Awakened (Eternal Guardians Book 8) (21 page)

When a hint of a smile toyed with her lips, he knew what she was thinking. That he was a total nutcase.

Stepping back, he brushed damp hands over his face and tried to sound semi-sane when he knew he wasn’t. “I know it’s crazy. I know it doesn’t make sense. I’ve told myself that a hundred times. But something about you…I don’t know. It makes me feel alive. In a way I’ve never been before.” He dropped his hands and looked at her in the moonlight. “I like that feeling. I like it a lot. I like you. And I’d rather suffer endless days in that pit if it helped you, than spend an emotionless existence in Aphrodite’s debauched palace.”

She stepped into him again, wound her arms around his neck once more, and pressed that perfect body of hers against his from chest to knee. “I like that you like that feeling. I like that you like me. And I’m sorry that I said those ugly words. I’m sorry I rushed to judge you. I just…” She sighed and looked down at his mouth. “I just felt such a connection to you on Pandora that it overwhelmed me. And when I got to Olympus and you weren’t here, and when that Siren told me who you were—”

“I know.” His hands found her waist, and his fingers brushed the soft skin of her lower back. “I don’t blame you,
emmoní
.”

“You should.” Her eyes held his. Sparkling dark pools that seemed to see all the way into that soul he still wasn’t sure he possessed. “Damon, you have every reason to hate me. But if you let me, I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you.”

His heart pinched, and even though he still didn’t understand the intense feelings he felt for her so quickly, he knew there was no way he could ever say no to her. “I think you just did.”

She smiled again, a warm, rich, genuine smile that lit up her eyes. And as his gaze dropped to her damp lips, that biological instinct came roaring back. Urging him to touch her. To taste her. To make her his so she’d never leave him again.

He kissed her, drawing her into his mouth and heart. Her arms tightened around his neck, and she opened, stroking her tongue along his until the blood pounded in his groin. Changing the angle of the kiss, he slid one hand down her lower spine to clasp her ass and pull her hips tight against him. She gasped into his mouth, then groaned as she wrapped her legs around his hips once more and kissed him harder.

Pleasure arced through his groin, making his cock twitch and pulse. She rocked her steamy sex against him. Kissed him again and again. Sliding his other hand around to her front, he cupped one succulent breast and squeezed, then found her nipple with his thumb and forefinger and pinched.

A tremble rushed through her body, and she pulled her mouth away, dropped her head back, and moaned.

His face fell against her damp chest. He breathed deep as she rocked her sex harder against his painful erection. Desire coursed through every inch of his body, and he knew it would be so easy to free himself from his boxers and slide inside her, but he didn’t want that. He wanted her to enjoy. Wanted to feel her passion rise. Wanted to watch as he took her over the edge and into mindless oblivion.

Releasing her breast, he wrapped his other arm around her waist and cupped the other cheek, lifting and lowering her in the water with both hands to increase the friction on her clit. “That’s it,
emmoní.
” He pressed his lips against the succulent line of her throat. “Ride me. Use me.”

Her moans grew longer. Deeper. Her fingers dug into the flesh at his shoulders. Pain skipped down his spine, melding with the sparks of electricity radiating outward from his groin. He bit down gently on her neck, licked the spot, and suckled.

“Oh gods, Damon.”

“Yes,
emmoní
.” He pulled her in tighter, lifted to press against her clit harder. “Let go. Come all over me. I want to feel your release. I want to feel everything. Don’t hold back.”

Every muscle in her body tensed. She rubbed faster and gasped. And when she cried out, cresting the wave of release, he held her tightly and watched her go over. And nearly came himself.

She collapsed against him, a sweaty mess of damp skin, limp bones, and wet hair. Her face fell against his neck, and he held her close, running his hands up and down her delicate spine as the last waves of the pleasure rippled through her.
 

“Oh my gods,” she breathed. “That was amazing.”

He smiled, because if she thought that was amazing, he couldn’t wait to show her more. “I’m glad. It was pretty amazing for me as well.”

She pushed back and looked down at the water, then up at his face. “You’re still hard. You didn’t—”

He pressed a kiss against her lips. “I can wait.”

“But I don’t want you to wait. I want to feel you—”

Chuckling, he pulled her hand away before she could grasp his erection and send him over that edge with just one squeeze. “You will. Trust me. Just not tonight.”

“Why not tonight?”

He brushed a damp lock of hair away from her forehead. “Because I’m your seduction trainer, and because I want to do at least one part of this right.”

Her eyes softened, and she slid her arms back around his neck. “I think you already seduced me,
ómorfos
.”

He grinned at her use of the word handsome. “I did. But there’s still much more to teach you. And we don’t have enough time tonight for what I want to do to you next.”

A blush rose in her cheeks, and her teeth sank into her bottom lip in such a sexy, innocent way, his cock throbbed all over again. Ah hell. If she kept looking at him like that, he wouldn’t be able to resist much longer.

“Um, Damon?”

His gaze lingered on her bottom lip, plump from her teeth. Gods, he wanted to bite that lip. Suck on it. Devour it.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not a virgin.”

That got his attention. His gaze lifted to her eyes. “What?”

“I’m sure most of the recruits don’t remember whether they are or not, but you need to know…I’m not.”

Jealousy raced through him. An irrational jealousy, considering his sexual history. “Who was he?” His brow dropped when he thought about that history. “Or was he a he?” It could have been a her. Or an it.

He cringed.
Please don’t say it was an it.

She laughed and skimmed her fingertips over his shoulder. “Yes, it was a he. What do you think I’m into, satyrs or something?”

He shrugged, more relieved than he wanted to admit. “You could be.” And he’d definitely seen kinkier shit in Aphrodite’s temple.

“Well, I’m not. It was just a he. I don’t remember a lot about him. Just his eyes. He was human. Not a lot of details have come back to me, but I know I used to cross over into the human realm when I wasn’t supposed to. Argolea is a very patriarchal society, and as heir to the throne, I had a lot of restrictions placed on me.”

“Got it. So, were you like… Did you love this guy?”

“Love?” Her brow wrinkled as if she were trying to remember back. “No, not in love. I think I used him to see what sex was all about.”

The shocked way she said it, as if she’d just uncovered a horrible secret, made him laugh. “And did you? Like it, I mean?”

A shy smile pulled at her lips as she looked down at his shoulder. “I’m not sure. That part I don’t really remember. I know it was nothing like what we just did here in this water—that I definitely won’t forget. That was good.” Her sultry gaze lifted. “And hot.” She moved closer, rubbing her body against his beneath the water. “And I would very much like to give that and more back to you right now.”

His cock thickened all over again. “Stop, or you’ll make me come with nothing but your words.”

“Can I do that?”

“You have no idea what you do to me.”

“I like that. And I definitely want to see that.”

He grasped her hands before she could reach his waist. “Not tonight.”

Her lips pushed out in a sexy little pout. And as the blood pulsed in his erection, making him painfully hard, he knew the female didn’t need an ounce of seduction training. She was the most arousing thing he’d ever met. The kicker was, she had no clue.

He brought her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles one by one. “I don’t want a quickie in the water, and we don’t have time for all the things I plan to do to this body. Besides, when I come”—he lifted his head to gaze into her hypnotic eyes—“I want you screaming in pleasure right along with me.”

Her eyes darkened with lust, and when he took her mouth, she sighed against him and sank into his kiss. Their tongues tangled, and her arms closed around his shoulders once more in the water, making Damon’s heart swell. Not because anything was about to change—he knew his lot in life and that it would never be any different—but because he finally felt alive. And because he had this female to thank for that.

He’d cherish that; cherish
her
for as long as he could. And when her training with the Sirens was over and she finally left him for good—hopefully years from now—then he’d find a way to deal with the remnants of a life whose only purpose was to serve.

Even if it meant living in his memories.

CHAPTER TWELVE

E
lysia left Damon outside the doors of the seduction hall with a kiss that, even now as she crossed the compound in the dark, still vibrated through her toes.

Biting her lip, she remembered the way he’d touched her, the words he’d said, all the things he’d made her feel in such a short amount of time. Her chest grew warm and full as she followed the stone path. She’d taken a big risk tonight, and for a moment, when Damon had only stared at her like she’d grown a third eyeball right in the center of her forehead, she’d thought she’d taken that risk for nothing. But now she knew she’d been right. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him. From this moment forward, everything would be different.

A smile curled her lips as she passed out of the light of a decorative light pole and moved into the shadows. She wondered with whom he was scheduled to work in the field tomorrow. Was already planning ways she could catch him between sessions and pull him into a dark corner for a quick kiss. If he hadn’t convinced her she needed to go back to her room tonight, she would have—

A hand grasped her arm and yanked her off the path and into the brush. Elysia yelped and tumbled sideways. Before she could scream, another hand clamped over her mouth and pulled her back into a hard, male body.

“Shh,” a voice said near her ear. “Don’t draw attention. I’m here to help you.”

The voice quickly registered, as did the familiar scents of leather and pine. She jerked the hand from her mouth and swiveled around. “Max? What the hell are you doing here? How did you get into Olympus?” She looked back toward the pathway. “If anyone sees you—”

“You remember me?” Max’s familiar silver eyes widened. “Skyla said you wouldn’t remember anything.”

Skyla…
Skyla…
Elysia searched her memory and quickly found the link. “Skyla’s a Siren…”

“You do remember.” Max’s brows drew together. “How is that possible?”

Damon had asked her the exact same thing. “I don’t know, but it’s not important now.” She reached for his arm, her hand closing over the ancient Greek text running down his forearm that marked him as an Argonaut. “You have to leave before someone sees you.”

“Not without you.” He flipped his hand over, closing it around hers, his wide palm and long fingers familiar against her skin. “I’m taking you home. Come on. Talisa’s waiting for us at the gate.”

Home…
Longing swept through her as he tugged her toward the edge of the path and looked both directions. Longing for a place she only knew in her mind. Yes…she needed to go with him. Home. To Argolea. To her parents. To her old life. To a world where she was no longer a prisoner.

Adrenaline pulsed through her veins as she closed her fingers around his much larger ones and stepped with him. The black cape hanging from his shoulders rustled in the darkness, drawing her gaze.

She’d seen that cape before. Had played with it—with Max—when she was younger. It was an invisibility cape. It belonged to her mother’s friend Orpheus. Max must have borrowed the cape to come here and rescue her. And Talisa…

Talisa was also her cousin. Memories rushed through her mind like a movie set on fast-forward. Talisa was the daughter of Elysia’s Aunt Casey and Uncle Theron. And Theron was the leader of the Argonauts. He’d been talking with Elysia’s parents in the castle the day Elysia had been captured by Zeus’s Sirens. Elysia had overheard them discussing—