AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Your fault,” she said, frowning at nothing for a second before flattening her hands on him to push up and meet his eye. “How was it your fault?”
“I wasn’t there. You said it and you were right; I can protect you better if you’re in my eyeline.”
Breathing out, she rested a hand on his cheek. “I was kidding, baby. Playing on what you said to me in the cab before we… You can’t be looking at me every second.”
“I can educate you, and myself, we’ll talk and come up with procedures. Everything we do will be designed to keep you safe.”
Shaking her head, she sat up on him. “Don’t put me ahead of you. I already told you that Olympus isn’t my home. I know you’re eager to get back there, but it’s not me. You can’t train me. I’d make a lousy soldier and you know it. I talk too much, I’m messy, and completely undisciplined. I hate taking orders or being dismissed. Can you imagine a person worse suited to grueling drills and strict hierarchy?”
Had he completely missed the point of who she was and come with her for all the wrong reasons?
Squeezing her hips, he confused her with a smile. “Why do you think I fell in love with you? You’re about as opposite to Olympus as anyone could get.” He tightened his grip. “You’re the wild mare no one can tame. You’re so goddamn stubborn, so driven by your emotions, so beautiful. You feel everything. Baby, you’re freedom. Everything I couldn’t be; everything I wasn’t.”
“And you had everything I didn’t. A purpose. A place to belong. A home. You had a base, a family. Somewhere safe. You had security.”
Daire sat up, locking her in a clinch so tight that her body was trapped against his. “I am your security, Temptress. Your somewhere safe. Your home.”
She combed her fingers through his hair, bringing them around to stroke his jawline too. “Then I have to be your wild. Your stubborn… your freedom.”
Was it only a fantasy? She was too scared to ask. Being with him seduced her, he made her feel better about… everything. But she’d given him to Olympus, to the greater good, and promised not to compromise his integrity. Taking him away from Harry had done exactly that.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, trying to peer into her. “You went from relaxed and happy to tense and confused.”
Her fingers were still sweeping through his hair; her hands stroking his body in their turn. “Harry will be worried about you.”
“Harry doesn’t worry about me,” he said. “He dedicated his life to making sure he never had to… Zeus will have figured out you’re not going back. Harry will have discovered Leonard in the closet and extracted Zeus’s location from him.”
“You think they’ve killed each other, or will they be working together?”
Pondering that, he inhaled through his teeth. “Without Garrick between them, I wouldn’t put my money on the latter.”
“And without you,” she said, gripping his shoulders, admiring their breadth. “You’re his strength, you know. His greatest achievement. I understand why he’s so proud of you… I’m proud of you too.”
“You say that like you’re not proud of yourself.” The half laugh behind his smile faded when she didn’t react. “Babe?”
Sliding her hands down his arms, she pushed at them to free herself and climbed off the bed. The sudden chill of being out of his embrace brought her arms around her body, though she couldn’t be to herself what Daire was.
“In London, I… I met someone. I met a guy.”
The position was new for her. She was used to standing on her own two feet. And used to being the one out of the loop rather than the one withholding.
“You have feelings for him,” Daire said, his low voice a slow acceptance.
The hum of bass roused her hormones, so it took a second to absorb what he’d said.
“What?” she asked, spinning around to face him.
Sitting on the bed just off-center, he supported his upper body on straight arms extended behind him. “You have feelings for this guy.”
“Feelings for…?” She smiled before clambering back onto the bed, her laugh lighting the air. “No!” She crawled up him, taking his face in both hands. “God, no, you crazy…” She kissed him. “Stupid.” Another kiss. “Incredible man.” Pulling his face to hers, she kissed him once more before rising on her knees to touch her forehead to his. “Feelings for him? No. How could I? I don’t have enough. Every cell of my entire being is filled to overflowing with my love for you.” Pressing her hands into his face, she changed the angle to brush her nose across his. “You completely have my full permission to never doubt that you’re the only man in the whole universe ever allowed to touch me. The only man I could or would want to feel for. My Heart…” Relaxing her hold a little, she sank back to peer into him. “You said it would be easier to walk away if I was with another guy… Is that what you wanted me to say? Were you hoping to hear that I’d—”
“You know the answer to that question, Little Red. But I will always try to be uncomplicated for you. The Harry shit, Olympus, that’s my headache. For you, this has to be your safe space. I have to accept you no matter what. My love for you is unconditional.”
She smiled. “Right back attcha.”
Guiding his mouth to hers, their lingering kiss stretched into a sweet savoring of their reaffirmed love. They weren’t uncomplicated. No, that wasn’t fair. When they were together in the dark, there was nothing simpler. Their love and their desire were true to their cores. Outside, Olympus, Harry, Zeus, the reasons they couldn’t have traditional or be together, all of that was complicated.
Daire drew back from their kiss. “Who was he? The guy in London?”
