“Afraid she’s finally come to her senses?” Nick asked. “That she’s ready for a real hero? Trust me, princess, I won’t need magic like my brother here to get it up for you.”
“That’s enough.” Demetrius’s hand curled into a fist.
It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough, not for Nick. Yes, you bastard, hit me. Haul off and beat the shit out of me. Let’s finish this once and for all.
Isadora pushed her way between them. ”Both of you, stop it.” She looked up at Nick with frustration and hurt alive in her familiar eyes. “What the hell’s come over you? I don’t need this right now. You’re supposed to be my friend. Why are you doing this?”
Nick made the mistake of looking from his brother down to her. And though the darkness still whirred, one look was all it took for the soul mate bond to come screaming back.
It slammed into him. Stole his breath. A sharp pain sliced through his chest, one so intense it echoed through his entire body.
No… He was intentionally lashing out at her, wanting her to hurt because he hurt. Because he couldn’t cope. Because he still wanted when it was more than clear she didn’t want in return.
Regret and anger made his head buzz, and he stumbled back, turning away. His hands shook as he brought them together and opened the portal back to the colony.
“Nick, wait—”
He couldn’t. Not even for her. And yet…
A tiny voice in the back of his head—a dark voice he wanted to ignore but couldn’t—said he’d just planted a seed. Fear was the greatest motivator of all. And Isadora was smart. To save her child, she’d come to him.
He just had to be patient.
Natasa’s pulse raced while she waited in the outer room of Aella’s tent. She swiped at her brow and looked down at the perspiration on her fingers.
Just nerves. That was all. Nothing more.
She rubbed her hand against her thigh and tried to convince herself of that fact, but Aella’s tent proved to be too much of a distraction. It was larger and grander than all the rest, made up of three trees decked together and strewn with canvas to create multiple, spacious rooms. The female didn’t live as a peasant, like the rest of the Amazons and those they protected. Thick rugs ran across the decking beneath Natasa’s feet. Colorful pillows in all shapes and sizes were scattered along the floor near the far wall to form a comfortable lounging area. A purple velvet couch and matching chairs were set up on the other side of the room. Intricately carved tables, golden candlesticks holding flickering candles, even gilded mirrors hanging on the tent walls rounded out the rest of the space.
For a moment, she was transported back to her mother’s palace in Egypt. To the gold, the jewels, the richly colored fabrics and ostentatiousness when there had been so many outside the carefully constructed palace walls suffering in the blazing heat and dust.
That suffering—and the palace’s careless attitude toward it—had been a point of contention between her and her mother. Between her and her mother’s husband, the king. It had been the reason she’d run away at such a young age.
What a fool she’d been. So filled with ideals and the thought she, of all people, could make a difference. She hadn’t made a difference. She hadn’t even been able to take care of herself. Instead she’d been locked away. And now, the world as she’d once known it was no more.
The enormity of her situation bore down upon her, opening a hole the size of Mount Olympus in her chest. She should have been patient. Should have listened. Should have waited for her mother to tell her who and what she was. Maybe if she had, she’d know what to do now.
Canvas rustled on the far side of the room, jolting Natasa from her thoughts. Two guards stepped beneath the archway and moved forward, holding the flaps of the tent door open so the Queen of the Amazons could glide past.
“Thank you, Smyrna, Clymene.” The queen nodded. “You may both wait outside.”
The guards nodded and moved back the way they’d come, leaving Natasa to face Aella on her own.
Natasa bowed, wondering what the hell Smyrna had already told her. She wished she had her remaining dagger, but she’d known to leave it her tent. No one armed was allowed anywhere near the queen. “Your Grace.”
“Rise, Natasa. And tell me of your travels.” Aella sat on the ornate couch. Though she was tall like all Amazons—literally towering over Natasa—she wasn’t as hard. There was a softness to Aella’s features, a beauty the others lacked. Her skin was pale, her hair dark and styled in curls that fell down her back. She wore khaki trousers, knee-high black boots, and a long blue tunic cinched at her waist with a stylish gold belt. And on her fingers and wrists, ancient jewels marked her as the queen of her race.
Natasa moved to one of the sitting chairs. She liked Aella. Had been relieved when the Amazon had agreed to protect her. But she was smart enough to know everyone in this world was out for only one thing: self-preservation. That didn’t make Aella her ally in any sense of the word. “I know you’ve been told I brought a prisoner back with me.”
“I was,” Aella answered, clasping her hands around one knee. “A male, as I understand it. This surprises me, I must say.”
“I didn’t do so to upset you. It’s just…” Gods, how did she rectify this? “He’s important to my quest.”
Aella’s eyes narrowed. Natasa had told Aella she was searching for Prometheus, but not why. And she knew the queen had agreed to protect her in the hopes that when Natasa did find the Titan, he might be able to aid the Amazons with their little Zagreus problem. But that was a big maybe, and they both knew it. “How so?”
Shit. Perspiration slid down Natasa’s spine. Lies ran through her mind, gathered on her tongue. “He knows things. About the gods. I’m prepared to leave here with him now. I only came back to”—Come on, lie better than this. His life is on the line here!—“to gather my things. And to thank you. For everything you’ve done for me.”
Crap. Had she just said that? She was leaving Antiope with the Argonaut now? Great. Score one for not thinking faster. But now that it was out there, she couldn’t take it back. Her future was going from bad to worse faster than she could blink. All thanks to her inability to leave well enough alone…or to leave one Argonaut she didn’t need alone.
“I think,” Aella said slowly,” I would like to meet this male for myself. Before you go, that is.”
Natasa’s adrenaline jumped. Oh, no no no. That couldn’t be good. Forget the fact Titus was an Argonaut—a fact Natasa was not about to share with anyone in this tree city—he was the exact specimen Amazons looked for when in need of a man. Strong, sexy, powerful, and handsome. Not to mention just a tad bit dangerous. Amazons loved danger. In fact, they thrived on it.
So do you.
Natasa shook off the thought and tried to figure out how to deter the queen. Think, dammit.
Aella pushed from her seat and gestured toward the tent’s door. “Lead the way, my dear.”
Panic cycled in. “But—”
A wicked smile spread across the queen’s lips. “But nothing. I’m anxious to see for myself what has you so…flustered.”
Bound and crippled…
The bound part, Titus didn’t mind. Especially if Natasa was the one doing the binding. Hell, if she wanted, he’d let her do just about anything to him. Which totally went against everything he’d become thanks to his curse. But those few seconds they’d spent pressed up against each other in the trees hadn’t been nearly long enough. And if the only way he could get more rubbing, more touching and a hell of a lot more skin-on-skin contact from her was to submit, he’d do it.