Skata, he didn’t know what to do. Only knew…that he wanted her. That what was pulling him to her now had nothing to do with the darkness inside him and everything to do with her as a woman and him as a man and this roaring desire he hadn’t felt for…anyone. Ever.
“I…ah…I have a proposition for you,” she said before he could decide what to do. What to say.
Surprise lifted his brows. “A proposition?”
“Yeah. I was thinking about it on the drive out here when you were asleep. I know why you need me. I know it’s my link to the Underworld and the light inside me that…balances you. I’ve watched you, and I can tell that when I’m close you seem calmer, more relaxed. So I have a trade I’m willing to make.”
His eyes narrowed. “What kind of trade?”
“I want you to teach me how to fight. Really fight and protect myself. I learned a little at the colony, but after you grabbed me in the orchard, I discovered I don’t know nearly as much as I should. And truthfully, I haven’t needed to know all these years, because I’ve been hiding. But when I was fighting those daemons, I felt something. Some strength I didn’t know I had. The ground rumbled, just like it did in the caves before we fell into that river. And looking back, I’m not entirely sure—maybe—somehow, that didn’t come from me.”
She drew in a breath. Straightened her spine. “I know it sounds silly. My only gift has been the ability to sense energy shifts on the planet, but what if there’s more? What if I just wasn’t strong enough before to use it? I’m not the same person I was before I went to the colony. And the last few days with you—as much as I hated it at first—it taught me that I’m a heck of a lot tougher than I thought. And the truth is, Gryphon, I’m tired of hiding. I would do anything to get to Olympus. Sitting back waiting isn’t going to get me there, and being afraid to go after what I want isn’t doing anything but prolonging my measly existence. But I can’t even try, until I hone my skills.”
She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Met his gaze with such determination and strength, he couldn’t help but be awed. “So I’m willing to make you a deal. If you’ll stay here for a few days, if you’ll teach me what I need to know, then when I’m ready, I’ll go anywhere you want me to go. And I promise I won’t try to run until you’ve done what you need me to help you do.”
He’d been floored before, but now…shock and disbelief and wonder rippled through him. She didn’t know him. Didn’t know what he had planned. But she trusted him. And that meant more to him than anything she’d said or done to this point. The space in his chest filled in until that emptiness he’d lived with since his soul had been condemned to the Underworld—since before that, really, when he’d been an Argonaut wondering what kind of difference he was really making in the world—was gone.
When was the last time someone had trusted him…really trusted him? When was the last time someone had been willing to put their life on the line for him? His Argonaut brothers didn’t count, because for them, protection wasn’t even a thought. It was a duty. But this…this was different. She could find anyone to teach her how to protect herself. She didn’t need him the way he needed her. And yet, she was offering. Looking up at him with those big eyes. Making him feel after all this time.
“Why would you want to do that?” he whispered.
“Do what?”
“Stay with me.”
“Do you really have to ask?”
He swallowed hard, almost afraid to hear her answer. Somehow found the strength to nod.
“Because you didn’t ask for what happened to you any more than I asked to be born between worlds. Because if somehow in the middle of this craziness we can each help the other get what we need, then it’ll make all of this—what we’ve been through—worth it. And because…”
“Because what?” he asked when she bit her lip and her gaze dropped to his mouth.
She drew in a deep breath. “Because I care about you, Gryphon.”
He couldn’t breathe. She cared about him. Really cared. Not because she had to, not because some warped sense of duty or honor said she should. She cared simply because she could.
His heart beat so hard, he was sure she had to hear it. And when her gaze slowly lifted to his, he saw all the things he’d dreamed of seeing on her face for months. Desire. Hunger. The same damn yearning he felt in the depths of his soul.
“Gryphon?” she whispered.
“Yeah?” he managed, still unable to believe what was happening was real.
“What do you think? Do we have a deal?”
Chapter Sixteen
“Well?” Maelea asked.
As she held her hand out to him, the doubt he’d struggled with before melted away. Ignoring the offering, Gryphon slid his fingers into her luxurious hair instead. Then reveled at the spark of lust that flared in her eyes as he drew her mouth toward his. “I can think of a much better way to seal this deal, sotiria.”
A tiny gasp slipped from her lips when his mouth closed over hers. But it turned to a groan that supercharged his blood as his tongue dipped into her mouth and he kissed her the way he’d wanted to kiss her ever since he’d awoken with the mother of all hard-ons.
Her arms closed around his neck, and she pressed those tantalizing breasts against his bare chest as she kissed him back. Her nipples hardened through the thin cotton dress, and he knew from the sensations rushing through his skin that she couldn’t possibly be wearing a bra. His jeans grew even tighter as he wrapped his arms around her, as he tugged her hips toward his. As the heat of her pelvis seeped into his own.
He changed the angle of the kiss, nipped at her bottom lip. Shivered at the sweet, erotic taste of her on his tongue.
“Gryphon?” she said against his lips.
“Mm, yeah?” He fisted the cotton dress at her lower back, wanted so bad to lift her up on the counter, push inside her body, take her hard and fast. But he wasn’t going to do that. Because this time he needed to make sure she enjoyed the experience. Wanted to remember each and every time she came apart. Which would be way more than once. Guaranteed.
Her hands slid to each side of his face. She kissed him. Eased back and licked her lips as she stared at his mouth. Kissed him again until he thought he’d go mad. Finally stopped long enough to say, “Are you hungry?”
“Starving.” But not for food. Just for her.
“Me too. Take me upstairs.”
Relief whipped through him like a tornado.
He lifted her around the waist. Her mouth closed over his and she wrapped her legs around him without his asking, stroked her tongue against his as his hands slid down to cup her ass.
He carried her out of the kitchen toward the stairs. His brain was nothing but mush. He had no idea how this had happened. How she’d gone from hating and fearing him to wanting him with the same desperation he wanted her, but he wasn’t about to question the whys of it all. He only wanted more. More of her sweetness. More of her body. More of this fullness in the center of his chest that felt way too damn good.
He made it halfway up the rickety stairs before his bare feet slipped on the carpet runner. He was still wobbly, not totally healed from whatever had happened to him, but he didn’t want to let go of her. Grunting against her mouth, he turned so he wouldn’t drop her. Her spine hit the wall. She pulled back from his mouth for only a second, then kissed him harder, pushing her sex against his erection and tangling her tongue with his until he saw stars.