“Yeah but you’re not actually turning me into a real bug. So I can’t actually get stepped on.”
Siret wasn’t pulling me into another stone house, as I had expected. Instead, he was leading me into a marble gazebo with vines snaking up the pillars and covering the three stone benches within. There was a small marble fountain at the centre, with a few birds perched on the edge, grooming themselves in the spray of water.
“If I turn you into a bug and someone runs into you, they’re going to realise there’s an invisible force walking around, and they’ll set off an alarm.” Siret sat me down on the bench and stood before me, unnecessarily trapping my knees between his legs, as though I would try to escape at some point. “That’s not something we want right now.”
“What do we want right now?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and arching a brow at him.
“We want subtlety.” He grinned, planting a hand on the back of the bench, beside my right shoulder, bending over until his face was looming over mine.
“And you’re the King of Subtlety,” I snorted.
“You’re going to be a goddess.” He ignored my insult altogether.
“Maybe I’m already a goddess,” I murmured, pushing up on the seat a little bit and brushing my lips over his with the words.
He grunted, his hand shifting from the back of the bench to my shoulder, his fingers somehow finding their way beneath my robe to the skin of my collarbone.
“A specific goddess,” he clarified, his thumb tracing the outside of my collarbone before dipping down further, the rest of his fingers digging into my skin.
“You already know who you’re going to disguise me as …” I was working to keep the accusation out of my tone, to keep my voice soft and breathy as I continued speaking against his lips.
His thumb inched down lower, almost pressing into the top of my breast now, his breath heavier against my lips.
“Yes …”
“Asshole!” I declared, pushing him away. “What the hell are you assholes hiding from me?”
He groaned, falling back from me and slumping into the seat opposite mine, putting the fountain between us. “That was mean.”
“Who did you pick and what are you hiding?” I demanded.
“Don’t be mad okay, Will? It was the only way.”
“What was the only way?” I was standing now, my hands planted against my hips as I stared down at Siret over the top of the fountain. “Why did you take me out of the room to disguise me? I swear to the gods …” I was already striding from the Gazebo, ready to storm back into the marble house, but Siret was quicker.
He grabbed me, pulled me back into his chest and lifted me until my feet left the ground. “Calm down, Soldier. Just calm down and I’ll explain everything.”
“You have until I count to five, Five.”
“You can’t be serious.” He froze, his frustrated breath rushing out against the top of my head.
“One,” I replied.
“Willa.”
“Two.”
“For the love of Staviti. Rome taught you this trick, didn’t he?”
“Three.”
He jostled me further up and then suddenly tipped me over his shoulder, his hand coming down hard on my ass. A loud smacking sound assaulted my ears, and I could almost feel his sudden grin.
“You hit me,” I said, dumbfounded. “On my ass.”
“I spanked you,” he clarified, “and I’ll do it again if you keep counting.”
“I can’t believe you—”
“Or talking,” he added, cutting me off. “In fact, I might do it again regardless of what you do or say.”
“I’m going to kick you right in the—” I started threatening, but he cut me off again.
“You can’t; you’re hanging over my shoulder.”
“RIGHT IN THE BALLBAGS!” I shouted out, probably loud enough to alert the next floating platform. “Just as soon as you put me down. So … put me down!”
“Not a chance.” There was a definite smile in his voice, and that was all the warning I got before his hand was coming down on my backside again. Hard. “Now here’s what’s happening, before you threaten me again. Aros is … persuading … a certain goddess to stay on her platform for this meeting, so that you can attend the meeting as her.”
“I was pissed off before. Now I’m … worse. Now I’m dangerous.”
“Cute.” His hand landed on my ass again, but this time it was soft. A caress. The skin there was burning slightly, and I might have been wiggling against him as though I wanted his hands beneath my robe, but that had nothing to do with anything.
Because I was pissed.
Dangerous.
“So fucking cute,” Siret muttered, and then he was setting me on my feet and pushing me back against the fountain.
I had barely a moment of warning before his mouth was on mine, his fingers moulding to the side of my face. He drew me up, into the kiss, and then sent me down, spiralling with a need that was almost too much to control. His tongue was against mine, claiming my mouth and scattering my attention. I was pressing into him, needing to have every inch of myself covered by him.
I couldn’t remember what we had been fighting about anymore.
I couldn’t even remember why I was there.
Siret was kissing me and I needed more. I needed the robes gone. I needed skin against skin. I needed …
I needed …
“Wait a gods-dammed-click,” I growled out, tearing my mouth from his. My breaths were only small, gasping noises. I could feel my face growing hot. I could barely stand. My mind was muddled, but a growing fury was pushing its way back in. “How exactly is Aros persuading this goddess to stay on her platform?”
He didn’t answer me, he just recaptured my mouth and I was still disorientated enough that he managed to distract me again. In moments of clarity, I decided that whilst finding out Aros’s plan was very important and pertinent, I could wait another few clicks.
I opened my lips further and at the same time pressed my body up and into Siret’s. We were so close together, I could feel every hard line. Every muscle. His strength was almost overwhelming, and it reminded me of how very different I was to the Abcurses. A difference I was starting to like … a lot. Because they might be physically stronger than me, but I had my own strengths, and … I was not letting any of them get away with their underhanded bullsen shit any longer.
It took every ounce of my strength to push through the fog in my mind and formulate a plan. One which involved me being able to continue this very enjoyable task of kissing one of my boys. I was starting to think I’d do anything to always be kissing one of them.
There was no space between us, so I let one of my hands trail down his side, pushing and gliding across his robes, feeling the lines of his body. Siret made a sound from deep in his throat, and I forgot for a micro-click where I had been going with my plan. His arm was wrapped tightly around me and all I wanted was to taste and breathe in the scent of him.
Plenty of time for this later, I forcefully reminded myself, regaining some of my focus. My hand continued down, over his hip and along the top of a rock-hard thigh. My centre ached, I wanted him to shift his position and place that thigh between my legs …
Focus!
My hand snaked between us and just as I was about to wrap my fingers tightly around him, he let out a low laugh against my lips and twisted his body out of reach. I gasped and fell forward, completely missing my mark. We were standing a few inches apart now, our breathing hard, his eyes burning into mine with a glowing intensity.
“How did you know?” I pouted between the deep breathing I was doing.
He laughed again, but those eyes remained at almost full glow. “We’re connected, remember? Not to mention your first instinct when you’re cornered is to fight dirty …”
“I only have so much power to use against you,” I admitted.