Bound (35 page)

“Um…” The suite was big, a large sitting area by a fireplace, a desk and chair near the balcony door, and across the room a giant bed she was sure would gobble her up. Combined with the huge walk-in closet and marble bathroom, it was fancier than anywhere she’d lived before, but it didn’t feel like home. “It’s…nice.”

His lips curled, and like a magnet, that smile pulled her gaze right back to his familiar and gorgeous face. She liked the wisps of hair floating free, but she wanted to tug that leather band from his nape. She liked his hair wild, liked sliding her fingers through the silky locks, liked pulling on it when she drew his mouth to hers.

He sucked in a sharp breath and shifted his feet. Looking toward the windows, he scratched his forehead as if he didn’t know what to say.

Her gaze settled on his hands. His strong, talented hands covered by leather gloves.

He’d been wearing similar gloves when they’d met. The sight of them reminded her of the Amazons touching him. Of his tortured reaction. Of him falling to his feet in the mud on Ogygia when he’d tried to embrace her after she’d risen from those flames.

“Um. It’s getting late,” he said. “Are you hungry? I can call down and have the cooks send something up for us.”

There were too many tortured emotions running through her to think about food, but he was working hard for normal and she was determined to give him that. They hadn’t had any normal in their relationship yet. “Yeah, okay. That would be…nice.”

He moved to the desk and lifted a phone. Speaking into the receiver, he ordered—she didn’t know what. Nerves rolled through her stomach as she turned a slow circle in the suite and tried to find control.

He hung up, then stepped toward the balcony door. “Have you seen the view? You’ve got one of the best in the castle.”

The only view she wanted was of him, but she didn’t say so. When he pushed the door open and stepped outside, she followed—not because she wanted to but because she didn’t know what else to do.

He held the glass-paneled door open for her. As she passed, she caught a whiff of his scent. Spicy. Musky. So familiar it brought a rush of memories and a host of tingles to her belly. His heat slid across the space between them to tickle the fine hairs along her neck, reminding her he wasn’t just her refreshing chill. He was more. And she wanted him so desperately she was barely holding it together.

She drew in a lungful of his scent. Held it. Was so afraid that this was all of him she was ever going to get.

He cleared his throat and perched his gloved hands on the railing. Then he pointed off toward the sparkling ocean and dramatic cliffs beyond the castle walls. “That’s the Olympic Ocean. That big building down there is the Argolian, which houses the Council chambers. Most of the buildings in Tiyrns are made of white marble, hence the term ‘White City.’ We’ve got a pretty big port. The Aegis Mountains border us on the north and east, and farmland runs to the south.”

She scanned the majestic city as he pointed out landmarks. He was right. They’d given her a room on one of the upper floors, and it really was a gorgeous view, especially with the sun setting over the ocean in swirls of pinks and purples. But she didn’t care about the view. All she cared about was the man standing next to her, what was happening between them, and how they were going to fix it.

She cued back into the conversation, realizing he’d paused. Feeling foolish, she cleared her throat. “Where’s your home?”

He pointed toward the north and the purple-blue mountains beyond. “Just outside the city. The Thasian River runs in front of my house and dumps into the ocean about four or five miles downstream.”

“Oh.” She tried to sound interested, but knew she failed. A small part of her was disappointed he hadn’t taken her there, that he’d let the queen give her a place to stay in the castle. She knew why, and it made sense—her father was here, and she couldn’t touch him, so how the heck did she expect them to have any kind of future together anyway?—but it still stung.

“Hey.” His soft voice pulled at her. She looked over. Then sucked in a breath when she realized he was watching her with soft, captivating eyes. “I still want to take you there. I
will
take you there, but Argolea isn’t the Utopia people think it is. There’s political strife in our country thanks to the Council, and I’m not risking your safety until I know things have calmed down. But know this…home for me isn’t a house. It’s wherever you are.”

Warmth bloomed in her chest. He still wanted her. Even with what felt like a giant ocean forming between them. She inched her hand closer to his on the railing. Desperately wanted to touch him. Emotions brewed in his eyes—the same ones she felt—and he lifted his gloved hand, closed it over hers, and squeezed.

Warmth. Bliss—

He jerked his hand back and cringed.

Her gaze shot to her hand, then to his confused face. “What?”

“I…I don’t know. That’s never happened before. The gloves always prevent…”

He reached out and touched her again. Drew back just as sharply. And when his eyes met hers, a pained look crossed his handsome features.

No.
Tears burned the backs of her eyes. She pulled her hand away from the railing, cradling it against her stomach. Her heart sank into what felt like a pit of despair.

Now he couldn’t even touch her with the barrier of cloth or leather? How cruel could the Fates possibly be?

A knock sounded at the door, and Titus turned. He seemed relieved by the interruption as he stepped back into her suite. “That’s dinner.”

Alone, she closed her eyes and drew a steadying breath. Told herself to be strong. At least until he left.

Darkness pressed in through the window as the sun sank over the water. Candlelight illuminated the small table near the window where they sat and ate, but it wasn’t the romantic atmosphere Natasa had hoped for.

She pushed her food around on her plate, pretending to eat. They made small talk. He told her that Calypso was already making plans to leave Argolea against the queen’s request and asked bout her conversation with her father. She gave him the bare bones and asked about the Argonauts. He was reluctant to talk about what had happened on Pandora when they’d rescued Prometheus, but she sensed something had gone down between him and the others. She wanted to know more but didn’t have the strength to question. When the conversation lulled and he finally asked if she was done, she nodded, relieved the meal was over.

She rose from her seat. He blew out the candles, cleared the dishes, and rolled the cart out into the hall. When he came back in, she was standing in the middle of the room, lost and unsure what to do next.

He must have sensed her worry—or maybe he’d read her mind. She realized through dinner he’d answered her unasked questions several times. He disappeared in the giant closet and came back with a pair of yellow silk pajamas and held them out to her. “Come on. You look exhausted.”

Nerves echoed through her belly. She moved to the end of the bed and fingered the silky fabric, careful not to touch him. She could hold her own with Amazons, satyrs, could even best a couple of Olympians, and yet at the moment she felt like the most helpless person in the world. “Are you leaving?”

“Do you want me to?”

She met his eyes. Felt that pull to him in the bottom of her soul—the one she’d felt before. In the redwoods. At the colony. On Ogygia. But this time it was more basic. More electric. More raw. And it overrode everything else.

“No,” she breathed.

“Then I’m not going anywhere.”

Relief was swift and oh so sweet. She managed what she knew was a feeble smile, moved into the bathroom and changed. When she came back out, he’d turned down the lights and pulled back the covers on her side of the bed.

Her heart picked up speed. Memories of the night they’d spent tangled together at the half-breed colony spiraled through her. Stomach tight with anticipation, she slid into bed and pulled the covers up. He sat on the opposite side, tugged off his boots and dropped them on the floor, but he didn’t take off his clothes. And he didn’t climb under the blankets with her. Instead, he lay out on top of the comforter, keeping as many layers of fabric between them as he could.

Silence fell over the room. She stared up at the ceiling in the darkness, blinking back tears of anger and frustration. This was so much harder than she’d expected. How were they ever going to make this work? How long until he got tired of her and went back to his “regular” females—the ones he’d told her about? He was a sexy, virile warrior, and though she believed that he loved her, he’d told her he wasn’t built to be celibate. With her—now—that was all he could be.

He rolled toward her, tucked his hands up by his face. “Don’t think like that,” he said softly. “You are the only one I want. We’ll get through this.”

Great. He was reading her mind again. That was going to get old fast.

She turned her head on the pillow. Moonlight danced across his cheeks, made his hair seem almost white, his skin luminescent. “How?” she whispered.

“I’ll talk to the witches about spells or try drugs or…I don’t know. I’ll think of something.”

“Titus—”

“This is my problem, Natasa, not yours. I don’t want you to worry. It’s gonna be okay.”

“It’s
our
problem. You can’t even touch me with your gloves. How is that ever going to be okay?”

“Because…I can’t think about the alternative.”

She closed her eyes against a rush of pain.

“Give it some time, baby. Maybe my reaction to you will lessen as the fire element settles.” His voice strained. “This isn’t going to be our new normal, okay? I won’t let it be.”

Her heart felt like it was breaking all over again. The fire element was already settled. That wasn’t going to change. He was grasping for a thread of hope that wasn’t out there. But weakly—for him—she nodded.

“Sleep,” he said gently. “We’ll figure it out.”

He was determined to keep them together, but Hera’s soul mate curse niggled at the back of her mind.

The one person he wanted most in the world, but who was the worst possible match for him.

Yeah, that pretty much summed her up perfectly, now didn’t it?

Chapter Twenty-Three

Titus stood on one of the many roofs of the castle in Argolea and leaned against the railing, looking down at the courtyard below.

June had skipped across the land, the heat of summer bursting flowers on trees and vines, replacing the spring buds and occasional rain. But the warm summer wind blowing across his cheeks and under the collar of his shirt didn’t ease the chill inside. It only reminded him he was as cold and alone as he’d ever been.

“She looks like she’s adjusting fairly well.”

Theron
.

Titus didn’t turn. Just continued to watch Natasa and Prometheus in the courtyard below. Midday sun glinted off her flame-red hair. She was wearing tight jeans that molded to her curvy hips and a fitted green T-shirt that matched her eyes. Holding her hand out, she summoned a giant fireball. He watched in awe as she manipulated the flames into a stalk, a fountain, then finally a tight ball again, which she blew away from her hand. The rolling knot of fire floated up in the air, growing smaller the higher it rose, until it finally burned out and disappeared in the sky.

Theron was right. Over the last two weeks, she had adjusted to life in Argolea. Very well. Though the Council was still griping about all the Misos who’d been evacuated to their land, they hadn’t even protested the fact Natasa and her father were here. Of course, the fact Prometheus was a Titan and could smite them in one breath probably didn’t hurt matters.

Prometheus, for his part, was helping the Argonauts look for the last remaining element—water—but so far they’d had no luck. Even he didn’t know exactly where it had landed after he’d scattered the elements in the human world. After thousands of years, the shape of the planet had changed, and water was the most variable of all.

In his spare time, Prometheus was educating the queen about the gods and Krónos and teaching Natasa to use her new gifts. Titus still sometimes had trouble realizing she was the real deal—unquenchable fire. But unlike the Armageddon the ancient texts all made her out to be, she was more. She had the strength to release or control it all within herself. And though eventually she’d be able to manipulate fire into the other elements, she couldn’t yet. Titus still harbored a shitload of anger toward the god who’d passed the fire element to his daughter, knowing it would cause her intense suffering until it consumed and resurrected her, but even he could see Prometheus cared for her.

An eagle soared through the sky, swept over the castle wall, and screeched as it flew above Natasa and her father. It landed a few feet from Natasa on the green grass, spread its wings, and screeched again as if to say,
Come over here and pay attention to me
. Natasa smiled and held out her hand, then took a step toward the bird. Just before she reached it, the bird fluttered its wings and took off for the sky again. She shielded her eyes against the sun and watched it fly away. But there was a look in her eyes…a sadness…a longing…

Pain.

His heart twisted into a hard knot beneath his ribs. It killed him to see her so unhappy. They’d spent the last two weeks tip-toeing around each other. He was still spending nights with her in her room, but they were both growing increasingly frustrated with the situation. And lying next to her at night when she was asleep was pure agony. To be near her like that and not be able to touch her…

Gods, he hated this. Hated, even more, that Theron was standing behind him now, watching him suffer. He’d decided to stay with the Argonauts—mostly at Natasa’s insistence—but he was only half-committed at best. And Theron knew it.

“How did you find me?” Titus finally asked, unable to stand the silence—and prying eyes.

“I followed the sound of ultimate misery.”

Fucker.
Titus huffed. “You’re a comedian now. Great.”

Theron grinned. Then his features sobered, and he stuffed his hands in his front pockets. “I’ve been where you are, T. More times than I want to count. And each time I thought I’d lost Acacia…” Theron’s voice grew thick. “I know it’s torture