She moaned and kissed him back, her hands on both sides of his face, her tongue licking into his mouth in a way that made him wild for more. For everything. Holding her tight against him so she wouldn’t fall, he eased forward in the chair, then moved to his knees on the carpet so she was laid out beneath him.
With one hand braced on the rug, the other arm still wrapped tight around her waist, he lifted his mouth a breath from hers so he could see her eyes. So he could watch her reaction when he rocked back, then pressed deep all over again. So he could figure out what it was about her that was so different this time.
What was making him different.
“Mm, yes, dios…” Her fingertips tightened against his shoulders, her violet gaze never left his. Each time he hit that spot he knew drove her wild, her sheath contracted around his cock and the sexiest grunt slipped from her perfect lips. “Just like that.”
The need to please her, to satisfy her, to give her what she wanted overtook every thought. He tightened his hold on her waist, pulling her tighter against him. Thrust faster each time she pulsed around his length.
Sweat slicked his skin. Blood pounded in his veins. Heat streaked down his spine as she wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him in closer. But he held his orgasm back, driven by a hot, wicked demand that had only one answer.
Her release. Her cries of carnal pleasure. Her detonation as she erupted in erotic bliss all around him.
Nothing else mattered but that. Every cell in his body zeroed in on her. On finally being exactly what she’d always needed.
“Dios…” She arched and gripped his shoulders tighter. “There. Oh yes, right… There…”
His body responded to the throaty sound of her voice, to the plea in her words. He thrust harder. Deeper. Grunted each time he bottomed out. Still couldn’t look away from her eyes. Couldn’t make his lips work to respond. Couldn’t do anything but fuck her faster and better than he had before. To hold on as every muscle in her body contracted then spasmed as that mindless pleasure utterly consumed her.
It devoured him, too. A shockwave of ecstasy that sucked him under and seemed to have no end. One that didn’t just rock his body but penetrated his soul in a way their joining never had before.
In a way that told him it wasn’t a god or a Fate or a higher power that would finally save him from the darkness. It was her.
Her trust. Her faith. Her belief that there really was some kind of light left inside him worth saving.
All he had to do was tear open every wound inside and let her.
The sound of quiet voices somewhere close roused Talisa from sleep. That and the scent of fresh brewed coffee.
Rolling to her back, she blinked several times in the dimly lit room and focused on a fair-haired nymph setting a tray on a table near the windows.
“Would you like the curtains opened?” the nymph asked.
“Yes.”
A smile tugged at Talisa’s lips when she recognized the gruff voice. Shifting her head the other direction, she looked up to see Zagreus sitting beside her in the pillows.
He was as naked as he’d been when he’d dragged her into his big bed last night, the sheet hitting low at his waist to show off his rock-hard muscles and tantalizing tattoos. Only, he wasn’t looking at the nymph as Talisa expected. He was staring down at her with eyes that were a little bit wary, a tad confused, and a whole lot sexy.
Heat rolled through Talisa’s body when she remembered last night. The way he’d taken charge. The fact she’d let him. Their conversation after. And how it had seemed to change something in him—something that had softened him to her. Or, at the very least, given him a reason to stop fighting her.
Fabric rustled, then sunlight streamed into the room, making Talisa blink. Shifting back in the pillows, she sat up and fixed the sheet around her so she didn’t look like such a lazy bum.
“Will there be anything else, My Prince?”
“No,” Zagreus answered, still not looking toward the nymph.
The nymph glanced at Talisa with pink cheeks.
One scan of the room in the light and Talisa could only imagine what the female was thinking. Their clothing was scattered across the floor, hers ruined and in tatters. The shelves were in disarray, books and trinkets littering the hardwood. And the high-backed chair they’d both been sitting in when they’d had that little talk was now on its side. She wasn’t even sure when they’d tipped that over.
Her own cheeks heated. “Thank you, Petra.”
The nymph’s whole face brightened. With a curtsy and a smile, she said, “You’re welcome, princess.”
Talisa watched the female cross the room. When the heavy door closed behind her, she turned a frown on Zagreus. “That was a little rude, don’t you think?”
“Rude was her waking you.”
Talisa knew she shouldn’t be pleased with that response, but a thrill she couldn’t contain swept through her. Three days ago, he hadn’t given a rip about anyone—himself included—being rude to her. The change in him was so dramatic, she wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Not wanting to overthink things, she threw the sheet back and tossed her legs over the side of the bed. “That coffee smells amazing. How do you drink yours?”
“Black,” he said as she crossed the floor toward the tray.
She shot him a smile over her shoulder. “Same.”
She poured two steaming cups then stepped back toward the bed. He hadn’t moved from his spot reclined in the pillows. Hadn’t stopped looking at her, either. His intense gaze followed her every movement. And though she still recognized uncertainty in his dark as night eyes, she also saw heat. The same heat she’d seen last night and which was building inside her all over again.
Kneeling on the bed, she handed him one mug, then sat and sipped her own. “Mm… That’s good.” Twisting around, she set her coffee on the table at her side, then rolled his way, tugged the sheet back up, and perched her elbow in the pillows so she could lean against her hand and look up at him. “Do the nymphs always bring you coffee in bed?”
“No.” His lips thinned as he sipped the hot brew. “Nysa must have told them you were in here, which is why that one was gawking.”
Gods, he took grouchy, brooding male to a whole new level. But instead of being irritated by his surly mood, it relaxed her. If there was one thing she knew how to handle, it was a cranky, moody dude.
She watched him twist away from her to set his mug on the nightstand beside him, then relax back into the pillows. When he was settled, she slid her palm over his abs, loving how he shivered at the slight contact. “I’m sort of surprised you’re still here in this bed with me.”
“Technically, you’re still in this bed with me. For some reason, I can’t seem to get rid of you.”
She eased closer, her lips tipping up. “Doesn’t seem like you want to get rid of me so much anymore.”
“Hm.” He tensed as she brushed her nose against his earlobe. “I’m still deciding on that.”
Smiling wider, she pressed her lips against the soft skin behind his ear, pushed up and feathered soft kissed across his jaw, then threw a leg over her hips so she was straddling his waist.
With her hands braced on the pillows at his back, she grinned down at him. “I’ll decide for you. It’s a waste of time to argue with me anyway.”