by Abigail Owen
She turned wide eyes on him, then glanced at his lap. Her lips parted in an adorable O of realization. “But it was only supposed to be one night.”
Not if he had anything to say about it.
Chapter Fourteen
The ring of her cell phone dragged Leia out of a deep sleep—one induced by multiple bouts of sex and orgasms. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the situation, but she was still going with it.
After attending a business meeting for Castor to negotiate pricing on a private plane for the new combined pack, and then going to a mating event that evening—a barbeque held in Rocky Mountain National Park where the pheromones returned to whip the attendees into a frenzy—they’d returned to the hotel and spent most of the night wrapped in each other. Pleasure upon pleasure. And in between, he’d held her, unable to stop touching, as they talked. About nothing. About everything.
Somehow, they’d managed to get to the plane. Leia had sat in her usual spot, a different row than Castor, only to have him get up and move to the seat beside hers. He hadn’t said anything, merely given her a reproving look. Then he’d proceeded to whisper dirty words in her ear about exactly what he wanted to do to her body but refused to touch her. As punishments went, it had been torturous. By the end of the flight, she’d been squirming in her need and her panties soaked.
He’d taken them back to his house. The second they were inside, he’d put into action every one of those intentions.
She’d been to his house before, even inside his bedroom. She liked it. Unlike the modern furnishing in his offices and many of his planes, Castor had decorated his house more traditionally—lots of dark woods and masculine colors. In particular, she loved his king-sized bed with its massive wooden four-poster frame.
With a groan, she leaned over the side of the bed and fished around in her purse for her phone. “Hello.” Her voice came out as a sleepy rasp. She cleared her throat.
“Leia, it’s Delilah.”
“Oh. Hi, Delilah.” She glanced over at Castor, who stiffened beside her. They had yet to hear anything about Kaios or the warlock. “What can I do for you?”
“Is this a bad time? I wanted to discuss what to do with the warlock. I should have him in hand shortly.”
Leia glanced at the clock and winced. Of course, Delilah would expect them to be in the office now. She sat up and the dark blue satiny sheet fell into her lap. Castor’s gaze tracked the sheet, then lingered, firing her blood. But she needed to concentrate, so she gathered it up to cover her naked breasts. “I’m running a little behind today.”
Castor tugged at the sheet. She made a face and shook her head at him. He laughed silently back at her but released it. “Um. Tala and Marrok should be included in the discussion. Let me call you from the office? Say an hour from now?”
“That’s fine.”
Leia hung up and dropped the phone back in her purse. “We need to get going.”
Before she could roll off the bed, he moved with that crazy speed again and had her pinned beneath him, sheets gone, and evidence of his not-yet-waning desire obvious between them. “Nope.”
“We’re already late.” Her protest was weak, even to her ears, as a familiar need fizzed through her veins, setting her nerves alight.
He smoothed his hand down her side from breast to hip to thigh. With a tug, he wrapped her leg around his waist. She shuddered as he repeated the action on the other side.
Then, with one slow stroke, he entered her. Leia tossed her head back, arching to take him deeper.
“Eyes on me.” The demand was one she’d heard frequently from him this weekend. Castor wanted to watch her face, her expression, as he brought her to the pinnacle of pleasure and over into the abyss. The intimacy of making love while staring deeply into his eyes, and he into hers, snagged at her heart every time, filling her with love until she was bursting with it. Though she’d managed to keep that to herself.
He took his time now, each move deliberately slow. She could feel every inch of him, and the pleasure built inside her.
“Please…” she begged.
“Please what?” His low tone, darkened with need, made her shiver.
“I need you.”
“You have me.” He plunged in deep.
Her stomach contracted at his words. She did have him. For now. She wouldn’t let herself wish for—
“More.” She groaned the word as the tingling warning of her impending orgasm started in her middle and spread outward.
“You have all of me.”
Those words sent her tumbling into dark pleasure. Wave after wave surged through her and she cried out her fulfillment. She couldn’t pull her gaze away from the intensity in his. A declaration of love trembled on her lips. Instead she pulled him closer and pressed her lips to his, pouring her emotions into the kiss.
You have all of me. Seductive words. He meant those words. By the gods she wished he’d meant them the way she wanted.
…
Afterward, they managed to shower and dress quickly. Luckily, she’d packed extra clothes for their trip. She donned a dark brown pantsuit with matching jacket, one of her favorites because of the wide belt and oversize buttons which gave the jacket a certain flare. Castor, always immaculate for work, emerged from his closet looking especially fine in a gray suit with subtle pin striping, a matching vest, and a deep red tie.
Unable to help herself, she crossed the room and fiddled with the tie, getting it just right. Lifting her gaze, she encountered tender affection in his which about stopped her heart.
Leia gave a satisfied nod. “Better.” She stepped back, giving herself space. “I need to get my car. Can you drop me off?”
Before the trip, he’d picked her up and taken them both to the airport. He cocked his head. “I’ll drive us both to the office.”
“I’d rather drive myself.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
Was there annoyance in his voice? “This thing between us is private. Showing up at the office together is not exactly the best way to keep it that way.”
His lips flattened. “Are you embarrassed to be with me?”
Demigods and their pride. “Absolutely not. However, we are still employer and employee.” She waved a hand between them. “At least in the office. Let’s enjoy this privately for a while before complicating things. Okay?”
And in case he tired of her quickly. She’d rather keep that to herself. Although she couldn’t reconcile a cold, calculated love-her-and-leave-her with the man she knew Castor to be. But, in her experience, sex changed all the rules. Changed people.
What if it had just been the pheromones?
Her adamant denial that she wasn’t embarrassed must’ve mollified him, because he stopped scowling. He wasn’t happy either, but he also didn’t push it. “Okay. I think I get it.”
After grabbing her car, they both headed into the office, where they first called Tala and Marrok, then got Delilah on the phone.
“You have all of us on speaker,” Leia told her.
“There’s been a development since I called earlier.”
Leia’s heart dropped into her stomach and rattled around in the hollowed-out emptiness there.
Castor trailed a hand down her arm, the action soothing, but she couldn’t help glancing at the glass wall of the conference room. No one was walking by, but they could have been.
“What kind of development?” he asked.
“The warlock is dead.”
“What?” The question shot out of her before she could say it in a calm, rational manner.
“I guess the Covens Syndicate didn’t want to anger the gods. They sent Greyson Masters, their best hunter, after him.”
“I guess that takes care of that.” Marrok’s dry tone came across loud and clear over the speaker.
“Before he died
, we did get some information from him. Based on his comments, it sounds as though Kaios’s appearance had two purposes. He’d discovered Leia was alive and has been stalking her for some time. In addition, it sounds as though the werewolves truly are concerned about Tala and Marrok’s mating.”
Marrok’s voice came over the speaker. “But werewolves are outside the Federation of Packs. What do they care?”
“My guess is there’s concern because your mating gives you too much power within the wolf-shifter community,” Delilah said. “Creating the biggest individual pack within the Federation. I should’ve seen that coming when I suggested it to you.”
Castor, leaning fisted hands on the conference table, shook his head. “He used that as an excuse to get close to Leia.”
Made sense. Leia closed her eyes briefly. If the werewolf had manipulated Poseidon, he’d do the same to his own people to get what he wanted. Her dead, it seemed.
“But why go after the nymphs?” Leia asked as she opened her eyes.
Delilah spoke. “According to the warlock, Kaios wasn’t sure of Leia’s involvement at the ceremony. He needed proof to take back to the werewolves. Though more to get permission to kill Leia from what we could gather.”
“He didn’t have a clear view of Leia from where he was standing,” Castor said. “I doubt he was sure of her involvement until he got it out of the nymphs when he attacked them.”
And Kaios thought of her as pathetic and powerless after he took her spring, so likely didn’t suspect her capable of what she’d done.
“The nymphs refused to tell him,” Delilah said.
“They refused?” Leia asked, voice choked.
“Yes,” Delilah confirmed. “That’s why he set the warlock on them…to force their cooperation.”
Her sisters had stood up for her? Before she’d helped save them, and after what she’d done to them? Why?
“Is Kaios after us, too?” Tala asked.
“At least to discredit you for the lie,” Delilah said. “Though I’d say in a peripheral way.”
“Any sign of him?” Tala asked.
“Not yet, but I have my feelers out,” Delilah said.
“We should all be careful until he’s found,” Marrok advised.
There wasn’t much more to discuss. As they hung up, Leia sank back in her seat. “Kaios had the warlock killed. He used the coven.” Anything to make it difficult to trace back to him. He’d done that with her spring, manipulating a god to enact his own revenge.
“What?” Castor knelt down in front of her, hands on her knees, familiar in a way they’d never been in the office before now. And she soaked it up. “Why would you say that?”
“I know that werewolf and his sick mind. We can’t prove Kaios was there that night, but the warlock could have. He’s tying up loose ends.”
“Hopefully he’ll go back down a hole to wherever he came from and stay there.”
She ran her gaze over her demigod’s face, every adored plane. Those amazing eyes looking back at her with tender worry, those kissable lips that could both master and persuade flattened with an emotion she couldn’t quite identify. If she hadn’t known better, she would have said love. Her heart fluttered, but she ruthlessly squashed the hope. Being the object of his attention was like being caught in gravity, orbiting around him.
Only the tension in his hands gave away the fact that he was way more tense than he wanted her to believe.
He’s going to go after him.
Dread wrapped icy hands around her neck, squeezing hard, choking her. Castor was a demigod, programmed to go after monsters. And this particular monster had come after his lover.
Shit.
Why hadn’t she seen this earlier? Castor wasn’t going to risk Kaios coming after her again, and Kaios wasn’t going to quit popping up like evil whack-a-mole. Double down on things getting worse, Kaios saw Castor as a block to getting at her now.
Gods, how could she have been so stupid? Kaios would come after Castor next.
Time to disappear. Again. Only this time, she was forcing that werewolf to face her directly. She wouldn’t let Castor risk his life. Not for her. If he died…
Bile seared her throat.
She pasted a calm smile on her face, the one she’d used with him countless times over the last year. “I’m sure you’re right. He won’t risk poking his head up right now.”
He remained silent, searching her gaze for any hint of her feelings, but she’d mastered keeping people out when she wanted and regarded him with serene patience. Finally, he gave a nod. “Good girl.”
She rose to her feet. “I have emails to get through.”
“Yes.” He stood, too.
She could feel the burn of his gaze as he watched her leave the room and close the door behind her.
She did exactly as she’d said, letting the daily routine of work take over. She went through emails, made calls, and skimmed through a presentation the marketing department wanted to present to Castor next week.
At noon Castor opened the connecting door. “I have a lunch meeting,” he reminded her. She waved him out of the room and even waited an extra ten minutes in case he came back for any reason. When she was confident he was gone, she picked up the phone and dialed.
“Delilah. I need to disappear.”
“I was wondering when I’d hear from you.” Her friend didn’t sound surprised at all. Of course, Delilah had been the one to help her pick up the pieces and move on with her life last time. “What does Castor think?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“I think you should discuss it with him. He’s a demigod. He can protect you.”
“And add him to Kaios’s crosshairs.” The werewolf had shown, in her brief experience with him, that he didn’t fight fair, and he held a grudge. Gut instinct told her he wasn’t done.
Silence greeted her declaration.
Leia winced. Delilah’s only directive when she’d placed her in this job was not to fall in love with her boss.
“Like, that is it?” No sensor filled the other woman’s voice.
Leia winced again. She’d let Delilah down. “I’m afraid so.”
“How does Castor feel?”
“He’s in lust. And I enjoyed what time I could get with him.”
“I don’t blame you. Love, the real kind, not just lust that burns itself out in time, doesn’t happen as often as humans wish.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“You’re sure it’s only lust for him?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Let me work on a plan. I’ll get back to you later today.”
“Thanks, Delilah.”
“I only want you to be happy, Leia.”
Leia closed her eyes. Happy didn’t tend to be a goal of hers, but Delilah had been a true friend to her. “I owe you.”
“No, you don’t.”
Chapter Fifteen
Castor watched Leia work without alerting her to his presence. Sometimes being both fast and silent was helpful, such as when he wanted to sneak up on his assistant. He leaned in the doorway, arms crossed, and smiled at the look of utter concentration on her face. The gods had made an angel when they designed her. His heart squeezed at the mere sight. No woman had ever affected him this way.
A tiny shard of guilt pricked him at the realization that even Hilaera hadn’t caused this urgent need—not only to possess, but to protect, to cherish, and to care for—within him. He was like a teenager again, only more than he’d ever been during the short years of his youth before he’d basically stopped aging. The tiny tip of her pink tongue peeked between those berry-ripe lips. He wanted to see those lips parted in passion. He adored how she lost control with him when she was in total control at all other times. A stirring of desire had him shifting position, which caught her attention.
; Her head came up. “Oh! I didn’t hear you.”
He smiled. “Sorry.”
She gave a mock glower. “Sneaky man.”
Once upon a time, she’d have used a meaner term than man. He took that as a good sign. Sleeping with him was a huge step, but that could just be physical attraction. They worked well together, and she’d admitted to having feelings for him. But feelings didn’t mean love, and she was acting strangely today. More…distant.
“Any plans tonight?”
He asked the question as casually as he could. Her only reaction was a quick check of the time. If she was about to do what he suspected, his nymph was phenomenal at hiding her true emotions.
Before she could lie to his face, he continued. “I’m playing poker with Pollux and some friends.”
“Oh.” She turned those cobalt eyes his way. Guileless eyes. Maybe he was wrong.
“I think it would be a good idea for you to stay at my place tonight, though.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“With Kaios still on the loose, I don’t like the idea of you on your own. What if he attacks you?”
“Did you know more than fifty percent of personal attacks happen in the home?”
“Lyleia—”
She waved a careless hand. “I doubt that’s going to happen. He has to be wondering what personal protection I have in place now.”
She didn’t need anything but him. “It’s not worth the risk.”
Leia’s lips flattened in a stubborn look he recognized. “I’m not staying with you, Castor.”
His heart dropped to his feet at the blatant rejection. Only his suspicion of what she was up to kept him from going all demigod and claiming her here and now. “Why?”
She was silent a beat. “I’d think it obvious.”
“Not to me.”
“Don’t be so dense then.”
“I am never dense,” he growled. He needed her to think she had him fooled.
She ground her teeth. “You are the most frustrating man.”