by Billi Jean
“Geesh.” Breathless, she grinned up at him. She was covered in gore, blood seeped from her wounds, and still she looked as beautiful as ever.
“Tabithia, you scare the goddamn shit out of me.”
“Really, Aeros, you need to watch your language.” She slowly stood upright herself but immediately hunched back over, gripping her side and sucking in a sharp breath.
He took one step and she hissed, stopping him in his tracks. Head down, she held up a hand and shook her head. Damn it, the woman was hard-headed. Still, instead of aiding her, he bit the inside of his cheek.
She was in pain. Needlessly. He could have taken the beast down. Eventually. True, he’d had some trouble, but the damn beast had taken blow after blow. It had only been a matter of time before the creature had died. The point was, he never wanted to see her harmed. Something inside his chest constricted at the mere thought. His heart felt like a fist gripped it. Panic, he realised. She could have died. Poison, she’d said. The thing could have bitten her.
“No, no, no, I’m good. Did you get harmed? Any bites? Cuts?” She looked him over from head to toe. Seeming satisfied, she nodded. “Good then. You’re fine. No harm, right?”
“Tabithia, you should not have come back. You are harmed!”
“Duh, I’ll heal. I’m immortal.” She gave him an odd look, as if she wanted him to say something, as if she wondered if he were immortal. She had to know he was. He served Ares, had done so for what felt like forever.
“We are both immortal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be harmed. I don’t like it. I told—” A relieved look passed over her small face but she shot her shoulders back at his tone. He snapped his mouth shut. He’d been scolding her like a recruit.
Taking a deep breath, he finally got his heart back on track. The colour was coming back to her cheeks. She stood straight. Her side, he hoped, was healing already. Passing a wrist over her forehead, she squinted up at him.
“Yes, Aeros, I know. I broke the ‘don’t get hurt’ order, but so did you. Geesh, you’d think a guy your age would—”
“Tabithia.”
The creature at their feet let out one more moan and stilled, the life leaving it. The stench of the place was enough to knock Aeros off his feet but he stood, waiting for Tabithia’s next move. She was trying to distract him from the truth. He knew she was up to something, but now he wasn’t certain if she had freed the godhead—Dare, she’d called the other woman—and was now going to aid him out of this maze or not.
“Where is the godhead?”
She stepped over to the wall covered with the smoking runes and bent to pick up the chalice. Tossing it to him, she watched him grab it before she snapped, “You mean Dare, the witch your god unjustly held prisoner for a few, oh, I dunno, thousand years?” Tabithia grew angrier as she spoke. Her hands glowed light green, and Aeros wasn’t sure if she was aware of it. “I’ve done my part. There’s your god’s little cup. Take it back to him, Aeros. I won’t allow you more than that, though.”
“Tabithia, I had no idea Ares had taken a human.”
“Not a human, a witch. One from my own coven no less. What are the odds, right?” A slow breeze lifted the wisps of her hair free from her braid, giving the curly, red tresses a life of their own. “Do you believe him worthy of taking and imprisoning another?”
“I am not Ares’ keeper, Tabithia.”
“But he was Dare’s. Will you try to take her back to him?”
“Will you allow me? It is what I paid you for, Tabithia.”
“I don’t think so. You paid for a godhead.” She nodded to the empty cup in his hands, “I brought you to the godhead. That was our deal, Aeros, remember? You simply wanted me to guide you. You’d do the rest, remember?”
He gave her a stern look. She’d twisted their agreement.
Taking a deep breath, Tabithia drew her temper down, replacing her fire with ice. His worry skyrocketed. Tabithia all fire was full of life. Her expression seemed resigned now, as if she’d made some decision about them. A decision he’d not like. He was tired. He felt like he’d not rested in moons, and now he had to somehow navigate through this situation without offending either Tabithia or his god. But he couldn’t make both happy.
Tabithia watched him closely. Her eyes sparkled like green ice. “What will you do, oh Captain of the Mighty Spartans? Take an innocent witch against her will to your god?”
His life, Ares’ life, depended on this—at least according to Ares. His god had lied about the chalice. Had he lied about the power of this witch? Was the witch tied to Ares’ existence? If so, how? So many unanswered questions, and all he wanted was Tabithia. He couldn’t have her, though, he realised. Not until he’d discovered the truth behind Ares’ warnings. He wasn’t taking Dare back to Ares. He had the cup, and now, when push came to shove, he couldn’t disappoint Tabithia.
“Aeros?” The sound of Ajax calling him snapped them both out of their debate. Resisting the urge to pull Tabithia tight and kiss her worry away, he bent and cleaned his blade on the fallen beast. She was going to make her move. Now, if he had to guess. His heart contracted, feeling jagged and sore. She was so beautiful, so pale, and so fragile-looking to him. He wanted to pull her close, check her damn wounds and ensure himself that she wasn’t suffering. If she were his, he’d not allow her to go into this kind of danger. He’d protect her, cherish her, keep her safe, and pleasure her as often as he could.
Cinnamon eyebrows snapping down, she said, “Your men don’t follow orders well.”
“My orders were to give us two hours, then come after us.”
Looking surprised, she edged away from him.
“What will you do now?” he asked.
Her gaze flashed to his face. “What will you do?”
She challenged him. Her deep green eyes demanded he make the right decision. If he did what she wanted him to do, he would risk his own life as well as that of his men and possibly end up destroying Ares. Yet now that he’d seen Dare, he doubted the honesty of Ares’ words. How could one witch destroy them all? Even if Ares had lied, Aeros might never see Tabithia again, or if he did, it could be years from now. Ares punished without mercy when he didn’t get his way. This girl, Dare, was proof of that, no doubt. As it was, it might take weeks before he could see Tabithia again. Even if Ares merely chewed his ass, Tabithia hid so damn well, he knew finding her wouldn’t be easy. Just the thought had him gritting his teeth. He’d gamble for a few weeks, but he’d not chance years without this woman in his arms. He’d had enough of existing in a grey world without this brilliant, stunning woman.
But, right now, he was going to taste her, and, gods help him, he might not be able to back down after a mere taste.
“You’ll have to stop me from taking her, witch.” As he said the word ‘witch’, he snatched her into his arms and took possession of her soft, pink lips before she could react. He’d heard that holding a witch’s hands held her power. Holding her tight, he kept her hands trapped between them. Her taste exploded on his tongue—sweet, spicy cinnamon sugar.
She froze against him. Clearly his move hadn’t been what she’d expected, but seconds later, she met him kiss for kiss. A low moan passed her lips. He took it, dived in, and devoured her. He pressed her mouth open, stroking his tongue along hers as he melded their bodies together. Thought ended. The godhead. The hunt. Ares. All of it dissolved like Tabithia did on his tongue. Her softer body yielded to his, fitting him perfectly.
He’d meant to go slow, but she blew all his planning away. She made him blaze with a heat like nothing he’d ever experienced before. She eased the constant fire burning him inside out. Sucking on her bottom lip, he wrapped one arm around her slim back and cupped one gorgeous cheek of her ass to hold her tight and grind his erection against her stomach. A moment later he had to have her mouth again and dived back in. They both went wild, tangling tongues and running their hands over each other until he felt like his heart would explode from the sheer joy of her
reaction.
All this time he’d wanted her, needed this, and she seemed as hot for him as he was for her. Gods, if he’d ever guessed she wanted this, he would have been inside her the first night. The first break on their trip. In the jet. In his bed.
“Aeros?”
Aaron’s voice should have registered some alarm bells for Aeros, but he grunted and turned Tabithia to the wall so he could cushion her back with his arm as he dug into the cradle of her hips with his pulsing cock. She wrapped her legs around his waist and tugging at his hair as she practically climbed up his body to push back onto his erection.
Groaning into her mouth, he tangled his hand in all that luscious, silky hair, and tipped her head back so he could taste her slender throat. Another call of his name, this time closer, forced him to leave the trail of her pulse to meet her eyes. The men were growing closer. Any minute and they’d be here.
They were both breathless. Her lips were soft and wet from his kisses. Her face flushed a gorgeous pink with desire.
“The men,” she whispered, but reached up to cup his jaw with both small hands and leaned in to rest her forehead against his. Her eyes glowed with wonder, excitement and such a look of amazement that he almost laughed. When she pulled up and pressed her lips to his, he forgot everything but her tentative exploration of his lips with hers.
Lush, warm kisses, hesitant but eager at the same time, filled his world, then, with a small sound, she pulled back again, as if to see his reaction.
He watched her blink at him. The feel of her pressing against him had him wanting so much more than he’d get right now. Here in a damn smelly cave. He swore he could feel her, every inch of her slender frame, all the way to his soul. Realisation that he still held her seemed to slowly ease over her face. For once, her expressive eyes weren’t sparkling with mischief or darkening in scorn. For once she looked…vulnerable. Almost, but not quite, frightened. He thought she’d try to shove him aside. He felt her body tense, but her small hands tightened on his shoulders instead.
“You kissed me.”
“Yes.” Gods had he kissed her. Wanted to again. “I did. I will do much more than play, Tabithia. Not here, but soon. When we are free of this place, we will do much more than kiss.”
“Aeros! Man? Where the hell are you?” The Bard’s shout sounded from the far passage leading into the lair. Too close.
Tabithia ignored the Bard. She looked wary. Almost bordering on confused. “Why?”
“Why? Because I wanted to kiss you since I first saw you. Fuck, I’ve wanted to goddamn do more than that.” He tried hard to keep the anger from his tone, but hell, she’d come apart in his arms. She’d wanted him. She wanted him. “And you’ve wanted me as well.”
Her green eyes widened as he continued, and he could see he was spooking her, but the words simply wouldn’t stop.
“Aeros! Don’t swear so much.”
He blinked. She sounded shocked. Hell, he’d heard her—no, no, he’d—heard her say shit or damn, but not cuss. Was she serious about this? She looked serious but hell, it was hard to concentrate with her lips so close, her warm, tender body curled all around him.
He nodded. “I’ll work on that.”
Again, she surprised him by not shoving against him.
“You liked our kiss,” she whispered. A soft, pink colour tinted the cream of her face. Fragile. She was fragile. He knew she wasn’t—hell, she’d parted the damn water that would have drowned them all, or at least knocked their asses back to the jet, but there it was. He needed to go slow, cautiously—the way he planned a battle, careful of each move he made.
“Tabithia, I more than liked your kiss, our kiss.” He pressed his erection against her as proof and watched as her high cheekbones flushed darker. She nodded, hesitantly, though, as if curious still about why he had kissed her.
“Whatever you choose, Tabithia, right now, this isn’t over.”
They stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment. She looked frightened—spooked for sure. He should have been ready for her to press her small hands against his chest, wanting him to let go, but he still felt a jab to his heart. Instead of releasing her, he savoured her for a moment and dipped his head to inhale one more breath of her. She froze. He swore he could feel her heart beating like a caged bird between them.
“Remember, no matter where you go, I’ll find you, Tabithia.” He let her drop her feet to the floor and carefully eased up after only brushing his lips over her hair.
She scooted away, almost falling on the gore littering the ground. His hands fisted to keep from reaching out for her again.
“That sounds like a threat.”
He had her back in his space within a heartbeat.
“A threat?” Touching her cheek with a knuckle, he marvelled at how silky smooth her warm skin felt. “I’d die before harming you.”
She edged backwards, quietly, but with purpose. His heart ached, but he had to let her go. If he didn’t, he didn’t trust himself not to simply hijack her to his home and tie her to his bed. His cock jerked. Swollen, the damn thing hurt like hell but he savoured the pain, knowing soon enough he’d not feel the ache. Not without Tabithia’s sweet presence.
“I’ll come for you. That’s a promise. No matter what you do, this is not over between us.”
Eyes wide, breathing hard, she blinked. Clearly, she’d made up her mind. “Oh? Even when I do this?”
A rumble was his only warning. She ducked back and down, knocking his feet out from under him. He landed on his ass with a loud grunt. The little witch!
He shot to his feet, ready to grab her back into his arms.
Tabithia had other ideas. She spun and nailed him again. This time her tiny boot landed square on his gut, knocking his wind out enough to make him gasp for air. She grinned and blew him a damn kiss as she walked backwards towards the exit she’d used before.
Sonofabitch, she was adorable. Stumbling on the debris, Aeros managed to make it to the small tunnel quick enough to watch her disappear. The ground beneath his boots rumbled up his legs, shifting hard enough that he reached out and held onto the side of the cave. The sound of rocks falling deafened him for a long, intense span of time. The air grew heavy with dust and the rumblings of what felt like the entire mountain falling down on the tunnel she’d taken. A few bits of debris and dust billowed out of the tunnel and all grew eerily quiet.
Excitement settled in his bones. His breathing eased out in a long exhale, taking with it the tension he’d felt since the first moment he’d turned his head and viewed the brilliance of Tabithia’s beauty. For the first time in his…hell, his life, his existence, he had a purpose.
Tabithia.
He’d find her anywhere.
Chapter Thirteen
“So, chica, what do you think of snow?”
Tabithia picked the orange slice off the little plastic sword on the side of her drink and settled deeper in her soft beach lounge chair. The waves crashing mere yards from their feet made her smile. Or maybe remembering the expression on Aeros’ face the day before when she’d knocked him on his butt was what was keeping her grin in place. Either way, she was enjoying the day so far. She still felt a bit antsy, but hey, whatever. Within the day they would be home and this trip and the sexy Spartan would be behind her.
And that was so not making her grumpy.
Dare coughed, and Tab glanced over to the other woman.
“I like snow. Am I going where there’s snow?”
Dare looked much better—almost superstar better. She still sported the light buzz cut, but she’d showered and her haircut fitted her now. Kinda rock star. Well, she had taken four showers, actually, but Tab figured, after that long without taking a shower, she would have refused to leave the bathroom for weeks. Now, the woman across from her was so clean she practically squeaked. Dressed in a soft, pale cream sundress and flip-flops, she almost looked up to date with this century. If she’d quit jumping at every sound, gesture, or beep from an electroni
c device, she might blend in a wee bit better.
“Well, it might be best. I have some pull with a guy who has a place down south.” She had the crazy idea that breaking Dare into this century might be best, and where else to do that but deep in the frozen tundra, with a guy who made hermits look like the guy voted most popular. But, hey, the warlock owed her a favour or two. Or three. She’d saved his butt in Russia a few years back when Trouble had got them into some deep shit up in the former USSR.
“I thought this was south?”
“Well, sure, of like Hadrian’s Wall. But this is like bottom of the world south—Antarctica. He has running water,” she hurried to add when Dare immediately stuck her bottom lip out.
Dare looked down at her lobster salad and ran a finger around the white porcelain plate. They were at the ritziest resort in Belize that Tabithia could find on short notice. Dare might have been able to shift them, but they’d decided not to take the chance this soon. The witch needed some downtime. She was fidgety, making Tabithia nearly crazy on their mad dash through the jungle. The other woman had kept up, but broken down in tears unexpectedly only to turn around the next minute and cuss Ares bad enough to make Aeros’ language look clean. Dare’s emotions had swung back and forth until Tabithia was ready to knock her out and carry her over her shoulder caveman-style.
Tabithia simply didn’t have any idea how to deal with the emotional mess, since, heck, she’d never swung so up and down in her life. She had dark moods. She cut herself when drinking and dangerous escapades didn’t quell the needs. One look at the pretty witch, though, and she doubted the girl would like the taste of steel on flesh, the quick burn and pleasant warm rush of bright blood.
“Well, I’m not certain if I want to be around a man.”
