Enraptured

Chapter 24

The hours flying back to Montana passed in silence. The jet they’d chartered in Crete was roomy, with a couch along one wall of the cabin, captain’s chairs on the other side, a galley, and a fancy bathroom. But none of them seemed to notice their posh surroundings. The horrors of the last few hours—the last few days—were too fresh.

Skyla kept Gryphon relaxed on the couch, running her fingers through his hair when he stirred, humming when he seemed to grow agitated, singing when they stopped to refuel and he looked like he was ready to bolt. He curled into himself as he’d done back in that shack, his back to the group, his face hidden. When he was still, several times Orpheus had peered over his shoulder, just to make sure he was still breathing. Sometimes Gryphon was asleep. Other times he lay frozen, staring wide-eyed at the back of the couch as if lost in a daze.

Demetrius spent most of his time in the cockpit with the pilot, and Skyla alternated between soothing Gryphon and tinkering in the galley, looking for food. She didn’t speak much, but her singing helped smooth Orpheus’s frayed edges too. And when she brought him a sandwich and sat next to him, then squeezed his hand before eating her own, that warmth returned to his chest. The same warmth he felt anytime she was close. Anytime she touched him. Anytime he thought about the way she’d protected Gryphon on their trek out of the Underworld, sung to keep him calm, and comforted him in that shack when Orpheus hadn’t known what to do.

She was a rock. One who picked up the slack Orpheus left dangling, even though she had to be exhausted herself. While Orpheus’s head spun with images from the Underworld and he couldn’t seem to do much more than sit and stare at his brother, she made sure everything on the trip back to the colony ran smoothly.

And she hadn’t even looked at the Orb under Gryphon’s shirt, let alone tried to take it.

That last thought revolved in Orpheus’s mind as they landed in the dark in Missoula. What was she waiting for?

Nick had a car ready to meet them at the airport. As they bounced along the road toward the colony, Skyla sat next to Gryphon and kept up her humming to keep him calm. Every time they switched surroundings, that wild-eyed look would return to Gryphon’s face and he’d dart crazed looks around as if searching for…someone.

As they neared the colony, Gryphon tipped his head Orpheus’s way. “I don’t want to see them. The guys. If they’re here…” His voice grew hoarse, but his eyes were clear. Clearer than they’d been since they’d found him. “If they’re here, make them leave.”

“Whatever you want, Gryph.” Orpheus’s throat closed around the words. As he squeezed his brother’s shoulder, he caught Demetrius’s gaze in the front seat. The guardian nodded once in silent commune, then looked out the dark windshield again.

The trip through the tunnels seemed shorter than when Orpheus had brought Skyla and Maelea through. Had that been only days ago? Gods, it felt like years. So much had happened since then.

Nick met them in the vast cavern where various tunnels took off in a variety of directions and led them to the elevator. Gryphon seemed to have mellowed now that he was on his feet and walking on his own. Skyla left with Demetrius to fill the others in on what had happened while Nick took Orpheus and Gryphon up to find a room on the fifth floor of the castle.

Orpheus had the impression of pale blue walls and furnishings, but his focus was on his brother. He helped Gryphon into the room, settled him into a chair. After speaking quietly with Nick at the door, he learned all the Argonauts were here, eager to see Gryphon. He made sure Nick understood that might not be a good idea just yet.

Nick eyed Gryphon warily over Orpheus’s shoulder. “You sure he’s okay?”

“Would you be okay after three months in the Underworld?”

“No. That’s why I’m worried.”

“I’ll stay with him.”

Nick nodded but didn’t look reassured. “Pick up the phone if you need anything. It runs to a central line.”

As Nick’s boots clicked down the hall, Orpheus closed the door and turned back to the room. Gryphon sat unmoving in the chair, staring off into space.

His body looked the same as always. Muscular, strong, healthy, albeit a little on the thin side. But the dead look in his eyes and the exhaustion lines on his face spoke of the strain on his soul.

Orpheus crossed the floor, helped Gryphon out of the chair by grasping his arm and pulling him up. “Let’s get you into a shower. The water will feel good.”

Gryphon didn’t fight him as he maneuvered them into the bathroom, with its wide glass shower and mirror that ran the length of the double vanity. But when Orpheus reached for his shirt, Gryphon swatted his hands. “I can do it myself.”

“Are you sure?”

“I was dead, not stupid,” Gryphon murmured, turning away. He pulled the shirt over his head, dropped it on the floor. Tugged the chain from around his neck and dropped that too. The chain that held the Orb of Krónos.

He hesitated before unbuttoning his pants. “Do you mind? I’d like some privacy.”

“Sure. Yeah. I’ll just be in the other room if you need me.”

Orpheus eyed the Orb, lying on the floor at his brother’s feet. His fingers itched to pick it up, but he fought back the urge. It wasn’t going anywhere. As he stepped out and closed the door, he listened to make sure Gryphon didn’t melt again. Long seconds passed with no sound, then the toilet flushed, followed by the shower turning on.

Orpheus moved away from the bathroom door and was just about to call down to see what Skyla was up to when a knock sounded to his right.

Before he could answer, the female he’d just been thinking of poked her head into the room. “Is it okay if I come in?”

Warmth spread through his chest. Warmth followed by worry. Would she try to take the Orb now? “Yeah. He’s in the shower.”

She stepped in, looking all long-legged and gorgeous with her hair tumbling down around her shoulders, just like always. “How is he?”

“Better.” Orpheus glanced at the bathroom door, then back again. “I think maybe the worst is behind us.”

“I hope so.” She crossed her arms, looked around the room. “Not bad. Better than pink. That’s the color they gave Maelea.”

Orpheus had nearly forgotten about Ghoul Girl. He pressed two fingers against his right temple. “How is she?”

“Fine. The same. And the last thing you need to worry about right now.”

Why did she care about him so much? Where was the kick-ass Siren who’d been sent by Zeus to kill him? Orpheus scrubbed both hands over his face. Confusion mixed with the exhaustion finally hitting him now that his adrenaline was waning. He dropped into the chair Gryphon had been sitting in earlier. “The Argonauts are here?”

“Yes. And the queen and her sisters.”

“Fantastic.” Another party. “Gryphon doesn’t want—”

“Demetrius already told them. They’re hanging out downstairs for now.”

“That’s gotta please Nick.”

Skyla eased onto the armrest of his chair, her thigh inches from his hand. “Thrills him,” she said sarcastically. “What’s the story there? Between him and them?”

“He’s Demetrius’s brother.”

She frowned, a pouty little look that made him itch to kiss it from her face. “I figured that out already, daemon.”

“His half brother, smart-ass. Nick was persecuted by the monarchy because of his lineage.”

“Which is?”

“He’s an original hero. Sired from a human and a god.”

Skyla sat silent for several seconds, then said, “Cool.”

Orpheus chuckled. What was it about this female that tugged at him? Even now, when he knew he couldn’t be anywhere but right here with Gryphon, when logic told him she was seconds away from snatching the Orb, he wanted to wrap her in his arms and drag her across the hall into an abandoned bedroom suite. Then find out all over again what it felt like to slide inside her body and get lost in her scent.

Him. A daemon who didn’t form attachments. A witch who’d learned long ago to keep to himself. A male who never spent more than one night with any female.

And her. A Siren. Sent to seduce, steal, then take him down.

He eyed her leg. Ached to reach for her. To touch her. To let her remind him he was alive. To prove that he hadn’t been forgotten.

He blew out a long breath and glanced toward the bathroom door. The shower was still running. “Maybe I should check on him.”

Moment of truth. What would she do?

“Okay,” she said as he pushed to his feet. “Are you hungry? I could call down and have something brought up.”

He frowned. “Are you always this motherly, Siren?”

“Always,” she mocked, crossing her shapely legs and leaning forward to bat her long dark lashes his way. “After beheading ogres all day long, I serve on the PTA board at night.”

“You on a PTA board. Now that I’d like to see.” He knocked on the bathroom door. Drew up his defenses, just in case. “Gryph? You okay in there?”

Nothing but the sound of running water met his ears.

Orpheus knocked again. Got no response. He tried the handle and found it locked. A shot of panic rushed through him.

Skyla’s boots clicked as she pushed off the chair. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Orpheus jiggled the knob again. “Gryphon? Answer me.”

Nothing.

“Skata.” Orpheus stepped back from the door, centered himself, and called up a simple spell to free the lock. A click resounded. He turned the knob.

Steam enveloped the room, fogged the mirror. Through the frosted glass he could see Gryphon standing naked under the spray, scrubbing at the skin on his arms. “Gryph? Are you okay? I knocked and knocked and you didn’t answer.”

“Can’t get clean,” Gryphon murmured. “Have to get it off. Just a little more.” He stopped scrubbing, slammed both hands over his ears. “Stop!”

Gryphon shook his head violently, then went back to scrubbing at his skin again, murmuring faster, “Can’t get clean. Can’t get clean…”

Shit. He wasn’t better. He was getting worse. That panic morphed to all-out dread as it pushed its way back up Orpheus’s chest. “Come on, Gryphon. That’s enough. Let’s get you out.”

Orpheus was aware Skyla was standing in the doorway as he reached for a towel and grasped the shower door, that the Orb was in plain view on the floor. But he didn’t care. The only thing that mattered right now was his brother.

Orpheus pulled the door open. Then froze. “Holy gods…”

Blood ran like rivers from Gryphon’s arms, his legs, his face and torso. His fingers were bloody stumps where he’d dug into his skin over and over, scrubbing harder with each pass.

“Gryphon, stop!” Orpheus threw the towel around Gryphon’s shoulders and hauled him out of the shower. Gryphon hollered and hurled his weight into Orpheus, knocking them both to the ground with a crack. They grappled across the bathroom tiles until Orpheus got behind Gryphon, closed one arm across his brother’s head, used the other to immobilize his arms, then hooked Gryphon’s legs so he couldn’t break free.

Gryphon struggled once, twice more, then collapsed against Orpheus and broke down, his entire body shaking with soul-rattling sobs. Water and blood ran from Gryphon’s skin into Orpheus’s clothes, dripped onto the floor around him. “I can’t get it off,” he cried. “It’s all over me. Inside me. I just want it to go away. I just…oh, gods, make it go away.”

His body convulsed in Orpheus’s arms, and the sobs turned to full-body trembles Orpheus felt all the way to his very core.

Orpheus caught Skyla’s horror-filled gaze in the doorway, where she stood still as stone. And his heart—the heart he thought he didn’t have—contracted beneath the earth element still resting against his chest. “Get help,” he whispered. “Find someone who can help my brother.”

It was hours later when Skyla peeked her head back into Gryphon’s room. Though it was quiet, there were several people taking up space. Callia, Queen Isadora’s personal healer, held Gryphon’s wrist on the far side of the bed and glanced at the clock high on the wall. Theron conversed quietly with Isadora near the window. Skyla knew from her conversations downstairs that several other Argonauts had come and gone through the night, but Orpheus remained, sitting in a chair next to Gryphon, his elbows leaning on his knees, his hands clasped in front of him while he watched his brother sleep.

The image of the big Argonaut clawing at his flesh wouldn’t leave her head. Neither would the blood that had covered him and the floor and Orpheus when Orpheus had tackled Gryphon in the bathroom. Every time she thought of what he’d been through in the Underworld, her mind skipped to Orpheus and the years and years he’d been trapped there himself. The gruesome things he must have endured. The fact that—thankfully—he couldn’t remember them.

She’d considered telling Orpheus the truth about their relationship so many times. Had pondered what it would do to him to learn who and what he really was. But after seeing Gryphon, she knew she couldn’t. It wasn’t about her or what she’d be losing. She didn’t want to hurt Orpheus. And bringing up the past would do only that. It would dredge up something that was better off dead and buried.

Heads turned. Orpheus looked over his shoulder, eyes shadowed and bloodshot. But they brightened just a touch when they caught sight of her, and warmth flooded her belly in response.

He rose from the chair, all corded muscle and restrained strength. Though someone had given him a new shirt, his jeans were still stained with Gryphon’s blood. As he crossed the floor toward her, the guardian markings on his forearms stood out in stark relief to the rest of his skin. Markings that technically shouldn’t be there anymore, now that his brother was back.

He scrubbed a hand over the back of his head, his tired eyes and the stubble on his square jaw making him look sexier than she’d ever seen him. He stopped a foot from her, stuffed his hands in his pockets, was careful to keep his voice low. “Hey.”

“Is he doing better?”

The agony Skyla saw in Orpheus’s eyes tugged at her chest. “He’s out. Callia gave him a sedative. Said he needed rest to let the”—he swallowed, faced her again—“wounds heal.”

The wounds. Those crazed eyes. And Gryphon’s voice. I can’t get it off. It’s all over me. Inside me. I just…oh, gods, make it go away.

She reached for Orpheus’s hand, pulled it from his pocket, and squeezed her fingers around his, hoping to take the haunted look from his eyes. The one that said he remembered every detail as clearly as she did. “Come with me for a few minutes.”

“I can’t leave him.”

“You’ll be no good to him if he wakes and you’re falling over from exhaustion.”

“No. He needs me here.” He pulled back from her hand.

“She’s right, O,” Theron said. “You need some rest. Callia and I will come find you if anything changes.”

“He’ll be out for at least another twenty-four hours,” Callia added from the other side of the bed.

Isadora crossed the room, her ballet-style flats barely making a sound on the floor as she came to stand next to him. Beside the queen, Orpheus looked huge. She laid a hand on his forearm, right over the Argonaut markings, and not for the first time Skyla had the impression these two had some special bond. Not sexual, but…a friendship. “Go with Skyla, Orpheus. I promise when Gryphon wakes, we’ll come find you. Everything will seem better after you’ve both gotten some sleep.”

The frown on Orpheus’s face said he didn’t agree, but he finally nodded. Skyla stepped toward the door. A little of her worry eased when Orpheus followed.

In the long hallway his boots echoed like drumbeats as they moved toward the elevator. When they were inside the small car, Orpheus shot her a frown. “Since when do Theron and Isadora side with a Siren?”

She punched a button. “Since Demetrius explained what happened after we left the Argonauts on Crete. Apparently, you help one Argonaut, the rest are friends for life. Even if you are a Siren.”

Orpheus didn’t answer, but his scowl deepened and he crossed his arms over his muscular chest.

“Speaking of,” she said, “I notice you still have the markings.”

“I know.”

He didn’t say more, and she sensed he wasn’t happy about that fact. Not wanting to push things, she let the topic drop as the elevator came to a stop and the door opened.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Skyla,” he sighed, “I’m really tired. One of the rooms across from Gryphon’s would probably be bet—”

She took his hand and tugged him down the long empty two-story hall with its wall of black windows before he could dig his heels in. “Just humor me for a few minutes, would you? If you want to go back down and find a room closer to Gryphon after you see the surprise, I’ll take you.”

He scowled again, but let her pull him along. When they reached the double doors at the end of the hall, she pushed them open. Chilled air cut to her spine. She continued to pull him after her, heading for the curved stairs off to the right.

“I don’t think it’s snowed since the last time we were up here,” he said at her back as they started up the steps.

She shot him a smile. Though she knew the events of the last few days weighed heavily on that soul he didn’t think he had, she was happy that at least a little sarcasm was back in his voice. “Contrary to what you think, I’m not wild about snow.”

“Could have fooled me,” he muttered.

And oh yeah, the hero she’d come to care for was still in there. Hidden beneath a layer of pain she hoped to alleviate.

“Fooling you isn’t as fun as it used to be, daemon.” She tugged him to the upper balcony. “Okay, close your eyes.”

He frowned but did as she asked. “If I get a snowball in the face, you’re going to be in big trouble.”

She grinned. “Will you spank me?”

“I’ll do more than that.”

Heat flooded her veins. That was the guardian she wanted to find again.

Her free hand closed around the door handle. She pulled him into the glass room behind her, shut the door. Warmth from the fireplace to the right dampened the chill, and the orange glow from the embers lit the room just enough.

“Okay, open your eyes.”

Orpheus’s lashes lifted. And his eyebrows immediately dropped low as he turned a slow circle. “Where’s all the stuff?”

For the first time since she’d hatched this crazy plan, a sliver of unease slid through Skyla. “In storage somewhere else.”

She watched as he took it all in. The couch and chairs positioned near the fireplace, the bookshelves on the far side of the room that were empty but for a few leather tomes, then past the dark windows to the other side of the room and the king-size bed with its blue comforter and mountain of pillows.

“What is this?” he asked.

Skyla’s stomach tightened with doubt. “Your room. Well, if you want it, I mean.”

When he slanted her a confused look, that unease pushed its way up her chest. She hated that she felt anything but confident. As a Siren, confidence was part of who and what she was. But ever since she’d met Orpheus, that confidence had been wavering. Because his was the first opinion that mattered. “Isadora suggested it, actually. A room of your own. She didn’t think you’d be leaving Gryphon and going back to Argolea anytime soon.”

Her voice trailed off because the whole idea suddenly sounded…lame.

“You did all this?” he asked, looking around again.

“Yes. Well, no, not all of it,” she corrected. “Nick had a couple of his guys help me move boxes and chairs and haul furniture up here.”

“You got Nick to agree to let me stay here?”

“Isadora did.”

He turned to face her, but she couldn’t read his expression. Was he impressed? Angry no one had asked him what he wanted?

He didn’t answer her unasked questions. Instead he crossed the floor, stepped past the bed, and pushed the door on the far wall open. After flipping on the light and glancing around the fancy bathroom she’d been surprised to find behind the door, he switched off the light, then came back and stared at the bed. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you do this?”

“Because you need a place to unwind.”

“No, why this?” He motioned to the whole room, accentuated by warm burgundy throw rugs and leather furnishings instead of the cold cardboard boxes that had dominated it before. “Why this room?”

Because it meant something to her. And she hoped it meant something to him as well.

A lump formed in her throat. She wasn’t sure how to answer. Not without putting her heart on the line. A heart she’d only just rediscovered in the last few days. All because of him.

He crossed back to stand in front of her. “Well?”

She hated that she wanted his approval. More than she’d wanted anyone’s approval before, even Cynurus’s. Though they were technically the same. Gods, none of this made sense, and she especially hated how that made her vulnerable. Vulnerability wasn’t something she had much experience with. “You don’t like it? I told you if you didn’t, you could find a different room downstairs. I was just trying to—”

“Why haven’t you taken it?”

Her mouth closed. She stared up into his intense gray eyes. Eyes that seemed to be looking deep into her soul. It took several seconds before she realized he wasn’t talking about the room but about the Orb.

Her gaze slid to his chest and the Orb she knew lay against his skin, hidden under the white button-down he wore. She’d seen the outline of it under his shirt after she brought help for Gryphon. Knew he’d put it on and that he’d probably already placed the earth element in its slot. And she knew right then that this was her defining moment. She could tease and seduce and imply all she wanted, but the only way she was ever going to prove her loyalty to him was to be honest.

“Because I don’t want it.”

“Zeus does.”

“Zeus is going to have to learn to live with disappointment.” When his eyes narrowed, she knew it was now or never. “I’m leaving the Sirens.”

Skepticism crossed his handsome face. “Why?”

“Two reasons. The first is because now that I’ve seen that thing and felt its power, I know no god can have it. If balance is to remain, it needs to be destroyed. I know that can’t happen before all the elements are found, but giving it to Zeus won’t do anything but cause trouble. I’m sure of it.”

“And the second?”

Right. The second. Skyla bit her lip. There was a jumping-off point, then there was a diving-off point. And right now she was either going to hit the water face-first and come up breathing, or she’d crash and burn in the bottom of an empty pit.

She pulled up her courage. “The second is that I can’t in good faith stay with an order that wants me to kill the man I love.”

There was no reaction from him, not even a muscle twitch in his jaw. And in the silence that followed, Skyla’s anxiety amped a good three notches.

“You love me,” he finally said. When she nodded, he added, “No one loves a daemon.”

Her heart pinched. “No one but me.”

For several long seconds he didn’t say anything. And she still couldn’t read his expression, had no idea what he was thinking or feeling. And then he frowned. “You are seriously fucked in the head, you know that?”

Her defenses came up. The same ones she’d used to protect her heart for far too long. A heart that was now battered and bruised and aching because she’d taken a chance and it had all been for nothing. “I—”

He closed the distance between them, grasped both sides of her face with his large, warm hands, then lowered his mouth to hers.

The air left her lungs on a whoosh. The fight slid right out of her body. As his tongue dipped into her mouth and she tasted the sweetness of him, she wrapped her hands around the guardian markings on his forearms and told herself not to let go.

There was urgency in the kiss. Mixed with relief and need. So much need it curled her stomach and made her whole body ache.

“Skyla, Skyla, Skyla…” She loved the way he mouthed her name against her lips, drew her closer with his arms until the long lean line of his well-defined body pressed up against hers. “They’ll never let you leave because of me.”

“It’s not their decision to make.” When he eased back and looked down at her with those soft gray eyes, her confidence shot up again. A confidence she now couldn’t believe she’d been lacking. “It’s mine. And I choose you. Daemon or no daemon. Argonaut or not. Zeus and Athena are wrong about you, Orpheus. You’re not evil.”

“How can you be so sure?” he whispered.

“Because I watched you with Maelea. I saw the way you protected her when you didn’t have to. The way you protected me even though you knew what I was. And I saw the lengths you went to, to save your brother. An evil soul can’t love like that.”

“I don’t have a soul—”

“Yes, you do.” She tightened her fingers around his forearms. “One that deserves so much more than you’ve been given.”

Emotion turned his eyes to shimmering silver. “Skyla—”

She rose up on her toes and kissed him, sliding her arms around his neck and drawing him even closer. “Let me love you, Orpheus.”

She kissed him long and deep, groaned into his mouth when his arms circled her waist and his warmth surrounded her. She stepped back toward the bed, pulling him with her, loving the way he couldn’t seem to stop kissing her, couldn’t seem to stop touching her just as she was touching him. When her legs bumped the mattress, she eased back, tugged him down with her until they fell on the mattress and his weight pressed into her, the heat from his erection pressing into her lower belly, warming her from the outside in.

She yanked at his shirt, broke the kiss long enough to pull it over his head. His mouth was back on hers, kissing, licking, sucking as he found the buttons on her shirt and undid them, then tugged her torso up enough so he could wrench the shirt from her arms and toss it on the floor behind him.

The Orb fell against her chest. Warm and enticing. She ignored it and focused on him, sliding her hand over his rough jaw.

His gaze ran over the red bra she wore, down to her waistband. “Gods, you are so beautiful.”

His hand followed, skimming over her cleavage, then down the line of her abdomen to trail heat to her belly button. She sucked in a breath even as a shiver raced down her spine. “It’s not real. Once I leave the Sirens, I won’t look like this anymore.”

His warm, desire-filled eyes slid back to hers. “What do you mean?”

“I mean this Barbie-doll body is part of the gig. Once a Siren leaves, her body transforms back to the way it was before she joined the order.”

His eyes narrowed with mischief. “Is this your way of telling me you were three hundred pounds with a hook nose before joining the Sirens?”

She ran her hands up his impressive arms. “Maybe not quite three hundred.” When his eyebrows lifted in question, she smiled. “It’ll be the same me. This is just the enhanced version.”

“Explain ‘enhanced.’”

“Well, for one, I’m not really this tall. Take about three inches off my legs. My hair isn’t normally this blond, and if memory serves—and remember, it’s been quite a while—my waist isn’t quite this small.”

“What about these?” His large palm slid up to cup her right breast.

Warmth puckered her nipple beneath the red lace. “Now those will likely stay the same.”

That mischievous grin widened as he flicked the clasp, freeing her breasts to spill out into his hand. “I had a feeling they were real. I can always tell.”

Her stomach tightened, and the humor faded as he lowered his mouth to her right breast, laved his tongue over her nipple, then drew her deep into his mouth to suckle.

Her fingers found their way into his thick brown hair and she arched her back, offering whatever he wanted. As much as he wanted.

He worked her over with his tongue, with his lips, with the wicked hot breath he blew across her nipples until they ached for more. She opened her legs so he could sink down into her body. So that long hard cock pressing against the fly of his jeans could rub right where she wanted it most.

“Orpheus…” She drew his mouth back to hers, kissed him deeply. Then eased back so she could see his face. “Will it bother you? If I don’t look exactly the way I do now?”

His gaze started at the top of her head, traveled down the length of her body, hovered where their hips were locked together, separated by only his jeans and her pants. “I like this body, I won’t lie. But it’s not what I love about you.”

Her heart tripped, and her voice cracked when she asked, “What you love about me?”

“Yeah, what I love.” His fingers crazed her throat, traced the line of her sternum between her breasts, and hovered over her heart. “Every time I think about the way you cared for my brother…” He swallowed, and tears dampened his eyes. “You don’t even know him.”

“I know you.”

One corner of his mouth curled. “Yeah, and you still cared for him, regardless.”

“Orpheus—”

“No one’s ever cared about me before. No one’s put their life on the line for me. No one even considered it. You did it not only for me, but for my brother. I—I didn’t think anyone could love me.”

Her heart pinched all over again, and she ran her fingers over his stubbly jaw, the cap she’d kept on her emotions for so long finally blowing free. I loved you before, daemon. It just doesn’t even come close to how much I love you now. “Then you thought wrong. And if you’ll let me, I’ll spend the next five hundred or so years proving just how wrong you were.”

His gaze searched her face. “You will?”

“Well…” Her cheeks heated. “If, that is, you want me to. I might have some free time on my hands soon.”

A slow, easy, devilish smile inched its way across his lips, and he pressed that heavenly erection against her mound all over again. “Oh, I want you, Siren. I’ve wanted you since you first set out to seduce me.”

She lost herself in his kiss. Was so light-headed from his lips and teeth and tongue, she barely registered him kicking off his boots, sliding out of his pants, and dragging hers from her legs. But she definitely knew when his fingers brushed her wetness and his thumb circled her clit, sending a current of electricity racing through her body.

“Orpheus…”

“Like that?”

“Mm, yes. More.”

He chuckled as he stroked her, seemed to enjoy it when her whole body quivered. As he slid two fingers deep inside, he continued to tease her clit with his thumb and lowered his head to her breast, flicking her nipple with his tongue until she moaned. She dropped her head back and lifted one leg so she could dig her heel into the mattress, granting him more access. Pleasure gathered beneath his hands, around his talented fingers sliding in and out of her sheath, along her nipples, where his tongue was doing insane things to her breasts. But it wasn’t enough, wasn’t ever enough when what she wanted most was so very close.

She hooked a leg over his hip and rolled him to his back, thrilled when she felt the naked, blunt head of his cock brush her aching folds. She wanted to taste it again, take it deep in her mouth like last time, feel his pleasure pulse along her tongue. But the throb between her legs was too great. The heat too intense to stop and readjust.

“Orpheus…” Her mouth was on his again.

“Hold on.” He pushed her back. And she watched in awe as he tore the chain from around his neck and dropped the Orb on the floor along with his clothes.

Hero. The word revolved in her mind again. If she hadn’t known it before, she knew it now.

“Now,” he said, his hands sliding to her hips, guiding her, taking charge even though she was the one directing things. “Where were we?”

The head of his cock slid along her folds, pressed against her opening just enough to draw a groan from her chest, then retreated. She tightened her muscles, tried to lower herself down, met the resistance of his strong hands holding her still.

“Um…yeah,” she managed. “I think…right there.”

“There, Siren?”

“Yes.” She kissed him. “Stop tormenting me.”

“Tell me again.” He lifted his head and kissed her long and deep and slow. “Tell me again what you did before.”

She knew what he wanted. The same thing she wanted. “I love you, Orpheus.”

He sat up so fast, a gasp tore from her mouth. But it turned to a groan when he pulled her hips down to his and thrust inside her. Flesh settled against flesh. His erection twitched inside her. He rolled her to her back and whispered, “Wrap your legs around me.”

She did. Groaned again as he pushed in even deeper. He retreated, thrust into her again and again, stoked her already-roaring fire to within degrees of exploding. When it wasn’t enough, he hooked his arms behind her knees, opening her wider, and drove himself one more reaching inch inside.

“Gods, Skyla,” he said against her lips, “I love being inside of you. I don’t even care that you had to seduce me at the start to get us to this point.”

She gripped his face with both hands. “I didn’t seduce you, Orpheus. I didn’t have to. That connection you kept asking me about is real. All I did was fight it. Way longer than I should have. Believe me. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.”

“Ah, gods, Siren.” His eyes darkened and he lowered his mouth and kissed her again, this time as if he couldn’t get enough. His thrusts picked up speed. She lifted her hips to meet him, wrapped her arms around his muscular shoulders, slick with sweat and flexing with his movements.

She knew his release was coming. She could feel it growing with every press and slide and groan and thrust and retreat. She lost herself in the feel of him—hard and hot and so very thick. And when he arched his back and his entire body quivered over hers—inside hers—she let herself go.

For the first time ever, she let everything she’d worked for, every disappointment and heartache along the way, every long lonely moment in a life that never should have been, finally go. And as he collapsed against her, as his head slid into the crook between her neck and shoulder and his hot breath washed over her flesh to tighten her nipples all over again, she ran her fingers over the damp skin of his shoulders and told herself there was no going back. Not for the order. Not for Athena. Never again for Zeus.

Not even when the King of the Gods sent her sisters to kill her, which she knew he would undoubtedly do soon.