by J. S. Scott
Honestly, she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about being his radiant either, so maybe they did need time to work things out.
“I’m helping,” Athena added. “I still have most of my goddess powers, so I can reverse the mistakes here quickly. We’ll right things here, Kristoff.”
“How are my men?”
Zach replied, “The ones that were injured are healing. We haven’t lost any more.”
“Good to hear,” Kristoff answered, sounding relieved. “Do your best to continue on until I return.”
“Where are you going?” Zach asked, sounding concerned.
“Your sister needs to see and experience the changes that have taken place while she was in the demon realm. We can’t ignore the fact that we’re mates. It has to be dealt with,” Kristoff explained.
“I don’t like you leaving with her,” Zach said plainly.
“I know,” the king replied solemnly as he took Sophie’s hand.
Her heart pounded with anticipation. “Where are we going?”
While she appreciated her brother’s concern, her heart ached to go away with the formidable Sentinel king. Not only did she want to see the progress the world had made since she’d been taken away, but she was yearning to spend time with her supposed match. Kristoff mesmerized her, tempted her toward things she’d never known.
Judging by the way her body responded to nothing more than a simple touch from Kristoff, and considering Athena’s warning about Kristoff’s mental state, it was clear they did need to resolve the mate thing as quickly as possible.
What is the world like now? I’ve seen things on TV, but was it fiction or reality?
For so long, she’d seen only darkness. She was more than ready to walk into the light of the human realm again.
“Any place you want to go,” Kristoff answered in a deep voice that beckoned her to imagine the places he could take her.
He held out his hand.
Completely on instinct, Sophie didn’t hesitate to place her smaller palm in his, and let him lead her wherever he wanted to go. “Show me.” It was a statement with a little bit of a question included.
He nodded once, his eyes changing to an ocean-blue hue as he turned to Zach. “I’ll bring her back safely. You’ll have to trust me. Don’t do it because I’m your king. Have faith in me because I’ve always been your friend and your mentor. I’d die before I’d see your sister come to any harm.”
Kat took Zach’s hand as he stared at Kristoff, silently supporting her mate.
Finally, Sophie’s brother nodded. “You raised me, taught me what I needed to know. You saved me. I’m not sure where I’d be right now if I’d lost Sophie and we’d never met. Obviously, I’d be long dead by now, and I doubt I would have lived long after Sophie was taken away.” He paused before adding, “But this isn’t easy for me. You have to remember that Sophie didn’t have a good childhood, and then was imprisoned in the demon realm for two centuries. She deserves happiness now. She’s my sister and I love her.”
Sophie’s eyes filled with tears as Zach so easily said the words she’d wanted to hear for so long. “I love you, Zach. And I’ll be back. This is something I need to do.”
Zach nodded. “I understand.”
“We all have catching up to do,” Kristoff rumbled, keeping Sophie close to his side. “I have a daughter I very much want to know better.”
Talia smiled at her father. “I want that, too. Very much.”
Sophie could see the longing in Talia’s eyes as she looked at Kristoff. She’d gathered that Talia was Kristoff’s daughter, but she hadn’t known the whole story until the women had pulled her aside earlier. Now, she understood that Talia wanted to know Kristoff as a father, just as she wanted to get to know who her brother was now.
“I know a good place for you two to deal with this situation,” Athena said thoughtfully, then lifted her hand to send the two of them on their way.
Kristoff and Sophie disappeared instantly.
“Where did you send them?” Hunter asked curiously.
“Paradise. A place where they can find each other,” she answered with a smile. “Now let’s get moving and clean up the mess the Evils made so we can live a normal life again. Maybe once our work is done, we can all take the honeymoons we never had because we were too busy trying to save the world.”
“Somewhere warm and tropical,” Kat added with a look of longing on her face.
“On a beach where I can lay around naked all day if I don’t feel like getting dressed,” Talia agreed with a nod.
Drew’s brow lifted in surprise as he looked at his mate, but he was the first one to disappear with Talia, obviously anxious to be gone if it meant he was going to have plenty of naked time with his wife when they could get things done.
Hunter and Zach left with their radiants moments later, obviously motivated by the same thoughts.
“Where are we?” Sophie asked, looking around frantically as they flashed into the destination where Athena had sent them with her magic.
Kristoff clenched his fists as he watched Sophie twirl around, trying to look at everything at once. He knew exactly where they were. Even before they’d appeared at Athena’s secret hideaway, he’d known where she’d send him the moment she’d used her powers as a goddess to send them someplace secure and private.
The only place I’ve ever been happy. The only safe place I ever knew.
“Athena’s old private residence,” he told Sophie, unable to tear his eyes away from her astonished expression. “Almost no one even knew it existed, especially none of the gods.”
His eyes devoured her; his body craved her.
Mine!
His soul burned, and his cock was hard enough to chop wood.
How much longer could he be her tour guide and make polite conversation before he nailed her to the wall and fucked her so hard that she didn’t know where her body ended and his began. He needed to make her come so hard that she couldn’t remember her own name, and never wanted another man again.
The breeze carried her scent, and his nostrils flared as he smelled some of the same desires he was feeling floating into his lungs every time he took a labored breath.
Fuck!
Sophie was the ultimate temptation to him, but he was determined not to give in. His healing sleep had restored his power. Still, not letting his demon instincts gain control was nearly impossible. Nothing about his mate inspired control. She made him feel more alive than he ever had in his entire existence, and the desire to claim what was his was overpowering. Not acting on those emotions was painful as hell.
He wanted another taste of her beautiful mouth. He wanted his cock buried inside her until she screamed his name and was vowing to be his for eternity.
“Are we still in the human realm?” she queried.
Kristoff shook his head slowly, his body shuddering with the effort of not reaching out for her. “No. This was once Athena’s secret residence, a place she created for solitude. We’re in the land of the gods. But this space belonged entirely to Athena. This was the only place she could be alone. The only place she could be herself when she was a goddess.”
“You’ve been here before,” Sophie stated as she raised her foot and then scrunched her toes in the pristine white sand on the beach.
Kristoff had dressed himself in jeans and a blue button down shirt as they’d traveled. But he was shoeless just like Sophie, and he relished the sound of the pounding waves on the beach as his feet sank comfortably into the calming grains of sand. Sophie was wearing the same outfit Athena had given her after cleaning her up yesterday. She must have changed earlier that morning because he distinctly remembered feeling her body against his, nothing but the light cotton of her nightgown between them, and he’d relished the warm softness of her body against him. It had been sweet fucking torture. He grimaced as h
is wayward dick throbbed painfully; every moment he watched Sophie was both bliss and agony.
Tearing his eyes away from her with considerable effort, he quickly noted that Athena’s paradise looked exactly as she’d left it. The water was still a mesmerizing shade of blue, and her castle still intact.
“I lived here for a time,” Kristoff admitted reluctantly, not really wanting to talk about his life as a demigod.
“With Athena?” Sophie asked as she looked at him curiously.
“Yes,” he answered simply. Able to share Sophie’s thoughts, he added, “We were never lovers. Athena was my mentor.” He both loved and hated the fact that he could sense Sophie’s momentary jealousy. His mate wasn’t the type to be envious, but her radiant instincts brought out a covetous nature that was natural for Sentinel mates. Right now, that possessive instinct coming from Sophie was like an aphrodisiac. As much as he wanted to claim her, he wanted her to recognize him as hers, too. Her covetous emotions fanned the flames that he didn’t think could get any hotter.
He felt greediness, too, and on a much stronger level than Sophie did. Every cell in his body was clamoring for him to claim his mate, brand her as his, and make sure she stayed by his side forever. The longing pierced him in the gut like a sharp knife that was twisting into him over and over.
“I can’t imagine what it would be like to live here.”
Kristoff shrugged. “It was Athena’s version of paradise.”
“I think it’s mine, too,” Sophie answered breathlessly. “It’s beautiful here.”
He had to clench his fists to stop from reaching out and capturing his radiant so he could feel her slight body against his.
Christ! I’ve fought for my life against both gods and demons, but one tiny, beguiling female has me tied up in knots!
His emotions were conflicted. Although he was stunned that he’d found his radiant, he was also confounded by how difficult it was to resist his mating instincts. Being completely unhinged wasn’t comfortable for him. He practiced control in all things as the king of the Sentinels.
Now, his normal levelheadedness had deserted him completely, his nature demanding that he claim the radiant that had been denied him for so long.
He knew he needed to find a way to break their bond quickly. Sophie was an innocent, Zach’s sister, and a woman who has been used and abused as an adult. When she was human, her childhood existence had been as miserable as Zach’s. She deserved to be free for the first time in her life. The last thing she needed was a demigod Sentinel with a past so dark that she’d never see daylight.
Since the mating of a Sentinel king was unprecedented, he had no idea what it would take to break their bond. Honestly, he didn’t know if it was even possible. Although he’d never seen it happen with his Sentinels, he knew it was possible for mates to deny each other and live apart, but the bond was never broken. As far as he knew, the two destined mates would yearn for each other for the rest of their lives. But he was determined to try to do this for Sophie. The last thing she needed was a demigod Sentinel with a tainted past. For what he’d done in his past, she’d end up loathing him. Hell, he hated himself, even after all of the years that had passed since he’d changed his life.
Maybe things are different for a Sentinel king. Maybe the rules are different. Maybe there is a way to break the bond. Things haven’t exactly been the same for me and Sophie as it has been for my Sentinels.
Some things appeared to be the same; some were different. He felt Sophie’s lightness in his soul, which was a normal radiant reaction, but they were already sharing thoughts and emotions. Hell, they’d been able to communicate before he’d even known who she was back in the Evils’ realm.
Taking a deep, calming breath that didn’t help worth a damn, Kristoff suggested, “Do you want to see the castle?” He needed time to think, time to plan, and he needed time to figure out what in the hell he was going to do.
“Yes,” Sophie answered immediately.
He held out his hand and the fact that Sophie laid her palm on his instantly made him feel like one of the bricks had dropped from the wall he’d built around himself. It was a defense that had worked well for him most of his life; building a mental wall around himself, never letting most emotional things touch him. But her behavior was getting to him, changing him. She trusted him. Even after everything that had happened to her, Sophie put her faith in him without question.
He could feel no hesitation.
He could sense no fear.
Christ! Can’t she identify the darkness that I have inside me?
“You’re the king of the Sentinels,” Sophie answered as she squeezed his hand. “You saved my brother’s life. I have no reason not to trust you.”
It was unnerving that Sophie could share his thoughts, just as he could listen to hers.
Honestly, it was downright uncomfortable. Nobody had ever been privy to his personal thoughts unless he wanted them to be. “This radiant connection is different,” he concluded aloud.
She trotted alongside of him as he strode toward the castle. As they walked, she asked, “How is it different? And I promise I’ll try not to invade your mind anymore. But I’m not sure how to stop it.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kristoff assured her, knowing all of this was new to his radiant, and his desire to take care of Sophie and protect her jolted him out of his own discomfort. He also wasn’t sure if he wanted to break the connection they had telepathically. Yeah, it was uncomfortable, but sharing their minds took away the loneliness he’d felt since the day he was born. “It’s odd that we’ve been able to connect telepathically. Generally, a radiant doesn’t hear her mate’s thoughts or feel his emotions until the mating ceremony is over. We’ve always been able to communicate without words for some reason.”
Like Sophie, Kristoff was trying his best not to intrude too far into her thoughts or emotions, although the temptation to know everything about her was difficult to ignore.
“You’re the Sentinel king, and a demigod. Maybe that’s why it’s different,” Sophie mused as she climbed the marble stairs to the majestic residence.
She was right. He was different, the only one of his kind. The only thing he knew for sure was that his control was slipping fast, and he didn’t like it.
He opened the massive entrance with his mind, and power surged through him as he urged Sophie through the enormous door that could only be opened by him or Athena. Entering the grand foyer, power surged through his body, probably a result of being back in the place where he’d been created as the Sentinel king.
Athena sent me here because she thought I’d be more powerful, strong enough to fight my demon instincts for a while.
He’d known the goddess long enough to know exactly what she’d been thinking. Unfortunately, being here wasn’t helping much. It was the perfect place for security and privacy, but his mating heat was burning hotter every moment he spent in Sophie’s company.
“Oh, my God. This place is amazing,” Sophie said as she craned her neck to look at the ornately decorated ceiling high above them. “It looks hand painted.”
“Athena created it,” Kristoff answered, noting that Athena’s decorating skills had always been over-the-top.
He smiled as Sophie pulled him from room to room, marveling over the beauty of Athena’s palace. Being back in this place was like coming home to him, but for Sophie, it appeared to be like some kind of magical castle, which he guessed was pretty much the truth. He’d just never seen it from the eyes of a human.
When they finally came back downstairs after covering every inch of the upper floor, Kristoff noticed that Sophie was beginning to sway, and he could feel her weariness. “You need to eat,” he demanded, irritated with himself for not feeding her earlier.
His mate might seem like a miracle to him, but she was human. Food was something she’d never had in abundance, and
she was weakened with hunger and malnutrition.
“Do demigods eat?” she asked breathlessly.
He put his arms around her waist and tucked her against him, his demon growling for him to take what belonged to him. He was able to ignore it because his need to take care of her came first. “No. But unlike my fellow Sentinels, I can do this…” A large table appeared with almost every kind of food imaginable in the great hall in front of them. A smaller dining set with chairs was set off to the side of the enormous buffet.
Her eyes wide with amazement and wonder, Kristoff couldn’t help but imagine if she’d look like that if he pleasured her body exactly the way he wanted. Christ! He wanted, needed to stop thinking of her as his mate. Just being near her, watching her, made his whole body pulsate with a need so sharp it was fucking painful.
As they approached the table, she muttered, “It’s going to feel strange to eat when you aren’t eating.”
“I’ll eat,” he answered readily, not wanting Sophie to ever feel awkward. “It’s not that I don’t. I just don’t have to. Eating is pleasurable sometimes. I don’t have to drink either, but I can appreciate a good Scotch without feeling the effects of the alcohol.” Whatever it took to make Sophie feel comfortable, Kristoff vowed he’d do it. Of course, he could think of a lot of things that would please her, all of them carnal in nature.
She looked up at him with a quizzical expression. “I’ve never eaten for pleasure. Zach and I never had enough food, and they fed me just enough to stay alive in the demon realm.”
Fuck! Just the thought of Sophie going hungry made Kristoff want to slay every demon who’d deprived her. At that moment, he hated the fact that she’d been hurt and used just because she’d been meant for him.
So much hardship.
So much damn pain.
Sophie had been through so much, yet she still had an innocent sweetness that he wanted to savor. “You’ll never be hungry again. I promise you,” he vowed fiercely as he led her to the table, handed her a plate, and then watched as she looked at the food with an agonized expression.
