She swiped at her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”
He kissed her, not knowing what else to do. He continued to thrust in and out of her hot depths, wanting to comfort her, loving the way her pussy squeezed him as though it would never let him go.
But time was moving fast and they’d already taken a big risk by making love. He reluctantly shifted off of Araminta. “We need to get dressed.” He played with the messy tail of her braid, sweeping it over her skin. “We don’t want to be TSTL,” he teased her, remembering her earlier reference to her writing.
She gave a watery laugh. “No, I guess we don’t want to be that.” She sat and grabbed the comforter as if suddenly realizing she was naked. He pulled it away from her, not wanting her to hide her body from him.
“Go get cleaned up.” He stood, and in the blink of an eye was clothed in leather pants and boots again.
“That’s just not fair.” Looking disgruntled and totally adorable, Araminta climbed off the bed, bent down and grabbed her clothing off the floor and left the room. His eyes almost rolled back in his head when she bent down and he got a glimpse of her glistening pussy. His lion roared, wanting to feel her juices filling his mouth and flowing down his throat before he fucked her again.
But that wasn’t going to happen. He’d already risked her safety as it was. The clock was ticking and Hades wasn’t done yet. The next few hours would be a fight for their lives and their very souls.
He clenched his hands at his side, his fingers morphing into giant claws before he got control of himself. Hades would not have his Araminta. He’d follow the demon god into Hell itself and slaughter him if he tried.
Araminta stared at her reflection in the mirror and shook her head. She looked totally debauched, her cheeks were red, her lips swollen and her hair a mess. Her limbs were loose, her body relaxed.
Under normal circumstances, she’d be very happy, but these were anything but normal times. Hades was waiting to kill them or turn Leander to his side. She really had to get her act together before she ended up being a TSTL heroine. Not exactly how she wanted to be remembered if she didn’t make it through the rest of the day.
She looked longingly at the shower but knew there wasn’t time. She quickly pulled on her clothes and decided, what the heck, there was time to redo her hair. She took out the braid, ran her brush through the tawny mass and made fast work of braiding it again.
It was only as she was reaching for the bathroom door handle she remembered what she’d meant to tell Leander. She pulled open the door and hurried back into the bedroom. “Leander.”
He appeared in front of her so fast she almost stumbled into him. He caught her in his strong arms. “What is it?”
His unusual features no longer seemed strange to her. He’d never look totally human, his facial structure was too strong and broad, his nose too wide and his hair such an unusual color, but he looked perfect to her. He was simply Leander and she loved him.
She sucked in a breath and averted her gaze. When had that happened? She couldn’t love him. He wasn’t staying. Couldn’t stay.
He caught her chin in his hand and lifted it until she was staring at his face. He looked worried so she tried to smile. “I remembered something while you were…chatting with Luna.” Araminta didn’t quite know how else to phrase it. “I think I know what Hades’ demons were looking for when they wrecked my home.”
“What is it?” His amazing eyes were intent on her, his entire focus on what she was saying. And what a turn-on that was.
She forced herself to get on with the job at hand. “I got an email a while back from a reader. I ignored it, thinking the person wasn’t quite playing with a full deck, if you know what I mean?”
Leander frowned, making him appear forbidding and menacing. “You mean you thought she was lying?”
“I thought she was lost in the story, thinking it was real when it was make-believe.”
Leander caught on quickly. “But it is not make-believe.”
Araminta hurried to her office with Leander on her heels. “I know that now, but I didn’t then.” She grabbed her computer bag and headed out to the living room. Better to be far away from the room with the bed, although she didn’t think that would stop Leander if he wanted to make love to her again—the wall, the floor, the sofa were all possibilities.
Her body throbbed in agreement, her breasts swelling against the lacy cups of her bra. She ignored her arousal and sat on the sofa, setting her laptop on the coffee table. “This woman was asking about the first book in the series, the one about the tiger.” She powered up the computer and waited impatiently for it to start up. “She also included a website link for a site that was devoted to the Lady of the Beasts. I checked out the website and it had some pretty interesting stuff, but most of it was information that was already in my book.”
Leander’s tension was palpable. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I think I might be able to contact at least one, possibly two of the warriors and their women.” Her fingers clicked over the keys as she retrieved the email from the file where she kept troubling messages. “If this woman was telling the truth she’s the one who freed the bear.”
“Marko,” Leander whispered.
She nodded. “Yes, Marko. And the website she sent the link for had a huge white tiger icon on it.”
Leander sat on the sofa next to her, practically vibrating with excitement. “It has to be Roric.”
“Maybe.” She didn’t want him to get his hopes up too high. “Here it is.” She brought up the website and swiveled the computer so they could both see the screen. The stylized lettering of the banner read Lady of the Beasts and there were seven links, one for each animal, as well as a contact button.
She scrolled and hit the link for the white tiger. Immediately the page opened and the legend of the Lady unfolded. Leander reached out and touched his finger to the photo of the enormous white tiger. “Roric.” His tortured whisper just about broke her heart. “Show me the rest.”
Araminta clicked on the link for the bear, and when the page opened she gasped at the photo of the giant brown bear standing on his hind paws. Beside her, Leander sucked in a breath. “Is that him?” she asked.
“Yes. It’s Marko.”
She clicked on the other links but found only generic photos of a phoenix, jaguar, wolf and what appeared to be a Chinese dragon. That had to be the serpent.
“Mordecai,” Leander growled.
“The serpent.” She glanced at the accompanying text and it matched what she’d written in her book. “So he went over to the dark side and joined Hades.”
Leander nodded, his features grim. “I don’t understand how he could do such a thing.” He shook his head. “He was always challenging Roric’s leadership, but I never imagined he would join our sworn enemy.”
“Being held captive for five thousand years can change a person,” she began, but he shook his head again.
“He is a warrior of the Lady of the Beasts, his first and only duty is to see to her safety.”
Araminta ignored the pang of jealousy that rocked her. She had no right feeling angry or envious at the way he talked about the Lady. After all, she was a goddess and she’d created all the warriors. Of course their first loyalty was to her. They’d protected her since the dawn of time. She’d known Leander less than a day.
Still, it was disheartening and she struggled with her composure.
“Let me show you the email.” Better to keep all her thoughts and energy devoted to saving herself from Hades. She shivered at the memory of the earlier encounter with Luna. She didn’t want to experience anything like that again. The dream world had seemed to fulfill every one of her heart’s desires, but there’d been a sinister quality about it, as well as an emptiness that still echoed in her soul.