He let go of all the failure. Each betrayal. And every single sin he’d committed over the long, lonely years of his life.
Every muscle in her body contracted. Her pussy spasmed around his cock. Then she braced her hands against his chest, pressed her forehead to his, and cried out.
The sound of her pleasure echoed in the air, triggering his own release. The power so strong, it rocketed down his spine and ricocheted through his entire body, firing like a thousand exploding stars in what was left of his grey matter.
Until the light faded from his vision.
Until the fight left his battered body.
Until all that remained was the darkness that had been waiting to claim him from the very beginning.
Breathless and sweaty, Max rolled off Ana and dropped to the dirt floor on his back, staring up at nothing in the darkness as he tried to slow his racing pulse.
She instantly curled her naked body against his, hooked her leg over his hip, and pressed her very fine breasts to his side. “Mm. I guess you’re not as weak as you thought.”
No, he wasn’t. He ran a hand down her hair as she rested her cheek against his chest. He was horny as shit. And a little wigged out that he’d literally bumped into his soul mate here, in the middle of a nightmare.
But then, that was the way with soul mates, wasn’t it? The Argonauts were always joking about how their soul mates showed up when they least expected.
He tipped his head to look down at her. Couldn’t see anything because it was so dark. “Are you all right?”
“Better than all right.” He heard the smile in her words just before her lips brushed his. “I’m perfect now that I’m with you.”
He let her draw him into a toe-curling kiss, but in the back of his mind he knew she wouldn’t be perfect for long. And neither would he. Not trapped in this pit.
When she eased away, he skimmed his other hand over her cheek, desperate to keep touching her. “I’ll find a way out of here.”
“For both of us?”
“I’m not leaving you. You’re coming with me.”
“I like the sound of that.” She pushed up on her hand, leaned down so her silky hair grazed his cheek, and kissed him again. “I like the sound of that a lot.” She drew back from his lips. “But where will we go?”
“I’ll take you to Argolea. You’ll be safe there. The satyrs can’t—”
“No.” She pushed off him. Shuffling sounding in the darkness. “I can’t go there. I won’t. I—”
“Hey.” Max stood and reached for her. Her shoulders shook, but she easily let him pull her against him. “It’s okay. Nothing bad will happen. You’ll be safe.”
“No,” she said, her voice muffled where her face was pressed against his chest. “You don’t understand. He’s there.”
“He who?”
“The Argonaut you call Aristokles. The one who killed my sisters.”
“Ari?” Max knew Ari had a checkered past. That after he’d lost his soul mate, he’d gone a little nuts and spent fifty or so years hunting Zeus’s Sirens, blaming them for her death. But he hadn’t targeted any nymphs. At least not that Max knew.
“Yes, Ari. The crazy Argonaut. He captured several of my sisters and used them as bait when he was hunting Sirens. They died because of him.”
The hysteria in her voice combined with her rapid heartbeat told Max she was truly scared. He ran a hand down her hair, trying his best to soothe her. “Ari’s not like that anymore. I promise. He’s better. He won’t hurt you.”
“I don’t care. I can’t be anywhere near him. It’s too much. Just… Don’t make me go there. Please.” She trembled against his chest.
“I won’t. I promise. You won’t have to go there.” Max held her close, his heart clenching at the terror he felt from her, anger welling inside at the same time over what Ari had done.
Ari had always been Max’s friend, but knowing the Argonaut had terrorized innocents like that… That he’d gone after Ana…
It caused a swirling, protective urge to well inside Max, one that came out of nowhere and made him tighten his hold on her. Made him vow to do whatever it took to keep her safe. Made him want to take a blade to the Argonaut’s throat the next time he saw him.
Long minutes later, she sniffled then slowly lifted her head. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“But—”
“Sh.” He leaned down and softly pressed his lips to hers. “It’s not your fault. We won’t go to Argolea. We’ll find somewhere else. Somewhere here in the human realm.”
“What if they try to find you? What if they find me?”
“I’ll keep you safe. Don’t worry.”
“But how? There are so many. And you’re just one—”
“I’m stronger than all of them.”
“You are? How?”
“I have the power of transference. I can take on the powers or gifts of anyone I face. I would have been able to best all those satyrs upstairs, but when they found me, I’d been injured by that energy blast. The energy blast you healed me from.”
“I… Oh my gods. You’re the Argonaut who was raised by Atalanta, aren’t you?”
A familiar bitterness swept through Max, but he fought to keep it from his voice when he said, “Imprisoned, not raised. Until I was ten. But I did learn a lot from her.”
“Wow.” Awe filled Ana’s voice. “I had no idea that was you. You really are powerful.”
He smiled, pleased by her reaction. “I can definitely keep you safe. And I promise, I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
“I believe you,” she whispered.
Sinking into him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his heart in a way that eased the pressure in his chest over what had been done to her.
He held her like that for several minutes, thinking about where they could go, then softly said, “Once I get you settled, there’s something I have to do.”
“What?” She eased back once more, and though he couldn’t see her, he sensed she was looking up at him.
“I have to find my cousin. She was kidnapped. That’s why I was in the human realm. Her name is Talisa. She was at a club, and—”
“Zagreus has her.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw her. I was running from Zagreus when the satyrs caught me. I was his prisoner, too. I tried to help Talisa escape, but Zagreus caught up with us and took her back. I barely got away.”
Max’s adrenaline soared. “Where?”
“Where what?”
“Where is he holding her?”
“Oh. In the nymph kingdom of Ehrendia. He’s taken it as his own and enslaved all the nymphs there. It’s his new torture palace.”
Max’s stomach clenched. “And what about Talisa? What does he want with her?”
When she didn’t answer, Max shifted his hands to her shoulders. “Ana?”
“He…” Her voice wavered. “He’s obsessed with her. I don’t know why. But he’s keeping her as his own. As his… personal sex slave.”