by Abigail Owen
But Leia’s long-time friend, Delilah, had known Leia’s unique qualifications to resist such a temptation. As a nymph, Leia had her own brand of resistance—her sexuality trumped his when she wished. She’d successfully fended off countless gods and demigods. In the gods’ heyday—now referred to as Classical Antiquity, which tickled her sense of humor since it made her an antique—the gods had relentlessly pursued her and her sisters and cousins. Gods were randy beings. She could ignore the vibes Castor put out with ease, could even overwhelm him with her own if she wanted. In addition, Delilah knew Leia’s history with gods. She’d picked Leia up, dusted her off, and given her a life.
Leia owed her.
Consequently, Leia had been determined to resist Castor when she’d first come to work for him and had steeled herself against his raw sexuality. What she hadn’t counted on was falling for the man he was. Over the course of the last year, she’d witnessed his drive, his caring for his employees, his intelligence. What’s more, for a demigod, he didn’t parade the gifts he’d been given—incredible strength and speed among them. Most demigods couldn’t wait to show off. Castor had enough self-confidence that he didn’t bother. Didn’t need to. He also challenged her in ways that had her looking forward to work every day. And she hadn’t looked forward to anything in a long time.
Given her feelings for him, a werewolf mating ceremony was the last place they should be together. If she didn’t lose her job today, she certainly would when she succumbed to those pheromones and made a total fool of herself over Castor.
She turned her head to face him, taking in his intense blue eyes trained on her in a way that made her want to squirm. His hand still covered hers, the heat of his skin like a brand.
She tipped her chin. “Yes. I would risk my job over this.”
His strangely focused expression unsettled her. A heat lit his gaze in a way she’d never seen before, only it couldn’t be real. She gave herself a mental slap. Snap out of it woman. Wishful thinking gets you nowhere.
He squeezed her hand. “I don’t want to lose you.”
She ignored the warmth his statement caused in her chest. He’s talking about your work, dummy.
“But I need you for this.”
If she leaned the tiniest bit forward, she could kiss him. Leia swallowed down the crazy urge. “Why?”
He shrugged. “I’m attending for business and to support a good friend on an important day in his life. However, as you’ve pointed out, things can get a little…interesting…at a werewolf mating. I don’t need the complication of sex muddling the purpose of the visit, and you have a unique resistance to me.”
She blinked. “You knew about that?”
He grinned, his dimples coming out to play. “Who do you think put Delilah on the task of finding me an assistant who could resist my…charms?”
“Oh.” That explained a lot.
“And she did an amazing job. You’ve been refreshingly…err…impervious, as well as an excellent EA.”
“Thank you. I think.”
He nodded. “I can’t go to this alone and risk doing something I’d regret. I’m asking you to accompany and protect me from all those raging pheromones. Please.”
Damn. Damn. Double damn. He’d asked nicely and given her a reason that meant helping him out in a big way. Her Achilles’ heel. Ironically, she’d known the real Achilles and had mourned his death. The demigod had been a cousin of sorts, his mother Thetis being a sea nymph.
She took a long breath. Was there any scenario here that didn’t end in her making a total ass of herself? Probably not. “Okay.”
To give him credit, he didn’t celebrate his victory. “Okay?”
“Yes. I’ll go make our arrangements now.”
Only he didn’t move away or take his hand from hers. They gazed at each other, neither willing to break the strangely intimate connection. The spicy scent of him filled her yet again. She’d given him that aftershave for his birthday. Now she was both regretting and savoring the gift.
Finally, Leia cleared her throat. “May I?” She indicated the door with a jerk of her head.
Slowly and with a small smile gracing his lips, Castor released her from the spell as he stepped back.
With more haste than elegance, she yanked the door open and walked to her desk.
“You’re an angel,” he called after her.
“Or a sucker,” she muttered.
“I heard that.”
She rolled her eyes and refused to take it back.
CHAPTER 3
Castor shifted, trying to get comfortable in his seat on the private plane Leia had arranged. One he’d designed, of course. This jet sat ten, had a crew of two, and had a modern interior—all black leather, chrome, and that new jet smell.
The constant clack of Leia’s fingers on her keyboard sounded ahead of him to the right. She never sat with him on flights unless they had work to finish. The first time they’d traveled together, he’d asked.
“Do we have work to get done?” she had asked.
“No.”
“Then no thanks.” She had given him a half-smile that he guessed was meant to soften the blunt words, but didn’t really help. Then she had turned and plopped into a seat toward the front.
He took his own seat with a lingering sensation of bewilderment and amusement. Women usually threw themselves at him, though, granted, he’d asked Delilah for an EA who wouldn’t. He just hadn’t expected Lyleia to be so…stand-offish about it.
At the time he’d decided he could deal with attitude and someone clearly uninterested in impressing him. Work was the priority, and so long as she performed at the level he expected, that’s all he needed. But lately…
He read the same paragraph for the fifth time in a row and gave up, closing his own laptop. The plane dropped slightly, and he glanced outside to see mountains not far below. They’d be landing before long.
Leia’s typing hadn’t slowed. Did the woman ever ease up? She’d shown up at five in the morning for their early flight dressed in her usual neutral—black today—business attire of skirt and blouse with matching jacket. Not a hair out of place, makeup at a minimum. None of it could hide her intrinsic beauty. Not that he could talk, as he was equally formal in a grey, custom-made silk suit, hand-stitched and fitted to perfection. Appearance made a difference to his success.
A quick glance showed him her arm and the edge of Leia’s face, the rest of her blocked by the black leather back of her seat. He studied her quietly—the curve of her cheek, her long dark lashes, her honey blond hair tucked behind her ear. A wicked urge to nibble at the lobe tugged at him.
He wondered, not for the first time, if taking her along on this trip was going to end up biting him in the butt. He’d been fighting a growing sense of attraction to Leia for several months. However, his EA had Not Interested—or, more accurately, he suspected, The Gods Suck—tattooed across her forehead. Consequently, he’d kept his distance, trying to fill the gap by dating other women. But none talked back to him like Leia. Or got his blood pumping like Leia. Each woman he dated had never made it past the kissing stage before he ended it. After a year, his body was not pleased. He took a sip of his coffee—black, strong, bitter...and cold. He made a face. His brain was definitely not engaged today.
Suddenly, she swung around. She blinked to find him already watching her. Castor raised his eyebrows in question.
“We’re coming to the end of the three-month period of support for the Aaron family.”
He cleared his throat. “How is Tyler progressing?” Jordan Aaron was one of his employees, and his son had cancer.
Leia’s eyes lit up. “He’s in full remission.”
“Excellent. Do they need another three months, or should we consider a different need?”
Castor had been covering all the hospital bills for the past six months. Leia had stumbled across his one-man charity for the employees of Dioskouri Enterprises a few months after starting work for him and had asked to
help organize it. They selected a different family every three months based on needs. But Leia, and the families involved, were sworn to secrecy.
“I think, with the help you’ve provided, they are through the worst. Fiona Olline’s mother is about to need hospice. I feel there’s a greater need there.”
Castor waved a hand. “I trust your opinion.”
She nodded and turned back to her computer, only to whip back around. “I think you’re a secret softy.”
He raised a single eyebrow and said nothing. She shook her head at him before returning to her work.
Only recently had he started to think Leia might like him a tiny bit, rather than despise him, which was how she’d started out. Lately, he’d had a difficult time concentrating on much else when she was around, which was all the time. That kind of reaction hadn’t happened to him in two thousand years.
Something had to give. So he’d invited her this weekend as an act of desperation.
He knew, not firsthand but through many accounts and stories, how werewolf matings could be. He hadn’t been joking when he’d asked for her help. She was his buffer at this thing, but this was also an experiment to see if this spark existed for them both. This mating would either be a catalyst or tell him to move on. Either way, he’d be out of limbo.
However, Leia’s reaction to the type of event had been concerning. She’d even called his bluff about putting her job at risk, which had shocked him. Leia gave every appearance of loving her work. Happy, satisfied, fulfilled employees were a source of pride for him as a successful businessman. Her willingness to walk away over such a minor thing had dented his pride. He didn’t like it.
“Are you challenged?” he asked, his thoughts out of his mouth before he vetted the words first.
Her fingers paused in their nonstop motion, and she turned in her chair to frown questioningly at him. “Sorry?”
“At work. Are you feeling challenged? Happy?” What was wrong with him, blurting it out like that? Usually he was more…subtle.
She blinked at him owlishly, which made him want to shift in his seat like a naughty school boy.
“Yes.” She drew out the word, obviously not knowing where he was going with the question.
“Good.”
She continued to stare at him with those china blue eyes that seemed to see too much of his soul. “Is there something wrong you’re not telling me?”
He cocked his head. “Why?”
“Because you’ve never asked me a question like that.” She shrugged. “I know the business is doing great, but maybe there’s a problem with your family? Pollux is okay?”
And there it was again. A twinge of irrational annoyance—he refused to dub it jealously—at the idea she might be interested in another man. He’d experienced it twice yesterday. Once with Mike, who’d obviously been hitting on her. The other when he’d realized she’d have to cancel a date this weekend, generating a frustrating sense of satisfaction. Now he was suspicious of his own twin brother. He was losing his mind.
Get a grip.
He ran a hand over the smooth chrome of his arm rest. “Pollux is fine. Answer the question.”
She stared at him blankly, which he returned with a poker face the pros would envy.
“I love my job.”
He couldn’t mistake the sincerity in her voice. “And you’ll let me know if you need more or aren’t happy in any way?”
She lifted a single eyebrow. “I’m not exactly shy about speaking up.”
He chuckled. “That’s true.”
She grinned and turned back to her work, effectively dismissing him. He watched her for a bit, battling with the strangest urge to brush her hair away from her neck. Would she lean in to his touch or jerk away?
Needing distraction before he embarrassed himself, he reopened his own laptop and tried to read some new contracts.
The nice thing about flying private was how quickly you got out of the airport. Rather than hire a driver, Leia had a rental car waiting for them at the gate. Their luggage was loaded, and they were away within minutes.
At first they concentrated on getting out of Denver and heading up into the mountains. Eventually they hit a long stretch.
“So…” Leia broke the silence. “Tell me more about this ceremony.”
He’d already filled her in on the business deal, a large fleet of private aircraft and vehicles for the wolf pack.
“Marrok Banes has been a friend for many years.”
“He’s the groom?”
He nodded. “Yes, and the alpha for his pack.”
“You said Banes/Canis. Weren’t their families in a bit of a feud the last hundred years or so?”
He took his gaze off the road for a brief second to send her a surprised glance.
“What? Even nymphs without a spring to their name have a few friends left.”
Not many, her tone implied, but he should’ve figured she’d know something. Nymphs were bound to nature, as were werewolves, though in different ways.
“You’re correct about their families. The Hatfields and McCoys have nothing on the Banes and Canises, but Marrok was determined to end the feud.”
“Let me guess, he’s marrying the Canis alpha’s daughter?”
“No. The alpha herself.”
“Oh!”
Female alphas were rare in the physically-dominant werewolf world where alphas fought to the death for their right to lead.
“Does he love her?” was her next question.
“No idea. Knowing Marrok, love didn’t enter into the plan.”
“I see.” She glanced away, out the passenger- side window.
He cocked his head at the disdain he detected in her. “Are you a closet romantic, Ms. Naiad?”
She didn’t move an inch. “Not at all.”
“I can tell when you’re lying, Leia.”
She turned her skeptical gaze back his way. “Oh, really?”
“Yes. You won’t look at me.”
“I was looking at the scenery.” She waved a hand at the mountains. They’d left the interstate and were following Highway 36 along the St. Vrain river.
“Your side is solid rock. The scenery is out my side.”
From the corner of his eye, he caught her small movement as she raised her chin.
“I was keeping an eye out for bighorn sheep.”
“Sheep.” He lifted a skeptical eyebrow.
“Yes. According to my research, they’re more common down Big Thompson Canyon, north of here, but have been seen in this area as well. I’ve never seen one.”
He had to give it to his EA…she could bluff with the best of them, but he still wasn’t buying it.
“Being a romantic isn’t a bad thing you know.”
“You’re an expert on romantics?”
He chuckled at the disbelief in her voice. “I was one. A long time ago.”
She turned in her seat to face him more fully “You?”
“Yes, me. I was married, you know.”
“Wasn’t that about two-thousand years ago?”
“Yes, but I loved her deeply. After she died, I never expected to love like that again, and I haven’t.” Now why had he confessed that? He’d never talked about Hilaeira. Maybe the similarity between his wife and his feelings for Leia now, though the two women had nothing in common, had him thinking more of that time.
Leia was quiet for a long stretch of road. “Do you miss her?” she asked, her tone noticeably more gentle.
“Every day.” He could have given a trite answer, but he didn’t want to.
“Are you lonely, Castor?”
“I’ve managed to keep occupied.” Now it was his turn to use a dry tone. He didn’t want her pity.
“That’s a fact.”
He chuckled.
CHAPTER 4
The rest of the drive didn’t take too long.
“There’s a hotel worth staying at. Your friend has good taste in wedding venues.” Leia made the comment as Cast
or drove them through the town to the Stanley. It sat up above a shopping center, high enough that you could see all of the building. The front of the hotel faced toward the town of Estes Park. Mountains rose up around them like a cathedral of granite. The hotel itself was stunning—Victorian in style, stark white with red tile roofs.
Rather than valet, they parked and walked their suitcases in.
“I’ll take that.” Castor held out his hand for Leia’s luggage.
“No, you won’t.” She pulled out the handle and started rolling it to the building.
Cas shook his head at her independent streak but didn’t argue and followed in silence. They made their way up a set of stairs to a large porch covered with white wicker chairs to enjoy the view. Several double doors leading into the reception area were thrown wide, letting in the warm May breeze, carrying with it the crisp scent of the pine trees.
Once inside, the receptionist at the hotel had a surprise for them both.
“Mr. Banes did what?” Leia squeaked beside Castor.
The woman’s smile wavered. “He placed you in the suite beside theirs.”
“A single room?” Leia asked for the clarification.
“It’s a suite, but yes.”
She turned to Castor. “You take the suite. It’s obviously meant for the guest of honor.” No surprise a demigod at the ceremony would have garnered attention. “I’ll get another room.”
“We don’t have any more rooms available.” The receptionist gave them an apologetic grimace. “And I doubt you’ll find anything anywhere else. There’s a horror film festival going on this week.”
Leia’s knuckles turned white as she crushed the nice brochure she’d plucked from a holder on the desk when they’d been waiting in line.
Caster covered her hand with his. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t—” She bit down on the words when she turned and recognized the warning he was trying to silently communicate with his eyes.