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But as the doors close, she keeps her back to us. There’s nothing to note except her determined posture and all ten of her tapered fingers now held steadily at her sides.
But in the last second before the doors fit together, one telling observation.
She’s still tapping one foot at an impossibly rapid rhythm.
The edges of my mouth lift with grim energy. The simplest explanation is usually the right one, meaning the petite goddess is nervous about her return to Hecate’s side. But if I let conjecture take over, there’s more, which is where I start after pressing a consoling kiss to Kara’s temple.
“Hey. Don’t stress, okay? She needs us more than the other way around, at least for now.”
“For now.” There’s not a note of solace in her raspy reiteration. “Until we’re not able to hide the sprout anymore.”
I tuck her close, fitting her head beneath my chin. “By then, we’ll have a better plan. And amuchbetter place to hide. I don’t know where or how, but we’ll find it. I promise you, Kara.”
“But…” She sighs long and hard into my chest. “What if we don’t?”
I kick back something between a grumble and a growl, flowing the vibrations into her hair. “Hey. Aren’tIthe token fatalist in this tale?”
“There’s a difference. This is realism.” She loosens our clutch by more inches than I like, though it’s a new chance to behold her full face in its gorgeous intensity. “We’ve been over this, my love. No place in any of the realms is going to be a haven for us, once all the badgers learn there’s something better than a stick to fight over.”
I hate the edge of tears around her soft sarcasm, which stings the backs of my own eyes. But we take longer than we can afford to savor the small moment: our ability to seek and find a sliver of light in this quicksand of dimness.
I cup a hand to her cheek. She does the same, scraping her sweet small fingers into my beard. I tuck in my head and slide my mouth along her palm. My gaze never leaves hers—and in the seconds that follow, I’m extremely glad about it.
Extra waves of energy start to shimmer from her eyes. Oscillations of pure fire. Those temperatures climb with her slow, hooded blinks. When her lips part, every blood cell of my human half responds to the sizzling siren call.
Screw it. Every cell of my Olympian half, as well.
I sweep my lips away from her hand and crush them right onto her mouth. I mash them there until she obeys my urgent prompt, opening the rest of her heat to me.
Without hesitation, I delve in. Without remorse, I stroke every inch of her tongue.
Without fear, I lower my hands around her backside.
Before I can squeeze her with enough command, she’s leaping up and locking her legs around my hips. I flex my arms, urging her higher. Tighter. Solid enough so I can sweep through a pivot and march toward the darker alcoves of this unused level of the restaurant.
Upon this more detailed inspection, I learn this area is set up more like the interior of Labyrinth, with expansive sofas upholstered in plush fabrics. The colors, dark and verdant, contrast with the vibrant greens that define this level of the atrium. The walls are covered in different panels of marble that are cut to resemble clouds. The whole illusion is that of a hidden garden in a celestial forest.
It’s perfect.
I lean over, settling Kara onto a sectional in a far corner. As she leans back, her shiny, dark hair fans against the cushions. Her eyes take on the same texture. They watch my every move like a night sky keeping watch over a growing tsunami…which is definitely how I’m beginning to feel.
I need her.
With all the marrow in my bones, the fibers in my muscles, and the roars of my spirit.
But not for the lusty drive-by that she’s clearly expecting. I even move to communicate that, grabbing her wrist as she reaches for the zipper on her slacks.
“No. Not like that,” I command with quiet force. “You deserve more. Both of you do.”
I’m unsure how she’s going to accept that, but I’ve also forgotten that the woman can see into so much of my heart. That her own spirit has reached across the depths of the Styx and the shadows of dreams to join with it. That even now, when I can’t imagine loving her with any more passion, she smiles as if telling me that of course I can…and will. Perhaps very soon.
The wait is going to decimate me. But what an incredible way to be annihilated.
But I’m determined to turn her to dust first. In every way I can.
Starting now.
As soon as I re-form my fingers, meshing them between hers, while guiding her hand upward. I settle her touch across the open inches between the lapels of my jacket, once more using my stare to capture hers in full.
