She leaned down and kissed him. He didn’t soften under her touch. Didn’t close his eyes and give in. But he didn’t stop her, either. He just rested his hands on her thighs and let her toy with his lips as he continued to watch her with that same hint of skepticism she’d seen since she’d awoken.
She drew back and narrowed her gaze on his. “You’re thinking something.”
“I’m thinking you always get your way, don’t you?”
“Rarely. Which is why I learned to be so damn persistent.”
She kissed him once more, but this time when he tensed, she knew there was something else going on. “Okay, what? Spill it, already.”
He stared at her for several seconds, then said, “I might not be forcing you leave, even though we both know it’s still in your best interest—”
She rolled her eyes.
“—but before this goes any further, we need to talk about this.” His fingertips grazed her forearm.
Stomach tight, Talisa pushed back and sat up. But she didn’t move off his lap, and she watched him carefully, unsure how much he knew. Or how much she should share. “I’m not one of them.”
“Aren’t you?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never trained with them.”
“Why not?”
“Because…” A familiar bitterness swirled inside her, but she tamped it down. “Because I’m female. And to them that means weak.”
He stared at her for several moments. She had no idea what he was thinking, couldn’t read him. And she couldn’t help but wonder if he thought she was weak, too—for not standing up to the Argonauts. For hiding here, where they couldn’t find her.
Was that what she was doing? She couldn’t deny that she liked being in a place where no one knew her. Where there were no preconceived notions of who or what she was supposed to be. And she especially liked that people seemed to want her here. Not because she was linked to the Argonauts. Not because she was part of the royal family. But because she’d earned their respect after she’d helped Zagreus defeat those satyrs.
None of those were the reason she was staying, though. She was staying because of him. Because they were linked. And because even though it may be sudden and crazy, that link was telling her he needed her.
“You’re hardly weak,” he finally said. “You single-handedly saved this entire kingdom. If the Argonauts refused to let you join their ranks, I am quite sure your gender was not the reason.”
His words warmed her. Before she could get lost in the feeling, though, she realized he didn’t know who she really was. Or just how closely she was linked the guardians. “Zagreus, my father is the leader of the Argonauts.”
“I figured it was something like that.”
“He’s probably looking for me.”
“And you don’t want him to find you.”
“No, it’s not that. He’s actually a really good father. Aside from being stubborn and bullheaded and uncompromising about the Argonauts or wanting me to stay in Argolea.”
“Hm. Stubborn and bullheaded and uncompromising. Sounds like someone I know.”
She pursed her lips, recognizing he was making fun. “Just so you know, it’s not that I don’t want him to find me. Yes, I was mad at him before about the Argonaut stuff, but I’m over it. I don’t even want to be part of the stupid Argonauts anymore. I just…”
“You don’t want him to find me.”
She looked deep into his eyes. “I don’t want him to find us. He wouldn’t understand this.”
“Talisa, I’m right here, and I don’t even understand this.”
Smiling, she leaned down to kiss him once more, happy he wasn’t upset by what she’d shared.
He stopped her with his hands on her arms. “I’m definitely not an expert on family, but walking away from yours will have consequences. And I’m not talking about consequences for me.”
She stilled a breath from his lips, her gaze skipping over his features. “What do you mean?”
“Your parents have to know about the marking on your hip. If they wouldn’t let you out of your realm, if your father didn’t allow you to serve with the Argonauts, it wasn’t because of your skill or your gender. It was because they knew you were bound. To someone from this world. To someone like me.”
Conversations she’d had with her parents, their reactions over the years, even the face-off she’d had with her father and the queen just before she’d met Zagreus in that club started to make sense.
She eased back once more and looked down at him as her pulse quickened with the knowledge that…
They’d known. Her parents had to have known she was bound to Zagreus. Her mother had the gift of hindsight. She could have easily seen into Talisa’s past lives with one touch. Which meant everything they’d done had been done to prevent Talisa from finding him.
“They won’t stop looking for you,” Zagreus said in low voice, still holding her gaze.
“I don’t care.”
“Don’t you? You barely know me.”
“I know the parts that matter. Everything else is meaningless.”
“It’s not meaningless to them. By staying here with me, you’re alienating your family. That never works out well in the long run. I know from experience.”
He was right. But she didn’t want to think about that too much. At least not yet.
She leaned down and brushed her lips over his once more. “I’ll make them understand at some point.”
“I’m not sure you can. And I’m running out of reasons to try to convince you.”
She smiled, kissed him again, and slid her hand to his nape.
His fingers grazed her shoulder and slipped down her arm. And against her lips he muttered, “Since you’re hellbent on being a problem for me, there’s one other Argonaut issue we need to deal with before it comes back to bite us in the ass.”
Her lips froze against his, and a tingle spread down her spine.
Wide-eyed, she drew back once more and stared at him. “Max? Are you talking about going after Max?”
“I’m talking about finding out what the satyrs did with him. That’s all. Reconnaissance only. For all we know, he may already be dead.”
She refused to believe that. “He isn’t. They would have realized his value, as you said.”
“Hm.” Zagreus’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure. Satyrs aren’t very bright. One thing I do know, though, is if Pandora really is working with the satyrs, and she figures out who he is, shit could get real. Fast.”
“Then we definitely have to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Smiling because she knew he was doing this for her, not because he cared what happened to Pandora or the satyrs or even Max, she wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed her lips against his once more. “But in a few minutes. First, I need something a little more invigorating than coffee to completely wake me up.”
His arms slid around her waist as she leaned into him, and he opened to her kiss, groaning when her tongue dipped inside for a wicked, not-nearly-enough kiss.
“Pure trouble,” he whispered against her lips.