Page 31 of The Demigod Complex
“No, but wanted to punch him I’ll bet. Which is probably what he was hoping for. What an ass.” Was Castor jealous?
“Yes. He is.”
He watched her with an intensity that wrapped around her like a spell being cast.
“I humiliated him,” she said in a low voice.
Castor said nothing. Just waited.
And it all came spilling out. Half drowning the damn werewolf in front of men he’d wanted to impress. The werewolf mating ceremony had been held near her spring. They’d all been gathered. Rare then. Even more rare now.
“It was such a stupid thing to do,” she muttered at the end. “Werewolves are unpredictable, and that’s on their own.” She shrugged.
“So he came after you.”
Another shrug.
Castor put a hand under her chin to tip her gaze to his. “I’ll never let him touch you again.”
Leia lowered her gaze, hiding her thoughts, wishing that could happen, but knowing she’d have to leave after this ceremony, disappear like she had before. Especially now that Kaios knew of her relationship with Castor—or thought he did anyway. Needing a distraction, she took his hand and flipped it over, tracing the lines of his life across the palm. “According to this you’re going to have a long and prosperous life.”
“Lyleia.” There was a growl to his voice that told her he was on edge more than she’d realized.
She lifted her head to peek at him only to be snared by the look in his eyes.
Wanting. Real wanting, and not for show.
An ache of need glowed low in her belly. Could he tell the effect he had on her? Here, in the dark room, after the things that had happened, she couldn’t resist the pull he had on her anymore. Didn’t want to.
He flipped his hand over to lace their fingers together, tugging her toward him. “You thought I’d be just like him when you first came to work for me?”
“Did you know about my history when I came?” she asked, stalling.
He shook his head. “Only that you no longer had your spring. Is that what you thought?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still think that?”
He drew lazy circles on the inside of her wrist with his thumb—a soft caress that befuddled her mind. “No.”
“When I first told you about the mating, was your past experience your only reason for refusing?”
She licked her lips. “No.”
His gaze turned sharp, searching. “What else?”
The heat in his eyes scorched her skin everywhere they trailed, or maybe her visceral response to this man was the culprit. Either way, the truth was dragged from her lips. “This.”
He tipped his head in question, clearly wanting clarification. Time to take a risk. She hadn’t used her sexual radar in centuries beyond shutting direct approaches down or turning her own needs off. She hoped to Aphrodite the skill wasn’t rusty, that she was reading his signals right.
Never taking her gaze from his, she slid out from under the blanket and climbed into his lap, straddling him. No mistaking the evidence of his desire. With excruciating slowness, she lowered her lips to hover above his, not quite touching. “This.”
She didn’t have to wait long. With a low groan he covered her lips with his, his tongue sliding along hers, tangling and tempting. He tasted of champagne and something delicious that was simply Castor. He tangled his hands in her hair to angle her mouth better and shuddered as she opened fully for him, whimpers of need pouring from her into him.
Leia lost herself to his kiss, his touch, her body taking over from her mind as she surrendered to the sensations that she’d felt building since the first moment they’d met. This thing between them went way beyond the desire brought on by a wolf-shifter mating. This weekend had only exposed a nerve. Something she had a suspicion they’dbothtried to ignore.
She whimpered and rocked against him. Not enough skin. With frantic fingers she reached for the buttons of his shirt, but he placed a hand over hers, stilling her actions.
