He rolled to his side, pushed to his feet, moving in slow motion so as not to spook her. A breeze rustled the trees at his back and blew a lock of hair that had come free across his cheek, the sensation normal. Familiar. Expected. The only touch against his skin he could count on these days.
Except for her. She could touch him. And he had to know why.
“I’m not going anywhere but where you’re going,” he said calmly. “Until I get what I want, you’re stuck with me.”
Her breath quickened. A flush rose up in her cheeks. She stepped back again, waving the dagger in front of her like a sword. “You’re not going anywhere with me.”
“Then start talking.”
Voices echoed from the bottom of the hill. Several. Female. Natasa’s gaze jerked that way. With her so easily distracted, Titus knew he could overpower her, but he didn’t. He stood where he was and waited. Because even without her touching him, this was more fun than he’d had in months…no, years.
She faced him again, but instead of frustration and surprise, panic marked her features. “You have to go. Now. I’m not fooling around anymore.”
His senses went on high alert. “Who’s down there?”
She sheathed the blade at her back and bent to pick up a length of rope from the ground. The same kind of rope she’d thrown to him from the wall walk when he’d been struggling to make it to the top. Thin, strong, otherworldly rope that must have fallen out of her pocket when they’d been wrestling in the dirt. “No one you want to meet. Just go!”
The conversation with Theron flashed in his mind. Followed by the Argonaut leader’s suspicions. He grasped her arm at the biceps. “I said I’m not leaving until we talk, and I meant it.”
“Gods!” She swiveled, pushed both hands against his leather breastplate, and shoved hard. But she was only about five-seven and weighed maybe a hundred and thirty pounds, and her push didn’t even budge him. And there was no heat in the movement. Not like when she’d attacked that guard. “I’m trying to help you now. Why won’t you listen?”
“Natasa?”
Natasa froze against him. Titus looked over her head toward the tall brunette standing near an old-growth pine. The one decked out in full camo gear, her hair pulled back in a tight tail, her hand holding a blade the length of his leg. And behind her? Five more just like her.
“Shit,” Natasa muttered, her eyes sliding closed.
Sirens? No, these female warriors weren’t flashy enough. Zeus only recruited the sexiest, most alluring females into his private army. While these chicks weren’t butt-ugly, they definitely weren’t Siren material. And no way could he imagine a Siren being caught dead with a bandanna over her hair and camo face paint smeared across her cheeks and hands.
Natasa dropped her arms and turned to face their guests. “Ilithyia.” She nodded at the others. “You’re out earlier than I expected.”
“And you’re out later,” the one in front, the one clearly in charge, said. “Who is this…male?”
The sneered word and the way her gaze raked Titus’s body from head to toe put Titus on alert. He focused in on his gift, searching for answers to questions unasked. “Argonaut, traitor, male” were words that rose up from the group at his front.
“No one you need to concern yourself with,” Natasa answered.
Ilithyia moved out of the trees and held her sword point out, her dark gaze zeroed in on Titus as if he were a fly she was about to grind to dust beneath her boot. “I must have missed the memo about Halloween coming early this year. But perhaps today we’ll get a treat after all, ladies.”
Titus didn’t know who the hell these chicks were, but he’d had just about enough. He stepped forward, but before he could set their leader straight on a few very key points, Natasa moved fully in front of him. “He’s my prisoner, Ilithyia, not yours.”
Ilithyia slowed, and her brows narrowed, her gaze jumping from Natasa to Titus and back again. “Prisoner?”
Yeah…take that, camo girl.
Whoa—wait…prisoner? Titus’s gaze snapped to Natasa, but from behind, he couldn’t see her eyes. Only the defiant lift of her head that told him she was serious.
A shot of wicked heat rolled through his hips, along with mental images of all the different ways he could be her prisoner.
“Yes. Mine.”
“He’s not bound.”
“I was just about to do that when you barged up on us.”
Ilithyia’s eyes narrowed even more. Tension crackled in the cool May forest. “Aella will not like this.”
“This has nothing to do with Aella,” Natasa answered in a hard tone. “She knows I have my own agenda. And she is not to interfere.”
“Oh…the queen will definitely not approve of this.”
“Natasa is so screwed.”
“My gods, is he hot or what?”
“He’s exactly what we’ve been waiting for.”
Thoughts pinged around from the group, but Titus was too distracted to tell which was coming from whom. His focus had shifted entirely to Natasa. And, lucky him, her thoughts were the only ones he couldn’t read.
“Fine,” Ilithyia said after a long beat. “Bind him and we’ll escort you back. We wouldn’t want you to lose your prisoner along the way.”
The smug way she said prisoner dragged Titus’s attention away from Natasa and back to the Amazon glaring his direction
Amazon… shit. He looked out over the group. That was what these females were. Amazon warriors. He’d never run across one, but he knew they roamed the earth, just like the multitude of otherworldy beings that stayed hidden from humans. He quickly ran through what he knew of them: they didn’t like the gods, they loathed men even more, and they marked themselves with the crescent moon.
He cut a glance at Natasa’s arms, but her sleeves fell all the way to her wrists. He looked past her to the other females to confirm his suspicions, but they too all wore long sleeves.
Natasa turned his way and pulled the rope from her pocket. As she unwound it, he whispered, “What the hell is going on?”
“Shh,” she muttered, grasping his wrists together, not meeting his gaze. “Do as I say. And for gods’ sake, don’t open your mouth. I can’t protect you if you piss them off.”
Protect him? Did that mean she wasn’t one of them? Yeah, she was tough enough, but something in his gut said she didn’t fit in with this group. He glanced back at the Amazons while Natasa wrapped the rope around his wrists. They’d spread out in a U-shape around him, their swords each drawn in aggression. But it was the glint of victory in the leader’s eyes that told Titus he’d stumbled into something he should have left alone.
He didn’t have a weapon with him. Nothing but his bare—well, gloved—hands. Sure, he could take a few down if it came to that, but he didn’t like the idea of hurting a female if he didn’t have to. He had no doubt he was faster than these chicks, which meant he could escape if he ran like hell. But what would happen to Natasa if he did that? Even if she was only part Amazon, he didn’t have to read minds to know there was a power struggle going on here. A big one.
Where the hell was Phineus? Why hadn’t he come through the damn portal yet? Titus lifted his bound hands and reached for the Argos medallion he wore on a chain around his neck, the one that was a beacon back to his order. He found nothing but skin.
Skata. He’d lost it. Probably when he’d been rolling around in the dirt with Natasa. Goofing off instead of doing his fucking job.