Page 18 of On a Pale Horse
He gave her that universally quizzical expression, eyebrows raised, a small shake of the head. “Nothing at all.”
She put her hands on her hips and stared him down. “No, something’s wrong. I want to know what it is.”
In a move that drove her mad, he swiped his tongue across his lower lip and glanced away. He’d tell her, but he didn’t want to and it likely wouldn’t be the entire truth.
“What if we go to Egypt and die out there?”
She blinked. “What?”
“I don’t want to die before I have sex, of my own volition, in this lifetime.”
Ah. “You’re not scared to die; you’re scared to die a virgin?”
He shrugged. “You’re the one who pressed me. I tell you and then you get pissy at me for my answer. Don’t ask if you don’t want to hear the truth.”
She’d hit a nerve. Wishing she could back away, she held her hands up in surrender. “Look, I’m sorry and I’m not pissy. Your answer just surprised me is all.”
He put his hands on his hips, his tie hanging loosely around his neck now.
She could grab it, pull it tight, while she dragged him close for a kiss, for more than a kiss. Realizing her thoughts were quickly derailing their mission, Cloris guided her mind back to him, still speaking.
“Why should it surprise you? It has to be obvious I’m growing a little frustrated at our lack of physical progress here.”
Cloris swallowed and ducked her head. She’d known he wanted to move forward, but every time she thought about it, everything in her fought a war. She wanted him like crazy, but she also feared hurting him. That would kill her.
She jerked a black t-shirt over her head and pulled bobby pins loose so she could sweep her hair up into a ponytail. “You really should change. We’re going to need to leave very soon.”
He let out a long sigh, jerked something from a hanger, and exited the closet. The hanger spun wildly before settling between its companions. And for the first time, Cloris wondered if she didn’t start moving forward if she could lose him. Did he already have someone else, was that his cancelled plans?
Did the idea of him with someone else make her jealous? It did something to her belly, a flutter, or an ache. Not jealousy exactly, but something close to it. She wanted him for herself, and after she had him, sharing might be an option, but having him first meant something to her, and she thought to him as well.
She exited the closet to find Hades standing by the bed naked. Jerking to a halt, she looked him over. His body, while sculpted and beautiful, had been marked and scarred by Hel’s attentions. It hurt her in a number of ways to look at him. Instead, she turned her back and made it look like she was tying her boots while she spoke. “Look, maybe we can make a deal.”
He’d walked closer as she tied. His warm fingers against her neck tumbled her deep into his sensual aura. She had to shake it off to keep a clear head.
“What sort of deal?” His voice was low and seductive.
She stood and turned to meet his eyes. Regretting it instantly, his aura so much more potent with the nudity to back it up. “We come back from Egypt successful, I’ll let you have me anyway you want me.”
Her voice didn’t waver, and she gave herself a little mental cheer.
A wrinkle pinched at the center of his forehead. He looked like he didn’t trust her words. “What does that mean?”
Focusing on his face, she answered. “Exactly as I said. You can take me anyway you want me. Do you have fantasies of tying me up, binding me, any position, however you want. You’re in charge.”
It was the only way she could think to bring them together that wouldn’t result in her doing something that might drop him deep into a flashback or worse. The idea of him looking at her like Hel had to be her deepest, and really only, fear.
He dragged his bottom lip between his teeth, and she could practically see them entwined together in his mind. It began a slow simmer deep in her core. Damn. They were moving forward whether she liked it or not. She wouldn’t be able to withstand him much longer.
He eventually nodded. “Fine. But I want this to be binding.”
A wash of cool water swamped her system, dragging her from the edge of dropping to her knees and taking him right there.
Excuse me? She placed her hands on her hips. “You don’t trust me to keep my word?”
He stepped into her, aligning his nude body along her clothed one.
She swallowed hard against the onslaught of sensual promise his presence pushed against her.
