Page 25 of The Demigod Complex
“You’rethe lucky man,” Castor murmured.
“I hope so.”
Castor didn’t comment, too busy observing Leia.
Rather than watch the bride, she’d turned, he guessed to see Marrok’s reaction. Her expression softened, and her gaze slipped to him. Finding Castor staring at her, she yanked her gaze back to Tala, a soft blush coloring her cheeks.
Satisfaction tore through him. Leia wasn’t indifferent. She couldn’t be.
Every nuance of that kiss slammed into him. He’d put all thoughts of it away, thinking it had been a gimmick. A ploy for her to avoid Kaios like she’d said. But had it been only that?
As Tala neared the front of the chapel, Leia’s gaze once again moved to him, skittered away, returned and stayed. Her blue eyes drew him, like the moon holding the ocean in its sway.
He held his breath, fighting every instinct to go to her and drag her out of there.
With a reluctance that bordered on out of control, he shifted to face the front of the chapel, breaking the searing moment of intimacy when he’d rather it go on and on. Thankfully, the ceremony was over in short order—the wedding portion of wolf-shifter matings tended to be brief as everyone wanted to get to the next part. The tension would escalate more and more until they completed their actual mating. The buzz of it filled the room, sending a charge through his system.
Turning again, he sought out Leia, only to find she’d disappeared. Unable to go after her, he kept his expression neutral, searching discreetly for a flash of navy silk or of blond hair. Someone, a woman he assumed, pinched his butt as he followed Marrok and Tala down the aisle. He didn’t bother to discover who. It wasn’t Leia.
She’d never be so crass. Even if he wanted her to.
Yearning and anticipation hung heavy in the air as the gathering made their way out of the chapel, along the river, and over a wooden bridge that led them into the woods. The pheromones were flying. Heady stuff. As their lives were linked in the church, in the mating ceremony, so too were their bodies.
The pull of the alphas, the lust, dragged on Castor, but he forced the sensation to the back of his mind, his attention squarely on finding Leia. Perhaps she was afraid of stirring up the nymphs again or getting into it with her nemesis and ruining the mating? A quick check showed him Kaios was still with the group. She couldn’t be in danger off by herself.
Castor might need saving, however, having already refused three women and peeled one off his right side to plaster her against another man more appreciative of her attentions. He’d already passed one couple who couldn’t wait, going at each other around the side of the chapel. As the group walked, more and more peeled away. The sounds of moans and grunts and heavy breathing started to join those of the breeze and the river.
Once deep in the woods, the wedding guests still with them stopped, allowing the bride and groom to continue on into the trees alone, to a secret spot Marrok would have prepared ahead of time. There they would mate in private…though rumor had it some couples didn’t wait to be secluded before having their fun.
As the guests stood, the need ramped higher. By now he was hard as a rock, heavy and aching in a way he’d never experienced before. More couples paired up and wandered off, unable to resist the need to claim each other that the mating ceremony stirred in their bodies. Not everyone gave into temptation, but many did.
“Are you here with someone?”
Castor glanced down at a brunette who’d been poured into her slinky red dress. “Yes. Sorry.”
She gave him a disappointed pout. “I don’t see anyone here.”
“She gets nervous around nature. Don’t worry, we’ll make up for it later.”
She sighed, managing to squeeze her breasts together at the same time, which did nothing for him. “Nature isn’t a thing to fear. It’s a thing to revel in.” She trailed a hand down his arm.
He plucked her hand away. “I’ll be reveling with my date.”
She tossed her hair. “My loss. If you change your mind…”
He wouldn’t be changing his mind. Only one woman would satisfy him.
A strange rushing noise, similar to the sound of ocean waves, pulled his attention to the river off to his left and Castor froze. Every cell clicked into his power in gut reaction as a wall of water burst up from the bed of the river below.
“What the—” someone exclaimed behind him.
The forest exploded into disarray around them. All of the guests dropped to the ground as the wind whipped the trees into a frenzy. Pine needles rained down, filling the air with their zesty scent. Birds screeched their protest as they abandoned their nests and perches. One of the largest trees groaned a horrible protest as it appeared to uproot, only to be righted by a blast of water.
Several of the guests around him screamed, but none of the chaos approached them, as though they were cocooned in a bubble of protection. Castor’s jaw dropped at the awesome display.
This had to be all the nymphs. Whipping around he searched for her among the chaos. She wasn’t with the guests. Where the hell was she?
Then he found her.
