Bound (26 page)

“You didn’t either for quite some time.”

He sighed. “Isadora—”

“Look. The Council is just going to have to get used to the fact I’m not backing down, and I’m sure as hell not going anywhere. Just like you’re going to have to get used to the fact I don’t want Nick. I don’t want anyone but you. And if you keep trying to push me away like you’ve been doing, all it’s going to do is make me dig my heels in deeper. You are mine, and that’s the end of the story. I love you, and I’m not giving you up, no matter how much you piss me off. Got it?”

Ever so slowly, his eyes softened, enough to push aside what was left of her anger. “I don’t know what the hell you see in me.”

“Sometimes I wonder the same thing, and then all I have to do is look at you, and I know. You’re
my
hero, Demetrius. All mine. I have no reason to live without you.”

“
Kardia
…” He wrapped one arm around her waist and drew her against him, then leaned down and tipped her face up to kiss her. The tug was gentle because of the baby, but his kiss was filled with need and desperation.

Home
.

It was the only thought she had. The only one that mattered. His lips were soft, his body warm and so very muscular. And held tight in his embrace, she didn’t even care that people were looking or that danger lurked outside. When they were together like this, anything…
everything
was possible.

He eased back, gazed down into her eyes, and brushed a hand against her lower spine, as if she were the most precious thing in the world to him. Which, she knew, she was. “Will you
please
go back to Argolea now?”

“Not until the battle’s over and I know you’re safe.”

He breathed out a sigh of frustration. “Isadora—”

“Speaking of which.” She grinned because she knew she’d won, then eased out of his arms. “Theron and the others could probably use your help.”

The intense light from the portal dimmed, and Isadora turned toward Zander and Callia, both of whom were heading her way.

“Everyone’s across?” she asked.

“Safe and sound,” Zander answered, rubbing his hands together.

“
Kardia,
don’t fight with me on this one.”

She didn’t plan to. No way she was leaving him here with Hades right outside. “Callia and I will stay unless it becomes necessary for us to go. In which case, we’ll contact Casey and have her open the portal for us. That decision is nonnegotiable.”

At her back, Demetrius blew out a hard breath.

Callia’s features morphed from amused to concerned. “Isa?”

“What?”

Her gaze shot to the floor where Callia was looking, and the puddle of blood forming between her feet.

Chapter Sixteen

Ogygia was not what Natasa had expected.

Sweat slicked her skin as she stopped in the shade of a palm and lifted the shirt away from her breasts, fanning her overheated flesh. Sunlight beat down from above. Warm earth radiated heat from below.

Of all her luck, to land somewhere sweltering when she was already battling this bloody fever.

“You okay?”

Natasa dropped her shirt, working for indifference when she faced Titus. She didn’t want him worrying about her, not when he’d just risked everything for her. And she was still stressing over that fact.
Was
he not thinking clearly around her? How would he be reacting to her if she didn’t have this damn element inside? “Fine. You?”

Sweat slicked his skin too, but unlike her, the heat made him look sexy and desirable. Not weak and pathetic. He’d taken off his shirt and tucked it in the back pocket of his pants. A thin sheen coated his rock-solid chest. His wavy hair was tied back, two day’s worth of dark stubble shadowing his strong jaw. Warmth reignited in her belly when she remembered tracing the line of that jaw with her lips…with her tongue…

He stepped in front of her and placed his palm against her forehead. Deep lines formed around his eyes and mouth. Before she could push his hand away and reassure him she was okay, he reached for the hem of her shirt and dragged it up. “You’re too warm. You need to take this off.”

She swatted at his hand. “Titus. No. Someone could see me.”

He chuckled and easily pulled the garment over her head. “Who’s gonna see you other than me? Besides, I like looking at your breasts,
ligos Vesuvius
.”

She frowned, feeling totally vulnerable in nothing but her bra and jeans, but he was right. The air rushing over her bare skin felt a thousand times better than under that shirt.

He knelt in front of her and pulled a dagger from a sheath at his hip. “Don’t move. I don’t want to cut you.”

“Whoa. Wait. What—?”

He grasped a handful of denim at her thigh and pulled the fabric away from her leg. Using the tip of the dagger, he pierced the fabric to create a hole, then set the weapon on the ground, grabbed her pant leg, and ripped it free of her leg.

Okay, that was like the sexiest thing he’d ever done. Wait, no…what he’d done to her in that room at the colony with his mouth…with his body…
that
was the sexiest, but this was damn close. She didn’t want to admit danger turned her on, but him kneeling in front of her, shredding her pants with a dagger…? Total turn-on.

The fever was seriously baking her brain.

She rested her hands on his shoulders and tried to stay still while he repeated the process with her other pant leg. When he was done, she was left in nothing but boots, cut-off shorts, and her bra, and all but panting.

“This looks better.” He pressed a gentle kiss against the scab on her leg, then rose to his feet. “Cooler?”

Hell, yes.
But she frowned for effect. “They’re a little short, don’t you think?”

He glanced down her body and smiled with what she could only define as appreciation. Then he leaned around her side, slid his hand up the back of her bare thigh until he gripped one cheek, and squeezed. “Not too short for me.”

Cool tingles spread along her ass, up her spine. Desire pooled in her belly, tightening her sex. She couldn’t stop herself. She rose up on her toes and pressed her hands against his hard, slick chest to keep from falling over. One touch and she was putty in his hands.

Just fuck me. Right here.
That’d cool her down for sure. She still didn’t understand how, but simply touching him was more relief than stripping naked could ever be.

He grinned that devilish, sexy-as-sin smile and grasped her hand, pulling her along behind him. “Come on. Lots more land to check before sundown.”

Disappointment rippled through her body, but she tamped it down and told herself no matter how much she wanted him right now, she wasn’t going to use him like that. The Argonauts used him to read minds, to tell them what others were thinking or feeling. She didn’t want him to ever think she wanted him only for what he could do for her. Because it wasn’t true.

“What happens at sundown?” She stepped over a downed log, wishing they were back on the beach so she could dunk herself in the ocean one more time. Or ten.

“We find a quiet, sheltered place for the night where I can ravish you.”

Her whole body tightened. She hadn’t realized her feet had stopped until he chuckled and stepped in front of her again. “Like that idea?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

He cupped one hand around her jaw, leaned down, and brushed his lips over hers. And those tingling, cool, refreshing sensations shot through her whole body from that one spot, easing the fever just enough, bringing her focus back to what was important.

Him. Keeping him safe. Finding this nymph so they could locate her father. And getting rid of this fire inside her.

When he eased back, his eyes were so fathomless she was sure she could see eternity if she looked hard enough. This had to be the real him. Not the reserved, carefully calculating guardian Theron had described. “Titus…”

He brushed his thumb along her jaw. “Yeah?”

“I should have told you.”

“About the element?”

She shook her head. “About the fire.”

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “It’s not your fault.”

“No, but—”

He cupped her face in both hands. “Do you know why you need me, Tasa?”

Because you’re sexy as hell. Because you protect me. Because you’re the only one who cares
. “I—”

“Because I can cool that fire inside you.”

He smiled and brushed a lock of hair away from her forehead. “I love when you’re confused. You get this gorgeous little line, right here.”

He ran his finger between her brows, and she frowned. “I don’t—”

“Understand? I didn’t either. Not until I held the Orb. You know how you said you didn’t know why you’d been freed from Zeus’s prison? It’s because Zeus trapped you in the air element. He figured you’d be safe there since he had possession of it. What he didn’t know was that Orpheus was going to steal it and hide it for thousands of years.”

“Orpheus?”

“One of the Argonauts. He’s really Perseus’s son reincarnated, but that’s a whole other story. What’s important is that when O remembered where he’d hidden the air element in his former life, found it again, and placed it in the Orb, that freed you from your prison. He found the air element six months ago.”

Six months ago… That was about the time she’d awoken. Natasa focused on a branch behind him. Stunned and…well, enlightened. “That’s why so much time passed.”

“And why you don’t remember any of it. Thanks to Orpheus, you lucked out. Zeus would have used you long ago if you hadn’t been hidden.”

And she never would have met Titus.

Her gaze found his again. “That’s some knowledge you’ve come into.”

He grinned. “There’s more.”

“More?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know more.

He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Her temperature ticked down pressed up against him like this, and she felt herself growing weak in the knees, just like every other time he touched her. “I cool you not because you’re my soul mate, but because of Calypso.”

She rested her hands on his forearms, loving the feel of him against her but overwhelmed at the same time. “You’re throwing things out at me really fast. Soul mate?”

He chuckled, leaned close, and kissed her ear. His sweet, refreshing breath ran down her neck, and felt so damn good. “We’ll get to that later. When my forefather, Odysseus, was stranded on this island by Calypso, he bathed in a special pool. One drawn from the water element. Traces of that passed to his descendants. To me. I’m the water to your fire,
ligos Vesuvius
.”

Her brow furrowed deeper. He looked so smug and proud of himself. What he was saying was crazy, and yet, in some insane way, it made sense. “You’re saying the water element’s here on this island?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Then why aren’t you looking for it? Your Argonauts—”

“Because I don’t care about the elements. I only care about you.”

Her mouth dried up, and love—a love she’d never expected to find—filled the space inside her chest. This
had
to be the real him. “Oh, Titus.”

He kissed her again. His lips were cool and soft, his tongue wet and so damn tempting sliding along hers. Coaxing a groan from her chest. Making her ache. Making her need.

He smiled that wicked grin. “I am going to have my way with you later. But first I want you sweating. And panting. And so damn hot you’re begging for me to cool you from the inside out.”

She already was.

A shiver raced down her spine. One born of anticipation and excitement. Fantasies about what he’d do to her ricocheted through her mind as he let go of her, as he tugged on her hand and pulled her after him. But they quickly shifted to doubt and worry when she realized she needed to tell him the rest. Needed to tell him about the deal she’d made so she could search for her father these last few months. But she was afraid. Afraid of what he’d say and do when he learned the whole truth. Afraid of losing him because of a stupid mistake she now couldn’t change.

Her heart raced. She stepped around a tree and tried to steady her quaking voice. “So what is this soul mate thing you and Zander both mentioned?”

“It’s a curse. From Hera. She had a major grudge against Heracles, and when Zeus created the Argonauts and the realm of the heroes, she was doubly pissed. So she cursed him, and all the Argonauts’ descendants, with having only one soul mate. The one person he wants most in the world, but who is the worst possible match for him.”

He smiled again, a dazzling grin that supercharged her blood. “But in our case she screwed up, because I’m water to your fire, baby
.
”

His perfect other half…
Her entire body lit up with understanding. No wonder he was so drawn to her. Not just because of the elements, but because of a deeper, more sinister reason.

Yeah, water could extinguish a flame, but if the fire was too strong, if there wasn’t enough water to douse it, it would turn that water to steam and continue pillaging the land.

She knew too much about destiny. It wasn’t something you could change. She was destined to free her father…and with Titus’s help, now she had a chance. But this curse of Hera’s…this horrible destiny the goddess had bestowed on each of the Argonauts…guaranteed they wouldn’t wind up together.

The hope and excitement she’d held on to moments before withered and died. All she could do now was pray that she found her father before it was too late.

And that the fire inside her didn’t destroy Titus before that happened.

* * *

Nick rolled his shoulder and stepped over a downed log.

The terrain was steep, his breaths heavy. Sweat slicked his skin, but he didn’t care. Every step away from the colony was one step closer to freedom. He was done doing for others. Done being the one everyone turned to. Done—

Pain ripped through his chest. He gasped in a breath, reached out for the trunk of a nearby tree, and came to a stop, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened to him.

Nausea rolled through his stomach, and another burst of searing pain shot beneath his ribs.