Marked (26 page)

“I know I’m just a job for you, but you might want to work on your hospitality skills. They basically suck. Oh, and for the record, I’m not tired at all. But thanks for the suggestion.” She turned on her heel and marched out of the room.

She might have made it all the way back to the bedroom if she hadn’t been hit by a train from behind halfway down the hall. At least, that’s how it felt. One second she was walking, the next she was being swept off the floor and slammed up against the wall.

Her breath left her on a gasp. She hadn’t even heard him move. Somehow he caught her head so her face wasn’t smashed into the plaster. And though he was gentle so she wasn’t seriously hurt, the wind was knocked out of her just the same.

“You’re not just a job to me,” he growled in her ear as he split her legs and wedged himself tight against her backside. His hot breath fanned over her neck, sending even more tingles down her back. “And I don’t tell you things, because I want to keep you safe. Not because I enjoy hiding them from you.”

Her heart rate shot up into the triple digits. Too late she realized her little outburst had been childish and that she’d pissed off a two-hundred-fifty-pound Argonaut warrior with the strength of a bulldozer. “I—”

“And stripping off your shirt was a bad idea,
meli
, because now
I
know what every inch of
you
looks like.” His mouth closed over her earlobe and sucked hard.

She shivered. Caught her breath. Froze when his hand streaked down her abdomen into her folds and found her wetness. Then nearly drove her to the edge.

Oh, God. This is what she’d thought it would be like
with him. Fast and frantic, hard and violent. Completely and utterly bone melting.

“Theron—”

She didn’t get to finish her statement because he pulled back, flipped her to face him and claimed her mouth, taking her tongue and lips and devouring them until she was his.

Air brushed over her spine, and only when she hit the mattress did she realize he’d carried her all the way back to his bedroom.

“Feet on the bed,” he ordered.

Her brain was a muddled mess. She planted her heels on the mattress without question. Muffled a cry when he lowered himself to kiss her again, pushing her thighs wide in the process. His tongue snaked over hers, drew her deep and released with the erotic promise of what she knew he’d soon be doing to her body. A little voice in the back of her mind warned rough, angry, forceful sex wasn’t a good idea, but as his mouth moved south to nip and suck and lick, she had a hard time listening.

His hand found her right breast, his lips, her left. He drew her deep into his mouth and sucked hard until electricity flooded her system, raced to her core, and she arched her back, seeking release. As if he could read her thoughts, his lips blazed a trail down her abdomen, lower still. Until she felt his hand on her ankles, holding her tight in place so she couldn’t move as his head dipped low and his tongue made a long, possessive sweep down her cleft.

She shuddered. Had to bite her lip to keep from screaming when he did it again. Her hands clenched the comforter at her hips as his tongue licked and laved. But when he suckled her, it was too much. Stars exploded behind her eyes and the world shook.

He didn’t let up. He took her to the edge again and again with that talented tongue, with those teasing lips, until she was quivering beneath him.

When he finally released her and she came back to herself, that incredible mouth of his was kissing her hip, her belly button, her ribs just beneath her breasts. Softer this time. Less frantic. Like he had a thousand years to do only this and was memorizing every second.

Nearly too limp to move, she muttered, “Wh-What was that?”

He turned his cheek against her stomach. Drew in a deep breath. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

The change she sensed in him was so dramatic, she didn’t know what to make of it. One minute he’d been out of control, crazy for her. The next, utterly still.

That tingling returned. “Theron?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s wrong?”

Silence enveloped them. Then finally, he said, “Nothing. Everything’s good. Just the way it should be.” But he didn’t sound good. If anything, he sounded…sad.

He eased up on an elbow to look down at her. “Are you sure I didn’t hurt you?”

How could she tell him his secrets hurt her more than anything? “No. I liked the way you touched me. It felt good. Like you wanted me.”

His eyes darkened. “I do want you.”

“Then show me.”

He hesitated just long enough to make her think he’d changed his mind, but then he leaned down and kissed her, and all her doubt slipped away.

She tasted herself. And him. And a lust she’d never known, as his mouth met hers. As he nibbled on her lower lip, sucked the tender flesh between his teeth, she remembered what his lips felt like on her nipples, licking, circling, drawing them deep in his mouth. Shivers of anticipation raced down her spine, and goose bumps jumped out on her skin all over again.

Her fingers found the snap on his jeans as he slanted his mouth over hers and deepened the kiss. He was hard
and hot when she dipped her hand inside, and so much bigger than she remembered.

“Take these off, Theron.”

“I don’t need to,” he said against her shoulder, pressing a kiss to her skin. His hand returned to her breast. “I get more than enough pleasure just watching you come.”

That tingling kicked up a notch. And in the silence between them, she realized what was going on. “Is this about that whole soul mate thing?”

He kissed the inside of her right breast. “No. I already know the answer.”

He did? She waited to hear the rest, but he only kept on kissing her. And when it was clear he wasn’t going to fill her in, a little of her temper returned. Fine. He could keep all of his secrets. That wasn’t what she wanted from him right now anyway.

She grasped his face and lifted so he was forced to look at her. “I want you inside me. Right now. So either lose the pants, or I’ll have to remind you about that whole slitting-your-wrists thing.”

He searched her face. “Are you sure? I don’t—”

“Theron. Either get naked now or I’ll go find Cerek to finish the job.”

His eyes flashed. “Don’t tease about that,
meli
. Not unless you want to see the guardian dead.”

His kiss was hard and possessive, but so good. Knowing she’d won, she grasped his shirt and broke free long enough to pull it over his head. He pushed up on his hands, never leaving her mouth, and wriggled out of his jeans.

Miles of roped muscles filled her hands. When he pulled back and moved as if he were getting off the bed, she sat up and grabbed on tight. “You’re not going anywhere now.”

He wrapped one arm around her waist and tugged her with him as he leaned toward the nightstand. “Condoms.”

“You have condoms here?”

“Of course. Our biology’s the same, remember?”

Right. She should know that. Underneath, he was mortal just like her. There were so many similarities between them. So many differences as well.

She gave her head a quick shake. “You don’t need them.”

“Yes—”

“It’s the wrong time of the month for me, Theron. And considering how fast I’m withering away, we both know I won’t get pregnant.” He stopped. Looked at her. In his eyes she saw he agreed, and that fact didn’t upset her. Oddly enough, it reinforced her decision.

She softened her voice, on this wanting to be completely honest. “I’ve had three lovers in my life. None of them was special, and I was careful with each one. With you, I don’t want to worry about any of that.”

“Meli.”
His finger ran down her cheek in a move that was so tender, her heart pinched. “You honor me.”

She shrugged, fighting back the feelings he stirred in her. “I just want to be with you without any barriers. Even if it’s just for tonight. I know tomorrow things are going to change and you’re going to take me wherever it is we’re going. And from there, well, who knows? But tonight I don’t want to think about it. I just want to be selfish.”

“You’re the most unselfish person I’ve ever met.”

“No, I’m not.” A ghost of a smile curled her mouth. “I’m difficult and headstrong and a wanderer with no focus. You just don’t know me that well.”

“I know everything I need to know,” he whispered. “I know you’re perfect.”

She stared at him. And the emotions she’d been trying to hold back came raring forward. Every time she thought she had him figured out, he went and changed on her. Here she’d expected angry-warrior sex and he was switching things around, making her feel all over again,
pushing her that much more over the edge in love with him.

Dammit. He really was a hero. Her very own.

“Love me, Theron,” she whispered. “Just…love me. Tonight. Right now.”

“Meli.”

Thank the heavens above, he did just what she asked. He lowered her to the mattress, kissed her gently as he eased between her thighs. Used his fingers and lips to excite her all over again. His mouth found her ear, her throat, her breast; his fingers, her slick and ready wetness. He circled and swirled her nipple with his tongue, stroked her sleek knot with his thumb. And when he slid a finger deep inside, she groaned and lifted her hips to meet him.

He worked her over, up, close to the edge and back again, searching deep for the spot that nearly made her come out of her skin. She gasped when she felt him retreat, but then was rewarded by the tip of his cock sliding along her slit, up higher to circle her clitoris until she shuddered.

“Theron…” She lifted her head, glanced down her body to where he touched her, and went white-hot at the erotic sight before her: his strong hand gripping his massive shaft as he teased them both to new levels of sexual need, his eyes locked on the spot where their bodies were nearly joined, the veins in his neck and shoulders bulging with his restraint and his features darkening in pure lust.

All because of her.

“Theron, oh, God.” She’d never been this turned on before, and it was good, so good—the tip of his cock slipping through her folds, circling her clit over and over, sliding down and back up to torment her all over again. But it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. Frustrated when he only continued to drive them both to the edge, she arched her back, trying to draw him where she
needed him most. Then groaned long and deep when he
finally
nudged her entrance and plunged inside.

“Ah, gods,
meli
. You’re so tight, so wet. So…” His hips pulled back, then thrust again, this time harder. “Perfect.”

She should have been tense—she’d seen how huge he was that night at her house when he’d been injured and naked, lying on her grandmother’s comforter, had felt him grow in her hand when she’d stroked her fingers up and down his rigid length. And it had been a long time for her. But as she felt him press inside, one slow inch at a time, and they both groaned at the tight, slick contact, she breathed out a sigh at the rightness of the moment.

Oh, yes.

His kiss was hot. Wet. Sinful. He pushed in slowly, each move a snug glide and retreat, until finally,
finally
he was seated deep and they both paused to catch their breath.

This was what she wanted. Him. With her like this. Locked tight together, the outside world nothing but a memory.

His eyes found hers, and the tenderness she saw there cut all the way to her soul. She lifted a hand and ran it over his stubbled jaw. “Theron.”

He withdrew, thrust, kept his eyes fixed on hers as his strokes grew harder, deeper, longer. His jaw clenched. A vein pulsed in his neck. Sweat dripped from his temple to splash across her breasts. She kicked her head back and moaned in sheer pleasure at his thickness plowing into her again and again. And just as she felt the peak building, he rolled to his back, pulled her on top and grasped her hips, teaching her a rhythm that nearly had her seeing double.

Her climax built, fast and urgent. And with him guiding her, she had no choice but to let go and ride the wave. It crashed over her, once, twice, three times, until she was
sure she couldn’t take any more. And even then it went on. Rippling through every cell in her body until all thought blew right out of her brain.

The adrenaline that had fueled her temper earlier shifted, lagged, broke. She heard him call her name, registered his length pulsing deep inside just before she collapsed onto his chest. Drawing air into her suddenly-too-small lungs, she felt his fingers digging into her hips, holding her tight to him as his body shuddered beneath her.

He was breathing hard himself and growing soft inside her. She tightened her muscles to hold him in, not ready to have him go just yet.

He groaned. “
Meli
, if you keep doing that, you won’t get any sleep at all tonight.”

She smiled. Released. Contracted again. His answering moan had an electrifying effect on her.

“Sleep’s overrated.”

He ran a hand down her back. “I think you did mention that. Briefly.”

God, she loved the way he touched her. She let out a contented sigh. “If that’s the way Argoleans have sex, I can see why I was your first human.”

His hand slid down her spine to cup her ass before gently rolling her over. One thrust of his hips and she knew all her tightening had done its work.

He kissed her neck. Her jaw. Her lips. “Trust me when I say that wasn’t normal, even for an Argonaut.” He slid his tongue along the seam of her lips until she opened for him, then dipped in and took his fill. “I hope you were serious about not being tired, because where you’re concerned, I can’t seem to stop myself.”

She held on tight as he thrust, retreated, thrust again with those gorgeous hips and that growing erection. And tried not to read too much into his words. “Ah, Theron. I love how fast you heal.”

He chuckled against her neck. “Like that, do you?”

“Yes.”

His smile widened. “So do I.”

She gave herself up to his kiss. And ignored the tingling around her birthmark, now growing to explosive levels.

Theron stared at the ceiling long after Acacia fell asleep.

Gods, he liked this. Way too much. Her, here in his bed. Hidden away from the world. Warm and snug and his.

His.
There was a word. The irony was like a knife to the stomach.

He rolled to his side so he could watch her sleep and knew they didn’t have long. The king had probably already called the rest of the Argonauts together. What he’d said in the king’s chambers—with Zander as a witness—would be considered treason. He fully expected one of his kin to come charging in at any moment and drag him away.

He could hear their discussion now. Cerek the peacemaker would convince the rest not to take action until the morning. They’d come at first dawn. Play to Theron’s sense of honor. If that didn’t work, Gryphon would crack a joke about getting the king good, in a lame attempt to lighten the mood. Zander wouldn’t care one way or the other—so long as what happened to Theron didn’t affect him. And Demetrius…yeah, Demetrius would be pushing to have Theron hanged.

Too late, Theron realized he’d never told his Argonauts how much he respected them. Though they served together, fought together, none of them were close. And as he looked down at Acacia, sleeping on her stomach with both arms tucked under her, her face tipped his way and one of her legs intertwined with his, he realized he’d never even thought of his Argonauts as separate individuals
before. To him, they’d always been nothing more than fighters in a war they’d all been trained for. But now? Now it was as if his eyes had been opened.

He brushed a finger down Acacia’s cheek, watched her back rise and fall in deep sleep. Studied the way her lashes formed spiky crescent shapes on her pale cheeks. Her courage still awed him. Last night she’d been ready to take him on. There was no other female in the universe who would dare stand up to him when he was in one of his moods, but it hadn’t stopped her. She was fearless. And as selfless as he’d told the king. Everything he’d never wanted but now couldn’t imagine living without.

He’d known she was his from the first taste. Long before he’d ever slid deep inside her. If he’d been more in tune with his humanity, he would have recognized it the first time he’d kissed her back in her small house. But he hadn’t. Because he’d needed her to unlock that side of him he’d always repressed.

She was his curse. His soul mate. His life. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to keep her from dying.

His finger ran down her shoulder, over her back until he found the sheet covering her gorgeous ass. He gripped the cotton and pulled it down, then eased up on an elbow and looked at her marking.

Gods, it was fading. In a matter of days, it would be gone.

His chest squeezed tight, and though he wanted nothing more than to slide back inside her and wake her from the inside out, he knew he couldn’t. Shouldn’t. She needed to save her strength, not use it up pleasuring him.

One glance at the window told him the moon was setting and morning would be here soon. Careful, so as not to wake her, he pulled the covers up around her shoulders and headed for the shower.

Her scent all over his body was distracting and arousing at the same time. As he lathered and rinsed under the hot spray, he told himself he was doing the right thing.
The king had been correct on one count. Sometimes a great sacrifice is necessary.

He cut the water, grabbed a towel and dried his hair. After toweling off his legs, he pulled on new jeans, lifted the terry to his shoulders and froze.

Someone was outside on his porch.

Skata
, he’d been wrong. They’d come for him already.

A deep male voice echoed through the closed doors. Followed by Acacia’s surprised and wary one.

His heart rate jerked.

No. He was wrong. They’d come for her.

Casey sensed she wasn’t alone even before she came fully awake.

She sat bolt upright and stared into the darkness. A candle flared on the low table across the room, illuminating the man seated near the fireplace.

“Don’t let me interrupt your sleep,” he said in a deep voice. “I do so enjoy watching the innocents.”

Casey pulled the sheet to her neck in a protective move. That tingling from her birthmark intensified until it was a screaming roar up and down her spine, but she didn’t open her mouth. Some hidden instinct warned her not to.

The man slowly rose, and even in the dim light from the candle she saw he was at least seven feet tall, with enough power in his right pinky to decimate her and everything in this house.

He wasn’t an Argonaut. This person…being…was a god.

And oh, shit. That meant all of this was real.

He stepped toward the bed. “Yes, I am. Care to guess which one?”

She swallowed the lump growing in her throat and pulled the covers tighter to her chest. She was blindingly aware she was naked beneath the sheet. And had a horrifying thought.

What if…what if he can see through it!

His chuckle was low and menacing. “Of course I can. But don’t worry. I’m not here for your sex, human. I’ve plenty of my own sluts to choose from. Besides, the visitor who came to Tartarus to beg for your soul was enough Argolean for me.”

“Hades,” she whispered.

His evil grin widened, and he bowed once. “Alive and in the flesh. I’d like to say I’m pleased to meet you, but that would be a lie. And I never lie.” His eyes narrowed. “Now, ask me who my visitor was.”

Her heart pounded against her ribs. She glanced around for Theron, only to confirm he wasn’t anywhere near. She swallowed hard again as she looked back at Hades. “No one would go see you on my behalf.”

His black-as-sin eyes glinted. “No one but your sister.”

The door to the bathroom flew open. Theron, bare chested and wearing only a pair of low-slung jeans, with hair damp as if he’d just stepped out of a shower, charged.

With a flick of his wrist, Hades sent Theron shooting backward until he slammed into the wall and crumpled to the ground. Pictures and shattered glass rained down around him. Hades held his arm out, as if creating an invisible force that kept Theron from getting up.

The god’s soulless black eyes refocused on Casey. “Your sister bargained with me, so that you might live.”

“Acacia—”

Hades shot out another beam of energy so sharp, Theron’s whole body jerked.

“Stop!” Casey leapt to her knees on the bed. Hades glanced her direction, but she knew she was no match for him. She forced the fear from her voice, for Theron’s sake. “Stop. Just. Don’t hurt him. I…I don’t understand any of this.”

“Why would anyone expect you to understand, human?” Hades looked in Theron’s direction with disgust. “As your Argonaut here omitted the real reason he brought you to this realm in the first place.”

If the tingling at Acacia’s back hadn’t already been going at warp speed, it would be now. She looked toward Theron, slowly easing himself into a seated position against the wall. “What didn’t he tell me?”

Hades actually smiled, and in the pit of her stomach, Casey knew he was enjoying all of this. “Should I tell her, Argonaut? Or would you like to?”

“Go back to hell,” Theron snarled.

He jerked and seized as Hades blasted him again.

“Stop it!” Casey tried in vain to keep the sheet wrapped around her as she held out a hand to stop the vicious god. “Please, just…stop. You tell me the reason he brought me here.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Theron whispered.

“To fulfill the prophecy,” Hades said plainly. “Established thousands of years ago, when Atalanta sold her soul to me in exchange for immortality. You are half of that prophecy, Acacia Simopolous. The marking on your back is proof. Your half sister, Isadora, the princess and future queen of Argolea, has the same marking. Like you, she’s sick and dying, but in her case, she’s losing her Argolean side, whereas you are losing your humanity. Alone, you’ll both die. Joined, the strongest of the two will survive to render Atalanta mortal once more and bring the beginning of the end of her war against the Argoleans.”

Hades inclined his head toward Theron. “Your Argonaut was sent by your father, the king, to bring you back to meet your sister. To save her life and end yours.”

Casey’s eyes slowly slid to Theron, slumped against the wall, eyes closed, with his arm across his abdomen. She waited for him to deny Hades’s words, to tell her they were nothing but lies, but he didn’t open his mouth. He didn’t even look at her.

“No,” she whispered. “That…can’t be true.”

“The truth is never a lie. Your sister even recognized how wrong these heroes were to try to mold your destinies.
It’s why she came to me and bartered for your soul. And she did so against her father and her fiancé’s wills.”

“Fiancé?” Casey asked, having trouble following he god’s words.

“Oh, darn.” Hades snapped his fingers. “I guess your Argonaut forgot to tell you that as well.” His obsidian eyes sparked. “The good hero Theron here is scheduled to marry Isadora as soon as the prophecy is fulfilled.”

Casey’s heart slammed into her ribs as she looked toward Theron. He didn’t deny it. And he didn’t open his eyes, even now. The guilt-ridden expression across his face confirmed Hades’s claim.

Her heart shattered right there. Broke into a million pieces at her feet. The pain of betrayal in the center of her chest was as real as if she’d been stabbed with a blade.

Hades held out his hand. “Come with me and I will show you the truth, Acacia Simopolous. You will see, and you will believe.”

Theron shot to his feet. “No. Acacia!”

Electricity flashed out of Hades’s hand. Theron was rammed into the wall once more. He groaned and fell to the floor, this time surrounded by a pile of plaster.

“You will be safe while you are with me, human. No harm will come to you, I promise.”

Tears burned the backs of Casey’s eyes as she looked at the hand extended to her. Everything Theron had told her, everything she’d started to believe, was nothing more than a lie. Indecision warred within her. But one thing Hades said got through.

She had a sister. One who didn’t know her but who’d gone to hell to barter for her soul. There was still one person who needed her.

“I don’t have any clothes.”

Hades’s smile was laced with victory. “Taken care of.”

Instantly, she was dressed in a white billowing blouse and matching loose-fitting pants.

Casey dropped the sheet. And lifted her hand to slide her fingers into the palm of a god.

“No!
Acacia!
” Theron screamed.

She was floating. At her side she heard Hades’s voice, but when she turned her head she saw nothing but fog as thick as soup surrounding her. “It’s really too bad for your crappy genetics. It’s you who should be queen.”

“What do you mean?” His hand wrapped firmly around hers, almost as if it were holding her together from disintegrating into a thousand microscopic pieces across time and space.

“Your sister is weak. She’ll make a terrible queen, but fortunately for her, she was born Argolean and you were not.”

“She had to have some courage to come to you. That’s the mark of a leader, isn’t it?”

He chuckled next to her. “Desperate. That’s what we call her reckless actions. She’s the one who should be burning thyme. Not you. Don’t fool yourself into thinking otherwise, human.”

Nothing he said made sense, and she was distracted by the fact she didn’t have a clue where he was taking her.

“To see an army,” he said. “And believe me, you will soon understand all.”

“Stop reading my mind,” Casey snapped. “It’s rude.”

His hand tightened around hers, and for a frightening moment she feared he’d let go and she really would burst apart into a thousand pieces. Right then she realized the foolishness of her short temper. But then he laughed, a low and menacing sound that seemed to come from nowhere. “Oh, you really would be the better queen. Pity the daemon who tried to mess with you. I’ve been watching you, you know. Wondering how this would all play out. The others in past generations, they’ve been so disappointing. But you…you might just do yet.”

It was on her tongue to tell him to stop playing games with her when suddenly the fog lifted and they flashed onto the edge of a cliff. Casey gasped, and her arms flew out to steady herself as she teetered on the ledge. Pebbles at her feet skidded and pinged down the three-hundred-foot sheer drop to the burned valley below.

Hades pulled her back from the ledge. “Not yet. And not here. There are other plans for you.” He pointed with his long finger. “Look down, Acacia. And see the army Atalanta is preparing.”

Her breath left her in a rush as she saw the thousands upon thousands of daemons in the valley below. Looking closer, she realized their black skin was what was making the ground seem burnt. She took three quick steps back until she slammed into Hades’s chest.

“They can’t see you, human. So take a good look.” She shivered as her blood ran cold. There were so many. Sparring hand-to-hand, with swords and weapons she’d never seen before. In training. For a war.

In the center stood a woman in crimson robes, with flowing black hair, doling out directions and barking orders. When one daemon was outmaneuvered by another in a duel with bare hands, the woman lifted the whip in her hand and brought it down sharply across his back until blood the color of her robes stained the ground.

Action near her stopped. But not a single daemon stepped to the rescue of the punished one. The whip came down over and over until the one lying on the ground was bathed in blood and motionless.

Casey put a hand over her mouth as she watched the beaten daemon being dragged to the side of the training area. He was left there to suffer while the rest went back to their maneuvers.

“Do you know how a daemon comes to be?” Hades asked in her ear.

Casey swallowed hard and shook her head.

“Daemons are nothing more than the soul of a human, trapped in the Fields of Asphodel.”

“Purgatory,” Casey whispered.

“Something like that,” Hades said, sounding amused. “Atalanta loves to prey on the unfortunates, and as you can see, she’s convinced many that servitude to her is a thousand times better than what they will experience with me. Some are genuinely evil and know they’ll be sent for punishment. Some are just plain stupid. With her, they’re reborn in the image of what she’s made them. Strong fighters. Without conscience. Monsters. But there’s a catch.”