Get through the next hour; then you can get back to what you really want to be doing.
Clenching his jaw, he moved down the stairs. When he reached the bottom step, a tingle rushed across his spine, and his feet halted their forward momentum. Awareness flowed like water over his skin, and a strange, familiar energy tickled the fine hairs all along his flesh. From the corner of his vision, something to his right moved.
Phin plowed into his back. “Skata, T, what the hell?”
Titus barely felt the blow. He was too focused on the dark-haired female who’d caught his attention. The one standing at the end of the corridor that led to the kitchen, wearing a server’s uniform and holding an empty tray at her side. The one with pale features, a soft spray of freckles, and whose captivating, emerald eyes were locked solidly on his.
Eyes exactly like the ones he’d been dreaming—fantasizing—about for days.
His pulse picked up speed. He waited for her thoughts to pierce his mind, to prove it wasn’t really her. But only one word got through. The same damn word that had lit him up like a Christmas tree back at the Misos Colony the first time he’d met her.
The same word that now held so many meanings, his entire body vibrated with an erotic blend of excitement and heat.
Fuck.
Sweat broke out along Natasa’s nape as she stared down the corridor toward the one man…Argonaut…shit, hero…she’d hoped not to run into.
Just her luck…
She was already warm, and her body’s irrational reaction to him wasn’t helping matters. Pulling her gaze from his, she shoved the kitchen door open and stepped inside the crowded room.
Activity buzzed around her, preparations for the party in full swing. She wove through servers and cursed herself for taking a peek into the gathering room to see if Maelea had shown up yet. She hadn’t missed the warning the leader of the Argonauts had issued when he’d ordered her to leave the colony days ago and never return. If he found out she was in Argolea, she’d be in a shitload of trouble. And if he found out what she really—
Her hand shook as she pushed strands of the dark wig back from her face. Don’t panic. Think, dammit!
A server swept past her, jostling her on her feet. She reached out to steady herself, and her hand sank into something thick, soft, and cool. Natasa jerked back and stared at the creamy, white éclair filling coating her fingers. She’d smashed one of the confections sitting on the dessert table to her right.
Anxiety pushed up her throat. She swiped the goo against her pants, barely noticing the mess she was leaving behind. He’d seen her. Even with the wig, she couldn’t go out there now. Any second he would plow through that door and come after her. And though the thought of him—Titus—being close again sent a thrill through her veins, he wasn’t what she’d come here for. He wasn’t the key to solving every one of her life’s problems.
She turned before fate could change her mind and nearly knocked another server over. The male righted his tray filled with champagne flutes, but not before one toppled over the side and crashed to the floor. The shatter of crystal echoed through the entire kitchen.
Silence descended. Heads turned their way. The server’s eyes widened; then he muttered a string of words Natasa didn’t understand but suspected were filled with expletives. She held up her hands, tried to apologize, but his face grew redder with every second.
Natasa stepped back. “I… It’s—”
The door across the room burst open. Natasa’s head jerked that way. The Argonaut she’d tried unsuccessfully to banish from her mind filled her vision.
He wore tight black trousers that showcased his muscular legs, knee-high leather boots polished to a gleaming shine, a white tunic cinched in at the waist, and a leather breastplate stamped with the seal of Odysseus. Over his left shoulder, a brilliant blue cloak hung to his waist, anchored with a gold leaf, and his wavy brown hair was tied back with a leather strap. But it was his eyes—his knowing, hazel eyes—that she focused on. Eyes that bore into her own and told her she was in deep shit.
Dread pushed up her chest, latching on hard to her throat. They’d spent only mere moments together at the half-breed colony, but it had been enough. Enough for her to feel the relief in his touch and realize he was a distraction that could very well jeopardize the deal she’d made.
Perspiration gathered all along her spine. Her heart raced, and though her mind screamed run!, her body wasn’t listening. Her attention shifted to his mouth. She’d wanted to feel that mouth against her own back at the colony. Wanted to sample it now. And she could. She could walk across the floor, slide her hand around his nape, ease up on her toes, find out if his lips were as stimulating as his fingers…
A bellow echoed to Natasa’s left. She jerked that way, startled out of her trance. The red-faced server screamed words she still couldn’t make out.
Maelea. Holy shit…Maelea. Natasa gasped and pressed a shaky hand against her throat. She’d almost forgotten what was important. She needed to focus on finding the female instead of fantasizing about hot, sweaty, world-class sex with the Greek god on the opposite side of the room. The kind of sex she’d gone too long without.
Like…forever.
She cursed her link to the gods for her weakness, and swiveled for the door at the far end of the kitchen.
“Natasa!” A voice—Titus’s voice—rang out behind her, followed by footsteps—heavy ones.
Heat gathered in her stomach and sent fireballs of awareness all through her limbs.
No… Urgency overwhelmed her. She couldn’t be distracted. Not now…
She pushed her legs forward and darted down a long hallway. Three archways opened before her. She didn’t have time to wonder where each led. Rushing through the closest, she raced along a dark corridor until she hit a circular staircase that led both up and down.
Up or down…
“Natasa!”
Electricity sparked across the nape of her neck and rocketed down her spine, as if he were right behind her. As if he were about to grasp her. Stop her. Catch her.
She didn’t have time to think. She could only react. And pray that she got away before desire tempted her to do something she’d forever regret.
Chapter Two
“Titus!”
Phineus’s voice rang out at Titus’s back, followed by a thought that hit hard.
“Shit. What the hell is wrong with him now?”
Titus ignored his kin and darted down the corridor until he came to stairs that led to the upper and lower floors of the castle.
His adrenaline surged as he looked down at the spiraling metal steps. He couldn’t see anything other than silver and darkness. Tipping his head back, he glanced up but saw no one ascending either.
Phin exhaled a heavy breath at his side. “What in Hades has gotten into you?”
Logic said she had to have gone up. Down would take her too close to street level. There were castle guards everywhere at the lower levels because of the festivities.