Tempted (20 page)

Too
deep. Keep things light.
When things got deep he reverted to his old ways.

“That’s your problem, Demetrius.” She reached up to pat his stubbly cheek. “You think too much. Let’s go find that breakfast.”

Her smile lingered as she headed for the stairs. She knew he was watching her with that perplexed expression, just as she knew he didn’t have a clue what to do about her next. He thought he could push her around, treat her as he had before, and she’d react the same as she always had. Like a coward. Like a weakling. Like the shy little princess who didn’t have a backbone. Well, things were different now, and he was partly to blame for the change sweeping over her. If the last week had taught her anything, it was that she was in control of her own destiny.

And he’d better watch out, because she had her sights set on him.

***

He watched her carefully all day. And two things were clear to Demetrius as he followed Isadora on the narrow path down to the beach on the north side of the island. One, she wasn’t afraid of him anymore. And two, she was growing weaker by the day.

Both of those realizations set off a tremor of unease deep in his gut. The first, because it meant he’d have to be more vigilant about keeping his distance from her, which, shit, he was obviously doing a bang-up job of already, wasn’t he? And second, because enough time had passed since her kidnapping that she should be recovered from whatever had happened to her in Thrace Castle and later with Atalanta.

Early afternoon sunlight bathed her in ribbons of gold. Her pale skin had taken on a warm glow from days in the sun, brought a rosiness to her cheeks that hadn’t been there before, but she grew tired more easily now, needed to take breaks to catch her breath when they hiked, wasn’t eating nearly as much as she should.

Granted, they hadn’t had a real meal in days. Fruits and the measly snack foods he’d gathered from that wreckage weren’t cutting it for him either. As if on cue, his stomach rumbled. Which was why they were down here, on this beach this afternoon, with its reef-protected bay. So hopefully they could catch some dinner before heading back to the ruins.

But still…

What if those witches had cast some kind of deterioration spell over her? What if Atalanta had? Either way he needed to get her back to Argolea and to a healer who knew how the hell to help her.

Isadora stepped out of the waist-high grasses and onto the white sand beach, stopped, and took a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he stepped around her, careful not to touch her. He’d purposely avoided touching her all day. Because whenever he did…yeah, this morning was a prime example of him losing his ever-loving mind. Whenever he did, he forgot all about his vow to keep his distance and sank right into her.

“Nothing,” she said on a sigh. “I’m just enjoying. If you forget about everything asleep in there”—she nodded back toward the trees—“this place is really beautiful.”

Not as far as he was concerned. It was like one giant Venus flytrap waiting to snap.

The contented smile on her face tugged at him, warmed his blood, reminded him what those lips felt like against his. To distract himself, he rolled up his pant legs and said, “Just pick a place to relax while I see what I can find.”

She chose a rock near the edge of the small bay, sat, and pulled her knees up to her chest while he waded out and climbed onto a series of flat rocks twenty feet away. Waves crashed against the reef farther out, but the water in the inlet only rose and fell gently, making it easy to see the sandy bottom and the sea life within.

Roughly ten minutes passed before he heard her sigh. “We searched all morning. How sure are you there’s actually holy ground on this island?”

“Pretty damn.” He zeroed in on a nice-sized fish, lifted his sword, and timed its movements.

“We searched half the island—”

“A third of the island.”

“—and didn’t find a single temple or even any sign of burial grounds.”

The fish swam close and he tensed, ready to strike, but it darted away before he could thrust the blade into the water. He moved to another rock, one that was closer to the reef. “Any temples are going to be built on higher ground farther inland.”

“Why wouldn’t they be near the ruins?” she asked.

He caught sight of a big juicy fish with a shimmer of color across its side. “Because the ruins are more recent, built by the original seven after they rounded up all the nasties and stuck them on this island. The temples will have been built by early dwellers who inhabited this island before that. And as such they would have constructed their temples on the highest points so they were closer to Olympus. Burial grounds will be near there as well.”

“Why didn’t we search farther inland today, then?”

“Because we needed to get the lay of the land.” And because farther inland was at least a day’s hike, probably more. He wasn’t about to take Isadora on a jaunt that long, especially not when she was so weak. It screwed with his plans, but a couple of hours out here with her today and he’d realized he had to wait until she was stronger before they ventured that deep into the island.

Which, yeah, created a whole other set of problems he just didn’t want to think about yet.

“That’s it, buddy,” he whispered as the fat fish swam close. “Just a little more.” He lifted the sword, ready to strike.

“I get the feeling you’re holding out on me.”

The sound of her voice right at his back caught him off guard. His sword stabbed into the water. He lost his footing and whipped around to grab her arm and steady himself. But his center of gravity was already shooting backward, and instead of stopping him from going in, she went down with him.

“Demet—!”

Her shriek turned to a muffled rumble as water rushed over his head. He quickly found his footing in the six or so feet of water, pushed his arms around until he found her, and dragged her up with him.

He gasped as he broke the surface, drew air into his lungs, and had a moment of
Oh, shit
when he realized he could have smacked her head against those rocks or ripped her arm out of its socket or—

Her laughter stopped him cold.

She wasn’t unconscious. She wasn’t injured. She wasn’t anything but soaking wet and laughing hysterically in his arms. Her fingers sank into his forearms, his biceps, and then his shoulders as she pulled herself closer and the laughter died on her smiling lips. “That doesn’t count as a rescue. Now I think you’re just trying to pad your numbers.”

Rescue? What
—
?

Water sluiced over her face, dripped down her forehead from her short blond hair, made her rosy cheeks glisten in the afternoon sunlight. And her eyes absolutely sparkled as she looked up and grinned as if he were the biggest idiot on the planet.

Before he could stop it, a smile wound its way across his lips as well. “I thought you said you were going to start returning the favor. That was a crappy save.”

Her fingers felt like heaven sliding around his neck. He didn’t think, simply reacted and let his arms twine around her waist and draw her closer to his suddenly aware, suddenly aching body.

“I’m new at this. You have to give me a little time to practice.”

He couldn’t help it, he laughed. And though the sensation vibrating through his chest felt foreign, it also felt…good. Damn good.

Her smiling eyes flicked from his down to his lips and hovered. And just that fast, heat erupted in his belly and spread lower, lighting up his groin and every nerve ending in his body.

Her soft little tongue darted out, licked her luscious lips tugged at his desire, and tempted him to give in. She shifted closer, until her perky breasts were pressed up tight against his chest and she was all he felt.

“
Kardia
,” he whispered in a warning tone.

“I know,” she whispered back, still focused on his lips. “It’s a bad idea.”

“Yeah.” Gods, was that his voice? It didn’t sound like him at all.

“And it’ll be dark soon.”

“Yeah, that too.”

“Then we’ll have to make this quick.”

Her lips pressed against his before he could stop her, and that tongue slid inside his mouth without hesitation. He groaned at the taste of her, at the heat searing his body, at the near perfection of her skin pressed up against his, and gave in completely.

He cupped the back of her head, kissed her deeper, let himself go. Just for a minute.

When they both came up for air, desire darkened her eyes and need flushed her cheeks. A need he could sate right here, right now.

Her gaze roamed his features and she reached up to brush a lock of hair away from his forehead. The move was so tender, something in his chest unlocked right there in that water. Something he’d kept guarded and off limits his whole life.

“I think we might have scared all the fish away,” she said.

“Maybe.”

“Good thing I like fruit.” She let go and swam back to the rocks before he could stop her, pulled herself up and out of the water. She shifted to sit on the rocks and wiped her wet hair back from her face. As she did, her nipples hardened in the breeze, pressing against the thin cotton tank to supercharge his blood all over again.

Oh, man. He was in over his head with her. Every minute they spent together drew him that much closer to her. Especially now, when she wasn’t the least bit afraid of him. He needed to stop drooling over her body and remember his vow to keep his distance. Needed to remember what was at stake here.

The only problem? He was starting to forget just what that was. And why the hell he couldn’t have her in the first place.

Chapter 15

Isadora leaned back against the wall in the great hall of the ruins and stared into the dancing flames of the fire Demetrius had built to cook the fish he’d finally caught. Stars twinkled overhead where the roof should have been, and not for the first time she marveled at the fact there was absolutely no smoke drifting up to the inky sky giving away their location to the monsters in the trees down the hill below. Maybe witchcraft wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

“What are you thinking?” he asked from across the fire. He sat on a log he’d hauled in along with the rest of the firewood, tipped forward, his elbows perched on his knees as he stoked the coals.

She drew her legs up to her chest. Her belly was full, her head felt light, and something about the way he kept watching her told her tonight was going to change her life forever. She might not have her sense of foresight anymore, but she was a female. And as such she still had her intuition.

“I was just thinking that your little tricks come in handy now and then.”

He smirked—gods, how she loved the way his lips curled with ease now—and went back to stoking the coals. She’d done that. She’d gotten under his skin and brought out that part of him he’d closed off to everyone else. It still amazed her this was the same
ándras
who’d scowled and snarled and berated her back at the castle.

“Not everyone thinks so.”

“Do the other guardians know?”

“No. And it’s none of their damn business.”

She got that. “Then who—?”

“My father wasn’t wild about my tricks.”

It was the first time she’d ever heard him talk of his family. And though a small part of her realized it was strange he was suddenly being so open with her, she wanted to capitalize on it. “He didn’t have the same gift?”

He harrumphed. “No. Akrisios abhorred all things witch related.”

“Even though Medea was his ancestor?”

“
Because
Medea was his ancestor.”

That struck her as odd. “Why?”

He shrugged, stared into the flames. “Because Hera tricked Jason into falling in love with Medea. She was one of the first soul mate curses. And in the end, when he realized he’d been duped, he left and she ruined him. She killed their children out of spite and revenge. All but one, who’d gotten away.”

She’d heard the legend. She knew how awful the end had been for Jason. “But without her your father would never have lived.”

“Doesn’t matter. He believed Jason’s line would have been stronger without her.”

“What do you believe?”

He held his hands out, palms down, to stare at the Argonaut markings on his forearms. “I believe I was doubly cursed because of her.”

The acidic honesty was unsettling, and as much as she wanted to know about his lineage, she wanted to know more about his immediate family more. “What did your father do? When he realized you had her gift?”

“He freaked. Forbade me to light candles with a sweep of my hand or cast spells that turned the housekeeper’s hair purple.” She smirked at the images he painted. “And when I didn’t listen, he used a
tria
mastigio
on me.”

Her brow dropped low. “What’s that?”

“It’s a short whip about this long.” He held out his hands roughly two feet apart. “It’s got three leather strips that stretch out from the handle and each one has a barbed end.”

Shock rippled through her belly. “He beat you?”

“I had it coming.”

“Because you performed measly tricks on the servants?”

He shrugged again. “He told me to stop and I didn’t.”

Her eyes rushed over his bare chest, a golden glow in the firelight. She’d noticed scars on his chest and back from battles and fighting, but nothing that indicated he’d been beaten. “Where?”

“Someplace no one would ever see.”

She contemplated that, glanced at his legs covered by the frayed pants, and imagined all the muscled perfection of him scarred at the hand of someone else. His words were spoken so casually he could have been discussing the weather, but underneath she sensed disgust over what had been done to him. And a bitter hatred for a father who should have loved him and didn’t.

“Where was your mother?”

He shrugged again and went back to stoking the coals. “I don’t know. They weren’t bound. According to him, she seduced him one night and I was the unwanted result. Then after I was born she dumped me with him, and because I had the Argonaut markings he was duty bound to train me.”

Not love him. She heard the sad truth in his words. “You don’t have any siblings?”

“One. A brother. But he was raised in the human realm. And we’re not exactly close.”

“In the human realm? Where?”

He shrugged and eased back. “Closer than you think.”

She wanted to ask more, but the hard line of his words told her he wasn’t about to open that box of horrors—at least not yet—so she didn’t push. Instead she said, “What he did to you was wrong, Demetrius.”

“Why? You didn’t like my tricks when you first saw them.”

“That was before I knew you.”

“You still don’t know me.”

His low voice set off a tingling in her chest.

“I got him back though,” he said in a carefree voice. “We were in the human world. It was during my training. One day we were separated from the rest of the Argonauts and a pack of daemons came upon us. Completely outnumbered. He ordered me to cast an invisibility spell around us. I refused. After all, I wasn’t supposed to.” He stared down into the flames and his tone sobered. “It was the last thing he ever ordered me to do.”

Her stomach clenched. She heard the unsaid words: he’d watched his father die. Could he have prevented it? By then he had to have been how old? Thirty? Forty? If it had been her, if she’d been abused that long, she may have done the same.

Even as the questions hit, something else registered. The way he kept flicking his eyes at her, judging her reaction, checking to see if he’d shocked her. As if he
wanted
to shock her. But why? After everything that had happened between them, why would he want to scare her into thinking he was—

And then it made sense. Being cruel hadn’t worked. Telling her no hadn’t done anything but push her closer to him. He was as attracted to her as she was to him, and it scared him so much he was reverting to his last defense—shocking her into disgust.

She pushed up from the ground and walked around the fire before she could rethink her action. He looked up with a wary expression as she approached.

“The fire’s almost out.” She held out her hand. “Let’s go to bed.”

His gaze dropped to her hand and he swallowed hard. “I—”

Oh yeah. He was definitely pulling out all the stops. Well, so was she. For the first time in her life she knew exactly what she wanted and she wasn’t afraid to go after it. “No more excuses, Demetrius. Come with me.”

Hesitantly, he slid his fingers in hers and let her pull him from his seat. They walked through the secret doorway into the stairwell together. The door sealed behind them. As she led him down the spiral staircase, her heart thumped so hard against her ribs she was sure he had to hear it. But she wasn’t afraid. If anything, she felt powerful.

The Hall of Heroes was dark when they reached the bottom step. He waved his hand and lit one torch along the far wall. Shadows and light played over his face, over his muscular body as she pulled him toward the makeshift bed. And when she turned to face him, she saw a thousand thoughts and emotions rush over his features.

She moved into him, until the heat and life of his body swirled around her and settled deep in her soul. “I want to be with you,” she said softly as she rested her hands on his rock-hard abdomen.

His fingers landed gently on her shoulders, the brush of his skin against hers igniting a rush of hormones deep in her body. “
Kardia
—”

“Here, tonight. Like last night, only this time I want you.” His eyes darkened at her words. “All of you, Demetrius.”

“You can’t. Your father—”

“It’s my choice to make. I’ve waited a long time. And tonight I choose you.”

“
Kardia.
”

The emotion in that one word,
my
heart
, stole her breath. Grasping the hem of her tank top, she tugged it over her head. The worn cotton landed against the dirt floor, but his eyes didn’t follow. They were locked on her. Right where she wanted them.

“Touch me,” she whispered.

His hand came up and she held her breath in anticipation as his fingertips grazed the swell of her breast. Her nipples puckered and a heavy ache settled between her legs. He stared at her breast, licked his lips, moved a fraction of an inch closer.

“
Yes.
”

“I…” His eyes darted up to her face. “I think you should get some sleep.”

He was gone before she could stop him. Before she even realized what had happened. “Demetrius?”

But he didn’t answer. The only sound was his bare feet hitting the stone steps. Then the whoosh and slam of the great door at the top of the staircase.

Confused, she tried to figure out what she’d done to make him run. Every time something happened between them, he pulled back at the last minute. Almost as if he was afraid she wouldn’t really want him if he got too close.

Her gaze swept over the room and landed on Jason’s chest.
Every
time, he pulls back.

Her skin grew hot and damp as an idea took root.

A
leader
goes
after
what
he
wants. He doesn’t take no for an answer.
Her father had said that so many times it was ingrained in her mind. Wasn’t it time she started acting like the leader she was destined to become?

Yes. Yes, it was. And what she wanted right now was Demetrius.

***

Demetrius stalled as long as he could. Until the chill night air sent gooseflesh all over his skin and he shivered in the great hall. The fire had gone out. He was too tired to light another and didn’t think he had enough magick left inside to cloak the smoke this time anyway.

Okay, this was stupid. She had to be asleep by now. He’d just go in, grab a blanket, and slip right back out. She’d never even know he was there.

As he moved soundlessly down the steps to the Hall of Heroes again, he called himself ten kinds of stupid. He was an Argonaut. Hiding from a female. From the weak little princess, for crying out loud. If the guys ever caught wind of this…

He let that thought die as soon as it hit. The rest of the guardians were never gonna know any of this. Especially not anything that had happened between him and Isadora last night.

Dumb, dumb, really fucking dumb.
That was him in a friggin’ nutshell.

The chamber was quiet when he reached the floor. The torch across the room still flickered and burned, but it had died down and now cast only a dim glow over the heroes’ trunks. Quietly, he moved toward the dark corner where Isadora—hopefully—was sacked out.

His night vision sharpened. He caught sight of her lying still on her side, one leg angled out in front of her, her hands tucked up near her face. She’d kicked the blanket off and the orange tank top rode up on her abdomen, giving him a nice view of her toned hip and creamy skin. The shorts, though baggy, were the perfect length to showcase her shapely legs and the winged omega marking on her inner thigh. Warmth gathered in his stomach as his eyes ran over her body.