by J J King
Her back brought up solid against a hard surface. Cate pulled her mouth away from Morpheus’ neck long enough to glance over and see that she was up against a tree that stood suddenly in the middle of the sandy beach. She heard herself laugh and was surprised by how easy it felt to be real with him.
“This is good,” she whispered, delving in for another kiss, “but,” she licked his lower lip and grinned when he snapped his teeth at her playfully, “a bed would be even better.”
Morpheus dipped his head and caught her mouth again, this time using his teeth to scrape over her lips. Cate melted into his arms and barely noticed when he lifted her again.
Cate squealed as she flew through the air and landed in the middle of a bed big enough for a king. The ebbing light from the sun was replaced by the soft flicker of hundreds of candles, illuminating the room that closed off the outer world from their reality. She pulled herself back on the massive bed until she could prop herself up on the luxurious pillows encased in soft white linen and watched Morpheus with passion-heavy lids. He stood at the bottom of the bed, watching her while he slowly undid the button on his pants and slid them over his hips.
Cate’s mouth went dry as he removed his clothes and left them on the floor, discarded and forgotten. His eyes were only for her as hers were for him. He cocked an eyebrow at her and grinned. “Your turn,” he rumbled in that sexy tone.
Arching like a feline, Cate came to her knees and reached for her shirt, knowing that they could both remove her clothing with just a thought but loving the anticipation of undressing for him. His eyes darkened as she slid the fabric over her head and tossed it to the floor. With each inhalation, her breasts lifted and fell under his watchful gaze. She climbed to her feet and stood, unsteady, on the mattress.
He moved to the side of the bed and reached for her. Without a second thought, she went to him, moving so his hands could take her hips and his mouth, so bruised now from their kisses, could press against her stomach and ribs. She shivered and let her head loll back as his tongue traced the outline of her bra and tugged the delicate lace down over her aching breasts while his clever fingers unbuttoned and tugged her jeans over her hips.
The sensual assault came from two locations. Cate cried out and grabbed for Morpheus’ shoulders to remain upright as his tongue laved her sensitive peak at the same moment his fingers dipped inside her. She clenched around him then released when he bit playfully on her breast. Laid bare, she stood before him and let him stroke her into a frenzy.
His fingers were big and extremely talented, moving slowly then picking up speed as she climbed, higher and higher, thrumming with need and growing sensation. When he abandoned her nipple to topple her back on the bed and spread her legs wide, she gasped in just enough air to let loose a scream of pure pleasure, then he sucked her clitoris into his mouth and she saw stars.
Cate threw her head back and arched into his mouth, balling the sheets in her clenched fists as he drove her closer and closer to the edge. She held back nothing, moaning and crying out her pleasure as his fingers moved rhythmically against the back of her clit, the illusive g-spot, while his tongue busied the front. Delicious pressure built, moving through her, climbing ever higher, and then he bit her.
The pain was exquisite. It sent her flying over the edge as her body exploded in sensation. Impossibly bright lights flashed behind her eyelids, blinding her as her body spasmed over and over, clenching down on his fingers. Still, he continued to move, sending her over the cliff into insanity and she screamed as another orgasm hit her full force.
Cate gasped in lungfuls of oxygen as her heart raced like a stallion. She opened her eyes and saw Morpheus watching her with a cocky smile that was well earned. It was all she could do to lift one corner of her mouth and half smile back at him.
She shivered when he withdrew his fingers from her body and blinked lazily when he shifted and gently rubbed his lips against hers. The taste of him spurred her back to life just enough to deepen the kiss and raise her hands to his hair.
Goddess she loved his hair.
Cate pulled back from the kiss and stared into his eyes for a long moment, then let her gaze drop to his neck, his chest, his body. Desire awakened again despite the languid feeling that had descended after she’d orgasmed.
Her lips slid up in a lazy grin. “My turn,” she whispered in a thick, oversexed voice. Cate summoned her magic and inhaled sharply when she found it just there, beneath the surface, waiting to be called. Her grin intensified. Sex always recharged her batteries and great sex got her buzzing with power. She flicked her fingers in the air and flipped their positions in an instant. Beneath her, Morpheus’ eyes widened then his eyes went almost navy blue with awareness.
His naked body was spectacular. Cate traced her fingertips over his pecs and down the center of his abdomen, enjoying the ridges of muscle there. Morpheus’ sharp breaths amused her from where she sat, straddling him, just out of reach of his impressive manhood.
He was beautiful, the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. She caved to every desire she had and let herself enjoy the taste of his flesh as she skimmed her tongue over his skin. He was hot and covered with a fine sheen of sweat and the saltiness of him just made her want more.
His breath came in gasps when she touched him softly, revelling in the velvety steel of his erection. Her fingers couldn’t close around his width, which made her stomach flutter and her core clench in anticipation.
She stroked him, taking her time running her fingers along his length then moving to stroke his inner thigh. He jolted with each touch, moaning loudly and panting. It was so fun watching him writhe in need that she decided to tease him some more.
Cate raised her body up to hover over his cock, letting it rub lightly over her wetness before pulling away. She closed her eyes and let him slide between her labia to rub against her still sensitive clitoris. Almost instantly, she broke with rising need.
She rose high on her knees and locked her fingers with his, using him for balance. Then slowly, ever so slowly, she enveloped him, sliding down while he filled her, stretched her, completed her, until he was fully inside her.
“You’re mine,” he growled, then gathered and thrust upward.
Cate gasped at the feeling of him moving inside her. She rocked forward, lifting up then descending, and her eyes rolled back as she felt every inch of him along every inch of her.
His hands pulled from hers and came to her hips, to lift and pull, to set a pace that made her heart race. The ageless rhythm of sex took over and they moved together as one.
Magic crackled over Cate’s skin, electric blue with the intensity of their emotions. She moved faster, her energy picking up, not slowing down, as primal power poured into her, filling her to overflowing. Familiar pressure built again, too fast, she wanted to draw this out, to be here in this moment with him longer. But it was too late. Her body tensed and exploded into a million pieces of pure bliss, dragging Morpheus over the edge with her.
They shuddered together as Cate collapsed, both gasping for breath, both covered in sweat and deliriously unable to move. Aftershocks trembled through Cate’s body, squeezing a few more moans of half-pain, half-pleasure from Morpheus until he shifted and pulled out of her.
Immediately, Cate felt bereft. She frowned then quickly wiped the look from her face in case Morpheus saw it and asked her what was wrong. She didn’t want to tell him that she felt alone a moment after they’d just had sex, that was too needy. So, instead, she smiled at him and ran a hand through his thick hair, tucking a lock behind his ear. “Do you send all the girls off that way?” she murmured.
Morpheus’ eyes flashed with laugher and he shook his head. “No, you must be special or something.” He skimmed his thumb over her swollen lips and leaned in for a tender kiss.
Cate sank into it and practically purred, she felt like a million bucks or more and her magic had never been so juiced. Lately anyway. Back in the old days when human sacrifices and such were a
cceptable, she’d had more than enough power on the regular.
Back in the old days she’d have ridden a man like Morpheus to completion then slit his throat as a sacrifice to the mother goddess, the earth, the darkness that lay beneath the world. Cate schooled her face as she thought about those days and how she’d changed since then. Selene liked to tell her she’d gotten stronger by acknowledging her humanity but, as she often argued, she wasn’t human. She was a witch, queen of the witches even. Her life with Selene had softened her.
What if that was why they couldn’t reverse the spell and separate themselves? What if that was why they’d failed to save Endymion? Cate shook away the dark thoughts and concentrated on the man before her, the one looking into her eyes and murmuring soft beautiful things to her.
“I’ve waited lifetimes for this,” he whispered softly, combing his fingers through her hair. “You’re so beautiful and brave. I’ve never met anyone else like you.”
His words finally sunk into her sex addled brain. His words were lovely and they made her stomach flutter but her mind stilled and pulled back. He was gorgeous, yes, and sexy, so sexy. And she kind of liked him, maybe. But, it was too soon. He was acting as if they were going to spend forever together, like he’d finally found the other half of his soul.
In her.
Cate pulled back and sat up in the bed, unashamed of her nakedness. She glanced down at him, taking in his content smile and relaxed body, and felt like a freak for questioning this. Why couldn’t she just accept how he felt and return the feelings? She liked him, there was no point denying it. That was just childish. So, why was it so hard for her to hear that he was happy she was in his life?
She stood and began gathering her clothes, pulling them on hastily. Morpheus sat up in bed and watched her, she could feel his questioning gaze on her. It burned into her back and made her heart ache. She was failing at this and didn’t have time to contemplate her inadequacies right now.
“We should probably get back to the group,” she tried to assume a normal tone but her voice hitched a little, betraying her confused emotions.
Morpheus slid from the bed and walked straight to her, his eyebrows drawn down in concern. “What’s happening here?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. The apprehensive look he now wore bore into her soul, confusing her further. She’d need time to think things through, to figure out how she felt, to just breathe without him taking her breath away.
“Nothing.” Cate forced a smile and hoped it looked real. “I’m just preoccupied.” She lifted a hand to his cheek, wishing she could know her feelings as well as he seemed to know his. “Maybe you could take me out for dinner when this is all said and done.” She leaned in close, knowing this would be enough to distract him. “I’ll bring the desert.”
Cate trailed her fingertips along his jaw and over his full lips, then pressed her lips to his in silent promise and hoped she’d be able to deliver.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Tell me again why we decided to traipse into the forest in the middle of the night.” Medusa pushed past a tree branch that whipped back and almost slapped Cate in the face.
“Because,” she flicked her wrist and watched in satisfaction as the offending branch pulled itself back into the trunk of the tree and out of her way, “it’s when I’m awake.”
Medusa glanced over her shoulder for a moment, her preternatural eyes glowing in the pale moon glow that filtered through the thick canopy of green. “Don’t you trust Selene to complete the mission?”
Cate heard the curiosity in Medusa’s voice and decided not to be offended for herself or Selene, which was hard because she was still confused and annoyed by Morpheus’ speed-of-light declaration of feelings.
She couldn’t blame others for being unaware of the connection between her and Selene, not just physically, but soul-deep. “I trust her with my life. Literally,” Cate added, feeling the truth of it in the moment. Everything either of them did required total trust in the other. It was a hard way to live at times, but they’d made their peace with it, mostly. “But, the sooner we get this done, the better. Besides,” she shot Medusa a grin, “us monsters need to stick together, don’t you think?”
Medusa snorted then laughed at herself. “Don’t take this as an insult or anything, but I find it interesting that you call yourself a monster. I see no snakes attached to your head, no wings and beak, no giant maw of teeth. So, why do you call yourself a monster if the world doesn’t see you as one?”
“Because it does,” Cate said with an exaggerated eye roll. “Don’t you know they call me the queen of the witches?” She flicked a hand in the air, sending spirals of pale green light bursts into the air around them. “They say I’m darkness and death incarnate. The old hag in the triumvirate. How much more of a monster could I get?” Cate winced at the vitriol in her own voice.
Medusa turned around slowly and raised a hand to point at her snakes. She arched a brow but didn’t say a word. Cate’s lips lifted in response to the challenge.
She threw up her hands and the forest around them lit with an intense greenish glow that emanated from her fingertips, her chest, her hair. It whipped around them, picking up speed and force, unlike the gentle spirals of a moment before. This was elemental power at play. Medusa’s eyes widened as her snakes were lifted and suspended in the air around her head. They hissed and undulated in the unnatural wind.
Then the ground beneath them began to tremble as Cate let her power spread down through her body and out through the soles of her feet into the earth and the roots of the trees that surrounded them. Tremors built, sending Medusa tumbling into a tree trunk. Medusa’s shouts were lost in the tumult but Cate understood the alarm she saw in the gorgon’s eyes. She cocked her head to the side, shot Medusa a grin, and lowered her hands to her sides.
The world around them stilled and quieted.
Medusa pushed up from the base of the tree and reached up to calm her agitated snakes. When she looked up and caught Cate’s gaze, there was reluctant admiration and amusement glittered in her eyes. “Fine,” she admitted with a chuckle, “you’re a monster.”
Vindicated, Cate grinned, feeling a hell of a lot better now than when they’d set out. There was a bounce in her step as she continued on the path, which, she noticed now, was less of a path than a thick forest of trees. Somehow, they’d moved deeper into the Steni forest without realizing it. Cate frowned and glanced up at the night sky.
“Something’s off,” she muttered under her breath, wary now of their surroundings. She was used to the dark but not these woods and Artemis could have any number of traps planned to stop intruders. Her skin prickled with nerves.
Medusa scanned the trees. “Where’s the path?” She turned and peered into the darkness.
“Gone.” Cate decided there was no point bemoaning their current predicament. They couldn’t go back so they had to go forward. It was just that simple. She reached for her magic and sent it out in front of them. The ground rippled and shifted, moving the thick bushes and trees enough to create a new path, one she hoped would lead to Artemis.
They walked in silence for a few minutes while Cate went over the plan. With Artemis, Selene, and herself, the triumvirate would be complete. Their combined power should amplify enough to disable the spell placed on Endymion… should. She sighed.
“Second thoughts?” Medusa said somberly.
Cate glanced over at her companion and wondered for a second how it must feel to be part of a quest that didn’t really concern you. Medusa and Poseidon had come on board based solely on a promise to help when called. Cate had used no binding spell to force Medusa to uphold her promise, she was doing that all on her own and Poseidon was with her out of love and commitment. A twinge of jealousy made Cate’s stomach ache a bit. There was something really special between the two of them, something almost destroyed by the pettiness of Athena.
They’d won their battle against a goddess and were helping her and Selene now to fight back i
n turn. Of course, they’d had to go up against the King of the gods. No small feat.
Cate shook her head. “No, just thinking about how this is all going to play out once we get Artemis on board.”
“You think she’ll agree to help?” The skepticism in Medusa’s voice was clear.
Cate took a deep breath and measured her words, wondering if Artemis was hiding out there in the darkness, listening to them. “I hope she does but I’m painfully aware that she has no incentive to leave this forest. My only hope is that she hates Zeus enough to eclipse her hatred of everyone else.” She shook her head. “It’s a long shot but it’s the only one we’ve got and I promised Selene I’d stay positive.”
“Hopefully she doesn’t resent Poseidon’s involvement,” Medusa said quietly. “There’s no bad blood between them that I know of but you never know.”
Cate nodded, understanding why Medusa was worried someone would dislike working with an Olympian. From the outside looking in, they seemed like a motley crew. But, she admitted to herself, there were some who were worse than others, and some who weren’t bad at all. As much as she disliked the whole family, she had to admit Poseidon was growing on her a little.
