“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I just know that if someone had told me a week ago I’d be sitting here like this with you, I would have laughed and said they were insane. Everything’s changed in a short amount of time, and not by my doing. There has to be a reason for it.”
He glanced back at the fire. He didn’t believe in reasons. He didn’t believe in the Fates. Where were the Fates when his world fell apart? Where were they when he started having blackouts and went nuts? No, he believed in what he could see and touch. And right now, what he could see and touch was way too close and much too vulnerable, especially when his arousal was still up and his own vulnerability hovered on the edge. “Be careful. People call me insane, and they’re not far off the mark.”
“Those people don’t know you. I’d say you’re way more sane than I am.”
He huffed. “You haven’t seen me at my finest.”
“Yes, actually, I have.” She leaned close and kissed his cheek.
Her lips were soft and sweet and gone way too fast. And though he knew he shouldn’t, he turned to look at her. “Why did you do that?”
“To say thank you for stopping me from going after Zeus and his Sirens. I wouldn’t have gotten very far in the snow without a coat. You saved my life, Argonaut. Again.”
Their eyes held. Heat and electricity crackled in the air, warming his skin all over, sending a rush of heat straight to his belly. He didn’t know if she felt the charge the way he did, but as the firelight danced over her smooth features and she continued to hold his gaze, her eyes slowly darkened and a warm flush grew in her cheeks, telling him she was feeling something. Something dangerous. Something wicked. Something he might not be ready for.
“Don’t worry,” she said softly. “I’m not going to seduce you to extend my thanks.”
A wave of disappointment washed over him even though he knew he had no right. But then she leaned close once more, and he sucked in a breath, afraid to move, afraid to hope, afraid to do anything but go stone-still.
Her luscious mouth stopped millimeters from his own, more sweet and hot and tempting than any mouth had ever been. And in a husky whisper, she said, “I can’t, because you’ve already seduced me.”
CHAPTER SIX
Daphne knew she was playing with fire, but she no longer cared. Before Ari could push her away, she pressed her lips to his.
He tensed against her mouth. Every muscle in his body went rigid. And though she tried to keep it back, doubt rushed in. Doubt that she’d misread the look in his eyes. That he wasn’t attracted to her like she thought. That his being nice to her here was simply that: politeness and not motivated in any way by the same desire she’d been fighting ever since she awoke in this hold and realized the sexy, rugged, wounded Argonaut had saved her life.
Slowly, she eased back, breaking the kiss. He didn’t speak. Didn’t move. Just stared at her with those mismatched eyes that seemed to flicker just like the firelight. And in the silence her mind tumbled for excuses, for something she could say to ease the sudden awkwardness. She was a nymph, trained in the art of seduction by Sirens. Awkwardness wasn’t supposed to happen to her. But then he wasn’t supposed to happen to her either, and here she was, hoping for something that had absolutely nothing to do with her mission. Wanting—
“Where do you think you’re going?” His arm snaked around her back and pulled her in close to the heat of his body. “That wasn’t nearly enough.”
Daphne drew in one quick breath before Ari’s mouth closed over hers, but relief filled her lungs, seeped into her body, and made her more lightheaded than any wine. She opened instinctively, drawing his tongue into her mouth, groaning at the sweet, masculine taste of him filling her senses. His lips were soft, his mouth wet and alluring, and when he leaned closer and kissed her harder, she knew she was lost.
She let go of the blanket, pressed her hands against his chest, then shifted her weight and straddled his hips. The blanket fell to her waist. He didn’t break the kiss, continued to nip and suck and lick like he couldn’t get enough. Inching forward, she slid her fingers up his pecs then across his soft, scruffy jaw. His hands found her waist, tugging her even closer. His mouth turned greedy beneath hers. Hot. Wild.
Settling herself on his lap so she could rub against his rock hard erection, she let him take the lead, wanting only to taste him deeper, to feel him everywhere.
“Daphne.” He pulled his mouth from hers and pressed kisses along her jaw as he swept his rough fingers up her back. “Daphne,” he whispered again before nipping gently at her earlobe.
Desire enflamed every inch of her skin. She groaned, tipped her head back so he could trail his wicked teeth and tongue down the length of her neck, rocked her hips against the thick line of his cock straining to be set free.