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As they pressed on, he gathered Kanta’s weapons. The boomerang. The ice pick. Several daggers. He stuffed everything inside the pack and noticed a multitude of rocks remained. What had brought the others to life? The violence? His blood? A stern lecture from Neeka before she’d stuffed them in the bag?
Speaking of the oracle, his searing fury ticked down a level. A small level.
The beasties reached the other side of the wall before whittling away to nothing.
The hole they’d created was big enough for Rathbone. Excellent. He crouched to his knees, ready to start crawling.
Neeka stuck her head through the breach, her amber gaze searching. She beamed a smile when she spotted him. With a cheery tone, she said, “Hey, Wrath Boned. Surprised to see me?”
A bolt of pure desire pierced his chest. “Yes,” he hissed.
“Well, that’s rude,” she replied with a pout. “As if I would fail to facilitate our escape. You’re welcome. Again.”
He longed to grab and shake her. Yearned to kiss the breath from her lungs. “You have some explaining to do.” He shoved himself through the hole, urging her backward. “You can talk on the go.”
“I knew this was our only means of survival, you see,” Neeka said, completing her explanation. Hopefully she’d made sense. She struggled to think as she led Rathbone through a series of secret passages hidden throughout the Astraian palace.
The mental blanket had slowed its descent, but it wasn’t stopping. She lost more memories by the minute. In fact, she expected a total reset soon. Which sucked so hard. The things she’d heard had begun to unravel...things past, present, and future, spoken by countless immortals. Mysteries best left undiscovered. Nonsense. Meaningless gossip. Crimes. Love affairs. Riddles and complex puzzles certain to break her brain for good. Secrets, secrets, secrets.
Rathbone squeezed her hand, and she jerked into focus, realizing she’d nearly walked into a closed door. Right. Concentrate on their escape, allowing instinct to guide her. She definitely shouldn’t think about their intertwined fingers. Or his callouses. And heat. And scent. Had she moaned?
She’d moaned, hadn’t she? To mask it, she said, “I sense we won’t face any opposition on our way out. A reason to celebrate with spontaneous noises.”
They reached a shadowy alcove, and Rathbone yanked her against him, spinning her so that they faced each other. Eyes narrowing to thin slits, he maneuvered her against a wall.
“Let’s pause.” He pinched her chin, resting his thumb in the indentation to ensure she read his lips. “Tell me if I understand you correctly. You happily sacrificed my wellbeing to get inside this palace.”
She nodded, unabashed. “So far so good.”
“And you chose not to warn me beforehand because...”
“Maybe I didn’t think you had the acting chops. Think about it. If you’d known the truth, there was no way you could’ve convincingly pretended to be upset about your capture.”
He flashed his teeth. “That is the most illogical—” His nostrils flared with the force of his next breath. “With Lore on the line, I can do anything.”
“Wrong. With Lore on the line, you’re a total liability,” she accused, trying not to pant. He just...he felt so good. Hunger for him sharpened, becoming an ache. Or rather, joining hundreds of others.
“Did you acquire a bone?” As if he sensed her weakness, he kicked her legs apart and edged closer, his heat coiling around all those aching places.
Careful, careful.“Not yet.” Might as well advance her cause. Neeka traced her clawtips up his chest. The mátia closed, as if savoring her touch. How utterlydivine. “I need a piece of information first.”
“What information?”
“Exactly. But if all goes according to plan, we’ll have your precious bone by the end of the day.” She pricked the hammering pulse in his neck, then licked her lips when she spotted a drop of blood. “Unless...”
He leaned closer, the warmth of his breath fanning her cheek. “Unless what?”
“What if—and I’m totally speaking hypothetically here—wedon’tsearch for it?” Her heart raced.Taking a big chance here...“We take a little break. Flash to Earth. Spend a few days forgetting about dead goddesses and brutal Astra, and do a little self-care. You can tell me your turn ons, and I can show you mine.” She would recover from the mental blanketing in style, without the pressure of a mission, and maybe win him to her side in the process.
His pupils exploded over his irises. “Is this what you were pondering moments ago?”
“Don’t talk. Think.” Slowly, languidly, she gyrated against him. “Better yet, feel.”
A growl rumbled in his chest. He rocked his hips with her next rotation, rubbing his erection between her legs. Her breath caught. He was pure steel.
This male had needs, and those needs were focused squarely on Neeka.
“When you decide about our self-care,” she said, daring to nip at his bottom lip, “Kiss me once for yes and twice for no.”
