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“You put money on me?”
“No,” he chuckles. “I’m betting—not with money, so don’t ask again—that Atlas will charm you before you manage to get close enough to him to hurt him. And you already know he’s not the one who took your friend, so you have no reason to assassinate him.”
“The Diavolos could still help me more,” I say.
“But they won’t,” Keon says. “Especially because I’ve told you they are the ones that took Layla Dara.”
I nod, chewing on my lip. “Okay,” I say. “Still a risky move.”
Keon smiles. “I thrive on risk. Now—let me wash your hair?”
I sigh and move toward him, turning around so my back is to him. Keon’s hands come up to tangle in my hair once again, soothing my scalp where he tugged so hard before. I groan in contentment when he pours some shampoo on my head, kneading it into my scalp as bubbles erupt around me. His legs rest on either side of my hips, lean and muscular.
“I didn’t know you were a sub,” he says. “That wasn’t in your file.”
I roll my neck, falling into a dangerous kind of complacency.
“It isn’t any of the First Wave’s business,” I say.
“So it isn’t an act?”
I shake my head, my muscles sighing happily as he moves down to massage my shoulders. “Not an act,” I say. “I like power games. And sometimes, when you’re always in control, it’s nice not to be.”
“And dangerous for a spy,” he says. “What if the wrong person ties you up?”
I look back at him. “Maybe you’re not the only one who likes risk,” I say. “Or maybe I just know how to break out of a pair of handcuffs.”
Keon takes my chin in his hand and looks into my eyes, pale blue sparkling in his irises.
“I actually like you, Penelope Lykaios,” he murmurs.
He leans in and captures my lips, kissing me languidly. I don’t think this is foreplay—and I think we’re both too used up to really go another round right away—but it makes something spark in my chest, unrelated to Keon’s Gift. I know there’s every chance that Keon is playing me, but…
“I actually like you, too,” I say as he pulls away.
I touch his face, and he turns to press another kiss to my palm.
I don’t think Atlas is the only one being seduced.
Keon rinses out my hair for me, continuing to massage my scalp and shoulders, and then he insists on grabbing me a robe of my own and carrying me back to bed. When I’m finally nestled into the sheets, my head resting on his chest as he strokes my hair, I realize that I’ve only been here for two days.
And somehow, I’m already perfectly at home on this alien world.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
?
PENN
When I wake up, I’m alone.
Something about the bright colors of Keon’s room isn’t quite as lovely in the morning, especially when the space on the bed next to me is empty. It’s still warm, so Keon can’t have gone far, but as I look around, I don’t see any clues of where he might have gone.
My stomach twists. Obviously, there’s no need for him to stay with me, it’s not like we’retogether, and in any case, Atlas is the reason I’m here in the first place. But I’m still just human and there’s something about having intense sex with someone that definitely endears them to you.
I swallow hard, my mouth dry. I’m supposed to be seducing Atlas, not letting these men seduce me. I can’t let any of them soften me.
I swing my legs off the bed, straightening up as I do. My muscles are sore and standing upright takes me more effort than I expect.
