by Tamara Gill
“Leaving?” he asked as she stared at him, her eyes a mysterious pool of green that he couldn’t read. That she was hot for him was obvious, so why stop? It made no sense.
“Yes. I think it’s best.”
She didn’t elaborate but casually finished her wine and then smiled at him. Lelantos frowned, while wondering what the hell she was playing at. One moment she was almost fucking him on the dance floor, and the next she was as cold as ice. Was she fickle? Or just being female?
A chill ran through his veins as he realized that she reminded him of his own kind. The immortal beings were erratic and tended to change their minds at any moment. He shifted on his seat, uncomfortable with where his thoughts were taking him.
“You remind me of someone...” And she did, but at this moment in time he couldn’t remember who.
Cat turned to him and shrugged. “Well, how diverting.”
“Will I see you again?” Lelantos nearly choked on his own words. What the fuck was he saying? He didn’t give a shit if he never saw her again. Did he? There were plenty of other women he could have, even if he would have to curb his sexual appetite just so they survived.
“Perhaps.” Again she leaned close to him and his body roared in protest that she was going to walk out of the nightclub and leave him in a state of pain. “Lenny.”
Lelantos watched her leave for the second time in two days and physically restrained himself from following her. He may be hard up and she was playing hard to get, but he wouldn’t beg and grovel at any woman’s feet. No matter how hot she was.
Cat walked as fast as she could out of the club and took a calming breath as she made it outside. Never had she experienced a dance like the one she’d just had with her Titan. Never had such a hard, masculine body, and deep blue eyes intoxicated her as much as his did.
Wet didn’t describe what she felt between her thighs at this very moment. But need. A need so great her body almost physically hurt. Cat turned a corner and thought of her hotel room, thankful when she landed upon the thick, plush carpet that it was empty. After seeing the Titan again, she needed time to think and deal with her bizarre reactions.
She flopped onto her bed and stared at the white ceiling. Lelantos was a Titan, she reminded herself. Her enemy. Not some guy she wanted to enjoy in every way possible. The fact that she had enjoyed their banter and their dance left her uneasy and she wasn’t sure of her plan now to play with him before she had to kill him. Seek the revenge he’d brought on himself by helping her sister to deceive their father.
And yet...Titan or not, he was compelling, fascinating under all that broodiness and inside the walls he’d obviously built around himself to survive on the mortal plane. The memory of their dance haunted her and her body yearned to be touched again. Cat shut her eyes and wondered where she should go to from here. They were on a first name basis now, although she wished he had given her his real name instead of Len. He obviously did not trust her yet.
He was so different from what she remembered of him on the battlefield. All those years ago he’d been hard, unforgiving, cruel even, to her kind. Perhaps the years of living among the humans had mellowed him. Her sister, Chloe, had certainly changed, had in fact chosen this life over the one she was born to live.
Cat sighed. Killing had never lain so heavily on her shoulders. Any enemy of her father deserved death and Lelantos was no exception. But the thought of extinguishing those evocative eyes was something Cat knew would haunt her for the rest of time.
CHAPTER
Four
Cat walked out of her bedroom just as her sister, Hebe, appeared before the settee. Her sister’s rumpled attire explaining more than words what she’d been up to for the past few hours. Cat raised her brow and headed over to the little kitchen the room sported and searched for food. Living in the mortal plane for only a few days had already made her long for the foods of home. She found some grapes and cheese in the hotel bar fridge and rustled up a platter for them both.
Hebe smiled and sat across from her on the breakfast bar. “Good morning.”
“It certainly looks like it is for you. Did you have fun last night?” Her sister’s infectious grin made her laugh. “Not that you have to answer that, as I can see that you did.”
“Human males are quite fun, I must admit. Especially the one I had last night. His size was quite...surprising.”
“I’m very happy for you,” Cat said, biting into the moist fruit and thinking of Lelantos, and the fun she would have before assassinating him. She frowned, not sure as to how she should go forward. Perhaps it would be best if she just killed him. No emotions involved. No guilt to harass her for the rest of her days.
“What’s the matter, Kitty Cat?”
She looked up at her sister and inwardly cringed. Usually she was very good at hiding her emotions. The gods were fickle, untrustworthy. To show emotion over a Titan would mean certain death. She may be the daughter of Zeus but even that wouldn’t protect her from his displeasure. Although, Hebe was trustworthy, Cat still needed to control her emotions. Emotions that had no place in this assignment.
“I like him.”
There she’d said it. The truth and the crux of her dilemma. Cat, a hunter and guardian of the divine, liked a bloody Titan. Could her life be any more difficult?
“Who do you like? I know you’re down here for Father but I thought––”
Cat watched as a myriad of emotions passed over her sister’s face. Confusion, realization and then shock.
“Not the Titan?”
Cat stood and started to pace the room. She ran a hand through her hair and realized it was full of knots and spiking at improbable angles thanks to a restless sleep and the absence of her maids. “Yes the Titan. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. At first I thought him pathetic and weak. But he’s so changed, almost human really – hardly a threat to Father anymore. And I know he helped Chloe, but really, was it so bad that she wanted to live with her Scottish Highlander?”
“Father thinks so,” Hebe said.
“I know.” Cat sighed. “Perhaps this will teach me to not play with my prey before I extinguish its life.”
“I don’t know how you ended up working for Father as one of his hunters and I don’t want to know how you go about your business, but is there any way in which you may leave the Titan alone? Just tell Zeus you killed him or couldn’t find him?”
“You would defy me daughter?”
Hebe gasped and Cat swirled around to see Zeus standing behind them, his face as thunderous as the clouds outside. Cat pulled Hebe behind her and tried to calm her erratic heart. “You know Father, Hebe has always tried to see the best in people, and she was merely trying to limit the carnage my position in the court affords me.”
Zeus didn’t take his thunderous gaze from her sister and alarm over what his actions may be sent her blood to pound. Father or not, she wouldn’t let him kill her favorite sibling. He would have to get through her first. “Should you fail me Caitlin, Hebe will join you in Tartarus and I’ll leave you both there to rot. Do you understand?” Zeus boomed making her startle as his gaze slid back to her.
“Yes, Father.” Cat turned to Hebe and took her hands. “You best leave. Now, before I’m forced to show where my true loyalty lies. Do you understand?”
Her sister heeded her warning and disappeared. Cat turned back to Zeus. “I have never failed you before and I will not fail you now.” She walked over to the settee and sat. “How did you find me?”
Zeus looked about the room with a dismissive air, his hatred for all things human obvious. “I’ve been getting reports and I fear that perhaps you’re not the right hunter for this job.”
“Since when do I need to be watched? And who, in your opinion, is the right hunter? No doubt one of your minions who follow you like little sheep all bowing to do as you bid them.”
“And so they should, daughter. Do not forget to whom you speak. With one flick of my wrist you are nothing but dust. Do not
defy me.”
Cat felt the rumbling of the building beneath her feet and the storm that had suddenly whipped up outside the hotel windows. She looked out and watched the grey clouds swirl and pour rain down on an unsuspecting city. “Apologies Father.” Cat swallowed her pride lest she end up just as he threatened. Dead. Yet her father’s inability to forgive rankled. Why could he never let go of perceived wrongs. Would in fact, wait centuries for revenge.
“Hermes has been watching you and reported to me your weakness toward the Titan. It is a trait I had yet to see in you. Never before have you been so indecisive, nor troubled by the task I have set. I will not stand for it, Caitlin.”
“Meaning?” Cat watched as Zeus’s lips lifted up in what he probably thought resembled a smile, yet it more closely resembled a snarl.
“Should you fail, Hermes will take your place. That is all.”
Cat nodded, gaining her father’s meaning. So Hermes had been and would continue to follow her. Watch and wait for her to make a mistake. “I will not fail. It is not in my blood to do so.”
This time Zeus did smile. “Now that is the daughter I know.”
Within an instant he was gone and the weight of his decree settled on her like a rock. She would have to kill Lelantos and soon. Titan or not, he did not deserve the death Hermes would mete out to him. At least by her sword, a weapon capable of killing a deity, his death would be instant and painless.
His blue eyes flashed before her and she pushed the image aside. She would do it in combat. Take him to Thessaly, the long ago location for the War of the Immortals and fight him to the death. Because there was no doubt in Cat’s mind the that Titan wouldn’t go down without a fight.
A bloody good one.
CHAPTER
Five
Lelantos sat at his usual seat and waited. He was expecting the woman who haunted his dreams to walk through the door and ask to buy him a beer. This time should she return he wouldn’t turn her down. In fact, he wouldn’t turn down anything she may offer.
Anything...
His body hummed just to be near her. To smell her intoxicating scent of jasmine and that womanly scent that only Caitlin had. The door to the bar swung open and instinctively he looked over. When a couple walked through the door, he chastised himself at the surge of disappointment. Damn fool.
“Are you waiting for me?”
Her voice washed over him like a soothing balm. Lelantos slowly turned and tried to hide the grin that wanted to break free on his lips. When he finally looked at her, he couldn’t help but want to flick the little straps of her tiny black dress from her shoulders and kiss her perfect, white skin. By Hades, she was beautiful. Sensual. And damn, he wanted her.
“What would you say if I said yes?” He watched as her eyes widened at his question, and he realized he’d never seen such a dark emerald in his entire existence. And he’d been around a very long time. She sat and he beckoned the bartender to take her order.
“That you’re very sweet.”
Lelantos raised his brow. Sweet? He’d never been termed sweet before. It was the last characteristic he would ever attribute to himself. “Come to dinner with me. This bar has a fantastic restaurant.”
Again her eyes gave away her surprise. Lelantos frowned and wondered why such a benign request would be so shocking. She was a beautiful, young woman and surely must be used to men asking her out.
“I can’t. I’m sorry.” She took a sip of her wine and it took all of Lelantos’ strength to stop himself from licking off the little bit of red liquid sitting upon her lip.
“I won’t bite, Cat,” he said, turning her stool so she had to make eye contact with him. She stared at him a moment and again, he had a feeling he’d seen her before and that for some unknown reason, his question made her sad.
“I might.”
He laughed. “I feel we got off on the wrong foot when we first met. I want to apologize for my rudeness.”
“I don’t know, Len, I think our current relationship is just fine. I’m not interested in developing a relationship with anyone, even you. I will let you take me out for dinner, but that is where our friendship will start and end I’m afraid.”
“Right. Well,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t hold back on what you’re thinking.”
“I won’t,” she said, throwing him a smile for the first time that was more predatory than welcoming.
Lelantos stood and pulled her to stand. His breath notched and held when someone knocked her into him. The little black dress was no impediment to his feeling her body. All the erotic thoughts of what he wanted to do to her bombarded his mind and he hardened.
Damn. Never had he lost such control with a woman before. The lack of women in his life was showing. He made a mental note to try and fuck more often, even if more tamely than what was in his nature to do so. He escorted her toward the restaurant and caught the eye of a guy standing beside a wall watching them. Unease crept up his spine and for the first time in a thousand years, he wondered if Zeus had finally found him.
Watched him...
They sat at a table covered with a crisp white linen tablecloth. The silver shone and the crystal glassware sparkled under the mood lighting of the restaurant. Lelantos sat across from Cat and inwardly laughed at his current circumstances. He was a being of divine birth and here he was having dinner in New York with a human woman whose company he enjoyed and longed for. It was a pleasure he had not expected to experience.
“You’re very beautiful.” The words were out of his mouth before he thought to stop them.
“I have other qualities that may make you think differently.”
“Such as?” he asked, liking the fact she’d finally started to talk. From the first moment he’d met her, Cat wasn’t short of words, and yet tonight she seemed withdrawn, edgy even.
“I have a temper.” She handed the menu to him and shrugged. “I don’t like ultimatums nor do I like being told what to do, even though I always do my duty. I don’t like to lose and I play hard. I’m selfish and fickle and I think that’s all I will say. Anything else, and I doubt I’d see you again.”
“You think I’d just disappear?” She choked on her drink.
Lelantos frowned at her reaction. But before she responded, the awareness of being watched prickled his senses again, making his skin crawl. He needed to stay alert without concerning the woman.
“Perhaps,” she continued, seemingly unaware of his tension. When she met his gaze, he forgot everyone else in the room and should she say the word, he’d do anything she wanted him to. To her. To others. Never had a woman enthralled him as much as she did. Why, he couldn’t fathom. But there was something...
“If you had any sense you’d disappear from me, Len. Before it’s too late,” she said, her voice resigned.
“I don’t want to.” The tension between them fired his blood. Lelantos swallowed and fought his base desires. His cock hardened and his blood thundered toward his heart, making his chest hurt. That she was warning him away made her even more irresistible. And the fact he had no idea why made it more so.
“So be it. I’ll have the salad,” she said.
Cat wondered if her hints for him to leave, to get as far away from her as he could, would trigger the Titan inside him to heed her words. And yet, nothing so far had made him wonder about her. If her instincts were correct, everything she was saying to him was only making him more intrigued with her.
He wanted her. She could feel that. His dark hooded eyes burned with unsated lust. Lelantos in his human form would be hot in bed. She licked her lips and ran her gaze over his form. His shoulders were wide, his chest taut beneath his cotton shirt. And sitting across the table from him, she could smell his aftershave. He made her mouth water.
Yep, Lelantos would be a great fuck.
They ordered their meal. With what she had to do after they ate, she wasn’t in the mood for meat, and the salad she ordered would sit lighter in her stomach. He be
ckoned for more wine and Cat took the opportunity to check as to where her brother, Hermes was standing. She noted he sat at the bar, his gaze not wavering from them. She looked away, not wanting the reminder that by tomorrow she’d have removed this Titan from the world forever.
Her stomach turned and she took a large fortifying sip of her drink.
“Everything all right, Cat?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” she asked, waving his concern away. Her body buzzed at the prospect of the forthcoming battle. Soon, he would know who and what she was and never had she felt such unease over a decree from Zeus. The human saying of make love not war, haunted her thoughts. Why did Lelantos have to be so nice? Why couldn’t the bastard Titan be as cruel and vindictive as the gods of Olympus? It would certainly make her life a lot easier.
Their meals came and she picked at the rabbit food that was placed before her. Her stomach knotted with nerves before she took a calming breath. This was ridiculous. Lelantos was her enemy. He had killed her kind. He had even fought against her during the War of the Gods. Everyone must pay for their sins sooner or later. Unfortunately, soon Lelantos would pay for his.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said.
He looked up from his meal and something in her chest hurt. He seemed so innocent. Hopeful even. And she was going to kill him.
“If you like.”
She nodded and stood, waited for him to join her after paying the bill, then headed toward the door. Cat glanced over her shoulder and caught Hermes drinking the last of his brandy and standing to follow them. The cool night air sent goosebumps over her skin and she willed herself to be strong. She could do this. He was only a Titan. Nothing special.
He turned her about just as they stepped across the threshold of the restaurant. Her heart stilled in her chest as he leaned in, taking her breath in a searing kiss. He tasted of beer and controlled desire. His lips demanding, yet soft beckoned her to open up to him. To let him in. Cat kissed him back, the force of her desire overriding her destiny as this man’s killer. Heat pooled at her core and the slight drizzle in the chill New York air did little to cool her down. His tongue fought with hers and she moaned, standing on tiptoe to deepen the kiss. From afar she heard the catcalls of passersby’s, whistles and laughter over their heated embrace and she chuckled.
