There wasn’t any real measure of relief in his golden stare. “You should never have fallen into his hands. My job is to protect you, and I left you unguarded. He was hurting you. He would’ve—”
“Stop.” It was my turn to place my finger over his lips. “We’re here. Both of us. You did nothing wrong.”
The look that pinched his features said he wasn’t convinced, so I did the only thing I thought I could do. I moved my hand as I stretched up, replacing my fingers with my lips.
I kissed him softly.
It was nowhere near as skilled as his, or as suave, but he made that sound in the back of his throat—the sound of approval, and he shifted his hand behind my head, holding me to him.
This time, when we broke apart, Seth eased onto his side, got me on mine, and managed to get the blanket up over our hips. Somehow both of us fit on the bed, our cheeks resting on the same pillow.
We stared at each other.
And then Seth got closer, brushing his lips over the curve of my cheek. The tip of my nose was next, then each of my eyelids, and then he kissed my forehead.
We didn’t talk for a long time, even though there was so much to talk about, so much to deal with and to think about. There was the fact that I was a demigod now. I didn’t know where to even begin with that, and everything that would now change because of what I had become. Like, would another solar flare emit from me unexpectedly, taking out hapless pures and halfs? What about the elements? Would I now be a ninja like Seth? There was also the fact that Hyperion was still out there and he was going to come back. So were the other Titans. I had to find an icon. We needed to find the other demigods before the Titans did.
There was so much to deal with, and I could see it in Seth’s eyes that he knew it too, but he remained quiet as he drew his hand up and down my arm. With each pass, that weird jolt lessened but didn’t completely go away. If he felt it, he hadn’t said anything about it.
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “Guess what?”
“What?”
Meeting his amber-colored eyes, I admitted what probably wasn’t a secret, but what I felt like I needed to put into words. “I like you, Seth.”
He stopped his hand over mine, staying there, as he gave me a lopsided smile. “Guess what?”
“What?” I whispered.
Seth shifted so that his lips brushed mine as he spoke. “I like you too, Josie.”
END OF BOOK ONE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
None of this would’ve been possible without Kate Kaynak and the wonderful team at Spencer Hill Press—Rachel Rothman Cohen, Kellie Sheridan, Rich Storrs, Cindy Thomas, and Damaris Cardinali. A big thank you to Kevan Lyon, the awesomely awesome agent, for keeping me stable and sane. Thank you to Stacey Morgan, Lesa Rodrigues, Dawn Ransom, Laura Kaye, Sophie Jordan, Jen Fisher, Molly McAdams, and Wendy Higgins for either supporting Seth and The Return by letting me talk nonsense to them or by reading an earlier version that was probably pretty crappy.
And of course, thank you—the reader. Every time you pick up one of my books, a baby Pegasus is born. Okay. That’s a lie. But you are the reason I do this and I’m able to do this, so seriously, thank you.
Jennifer L. Armentrout lives in West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. Well, mostly. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write. She shares her home with her husband, his K-9 partner named Diesel, and her hyper Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent her time writing short stories…therefore explaining her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes Adult and Young Adult Urban Fantasy and Romance.
Come find out more at: www.jenniferarmentrout.com