Page 30 of The Demigod Complex
She stepped on his foot.
“Ouch.”
“Sorry.”
“Was that in retaliation for saying you’re beautiful?”
Another clash of feet, only this time she managed to plant the spiked heel of her stiletto on his instep. “Sorry,” she muttered again. “I did warn you.”
She pulled a disgruntled face. He chuckled at how cute her consternation was, only to receive a glare. He sobered. “Yes, you did.”
Despite his clamoring body, he kept the rest of their dance PG, managing to get stepped on only a couple more times, and escorted her off the floor when the song ended, feet sore and body on fire. Thankfully, Kaios had moved away, talking to wolf shifters on the other side of the room. Though Castor continued to watch him closely.
They spent the rest of the evening together, except when Marrok needed Castor for various best man duties. At those times, Castor made sure he left Leia with Tala’s sister or one of Marrok’s many cousins, the female ones at least, determined to never leave her vulnerable.
Several hours later, even though the party showed no signs of winding down, Leia tugged on his sleeve. “I’m dead on my feet.”
He’d hoped the connection that had been forged between them would lead to greater intimacy in their room, but she did appear to be drooping and pale. Had using her powers in such force today wiped her out? He swallowed back his disappointment even as his protectiveness where she was concerned kicked in hard. “Have Astra walk you up. I won’t be too much longer.”
He watched as she threaded through the crowds to wish Marrok and Tala goodnight before she disappeared out the side door with Tala’s sister.
“She’s quite a woman.”
Castor glanced over to find Kaios standing beside him. Rather than bothering to answer, he went to move away.
“Did she tell you about how we met?”
Castor ignored the question. “If you value your life, you’ll stay the hell away from me.”
“It was a ceremony similar to this one only for werewolves. The effect of a wolf mating can be amazingly heady. Don’t you agree? Imagine it when the mating pair are more…powerful creatures.” The werewolf’s implication was blatant.
A lie. Leia had already told him how things went down. But had she held back? Not told him everything? Something to explain the werewolf’s hatred.
Suddenly picturing Kaios possessing Leia’s body as the sexual tension drove them to greater heights had Castor wanting to punch a hole through the arrogant smirk on the werewolf’s face.
Instead, he forced himself to turn and walk away.
Chapter Eleven
Something pulled Leia out of the dreamless comfort of slumber. Instinct niggling at her, she blinked awake then stilled to discover Castor perched on the edge of the bed.
She glanced at the clock. Two a.m. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up to face him, dragging the heavy blanket with her to cover her black silk nightgown.
She did her best to ignore her instant awareness at his nearness, trying to tell herself it was unspent sexual need from tonight. Not real. And not something he’d want acted on. Only, turning off her own needs had no effect. “Castor? Is something wrong?”
At some point during the evening, he’d discarded his tux jacket and tie and rolled back his sleeves. Yummy. He blew out a breath and ran his hand through his mussed hair. She frowned at the outward sign that her usually cool-headed demigod wasn’t at all calm. “Sorry.” He paused and shook his head. “Sorry,” he said again. “I’ll go.”
She put a hand on his arm, stopping him. “What’s wrong?”
“I had an interesting conversation.”
She took a moment to think through that. “Did Kaios get to you? Please tell me you didn’t get in a fight or anything.” She searched for any signs.
If anything, his eyes turned darker, more penetrating, like he could see into her soul. “I showed an impressive amount of restraint. You’d be proud.”
Ah. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “Did he imply we slept together?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t believe him.”
