Protecting Medusa

by Elizabeth Andrews

  “Oh, my Gods,” she whispered, shaking her head. She couldn’t be falling in love with Ryder.

  She dropped onto the foot of the bed and covered her face with her hands. She could deal with lust. He inspired that in her, and often. But love?

  She couldn’t even wrap her brain around the idea.

  She’d never imagined she’d be free to love a man not a member of her family. Not since she became the Medusa. Not even since before then. Surely Andi had been a fluke.

  One of his hands drifted over the curls at her nape, then down her back.

  “I’m sorry, Ryder,” she said after a moment. “I just hadn’t thought about...that.”

  His weight depressed the mattress beside her, causing her to lean into him, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Despite the tension in him, his touch remained gentle, making her feel incredibly guilty about her reaction to his suggestion.

  The man had risked his life to keep her safe from a horde of would-be-killers. More than once. Not to mention the amazing sex.

  But love?

  Philomena closed her eyes behind her palms and tried to slow the whirl of thoughts in her head.

  “It’s all right,” he said softly.

  She lifted her head, focusing on his face. Tension bracketed his mouth, and his dark gaze was shuttered.

  Making her realize she’d hurt him. Oh Gods.

  She lifted one hand to touch his cheek, and he shut his eyes. She swallowed, wanting to make him feel better, but not sure quite how to do it.

  She angled herself so she could wrap her arms around him, resting her ear on his chest. His heartbeat raced.

  His big hand stayed at her back, though his cheek came to rest on the top of her head.

  Philomena squeezed her eyes tight against the stinging there. She didn’t want to hurt Ryder. Even if she’d never imagined being in love with him, she didn’t want to hurt him.

  And she didn’t see how she could avoid it now.

  Elek’s irritation showed only in the subtle squaring of his shoulders, Aristotle noted with some approval. He learned quickly.

  “Nothing at all?” Elek asked.

  “Half the furniture is gone. There’s nothing useful in either house,” Demos said, his own annoyance plain in his tone and his expression. “We looked through everything left there.”

  “What about the man?”

  Demos shook his head. “His apartment is untouchable--there is an armed guard twenty-four-seven, but we have someone sitting on the building. He’s just gone. Wherever the Medusa is, he’s with her still.”

  “Can we get audio on the office?”

  Demos moved his head in a negative side to side wag. “We tried.”

  Elek nodded. “Thank you.”

  “We’ll have to give this some thought,” Aristotle said. “Take the rest of the day to prepare for another trip.”

  Demos left the room, and Elek sighed, his shoulders slumping a little.

  “We’ll find them,” Aristotle said, sitting back in his chair.

  The younger man turned to face him. “How? The last encounter was completely random. I don’t know how you can be so certain.”

  Aristotle smiled. “I am certain enough for both of us. We have not come so far to fail yet again.”

  Ryder resisted the urge to rub his hand over his aching heart. He hadn’t imagined Mena’s reaction to his suggestion would be so...shocked. And still so resistant. He should’ve known better.

  But that didn’t mean he’d let her go.

  He steered the car along the interstate, keeping an eye on the traffic behind them out of habit, but knowing there was no one following. They couldn’t.

  Danny had emailed him yesterday that he was taking Jason and Aggie to Tennessee for a few days. No one had any family there, not even Mena, so the Harvesters would have to get very, very lucky to cross paths with them there.

  Joel’s email hadn’t been as positive. The Harvesters had torn both houses apart searching for any clue to Mena’s whereabouts, leaving quite a mess behind. He’d scheduled a cleaning crew come in, and would scout real estate agents for when she and her mother were ready to deal with selling. In the meantime, Ryder would keep his mouth shut.

  Mena had her chin propped on her hand, staring blindly out the window as he mingled with rush hour traffic heading west.

  He’d snuck a peek at her tattoo in the shower that morning, and the cup remained the same silvery-gold color, which made him feel a bit better. The revelation that the cup in her cousin’s tattoo had changed color as she fell in love with the Harvester who’d come to kill her and instead protected her from his family shocked Mena. It wasn’t enough, though, to make her let go of the doubts and fears she still had. He knew her father had left her family when she was young. That obviously made it harder for her to believe. He wondered what else might have made her feel that way, reinforcing her belief.

  On the other hand, the goblet hadn’t reverted to its original color.

  She might not want to be falling for him, but she was.

  The knowledge made him only a little happier, because he knew she’d fight it now. Even harder than she had been already.

  He stifled a sigh and shot her a quick glance. Her green eyes were shadowed as she sat back in her seat.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. Anyplace you want to visit?”

  She gave him a quizzical look, a tiny frown wrinkling her forehead.

  “I suppose it’s too cold to think about horse races, so maybe not Kentucky. Chicago might be a big enough city to harbor more than one Harvester. How do you feel about auto racing?” He waited for her reluctant laugh. “Okay, not Indy, then.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

  “Does it matter?”

  “As long as there’s a bed, we’re good,” he teased, winking at her, gratified to see the blush climb her cheeks. He’d actually considered flying out of the country, but figured there was a better than even chance the Harvesters would be watching airports. Same thing with any major harbors with cruise lines sailing out.

  But there was plenty of space between the two coasts, and they couldn’t cover every inch of it all at once. There were a lot of them, but not that many.

  Mena settled back, looking slightly more relaxed.

  “We’ll see if anything looks appealing along the way,” he said finally, patting her knee.

  “You should let me take a turn driving once in a while, Mr. Macho,” she said mildly.

  He grinned at her. “Fat chance.”

  She shook her head, her lips curving up and making him want to taste that tiny mole again.

  He forced his attention to the road ahead. There would be plenty of time later.

  For now, he needed to find a safe place for them to stay while he figured out a longer-term plan.

  Philomena squinted at the blinking neon sign behind the car. The Starlight Motel in Bellefontaine apparently had a vacancy. She’d guess more than one, judging by the parking lot’s dearth of occupants.

  Probably not a lot of tourists in western Ohio in the middle of the winter.

  Ryder tugged her door open and then dragged out their bags. “This’ll do for tonight.”

  She took her carry-on bag and let him lead the way inside.

  Check-in took all of three minutes, just long enough for him to hand over some cash and scribble something mostly illegible on the registration log.

  Philomena was exhausted. She hadn’t slept well last night. And no wonder after his revelation.

  She thought she might be able to pass out and sleep the whole night away tonight, though. They’d stopped for supper earlier and called Jason from the diner. He was having a fantastic time with Danny, who kept finding things a six-year-old boy would love to do.

  It made her wonder if Danny had a son, or just wanted to still be a six-year-old boy. She believed it must be the latter. If he had a family, they’d be in danger, too.

  S
he dropped her suitcase next to the low dresser and fumbled with the buttons on her coat.

  Ryder shut the door and fastened the chain and deadbolt, then crossed to her, setting his own bag beside hers. “You look tired, baby.” His hands brushed hers aside and undid the buttons she couldn’t quite manage. “Why don’t you get ready for bed?” He slid her coat free of her arms and draped it over the chair in the corner.

  She shifted her shoulders, trying to ease the ache in them from sitting in the car most of the day. “What about you?” She dug her toothbrush and toothpaste out of her suitcase.

  “I’m not really tired yet.”

  “You drove all day.” She turned to look at him from the bathroom door.

  “I’ll let you drive when we decide where we’re going. How’s that?” He grinned at her, flashing his dimples.

  She shook her head on her way into the smaller room. When she emerged, his coat was draped over hers, and he’d kicked off his boots to sit at the small table and start up his computer.

  Philomena dropped onto the foot of the bed to untie her boots, watching his long fingers move over the keyboard. “Checking in?” she asked, standing to unbutton and unzip her skirt.

  He glanced over his shoulder as her skirt whooshed to the floor. “Yeah.” His gaze landed on the leather sheath still strapped to her thigh, and his eyes darkened. “Have I ever told you how much I love a woman with a weapon?” He pushed to his feet and took the four steps to reach her.

  She smiled when he knelt in front of her, his fingers finding the buckles and releasing them so the leather sheath fell from her leg. “Not lately.”

  He kissed the spot where her dagger had rested. “I do.”

  She threaded her fingers through his hair as he moved, dragging his open mouth higher, until his tongue slid between her thighs.

  Philomena sucked in a quick breath, shifting her feet apart to let him slip his fingers inside her panties.

  It only took a second for her body to respond to his touch. Her heart pounded harder, her breasts ached, and her body grew wet around his hard fingers.

  “Mm,” he hummed against her clit. “You know, I think I am feeling tired, after all.” He thrust his fingers deep.

  Her hips rocked into his caresses.

  Suddenly, she wasn’t nearly as sleepy as she’d been five minutes ago.

  Ryder eased her back onto the bed, and she dropped flat, arms over her head, her breath rushing out as he slid her panties down her legs, out of his way. He nibbled his way along her inner thigh until he could thrust his tongue inside her.

  Her body jerked toward his mouth.

  “Easy, love,” he murmured into her wet folds.

  She slid her fingers into his hair. “Ryder.”

  He nipped at her clit, and her breath snagged in her chest. “Patience.”

  She lost track of how many times he brought her to the brink and then eased back, teasing her with his fingers and mouth. When she was shaking with the need for release, he finally undressed and rose up over her, forcing the wide head of his cock into her tight sheath, pushing steadily until her body accommodated the entire length of him. Philomena took in a shuddering breath, feeling his cock pulse inside her, her body clenching on him.

  He nudged her nose with his, sliding his tongue along her lower lip. “Yes?”

  She nodded.

  A slow, wicked grin curved his mouth, and he slowly, slowly withdrew from her, then thrust hard, deep.

  The rush of release made her brain shut down completely. Fantastic colors flashed behind her closed eyelids. Every damp inch of her skin was hypersensitive as he shifted against her, sending more waves of pleasure into her core, gentler than those generated by the hot erection sliding along sensitive flesh.

  When she could finally open her eyes, Ryder had rolled to his side with her in his arms, and their feet still hung off the end of the bed. They both panted roughly, and she shivered when his fingers slid along her damp spine.

  “Are you cold?” His warm breath puffed over her temple.

  She snuggled closer to him. “A little.” She shut her eyes, feeling her chest squeeze when he yanked the blanket over her. She couldn’t fall in love with him.

  But apparently, she had formed an emotional attachment to him already, because Andi had been pretty adamant in her email response to Philomena last night about the reason for the color change in the amulet when she’d fallen in love with Kallan.

  Philomena tightened her hold on Ryder when he would have shifted away.

  She’d known before finally meeting him that he was a great father. It was an attractive quality. But she’d had no idea how dangerous his determination would be to her plans. How devastating to her defenses.

  Reading Andi’s email about the cup changing colors as she’d fallen in love with Kallan was scary as hell. Even scarier? Realizing she’d known and refused to believe it. Surely the fact she was relying on Ryder to keep her alive had something to do with the attachment.

  She couldn’t call it anything else. That would make it too much of a real possibility, a possibility she hadn’t believed in for a long time.

  Taking that chance? Much too risky.

  Sure, Ryder had stepped up when unexpected fatherhood entered his life. He’d taken on Harvesters to keep her safe, for her family. But that declaration of his?

  Mena knew that was totally for them. And she didn’t know if she was brave enough to give a relationship a real try.

  Maybe falling in love had worked for Andi. But Philomena? She was pretty sure she had deeper issues that guaranteed failure. And maybe it had been a fluke, ridding Andi of the curse.

  He smoothed her damp hair away from her face, his mouth sliding along her cheek. “It’s okay.”

  She opened her eyes, staring at his shoulder. He couldn’t know she was worrying about doing something stupid like falling for him. She hoped.

  “Go to sleep, Mena. I’ll keep you warm,” he whispered.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and realized her fingers were digging into his back. She forced herself to relax her grip, but she didn’t let go. She didn’t want to let go.

  That scared the hell out of her.

  Elek studied Argos for a few moments. His older cousin lounged in the chair, one ankle resting on the opposite knee, his jeans faded, a band logo peeling from the front of an even older t-shirt, and he wore his long dark hair slicked into a ponytail, a few strands of silver glinting atop his head.

  “How is your work coming?” he asked finally.

  Argos lifted one shoulder slightly. “Not well, I’m afraid. I expected he might have found some friends among the government contractors for his system, but apparently, he went to real geeks. I have not found a way in yet, but I’m still trying.”

  Elek wasn’t surprised. Ryder Ware had been very thorough so far. “What about credit cards, bank accounts?”

  Argos shook his head. “No activity since before Nestor located her mother’s house. Before that, he withdrew twenty thousand in cash from several accounts. Probably for pre-paid cards. He’s smart, but we’ll find him.”

  Elek liked his cousin’s certainty. He wished he felt it, too.

  Ryder sat at the little round table in the morning, doing random searches on his computer while they ate breakfast from the diner down the street. Mena worked on her own laptop, and he wondered if she was making further tweaks to the website, or sending more emails to her family.

  He wondered, too, if she’d noticed the color of the cup in her tattoo was completely silver now. He’d seen it earlier while they got dressed. No more tinges of gold at the edges. He was pretty sure that had something to do with last night, and her refusal to release him after they’d made love the first time.

  He picked up his juice, smiling. Whether she would admit it or not, his Medusa was falling for him.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I don’t know.” He sat back, meeting her gaze over their computers. “Which direction would you like to
go?”

  She looked surprised by the question. “I don’t know,” she said after a moment. “We don’t want to go too far west, right?”

  He shook his head. “Pretty sure even though some of these guys have flown in from the west coast, there are plenty more left out there.” Plus he really didn’t want to be so far away from everyone else. Just in case.

  Mena pondered for a moment. “I’ve always wanted to see New Orleans, but that probably qualifies as a big enough city to warrant multiple Harvesters, huh?”

  Ryder studied her face. “I don’t know.” She had a hopeful glint in her eyes, but he could see she’d tamped it down. “We can give it a try,” he said after a few seconds, loving the way her green eyes lit with pleasure.

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “It’s going to be a long drive.”

  “I told you I’d drive.” She nibbled on her lower lip, looking as though she were still trying to restrain her excitement.

  He caught her hand up from where it lay on the table. “We’d better get on the road then.”

  Mena gave him such a beautiful smile then, his heart stuttered in his chest.

  He tugged her around the table and into his lap. “Come here,” he muttered, catching her nape to kiss her.

  Her response was everything he could have hoped for, and his body reacted predictably to her tongue sliding along his lower lip. When he pulled her closer, her tightening nipples brushed his chest.

  “Might have time to go back to bed before we hit the road,” he breathed against her lips.

  She laughed. “You’re a very bad man.” Her fingers slid to the button on his jeans, teasing him before she settled her palm over his erection.

  It wasn’t like they were on a schedule.

  “When did you last let someone touch you, Mena?” Ryder asked, still stroking her back.

  “Just a few minutes ago,” she said on a breathless laugh.

  “You know what I mean. The last time you let another man touch you.”

  She stilled beneath his hand and was silent so long, he thought she might not answer. Finally, she let out a long breath. “A long time ago,” she whispered.