“Just…be gentle,” she panted.
He nodded, his hips never losing the rhythm. She closed her eyes and threw her head back as his tail swiped at her wetness, then slowly probed her tight ring.
“Oh fuck, fuck, fuck!”
She didn’t care if anyone heard her. The orgasm ripped through her, and he continued to fuck her through it. It seemed to go on for an eternity, the pleasure battering her body. She clung to him through one more orgasm, but then his movementbecame erratic and he surged forward. His cock pulsed within her, and she shuddered as a frisson of electricity shot through her.
She wasn’t quite sure what happened next; her brain was still fried from that orgasm. Somehow, they ended up on the soft grass, with her tucked against his side. She took a deep breath.
“Don’t,” he warned.
“Don’t what?”
“Say anything,” he said. “Just enjoy the moment.”
Normally, she would have taken that as a challenge. But, she supposed he was right. And whatever she said wouldn’t change a thing anyway. Simple, indeed, was long gone, and she was done pretending she wanted it back.
Chapter 12
Liora
The Ridge of the Nine Horns rose around them in sweeping curves of stone and wind-carved ridges, each peak resembling the horn of some colossal beast thrust out of the earth. The land belonged to the minotaurs, and everything about it felt larger, heavier, somehow more ancient than the rest of Vale Crossing.
Wide stone paths cut between enormous buildings built into the rock itself. Massive archways framed courtyards where minotaurs moved about their day, some carrying crates the size of small carts, others sparring in open training rings. The air smelled faintly of earth, metal, and wood smoke.
Liora tried not to stare too openly.
Even though Vale Crossing was full of monsters, the Minotaurs had a presence that made everything else seem…smaller.
They were heading toward a home carved into the side of one of the ridges, where Brontaios believed a demigod might be hiding out. Another possible child of Zeus. Another life they needed to protect.
Her thoughts drifted for a moment as they walked, and it came back in fragments at first, laughter, low and unguarded, the kind she hadn’t realized she’d needed until it was already happening. The ease of it. The way the tension between them had shifted without her noticing exactly when.
And then him.
Maldenis.
The way he’d looked at her, like he saw her, not the expectations, not the weight of everything she carried. Just her.
She hadn’t meant for it to happen again. Not after everything. But it had.
Somewhere between the teasing, the closeness, the quiet moments that stretched just a little too long—something had given way.
And she hadn’t stopped it. Because it had been…easy. Natural in a way that didn’t make sense, not with him, not with everything they were. Like falling into something that had been waiting all along.
And it had been amazing.
Not just the sex, but the way she’d felt in it. Unguarded. Certain. Like, for once, she wasn’t holding herself back or bracing for something to go wrong. Like she could just be there with him.
That was the part that lingered now, the realization threading through the memory, soft but undeniable. This hadn’t happened with anyone else. Not like this. Not in a way that made her want to stay in it a little longer, to not think about what came next.
And then she looked down and realized she was still holding Maldenis’s hand. Their fingers were loosely linked, the way they had been since leaving the hotel earlier. She hadn’t even noticed when it started.
Across from them, Elian rolled his eyes dramatically. She stuck her tongue out at him. Elian scoffed. Before he could say anything, Hektor walked up beside him and silently handed him his phone.
Elian glanced down at the screen and immediately lit up. “Oh,” he said slowly. “Look who’s anit girlnow.”
Liora frowned. “What?”
