He leaned close to her ear, so close his hot breath was all she felt. That and his bloody hand closing tight around her jaw to squeeze until pain made her eyes water and darkness creep in at the edge of her vision. “But remember that you are mine. No matter how you fuck him. Whether it’s with your hand or mouth or your slutty little body, never forget you belong to me. My blood flows in your veins now. Mine and no one else’s. We made a deal, and you will never be free of me. Not until I have what I want. That I promise.”
He let go of her jaw. And vaguely, she felt his hands traveling down her neck, across her bare breasts and over her abdomen, but she didn’t care. That darkness was claiming her, pulling her under, drawing her into a murky abyss. And she relished it. Because there she wouldn’t have to endure whatever else he had planned for her. And there she couldn’t worry about what he was going to do to Nick.
“Sleep now, agapi. And know I will come for you. Soon.”
Soft humming woke Isadora.
Rolling to her side, she peered through the open doorway of her bedroom that led into the nursery. A low light burned in the darkness, and her daughter’s happy coo drifted from the other room, but it was the sweet male voice that pulled her from the bed.
She ran her fingers through her shoulder-length hair as she crossed the room, her pulse picking up, her stomach tightening as it always did when he was close. The sleeves of her silky blue pajamas fell past her fingers as she reached for the doorjamb, and her feet drew to a stop.
Warmth curled outward from her chest and expanded through her limbs. Demetrius stood near their daughter’s crib, cradling Elysia in one of his big arms, letting her hold on to the index finger of his other hand with her little fist while he swayed and hummed a lullaby Isadora recognized from her youth.
The Argonauts all seemed surprised at the softness he exuded when he was near his daughter, but Isadora had known it was in him for a long time. Ever since those days they’d spent on that deserted island together, when she’d gotten her first true glimpse of the real man, not the closed-off and hardened guardian he wanted the world to see.
He was still dressed in the black pants and long-sleeved thick shirt he always wore when he was fighting in the human realm. A smudge of dirt smeared his cheek, and his dark hair was tousled around his face, as if he’d run his fingers through it several times in frustration. He’d obviously come right to the castle after crossing back into Argolea, but she could tell without even asking that he still hadn’t found his brother. She felt it as surely as she felt that Nick was still alive.
“I wish that was my welcome-home greeting.”
His humming cut off, and he turned to face her, surprise evident in his black eyes. “Did we wake you?”
“Yes.” She stepped away from the door and moved into the room to stand next to him, peering down at their daughter. Her brown eyes were all Isadora, but that thick black hair and that tiny dent in her chin were her father’s, and every time Isadora looked at Elysia, she saw the man she loved. “And it’s a good way to wake.”
She reached for Elysia’s other hand, and the baby cooed and gripped Isadora’s finger, locking the three of them together.
This was what Isadora wanted. Her family all in one place. But that niggling vision she’d had wouldn’t leave her, and she feared their separation of late was only the beginning of the end.
She looked up when she realized Demetrius was staring at her. He was still swaying, but concern now shadowed his eyes, and his features were drawn tight as he studied her. “What?” she asked.
He let go of Elysia’s hand and placed his palm over Isadora’s forehead. “Are you ill? You look pale.”
Sighing, Isadora released the baby and pushed his hand away. She hated when everyone worried over her like she was some glass doll. And that wasn’t the way she wanted her mate to touch her, not after the days they’d been apart. “I’m fine, Demetrius. Just tired. There’s been a lot going on here, but then you wouldn’t know because you haven’t been around.”
It was a dig. But she couldn’t seem to stop herself from saying it. Turning out of the nursery so they didn’t argue in front of their daughter, she crossed to the windows in their bedroom and folded her arms over her chest. Frustration clouded her mind as she looked out at the sparkling view of the Olympic Ocean under the full-moon light. Followed by a wave of confusion that she found herself being short with him when what she really wanted was him home and with her.
The door to the nursery closed softly, then Demetrius’s footsteps crossed the floor. But he didn’t touch her. He stopped several feet away as if he couldn’t read her mood and wasn’t sure how to proceed.
Well, that makes two of us.
“I’m back for good,” he said in a low voice. “No more weeks away at a time.”
She focused on the lap of water against the beach far below, shimmering in the moonlight. “You talked to Theron, didn’t you?”
“I need to be here.”
No, he’d talked to Theron and found out what she’d decided about the Misos and the Council. “We’re perfectly safe here in the castle. I don’t need you sacrificing your duties out of guilt.”