by Abigail Owen
Suddenly, Cas wished she meant it. That she did think him wonderful. That she felt lucky because she was his.
He gave himself a mental shake. “And she’s an amazing assistant. I expected nothing less when I went to Legendary Consultants to find her.”
“You know Delilah?” Tala asked.
He nodded. “She found Leia for me.”
“She’s fantastic.”
“She must be a fantastic pimp,” Kaios said with a sneer.
Castor leveled a hard glare on the wolf. “You may be a guest of honor, but watch it.”
“Or what, demigod?” the were spat.
“Cas. He’s not worth it,” Leia whispered, giving the sleeve of his tux a tug.
The waiter appeared and set down a steak in front of the wolf. Cas flicked a hand and lightning shot from his fingertip, zagging across the table and hitting the wolf’s plate. The tang of burnt ozone mixed with the smoky scent of charred meat. What had been a rare piece of meat was now black and crispy.
Leia turned her head into Cas’s shoulder, trying to hide her laugh in the silence that followed his small demonstration of power.
Usually he let people guess his parentage, letting what they didn’t know worry them. Even more rarely did he whip out his control of lightning in a blatant display, but Kaios was too full of his own importance. The guy needed knocking down a peg. He might have Poseidon’s ear, but Castor’s father was Zeus, and the king of the gods trumped his oceanic sibling. Kaios had realized the implications if his glare was anything to go by.
Cas picked up his knife and fork, cut a small piece from his own steak, which was still a lovely pink, and offered the morsel to Leia. She shook her head at his antics, the amusement dancing in her eyes making his actions worth it. She opened those lush lips over the bite. She gave a delicate groan of delight that went straight to his groin.
“Delicious,” she murmured.
Unable to resist any longer, he leaned forward to kiss her lips. “Delicious is right.”
An adorable blush stole up her cheeks. He wanted to take her back to their bedroom and find out if her entire body blushed the same way.
“And I thought we were throwing off pheromones tonight. I think you two are giving us a run for our money.”
They both laughed at Marrok’s attempt to break the tension, though Cas could tell Leia’s giggle was forced. Thankfully, Kaios kept his big mouth shut while they enjoyed their meal.
Dinner over, Tala and Marrok stood and moved to the center of the room. Werewolves, like wolves in the wild, were an alpha-based society where that position was one earned, often with violence. A tradition at alpha mating ceremonies was for the alpha, usually the male, to put on a display of his skills.
Cas knew his role as best man. He gave Leia’s hand a squeeze and left the table to retrieve Marrok’s weapon of choice for his display. As maid of honor, Shyla also got up to get Tala’s for her.
Tala and Marrok laughed when they discovered they’d each chosen throwing knives. Duties done, Cas returned to his seat. The alpha pair put on an impressive showing, culminating in both throwing a knife at the other as they stood still against the wall.
“Wow,” Leia whispered when it was over. “They’re very evenly matched. Good thing they mated rather than battled for the right to be alpha.”
Castor agreed.
Following their display, the bride and groom shared their first dance, after which the floor was open to everyone.
Cas pushed his chair back, stood and held out a hand to his date. “Dance with me?”
She stayed where she was and pursed her lips. “Maybe that’s not a good idea.”
“What? Don’t dance?”
“And if I said I didn’t?”
“I’d say you can put your feet on top of mine.”
She shook her head, biting down on her smile.
“Come on,” he urged.
“I’ll pass.”
He leaned down and placed his lips close to her ear. “I want to dance with you.”
Still she hesitated.
“Please.” She’d reduced him to begging.
When he’d about decided to give up and sit back down, she placed her hand in his and stood.
“Just remember whose idea this was.”
Not hers. He got the message.
He laughed and led her out onto the floor. The DJ was still playing slower songs as people wrapped up eating. He pulled her into his arms, and his hand at her waist encountered bare skin, warm and silky under his fingertips.
“Every man in this room hasn’t been able to take his eyes off you tonight in this dress.”
She chuckled softly. “The same way every woman hasn’t been able to stop stripping that elegant tux off your body. We’re all driven by the same urges tonight, and they don’t come from us. They come from them.” She tipped her head at Tala and Marrok, currently circling the room together greeting guests.
He was tempted to challenge that idea, knowing this thing between them had started before coming to Colorado. At least for him. Knowing Leia, she’d pull away if he did, and he wanted her close.
She stepped on his foot.
“Ouch.”
“Sorry.”
“Was that in retaliation for saying you’re beautiful?”
Another clash of feet, only this time she managed to plant the spiked heel of her stilettos on his instep. “Sorry,” she muttered again. “I did warn you.”
She pulled a disgruntled face. He chuckled at how adorable her consternation was, only to receive a glare. He sobered. “Yes, you did.”
Despite his clamoring body, he kept the rest of their dance PG, managing to get stepped on only a couple more times, and escorted her off the floor when the song ended, feet sore and body still burning.
They spent the rest of the evening together, except when Marrok needed Castor for various best man duties. At those times, Cas made sure he left Leia with Tala’s sister or one of Marrok’s many cousins, the female ones at least, determined to never leave her vulnerable to Kaios.
Several hours later, even though the party showed no signs of winding down, Leia tugged on his sleeve. “I’m dead on my feet.”
He’d hoped the connection that had been forged between them would lead to greater intimacy in their room, but she did appear to be drooping and pale. Had using her powers in such force today wiped her out? He swallowed back his disappointment. “You go ahead. I won’t be too much longer.”
He watched as she threaded through the crowds to wish Marrok and Tala goodnight before she disappeared out the side door.
“She’s quite a woman.”
Castor glanced over to find Kaios standing beside him. Rather than bother to answer, he went to move away.
“Did she tell you about how we met?”
Cas ignored the question. “If you value your life, you’ll stay the hell away from me.”
“It was a ceremony similar to this one. The effect of a werewolf mating can be amazingly heady. Don’t you agree?” The were’s implication was blatant.
CHAPTER 10
“Leia?”
Slowly, she blinked awake to discover Castor perched on the edge of the bed calling her name.
She glanced at the clock. Two a.m. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up to face him, dragging the heavy covers up to cover her black silk nightgown. Sexy lingerie was one of her secret indulgences. She did her best to ignore her instant awareness at his nearness. “Cas? Is something wrong?”
At some point during the evening, he’d discarded his tux jacket and tie and rolled back his sleeves. Yummy. He blew out a breath and ran his hand through his mussed hair. She frowned at the outward sign that her usually cool-headed demigod wasn’t at all calm. “I need to ask you a question.”
“Okay.”
“Did you ever sleep with Kaios?”
She narrowed her eyes. Where was this coming from? “No. I’d rather kiss a hell hound.”
“Even when you met him?”<
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Ah. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “Told you about that, did he? What an ass.”
“He implied.”
“When I rejected him, we were at a werewolf mating ceremony. Apparently the first time a woman’s said no to that man. He probably told you because he wants to ruin the relationship he thinks we have.”
His shoulders dropped slightly at her response. “I see.”
She cocked her head, searching his face. “You believe me?”
He grinned, and the sight of his dimples shot straight to her center. “Any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Especially over that megalomaniac.”
She chuckled and his gaze dropped to her mouth and lingered there. An ache of need glowed low in her belly.
He reached for her hand. “You thought I’d be just like him when you first came to work for me? Didn’t you?”
“Yes.” He drew lazy circles on the inside of her wrist with his thumb—a soft caress that befuddled her mind.
“Do you still think that?”
“No.”
“When I first told you about the wedding, was the werewolf thing your only reason for refusing?”
“No.”
“What else?”
The heat in his gaze scorched her skin, or maybe her visceral response to this man was the culprit. Either way, the truth was dragged from her lips. “This.”
He tipped his head in question, clearly wanting clarification. Time to take a risk. She hadn’t used her sexual radar in centuries. She hoped to Zeus the skill wasn’t rusty, that she was reading his signals right.
Never taking her gaze from his, she slid out from under the covers and climbed into his lap, straddling him. No mistaking the evidence of his desire. With excruciating slowness, she lowered her lips to hover above his, not quite touching. “This.”
She didn’t have to wait long. With a low groan he covered her lips with his, his tongue sliding along hers. He tasted of champagne and something delicious that was simply Cas. He tangled his hands in order to angle her mouth better. Leia was lost to his kiss, his touch, her body taking over from her mind as she surrendered to the sensations that had been building since the first moment they’d met. This thing between them went way beyond the desire brought on by a werewolf mating. This weekend had only exposed what they’d both tried to ignore.
She whimpered and rocked against him. Not enough skin. With frantic fingers she reached for the buttons of his shirt, but he placed a hand over hers, stilling her actions.
“Are you sure?”
She gave the question the consideration it deserved. “Yes.” With her free hand, she smoothed the fine material of his tux shirt over the toned muscles of his chest, savoring the heat of his skin. He shuddered at the touch. “I may have to stop working for you, but we’ll figure that out later. For now…”
She raised her gaze to his to see an answering need reflected back at her.
“I’ll take for now, but promise me you won’t make any decisions about later without discussing it first.”
“I promise.”
He released her hand and she undid the buttons on his shirt. Not in a rush like earlier, but one at a time, teasing him with light brushes of her fingertips with each inch of exposed skin. His breath quickened with every touch. Finally, she peeled the shirt off him. With a grin she leaned forward and gave him a playful nip on his peck, at the same time releasing a wave of pleasure through them both, a perk of being a nymph.
In an instant, urgency took over and together they caught fire. Holding her in his arms, he stood, then lowered her feet to the floor.
He gazed down at her body, encased in the tiny black negligee. “Damn, honey. You’re killing me.”
She giggled even as she delivered a smile worthy of all nymphs. The rest of their clothes were divested in a rush, with heated kisses between every move.
Leia squealed as he spun them around and tumbled her back to the bed. He followed her down and she wrapped her legs around his back. Hovering above her like this, his hot skin a brand against her own, claiming her, felt so right.
With incredible gentleness, he smoothed her hair back from her face. “I’ve been waiting for this so long, I don’t want to rush.”
Her eyes widened. “So long?”
He nodded. “Since that time we worked together on the Huntington contract late into the night. You were helpful, smart and challenging.”
She raised her eyebrows. “So you lust after my brains and sarcasm?”
He grinned. “Yes. Plus, you touched me.”
She smoothed her fingers over the dark stubble on his jaw. “I’ve touched you before.”
He leaned into her caress. “Yes, but that was the first time. And it was electric.”
She remembered. “I thought it was just me.”
He shook his head. Then he lowered himself and took one rosy peak of her breast into his mouth. Warmth and heat and the rasp of his tongue assaulted her senses. She groaned and tangled her hands in his thick hair, holding him to her. He groaned as another wave of her power pulsed through them. The more she let go, the less she could control it.
After giving attention to each breast, he proceeded to explore her body in a leisurely drive-her-to-the-edge kind of way. No part of her went untouched. She adored how every caress was like he worshiped her body. Finally, when she was on the point of begging, he made his way back up to her lips. He captured her in a drugging kiss as he ran a hand up the inside of her thigh where he slipped a single finger inside her.
He groaned low and pulled back to grin down at her. “So ready for me.”
“Mmhmmm,” she agreed, distracted by what he was doing with that hand now.
He rolled on a condom and positioned himself at her entrance. “So damn sexy.”
“You’re not the only one who’s been thinking about this.” They both gasped as he eased inside her, pleasure throbbing, escalating.
“How long?”
She tossed her head back as he started to move, rocking her hips into his, matching his rhythm.
“How long, Leia?” He stopped moving.
She opened her eyes to find him hovering above her, an intensity in his gaze she’d never seen before, even as passion tightened his features. “Too bloody long.”
He grinned, and she sighed as he started to move again. Slowly the pleasure built inside her, then not so slowly. Cas thrust inside her with strokes meant to drive both their pleasure higher, entwined with her own pleasure-inducing abilities, until, together, they toppled over the edge into another world, one filled with exquisite sensation. He didn’t stop his thrusts until both of them were satiated, drained.
Leia relished the weight of his body on her as they lay locked in replete contentment. She refused to think about the later. The consequences and next steps. Not yet. She still wanted now too much, and worrying about later tended to ruin now.
Cas buried his face in her neck, then hummed in appreciation. “You smell like rain, and mountain springs, and me.”
She opened her eyes to find him watching her with a lazy, satisfied smile playing across his lips. “Gods you are incredible woman. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
The shadow of his wife niggled at her, but she pushed the unfair concern away. “I find that hard to believe given how long you’ve lived, but thank you.” She stretched, luxuriating in the way his gaze followed every curve of her body, showing off like the nymph she was, accessing a part of her she hadn’t in way too long.
He captured her face between his hands, suddenly all serious intent. “I mean it, Lyleia.”
She turned her head to kiss his palm. “I believe you.”
He nodded, satisfied. Then stood and scooped her into his arms.
“What are you doing?” Even as she asked the question she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I’m making us a bath. I’ve heard a man hasn’t lived until he’s made love to a water nymph in the water.”
The rumors were true as water amplified the effect of their pleasure giving and receiving ability, partly why gods pursued them as relentlessly as they once had. The experience become addictive. Panic surged through her. She laid her palm over his heart. “I don’t do that.”
He paused and looked down at her. “With anyone?”
She shook her head.
“Ever?”
She glanced away. “I guess you could say I’m saving it for my forever guy, not just one night of passion.”
A single finger under her chin tipped her gaze back his way. “I won’t say I don’t want it, but I get it.”
“You do?” She’d expected the ego she knew lurked behind that easygoing exterior to rear its head.
“I had forever once. So yeah, I do.” He went from seriously sweet to hearstoppingly intense in a nanosecond as he gave her a wicked grin. “Besides I have lots of other fantasies where you’re concerned.”
“I may have a few of my own,” she murmured, body humming.
“Like what?”
She toyed with the hair at the back of his neck. “Like…can demigods really go all night long?”
Dimples flashed as he grinned. “Let’s find out, shall we?”
She squealed as he spun fast, showing a small hint of the extra strength and speed demigods often inherited.
CHAPTER 11
She needed to recharge her system.
With that sole need in mind, she tossed back the covers and tried to stand up, only to be stopped by an arm curling around her waist and dragging her back into bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Cas nuzzled her neck.
She laughed. “You’re insatiable, and I need a shower.”
He didn’t let her up. “I wasn’t the only insatiable one.”
She giggled, then sobered, deliberately serious. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He grunted his amusement as she peeled his arm from her. Not bothering to cover up, she padded across the room naked.
“I could get used to that sight in the mornings.”
She didn’t respond to his mumbled comment, pretending not to hear. Reality wasn’t something she was ready to face yet, and those words came under the heading of later.