way she was touching his chest, he’d let her do whatever she wanted. He wouldn’t stop her, wouldn’t even try.

“Sorry,” she said in a pained voice. “I just need to get the blood off to see how it’s… Oh.”

His eyes fluttered open. She was staring at his stomach. And oh, hell, her breasts hovered right over his cock, close enough to touch. As she wiped his skin, each brush of her fingers sent shards of desire swelling in his groin.

“This is nearly healed,” she said in surprise.

Like he cared about the wounds right now. Like he cared about anything but her skin on his, her mouth, her tongue…any part of her body she wanted to rub against his. He shifted his legs wider to make more room for her. Wished like hell she’d stop talking and fucking touch him again. “Heal fast.”

The words came out slurred, but when she lifted her gaze to his, she either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “I see that. I’m glad. I was afraid…” Emotion passed over her face, but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Couldn’t make much sense of anything but his own burning need. Then she shook her head, looked back down at his stomach, and resumed wiping away the blood. “How do you feel?”

“Hot.” He eyed her breasts. Noticed for the first time that her T-shirt was covered in dried blood and that streaks of something green marred the skin of her hands. “And dirty.”

So dirty. Oh, man. Suddenly all he could think about was getting nasty dirty with her, right here on the bathroom floor.

“I brought extra clothes.” She left the washrag on his stomach, pushed to her feet, and was gone before he could stop her. Disappointment flowed, but she returned seconds later. And as she stood in the dim light of the doorway, he realized she was holding a backpack. The backpack he’d picked up at that army surplus store.

She opened the flap, pulled out new clothes for both of them, set them on the counter. Then she knelt in front of him all over again and reached for the button of his pants. “Here, let me help you get these off.”

Holy…hell. She wanted to take off his pants. Something way in the back of his mind warned he should stop her, but he was too far gone to care. All he could think about was her touch. About how it would feel. About where it would lead.

Please let it lead somewhere.

His dick throbbed in anticipation. She freed the button. He lifted his hips as she tugged to pull off the stained cotton. Didn’t even try to stop his boxers from sliding right down with the pants. When she realized she’d stripped him completely naked, her eyes grew wide and a small gasp escaped her lips.

Her hands froze. But he was suddenly wide awake, even with a spinning head. He toed off his boots, pushed his pants the rest of the way down his legs, and kicked them off. And when she only continued to stare, his erection swelled, growing harder and hotter under her watchful eyes.

He sat up. His cock bobbed against his belly as he reached for her shirt and tugged it up and over her head. She didn’t stop him, seemed to be in shock, and he was glad, because he wasn’t sure he could call things quits right now, even if she wanted him to.

He groaned when her naked breasts came into view. No bra. Nothing but heavenly, perfect skin. Her nipples hardened as he took her in. Her stomach tightened in the dim light. He flipped on the water in the sink at his side, ran the washcloth under the stream, then brought it dripping back to her chest.

She drew in another gasp as he ran it all over her breasts, down her belly, then back up again, washing away every last bit of that battle. He cupped her left breast with his free hand, ran his wet thumb over her nipple, pinched it gently, and watched it harden into a tight little nub.

“Gryphon,” she whispered.

In his foggy head he couldn’t tell if the word was a warning or a plea. But he felt the shiver that ran down her spine. And the way it pushed her a fraction of an inch closer.

He took that as his cue. Dropped the washrag on the floor. Slid his wet hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her tight to him as he closed his mouth over hers.

She opened without hesitation, pressed her hands against his bare chest, moaned as his tongue slid into her mouth and he tasted her all over again. Heat and life pulsed through his veins as his erection pressed against her bare belly. As her arms slid around his neck and her breasts brushed his chest. As she tangled her tongue with his and kissed him back with all the urgency and hunger he was showering on her.

Ah, gods. This was what he wanted. More of her heat. More of her skin. More of this feeling in the center of his chest, telling him he was alive. But she wasn’t close enough. He needed to get inside her. Needed to feel her. It was all he could think about. All he could focus on. He tried to drag her up onto his lap, but her knee knocked into the counter and she pulled back from his mouth, cringing at the pain.

He surged to his feet, lifted her around the waist before she could find her footing. The room spun but he ignored it. Couldn’t see anything but her. “Wrap your legs around me.”

She gasped as his hands slid down to cup her ass. He closed his mouth over hers again, stumbled through the door. She kissed him back. Harder. With more insistence. Her tongue slid along his, and the silky, sultry feel of her mouth made his balls tighten to near painful levels.

He pressed against her mound, only to groan when another shudder rushed through her body. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. Wanted all of her. He made it as far as the table before he lost his footing.

She landed on her ass on the hard surface with a grunt. Her arms came around his shoulders to keep him from falling on top of her. “Gryphon. Are you okay?”

Okay? Okay? The room spun again. But the throbbing ache between his legs was all he could think about. The ache only she had the power to ease.

He leaned down, brushed his mouth over hers. Couldn’t wait any longer. He needed her. More than he’d ever needed anyone before.

He reached for her hand and brought it to his cock. Then shuddered as her fingers brushed his shaft. “Not okay. Not even close. Just touch me, dammit. Touch me like I’ve been wanting you to for months.”

Maelea’s heart raced beneath her breast. She knew she shouldn’t. She knew this wasn’t the time or place, that they were trespassing on a private dock, on someone’s boat, in the middle of the night, and could be caught at any moment. She also knew that Gryphon likely wasn’t even aware of what he was doing, thanks to that concoction her mother had given her. Not to mention there could be daemons out there searching for their trail. But…

She didn’t want to stop. The ache between her legs was too strong. The pull toward him too great. And the fact that he’d said he’d been dreaming about her for months and wishing for her touch was the tipping point that sent her right over the edge.

She brushed her fingers over his cock again, reveled in the way he groaned. He was hard and hot, smooth skin over a rock-solid center, and bigger than she expected. Oh, she wasn’t a virgin, not by a long shot, but it had been quite a while for her. She’d pretty much given up on sex when she’d given up on the notion of falling in love. What was the point, after all? But right now, she didn’t care about a future or about what would happen next. All she cared about was touching him. About the fact none of the human men she’d been with over the years came close to having the power and strength pulsing in the palm of her hand right this very second.

Her thighs ached. She tightened her muscles to ease the throb. It didn’t work. If anything, it made her need greater. Wrapping her hand around his length, she slowly slid her fingers up to the tip, squeezed the head, used her thumb to brush a bead of fluid over his tip. He moaned, pressed into her hand. She answered by sliding her fingers down, stroking him from tip to base.

“Sotiria. Gods, that feels so good.” His hand slid into her hair, his fingers playing with her long locks as he eased even closer, drawing her toward him.

She knew what he wanted. The same thing she suddenly wanted. She moved her hand up his length again, licked her lips, leaned close. And as she lifted her gaze to his, she flicked her tongue over the tip and watched in awe as his eyes rolled back in his head.

“Ah, gods.” He threaded his other hand in her hair, massaged the back of her scalp as she drew him into her mouth. He didn’t pull her forward or force her to take more. Just stood there while she ran her tongue against the underside of his cock, while she closed her mouth around his shaft, while she tasted him deeper.

He was salty and sweet. So hard and hot against her tongue. As she sucked, she wrapped her hands around his thighs, partly to draw him closer, partly to hold him up. He responded by pressing into her mouth, groaning long and low. At any minute she expected his legs to give out, but she didn’t stop. Because he tasted too good. He felt too incredible. And because for once she didn’t want to think. Didn’t want to worry. She just wanted to feel.

“Sotiria,” he groaned again.

My salvation.

Did he even know what he was saying? Her chest warmed, and the space around her heart filled. He’d called her that in the car. She wasn’t anyone’s salvation, since she couldn’t even save herself—but she loved the word. Loved the way it sounded on his lips. Loved that he thought of her like that, even if it was only part of some drug-induced dream.

She stroked her tongue around the flared head of his cock, then drew him all the way back in her throat. He groaned, gripped the back of her head, then released her and pulled away.

She looked up in surprise. His eyes were as blue as she’d ever seen them when he leaned over her, forcing her back on the table.

He gripped her pants at the waistband and yanked them all the way off. “Have to see if you’re wet. Need to know…”

Cool air rushed over her bare skin. She tried to sit up. Tried to tell him she wasn’t done tasting him. But he dropped to his knees between her legs, pressed her thighs open before she could stop him. Then his fingers slid along her sex, and a groan tore from her throat at the first touch.

Her head fell back against the table. She lifted her hips as his finger brushed her folds, then slid lower, inside. She moaned, nearly came out of her skin when he stroked her, when he slid out and back in again, this time with two fingers. And when his thumb circled her clit, electricity raced down her spine.

“Gryphon—”

“Gods, sotiria, you’re so wet. So swollen. You want to come, don’t you?”

Yes. Yes. Just that.

He kissed her lower belly, her belly button, trailed his mouth higher and closed it over her breast. Sparks shot from her nipples to her sex, amped her need even more. She groaned as he continued to drive her mad with his fingers, with his mouth, as she ran her hands through his short hair and pressed into his wicked touch.

“Oh, Gryphon. Yes, there. Right there.”

Electricity gathered in her pelvis, a firestorm of sensations about to explode. But just before the orgasm reached her, he pulled free, let go with his mouth.

She cried out in frustration, but he leaned over her again before she could ask why he’d stopped, captured the sound with his mouth. Then his tongue was stroking hers, his chest brushing her nipples, the tip of his cock sliding along her sex. So hot. So hard. So very close to where she needed him.

“I want to feel you come around me,” he said against her lips.

“Yes.” Yes.

She tasted desire and hunger, so much hunger it stole her breath. Wanted only to go on kissing him forever. But he pulled back from her mouth before she was anywhere near satisfied. He braced one hand on the table next to her. Used the other to grip his cock and slide it along her wetness.

A moan slipped from her lips as she looked up into lust-filled eyes fixated on only her, as she rocked against his touch. Water lapped against the hull, and in the silence between them, staring at each other as if they were the only two people in the world, that space around her heart filled even more.

“Gryphon…”

“Tell me, sotiria.” He looked down, watched as his erection slid along her wetness, circled her clit with the tip, dipped down to her opening.

Pleasure rushed through her core. She knew he was teasing her, wanting her even closer to the edge before he pressed inside. She lifted her hips, tried to show him what she wanted. When he didn’t take the cue, a groan echoed from her throat. “Gryphon, gods, I want you.”

His lips lowered to hers. His tongue slid inside her mouth just as he pushed into her body. She tightened around him, kissed him harder, and gripped his shoulders, pulling him deeper when he tried to ease away.

Not going anywhere. Not now.

She stroked her tongue against his. Lifted her hips. Moaned when his thickness pressed deeper inside.

Yes, yes, yes.

His mouth broke free of hers. “So tight,” he breathed against her cheek. “So hot and wet.” He drew back a fraction of an inch, pressed in again. “Don’t want to hurt you.”

“You can’t.” She dug her fingers into the firm skin of his shoulders, lifted again, wanting all of him. “Don’t stop. Don’t stop now.”

He kissed her once more, slid out and back in. Did it over and over, until long seconds later his hips were flush with hers and her sex contracted around his length, all the way inside her.

He dropped his head to her shoulder. His whole body trembled. While he breathed heavily against her neck as if trying to slow himself down, she closed her eyes and let her body adjust to his size. It had been so long, and he was big. But gods, he felt good. So very, very good.

But not good enough.

She lifted her hips, tried to get him to move. “Gryphon.” Kissing his ear, his jaw, anything she could reach, she hoped like hell he hadn’t just passed out. “More.”

“It’s gone,” he whispered against her neck. “I can’t even hear the buzz. Ah, gods, it’s been so long and now it’s finally gone. All because of you.”

He pushed up on his hand, and for the first time since she’d known him, his eyes were clear. Clear and beautiful and focused on her. Surprise flickered in those blue pools. Surprise, mixed with relief and need. So much need, it shot straight to her heart.

“Sotiria…”

His mouth closed over hers with such force, it drew a gasp from her lips. She lifted to meet him, wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he drove into her again and again, as his thrusts picked up speed. As her release barreled closer with every glide and pull and stroke and plunge.

She had no idea what he was talking about. Didn’t know what was gone or what buzz he could no longer hear. All she knew was that he needed her. That whatever had scared her in that statement before now rocketed through her chest and clamped onto her heart like a vise.

He dragged her up from the table so she was sitting on the edge. She wrapped her legs around his hips, took him deeper. He cradled the back of her head with one hand and slid his arm around her waist with the other as if trying to get even closer.

“Sotiria…” he mouthed against her lips.

She answered by kissing him with all she had in her, tightening every muscle. And when he groaned, when he grew impossibly hard, when she knew his release was consuming him, then she let go. Electricity raced down her spine, exploded in her pelvis, arced out to every nerve ending in her body, blurring her vision, stealing her breath, draining the strength from every single muscle.

Her body quaked against his as she held on, as she struggled to breathe through the aftershocks. Against her, he began to relax, but his heart still raced just as fast as hers. And she loved the strong, steady thump so close to her own.

It had never been like that for her. Never as good. Never as hot. Never as soul-shattering as this had just been. She closed her eyes and rested her head in the curve between his neck and shoulder, tried not to read too much into what that meant. Tried not to laugh at how quickly things had changed.

“I…” he managed in a raspy voice, his sweaty chest rising and falling with his fast breaths. “Gods, that was so much better than I imagined.”

A smile twined across her lips. Just the fact he’d imagined, that he thought of her…No one else ever did.

His legs buckled. He slipped from her grip. She tried to grab him but was too limp to stop him from going down. “Gryphon!”

“Mae—”

His arms tightened around her, but all that did was drag her down with him. She landed with a grunt against his chest. His head cracked the bench on the opposite side of the small space. Panic replaced pleasure as she quickly pushed up. “Gryphon?”

He blinked twice. A dazed look passed over his face. One that definitely wasn’t rooted in drugs. Or sexual gratification.

Oh shit. “Gryphon?”

His eyes rolled back in his head. His hands fell from her waist, landed against the floor of the boat with a thwack. Then his head lolled to the side and stilled.

And in the silence that remained, all she could think was Holy gods, I just killed him.