Slowly, Gryphon released the kid’s wrist, pulled money from his pocket, and slid it across the counter. The kid pocketed the cash, then reached for a key hanging from a hook to his right, moving as if in a trance. He slid the key across to Gryphon. “Number eight. Last door. Will take me about a half hour to get the food.”
“That’s fine,” Gryphon said, looking down at Maelea. “Gives us time to get…comfortable. Right, honey?”
Sickness rolled through Maelea’s stomach. This kid was her only hope, and Gryphon had easily turned his brain to butter. She didn’t answer, but her stomach turned when Gryphon leaned down and kissed her cheek.
I need you.
She hadn’t lived nearly three thousand years to have her life come down to this. If she was to prove her worth to the gods and earn her way to Olympus, she had to get away from him. She had to beat him at his own game and come out the winner in the end.
She didn’t fight him when he grasped the key and turned her toward the motel room. She was already thinking three steps ahead as their boots echoed across the sidewalk.
He leaned close and whispered, “You did well. As long as you cooperate, nothing bad will happen.”
She didn’t answer. His warm breath rushing across her chilled skin set off a rush of tremors deep in her body. Ones she didn’t like and were at complete odds with the sickness brewing in her stomach.
He stopped at the truck, yanked open the door, and grasped the clothes they’d taken from that army surplus store. Then he ushered her toward the last door at the end of the motel and handed her the key.
Her pulse raced as she unlocked the door. The smell of bleach assailed her nostrils as they stepped inside. A filthy green shag carpet covered the floor. A narrow hallway opened to a bathroom on the right. Ahead, a double bed sat flanked by two nightstands holding wood lamps with stained yellow shades. Across the room, an old, beat-up armoire housed a TV, and next to the sliding glass door on the far side, a mismatched table and chairs was pushed up against the wall.
Gryphon dumped the clothes on the floor near the armoire and jerked on the cuffs linking them together before she caught her bearings. “Come here.”
Her anxiety shot up as he pulled her into the bathroom and flipped on the light. Carpet gave way to dirty linoleum. She blinked twice under the fluorescent beam. A bathtub reflected in the mirror that ran along the wall above a counter and single sink. Gryphon closed the door at her back. From his pocket he produced a key and unhooked the cuff from his arm, freeing his hand and breaking the bond between them.
The cuffs clanked against her wrist where one was still locked tight. Freedom burst inside her as Gryphon slid the key back into his pocket, then peeled off his shirt, tossing it on the toilet lid behind him. But that freedom turned to unease as he unsnapped his jeans and pushed the denim down his legs.
Maelea stepped back until she hit the wall. “Wh-what are you doing?”
“We both need a shower.”
Her eyes grew wide. “I’m not showering with you.”
He kicked off his pants, leaving him clothed in nothing but gray boxer briefs—briefs he filled out really, really well—then reached for her. “You smell like a pond. It’s either with me or not at all.”
She swatted at his hand when he gripped the bottom of her shirt. “I’ll stay dirty.”
“You’re not staying out here alone while I shower.” He easily grabbed her hand. “Stop fighting me or I’ll handcuff you again.”
Her pulse picked up speed. And she wasn’t sure, but she thought she felt his finger moving against the pulse point of her wrist. “élencho doesn’t work on me, you bastard.”
A ghost of a smile made him look devastatingly handsome. She didn’t doubt that this was a male who knew how to get what he wanted from a female. “I didn’t think it would, but it was worth a shot.”
He moved a fraction of an inch closer. Just enough so his body brushed hers. That darkness inside jolted with excitement. “I have no intentions toward you except keeping you within my sight. If you cooperate, we’ll be in and out of this shower before our food arrives.”
Liar. He’d made it clear over and over that he needed her for something. She wasn’t stupid when it came to men, especially this one. Not after the way he’d kissed her in that cave.
Or had she kissed him? The entire moment was jumbled in her mind. But she remembered the heat. The slide of his tongue against hers. How wet and tantalizing he’d been. How tempting.
Her cheeks heated with the remembered lust and embarrassment. “I don’t believe you.”
His smile faded, and something dark crept into his light blue eyes. Something that made her catch her breath. A haunted look that spoke of pain and…torment. “I only want a shower. I won’t force you into anything else. I won’t do to you what was done to me.”