Oh, good gods. That wasn’t a calming elixir in that vial, it was an aphrodisiac. Her blood warmed as he drew in another breath and nuzzled her neck. Why the hell hadn’t she expected that from her horn dog of a mother?
Okay, this entire situation was so fucked up it wasn’t even funny. They were standing in the middle of a gruesome murder scene, he was bleeding all over her, and she’d just drugged him with the ancient Greek equivalent of a bottle of Viagra. And now she was getting turned on by the fact he was turned on? They needed to get the hell out of here, right fucking now.
She shifted her weight, angled them toward the door, and pulled as hard as she could. “Come on. Let’s just get to the truck.”
He pressed forward. Stumbled. Banged into the wall with his shoulder. Didn’t even seem to notice. “Coming. Come…coooming. Would like to be coming.”
Holy hell. He was worse off than she thought. Her stomach tightened. She was thankful for the cool evening air when they stepped over the threshold and into the parking lot, which kept the heat burning in her belly from becoming a full-blown inferno as she slid her arm around his waist and he leaned into her side.
Somehow they made it to the truck. She pulled the passenger door open, helped him in, then dropped the backpack at his feet. His head fell against the headrest as she shut the door. A quick glance at the front of the small motel confirmed her fear. The office windows were smashed out, which meant those daemons had hit there first before coming after them.
She wanted to go check to see if anyone else was still alive. Wanted to know if the kid who’d checked them in had made it out, but knew they didn’t have time. There was no telling how many other daemons were in the area. Knowing that it was all she could do, she said a quick prayer for the kid, then swallowed the fear and ran for the motel room once more.
The stench hit her even before she stepped into the room. She covered her mouth with her hand. Grabbed towels from the bathroom and forced herself not to look around too much as she went back into the bedroom and grasped the sword. She didn’t breathe again until she was back in the parking lot, relieved to see Gryphon still sitting in the truck. His eyes were closed, his face pale, his body covered in blood and other things Maelea didn’t want to think about. Anyone walking by might think he was dead, but as she climbed into the driver’s seat, she saw his chest rising and falling with his even breaths. Relief spread through her all over again.
She placed a towel against his wounded abdomen, laid his hand over the terry cloth. “Hold this here until I can get you some bandages.”
His hand covered hers. Warm. Electric. So very alive. And he tipped his head her way on the seat back but didn’t open his eyes. “Like when you touch me, sotiria. Dreamed ’bout it for months.”
Her pulse picked up speed at the lazy way he called her his salvation. At the memory of the way he’d watched her from the window of his room when they were at the colony. At the slide of his skin over hers. And that connection she’d felt when he kissed her earlier, the one that had amplified when they stood in the hallway minutes ago, flared hot all over again.
She had to force herself to tug her hand away, so she wouldn’t be tempted to touch him anywhere else, and started the truck. Her heart raced against her ribs as she pulled out onto the highway. She didn’t know which direction they were going. All she knew was she had to get them both as far from this nightmare as she could.
That and the fact that things between them had dramatically changed tonight. And that her life—her future—might never be the same because of it.
Chapter Fourteen
Gryphon’s head felt so light, for a moment he wondered if it would float off his shoulders and disappear into the clouds.
Of course, he had no idea if there were clouds up there. At the moment he didn’t know what the hell was up there. Above him. Below him. Shit, he didn’t know much of anything.
His body jostled against…something. A seat? He opened his eyes to see Maelea’s face, illuminated by an eerie green glow, one vaguely similar to the glow of the therillium in those caves.
Dashboard lights, he realized as he looked up at her. She was driving, and he was lying across the truck’s bench seat, his head pillowed on her thigh. A blanket covered him, but it was her heat—blessed heat—that seeped from her body into his that warmed places inside he hadn’t known had been cold.