“I did take that arousal spell off you, didn’t I?’
She laughed, eased in closer. Felt the warmth of the earth element between them. “You did. But haven’t you figured out I don’t need an arousal spell to want you?”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re seducing me.”
“No, daemon. I’m enjoying you. The two are very different. When I seduce, trust me, I don’t enjoy.”
For a heartbeat, he didn’t speak. Just stared at her. Then he muttered “Skata” and brought his hands up to frame her face, drawing her lips back to his and kissing her with all the passion she’d been missing this last day.
She opened for him, drew his tongue into her mouth and savored that smoky, wet, dangerous taste on her tongue. The one that ignited fire in her blood and called to her on the most basic level.
His hands slid down her shoulders, over her sides, back to her hips again, dragging her closer to his erection. He took a step back, leaned against an outcrop of rock, and pushed one thigh between her legs, grasping her hips and dragging her close until she was rubbing up against him, growing breathless and sweaty all over again.
“Skyla, Skyla, Skyla,” he murmured against her lips, then dipped in for another taste that drove her a little more mad. “You’re going to be the death of me, Siren.”
This time, she eased away from his mouth. “No, I’m not. I believe in you, Orpheus.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“I can’t help it. You keep doing things that prove to me you are not at all what you think you are.”
“Don’t put too much faith in me. I never live up to it.”
She trailed her hand down his chest and laid it over the element resting against his heart, warm from a power that didn’t come from his skin or hers. It came from within. Just like the strength that was hidden in him but which he couldn’t see.
“Even a Fate can’t see the heart of a person, and free will reigns in all men, you included. But something tells me your part in all of this doesn’t end here.”
His piercing gaze held hers, and though her need for him right here and now was great, it wasn’t as great as her need for him to believe in himself. The only way she knew for him to do that was to find his brother and set right a wrong he felt responsible for.
She eased out of his arms but captured his hand in hers and smiled as she tugged him with her. His fingers closed around hers—strong, steady, alive. “Come on. We still have at least half a day’s journey. And that’s assuming we don’t run into any problems. I want to get this done and get back to the human realm, where we can pick up where we left off.”
He frowned but followed, his boots kicking up dust, his hand never leaving hers. “Where we left off was me being mad at you for pushing your way along on this trip.”
She laughed. “Okay, then we’ll skip ahead to the part where you’re not mad and are thankful I came along.”
“Am I?”
“You will be. Trust me.”
***
“They’ve entered Tartarus, my lord.” Orcus bowed his head in that subservient way that made Hades want to praise the disgusting creature by backhanding him across the room.
“And my wife?”
“Waiting.”
Of course. Waiting for Orpheus to reach the Cursed Marshes. His wife would attack then. When the hero and Siren would be disoriented and unable to run. It was a good plan. A plan Hades himself would have come up with…if, that is, he only wanted the Orb.
But now, knowing the Siren was with the no-good hero, and knowing what Atalanta and Krónos had planned, the Orb wasn’t enough. He wanted them all. The souls of two Argonauts, a Siren, and Atalanta. His power would surge with the blessed souls of the first three, and the last…well, he just wanted to see that bitch Atalanta suffer.
His father he’d deal with later.
“Bring me my wife.”
“She will be most displeased, my lord.”
A wicked smile turned up Hades’s lips and he clasped his hands behind his back as he rocked on his heels and stared out at the swirling red sky. “I’m counting on it.
“Oh, and Orcus,” he called over his shoulder.
The creature’s scuffling stopped. “Yes, my lord?”
“Send Tantalus to the Cursed Marshes to tell them where they can find the Argonaut’s soul. I’m ready to hurry this along.”
***
The air grew stagnant and thick, the moans and cries for help so loud they were a never-ending buzz in Orpheus’s ears.