“Not like that! He marked your neck. With hisadénes. So I would taste him on you,” I tried to explain through a needy groan as I inhaled their combined scent.
I could tell she was confused, but she tilted her head to give me access to her neck where Riordan had left more than just physical marks. I had not realized I was pushing her backward until we hit the wall where I pinned her.
“He did this on purpose,” I growled as I was forced to succumb to the drive to suck and bite. To leave my own marks alongside his and imprint my scent upon her skin.
“Well… whatever he did, I am enjoying,” she giggled as she rested her head back against the wall behind.
I allowed my instincts to take over, switching back and forth between leaving marks on her neck and kissing her breathlessuntil she was mindless with want. Her kisses and touches grew steadily more demanding until I began to wish I could unlace my armour to give her the access to touch me that I could feel she wanted.
And that was when I felt a familiar pull like gravity was suddenly yanking my very soul toward her.
I tore away from her in shock, and she gasped as both of her hands rose up to cover her mouth. She looked like she had been ravaged with her hair pulled out of its bun and her collar pushed down to expose her throat to me.
“Shit! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! I didn’t even know Icoulddo that!” she assured me.
Once my shock had worn off, I was able to recompose my expression and then leaned down to kiss her forehead soothingly. My lips lingered on her until she relaxed.
“It’s alright,” I assured her.
“It just happened. I would never force a bond—”
“I know,” I insisted, trying to calm her with another kiss on her head. “We just got carried away.”
She was quiet for a moment, clearly shaken by what had almost happened.
“That seemed… like it would be easy. It was easy with Riordan too. Is it always like that?” she asked.
“I am not the right one to ask. Ktínos,” I reminded her with a regretful shrug.
“Right,” she murmured with a nod, but I could tell that her mind was consumed with wondering what this meant. How was it that a Ktínos and a witch had suddenly found themselves on the verge of forging a bond that was only supposed to be created by Imítheos?
“Is that something that you…” I trailed off, unable to get the words out, but I did not need to.
“Yes,” she breathed, unflinching as she stared up at me so there could be no mistaking her sincerity.
I almost dove back in for more, but a familiar shiver warnedme of another presence, and I jolted back.
Riordan was leaning against a pillar a short distance down the hallway. By the look of him, he had been there for some time before he mentally alerted me.
“She did the same to me when I was kissing her before we bonded. She is like gravity,” he told me, pushing away from the pillar to walk toward us.
Before I could find out what his grin meant, we heard the thumping of many wings, which drew our attention to the alcove of the flight dais down the hall. Ares landed, followed by Theo and Iris. All of them appeared harried.
“Riordan! We just heard from Dio that there has been an attack in Erétria! He is calling for reinforcements!”
Amira
I was honestly impressed with the speed with which the army of Kórinthos could mobilize. In less than one hour, the Ktínos had assembled neatly on the training fields.
I glanced back and forth in awe of their stoic ranks as we walked the path between two legions toward the front. Sofia followed me, fussing discreetly with the stiff leather and a buckle on my right shoulder pauldron. This was the first time that I had ever worn the armour despite Orion commenting more than once that I needed to break it in. Not taking his advice was a mistake, in hindsight. I might have felt self-conscious in the armour that was almost a perfect mold of my bare torso, but it was what every other man and woman on the field was wearing. Besides Sofia, of course, who would be staying in Kórinthos to oversee all my duties in the Rookery.
We reached the front of the army where Riordan stood talkingwith Orion and several other commanders. He saw me in my armour and stepped away mid-conversation to meet me. I could tell before he’d even opened his mouth that he was going to object to my presence.
“I am going with them,” I insisted before he spoke.
“Amira—”
“I know Rian has you spooked. But you never doubted my abilities in battle before,” I reminded him sternly.
