He stared at the bird, then remembered the eagle that had swooped over him when he’d climbed the castle wall after Natasa. The one who’d led him to Natasa in that field. Who’d taken him to Calypso’s cottage. And the one that had sailed over this courtyard only moments before, taunting and screaming, as if…encouraging him.
The eagle spread its wings, screamed an ear-piercing squawk that vibrated through every cell in his body, then lurched from the railing. It flew over his head and dive-bombed the courtyard.
He rushed to the railing, gripped it in both hands and looked down. The eagle pulled up just before it reached Natasa. Her father yelled. She shielded her head. Gently, the eagle tapped the crown of her head with its claws, then screeched again and sailed high.
Surprised, Natasa looked up. The eagle circled the courtyard once, then soared through the sky, heading for the sun.
Natasa twisted, glancing up at the roofline to where Titus stood. Confusion and disbelief swirled in her gemlike eyes.
And in that moment, everything finally made sense. Every touch, every breath, every hour had come to this. She’d sacrificed all that she was for him. He had to be willing to sacrifice the same for her. Even if he failed, she had to know what he was willing to do for her.
For the first time in weeks, something other than misery bloomed inside Titus.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“What are we doing here?”
The service elevator shook, and Natasa waited—impatiently—for Titus to manually open the old wooden doors and tell her what was going on.
He didn’t answer her question. Just pried the first set of doors open, then separated the next. Metal hinges groaned. His musky scent slid across the space between them, igniting a burn low in her stomach. Muscles in his arms and shoulders flexed beneath the thin, black, long-sleeved T-shirt he wore, reminding her of what he looked like under that soft cotton. What he felt like pressed up against her.
Need seared her skin, shooting through her stomach and hips. She hated this. Hated being close to him, knowing one small brush of her hand could cause him excruciating pain. Hated that even after two weeks, he was all she could think about. She was supposed to be focusing on training her gifts, on helping the queen and the Argonauts locate the last element and the leader of the Misos Colony. But she was acting at best when she was with those who’d given her sanctuary. The only home she wanted was inches from her, and she couldn’t reach him.
“Come on,” Titus said, stepping off the lift. “Almost there.”
She didn’t know where there was. When Titus had caught up with her in the castle hallway, looking frazzled and gorgeous and had asked her to come with him tonight, saying that he had something important to discuss with her, she hadn’t known what to think. Or expect.
She stepped off the lift and stared down the dark corridor. They were in the basement of some kind of empty warehouse on the outskirts of Tiyrns.
Why did she have this ominous feeling something bad was going to happen tonight? A chill spread down her spine, and she shivered.
“Are you cold?”
“What?” She dragged her gaze from the steel door at the end of the hall and turned his way. Nerves gathered in her belly. “No, I’m fine. Titus, what’s going on? What did you bring me all the way out here to talk about? Why couldn’t we have talked back at the castle?”
He ran a hand over his wavy hair. It was tied at the nape of his neck again. She missed the way it had hung loose around his face when they’d been searching for her father, missed burying her face in those soft locks when he held her close.
“Don’t, ligos Vesuvius,” he said in a low voice. “Not yet. Thoughts like that are going to push me over the edge. And I’m barely holding on here as it is.”
She swallowed, and those nerves turned to a mix of pain and heartache she didn’t know how to stop. She kept forgetting that he could read her thoughts now. He was right. She had to find control. At least while they were together. When she was alone…then she could wallow in her misery.
She looked down at the concrete floor and clasped her hands in front of her to keep from reaching for him. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry either.” His voice was stronger, louder, and she looked up into his clear hazel eyes. Her heart squeezed even tighter under that intense stare. This wasn’t going to work. She wasn’t going to be able to stay in this realm. She could barely handle sharing her suite with him at night even though she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him.
His eyes softened. He glanced toward the steel door. “I brought you here because there’s something I want to show you.” He looked back at her, and a nervous expression crossed his features. “I can’t do that at the castle. I… I think you’ll understand when you see for yourself.”
The ominous feeling she’d experienced the whole way here doubled. He pulled a key from his pocket and slid it into the lock. Something inside her said she didn’t want to know what was on the other side of that door.
“Titus—”
“This building’s abandoned. There used to be a club upstairs, but it shut down a few years ago.” He pushed the door open and stepped inside. Holding the door open, he waited for her to follow.
Her pulse picked up speed, and her breaths grew fast and shallow. He wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. But if he’d brought her here to tell her he was moving out of her suite or something worse, she didn’t want to know.
“Come on, ligos Vesuvius. It’ll be okay. I promise.”
Heart thundering, she stepped into the room. The door closed behind her, the click echoing through the vast, dark space.
His footsteps sounded across the floor, and then he flipped a switch on the wall. One lone light hanging from a long wire illuminated the room.
Natasa sucked in a breath. To her right, a rack held various items—different lengths and colors of rope, leather cuffs, shackles, gags, masks, blindfolds…hooks she didn’t know how to describe.
She swallowed hard as she glanced toward the “furniture” in the room. A padded bench, a wooden contraption that looked like an X, a swing of some kind hanging from chains suspended in the ceiling, and a bed. Only this wasn’t a normal bed. It was a four-poster covered in black silk sheets, and in each of the four posts were hooks to tie or strap something—or someone—to.
Sickness gathered in her stomach, and she took a giant step back, toward the door and freedom.
Titus crossed the distance between them in two steps and held up his hands. “Don’t freak out yet. Just…just listen.” Panic filled his voice. “I told you before that there were things I…like. I brought you here because I wanted you to see. And because…” He drew in a shaky breath. “This is me. There have been so many secrets between us, I…I don’t want that anymore. I don’t want to hide anything from you.”
His expression was a mix of uncertainty, hopefulness and fear. Wide-eyed, Natasa tore her gaze from his and looked back at the contraptions in the room. Her stomach rolled again.
“I’m not a sadist,” he said quickly. “I know that’s what you’re thinking. There are no whips or floggers or canes over there. Look.”
Her gaze strayed to the rack again, and she realized he was right. There were restraints. Nothing more.
She glanced back to the furniture, specifically the padded bench in the middle of the room, one end higher than the other. The conversation they’d had back at the colony replayed in her mind. He tied females to these things. It was the only way he could have sex.
She stared at the bench. Imagined being strapped down, unable to move. Completely at his mercy. Her cheeks warmed. And deep inside, a slow stirring heated her blood.