Cursing Athena (Order Of Seven) (8 page)

It was just as he’d feared. The truth of his bloody past was too much for her to accept.

She held her arms out in front of her as if to ward him off. “I’m, uh…sorry to run out on you since I’m your—” she swallowed back a groan, “—since I’m your
mate
and all. It’s just…well…this has all been a bit too weird for me. I mean…seriously? Monsters? Greek goddesses? I think…” She quickly glanced over her shoulder, no doubt judging the distance between her and the door. “I think I’ll just be going now.”

“Danika, wait!” Gripping a fistful of sheet, Ty shot forward off the bed and placed himself between her and the door. The idea she might walk out of his life, never to be seen again, sent him reeling. He couldn’t let her go. He had to help her understand what they were to each other. He had to make her see. They were fated lovers, destined for one another.

After hastily wrapping the bedding around his waist, he held up both hands and eased forward slowly. “Please. Please, Danika. Do not fear me. I’m not going to hurt you. I could
never
hurt you.”

The sight of her trembling body tore at his gut, eviscerated his heart. The last thing he wanted was for her to fear him, though he understood why she did. If he were mortal and had witnessed the strange happenings she did this evening, he’d be freaked out as well. Somehow, some way, he needed to put her at ease, help her see she was safe with him.

“Please believe me when I tell you, I’m not the man I used to be. Athena has seen to that, I promise you.”

Danika stared up at him, a tremor of fear rippling through her body, confusion twisting her features. “I don’t know what to believe. I…” She paused, regarding him with uncertainty. “I can’t help thinking my mind is playing tricks on me. That maybe James finally got his way and I’m lying unconscious somewhere back at the club.”

Ty wanted to strip away her fears, to comfort and ease her with his body. But first, he needed her to trust him.

He shifted, holding his hands palms up, willing her to relax, and wanting desperately to devour every inch of her delicate skin with his mouth. Gods, she was beautiful—wholesome and good. She was everything he wasn’t, everything he craved in a woman, in a mate.
Dammit!
He didn’t want her to leave, but he wouldn’t force her to stay either. If she were truly afraid of him, if she truly wanted to leave, he’d let her go, no matter how much it pained him to do so.

His beast roared, the animal in him desperate to claim its mate, to sate its need.

Ty groaned. He wanted her to stay as much as his beast did. Maybe if he tried a new tack.

Ty dropped to one knee, releasing his position of power in the situation. He hoped this new stance would assure her he meant her no harm, and that she could once again trust him.

He placed one hand over his heart, the other he lifted toward her. “The curse. Because of my disobedience and bloodlust, Athena saw fit to saddle me with an inner beast and a life-long mission. I’ve spent the last few millennia hunting down bloodthirsty predators, doling out the justice of the Gods.”

When he saw that she hadn’t bolted, he continued. “The punishment for my rampage was harsh, but fitting. I’ll spend the rest of eternity morphing into a savage beast, forever reminding me of the monster I once was, the man I refuse to be any longer.”

He looked away for a moment before meeting her eyes once more. “That’s why I was at the club tonight. I’ve been tracking a demon, a killer I’m sure you’ve been reading about in the papers.”

“I knew it,” she said on a shaky breath. She crossed her arms over her chest, as if holding herself together. “I knew there was something wrong with Alexei. His eyes…” Her voice shook as she spoke. “They were completely black—inhuman. And that smoky trail coming out of his mouth—”

“Was the demon,” he said, cutting her off. “I’ve been tracking a Hirudo the past two weeks.”

“I’m sorry.” She stared down at him, confusion evident in her voice. “A Hirudo?”

“A parasite. A body-hopping leech that feeds off human flesh and souls.” His blood boiled at the thought of the bloody trail the now deceased demon had left in its wake.

His gut rolled, a sick, twisting sensation knotting his insides. Had he not shown up when he did, Danika would be on the Hirudo’s list of casualties.

He shook his head, refusing to think of what might have been. Danika was alive and safe, and that was all that mattered. “The smoky trail you saw crawling out of Karpos’ mouth was the demon preparing to invade your body.”

Danika’s jaw dropped and she inhaled a ragged breath. “It…it didn’t…”

She didn’t have to finish her sentence for him to know what she was thinking. “Rest easy, sweetness. I killed the Hirudo before it was able to leave its host completely. You’re safe. Everyone’s safe now.”

Slowly, taking great care to make sure he didn’t spook her, he stood from where he knelt, never once taking his eyes off her. “I’m not a monster anymore, Danika. I take out the monsters now.” He sucked in a deep breath and took a small step forward. “I don’t know how to say this other than to just put it out there.” He paused and pressed his hand to his heart once more. “From the moment I first saw you at the club, I knew you were the one for me. There will never be another. You’ve tamed my beast, Danika— and captured my heart. You’ve calmed the monster within me. I sensed you were my fated from the start, but when I morphed from man to lion and you remained alive and whole, I knew, without a doubt, you were mine.”

Shock coated the back of Ty’s tongue when Danika stepped forward and gently cupped his cheek. Electricity arced between their flesh, a powerful bolt of energy warming him from her fingertips straight down to his gut.

Great Zeus above!
After learning his history, he’d fully expected her to run for the hills and never look back. Instead, she’d reached out to him with compassion and feeling. Danika was so much stronger than he’d given her credit for, a mistake he wouldn’t make again.

Teary eyes held his gaze. “You’re not a monster, Ty.” She shook her head and pressed her lips together as she fought to find her words. “You could have taken advantage of me at the club, but you didn’t. In fact, I suspect you knew you had a job to do and that’s why you blew me off. Am I right?”

“Yes,” he said, closing the space between them in one step. He grasped her wrist, and when he was certain she was comfortable, he pulled her to him, crushing her soft, gentle frame against his chest. He snaked his arms around her and squeezed, reveling in her feminine scent, unwilling to let her go.

Ty pressed a kiss to the top of her head and reveled in the sweet, floral scent of her hair. “I sensed you the moment you stepped foot into the bar. You’re unlike any woman I’ve ever come across. You’re a ray of light, so innocent, so unbelievably beautiful.” He pulled back just enough to meet her gaze. “I wanted you from the start. You have to know that.”

“I…I do.” She stared up at him, darkened eyes filled with desire and longing. “I feel it too—the connection. The moment I first sensed your eyes on me, I knew I wanted you.”

That was all it took. One minute Ty was holding Danika in his arms, the next his mouth was devouring hers, unleashing all of his passion into a kiss so fiery, so hot, he was sure they would both perish from the heat. Her soft lips moved sensually with his own, parting to make way for his tongue to explore her sweetness. And by the Gods, did she taste good! He couldn’t wait to savor every delectable inch of her body.

Chapter 10

The sensation of Ty’s soft lips moving with her own nearly brought Danika to her knees. If it wasn’t for the large pair of arms wrapped around her, she was sure she’d end up a molten puddle of goo on the floor. She’d done her fair share of kissing in the past, but whoa, baby! Never had she experienced anything even remotely close to the way Ty was kissing her now. It was as though he’d enveloped each of her senses and all she could see, feel, and smell was Ty. He was everywhere all at once, and the sensation was pure ecstasy.

He pulled back momentarily, his eyes dark with hunger as they raked her over from head to toe. “Sweetness…” He groaned. “You have
way
too many clothes on.” Grasping onto the thin white fabric, Ty ripped her blouse open with a quick jerk of his hand. Buttons clattered to the floor. Her skirt left her body in similar fashion shortly after, leaving her naked save for her white lace panties and bra.

Exposed.

Vulnerable.

Wanton.

It had been ages since she’d been with a man, and Good Lord Almighty, she wanted this one badly.

Danika took a moment to appreciate Ty in all his splendid, muscled up glory. Truly, he
had
been gifted by the Gods. Every tanned inch of him was covered in bulging, sinewy perfection. Ty’s ripped body made Michelangelo’s statue of David look like a pipsqueak, and looking at him now stole her breath away.

A savage groan emanated from deep within his chest. “Thanks be to Zeus!” He held her by the waist and warmed her with his heated gaze. “You are so fucking beautiful.”

Warm, rough fingers ghosted up either side of her torso, his thumbs grazing the sides of her lace-covered breasts.
Please,
she thought.
Take it off. Touch me…skin to skin.

As if he’d read her mind, he followed her silent cue and unclasped her bra with ease, the cool air brushing across her already stiff peaks. Ty swiftly picked her up and carried her to his enormous bed, carefully laying her atop the silken sheets.

A low moan blew past her lips as his mouth latched onto her aching nipple. His tongue flicked and teased the tightened bud, driving her mad with desire.

Her hands, acting as though they had a will of their own, took hold of his head and fisted large chunks of his gorgeous blond hair, pulling him closer as he continued to suckle her. “More,” she groaned. “Please…more.”

“Gods, you smell good,” he said as he blazed a trail of sweet, gentle kisses down her abdomen. “Like citrus…and flowers.”

Danika thought her eyes might roll back in her head from the sheer sensual bliss his mouth was treating her to. Those lips! That tongue! He inched further and further down, closer and closer to the aching source of her need. And when he hooked his finger beneath the thin fabric of her panties and tore them from her, she’d never been more thankful in her life.

“I can’t wait any longer,” he said with a labored groan. “I have to know…I have to taste you.”

It was as if the world turned upside down. The sensation of Ty’s mouth lapping and licking at her sensitive core was entirely too much. It didn’t take long. Body eager for release, she’d been teetering on the edge of oblivion from the moment he’d laid siege to her sensitive flesh. So, when he focused his attention on her clit, lapping and sucking—she shattered. Screaming his name, Danika rode out the waves of the most intense orgasm she’d ever experienced.

Ty crawled up the length of her body and positioned himself between her legs. Lips slick with her wetness, he brushed his mouth against hers, his kiss slow and languid. “Mmm,” he groaned. “See how good you taste? Sweet like honey, and oh-so-good. Gods, sweetness…I can’t wait any longer. I just…”

In one swift stroke, he sheathed himself in her fully, both of them simultaneously crying out in pleasure.

“Aww, fuck!” he said with a groan. “Gods…you’re tight.” He closed his eyes for a moment and stilled. “Sweet, Blessed Aphrodite. It’s as if you were made for me, and me alone.” He eased in and out, allowing her body to get used to him, his movements slow and controlled. “So fucking good. Gods, sweetness. You feel so good. So much better…than I could…have ever…imagined,” he said between powerful strokes.

The feeling of Ty’s cock encased deep within her was more than Danika could take. Thick and long, he filled her completely, a blissful and entirely satisfying invasion. She wanted more. She needed to be closer to him.

Arching her back, she lifted her hips and met his thrusts blow for blow.
More.
She needed more of him, needed him deeper inside her. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she grasped onto his neck and gave herself over to the rhythmic sounds of their frenzied lovemaking.

She was close, so close—teetering on the edge of completion yet again.

His warm breath tickled her ear, his voice deep and throaty with passion. “That’s it, sweetness. Let go and just feel. Give yourself to me, body and soul.”

His lips trailed down the length of her neck, her sensitized flesh on fire, burning from the inside out. And when his mouth closed around her nipple, his warm tongue rolling over the hardened nub, she nearly shattered.

Everywhere. Ty was everywhere. His scent. His hands. His mouth. Every inch of her skin, every molecule in her body rocketed skyward, aching, yearning for completion. Just when she thought she couldn’t stand another second of the exquisite torture, she felt Ty slide his hand between their bodies. The moment his thumb brushed against her clit, she was lost—enveloped in a white light, floating on a high of the sweetest ecstasy she’d ever known.

“Oh! Oh, yes, Ty! Yes!”

Face twisted in pleasure, Ty threw his head back and roared. An enormous, spectral shadow of his beast exploded from deep within as he drove himself into her one final time, brilliant light bathing the room in alabaster white.