That struck her as odd. “Why?”
He shrugged, stared into the flames. “Because Hera tricked Jason into falling in love with Medea. She was one of the first soul mate curses. And in the end, when he realized he’d been duped, he left and she ruined him. She killed their children out of spite and revenge. All but one, who’d gotten away.”
She’d heard the legend. She knew how awful the end had been for Jason. “But without her your father would never have lived.”
“Doesn’t matter. He believed Jason’s line would have been stronger without her.”
“What do you believe?”
He held his hands out, palms down, to stare at the Argonaut markings on his forearms. “I believe I was doubly cursed because of her.”
The acidic honesty was unsettling, and as much as she wanted to know about his lineage, she wanted to know more about his immediate family more. “What did your father do? When he realized you had her gift?”
“He freaked. Forbade me to light candles with a sweep of my hand or cast spells that turned the housekeeper’s hair purple.” She smirked at the images he painted. “And when I didn’t listen, he used a tria mastigio on me.”
Her brow dropped low. “What’s that?”
“It’s a short whip about this long.” He held out his hands roughly two feet apart. “It’s got three leather strips that stretch out from the handle and each one has a barbed end.”
Shock rippled through her belly. “He beat you?”
“I had it coming.”
“Because you performed measly tricks on the servants?”
He shrugged again. “He told me to stop and I didn’t.”
Her eyes rushed over his bare chest, a golden glow in the firelight. She’d noticed scars on his chest and back from battles and fighting, but nothing that indicated he’d been beaten. “Where?”
“Someplace no one would ever see.”
She contemplated that, glanced at his legs covered by the frayed pants, and imagined all the muscled perfection of him scarred at the hand of someone else. His words were spoken so casually he could have been discussing the weather, but underneath she sensed disgust over what had been done to him. And a bitter hatred for a father who should have loved him and didn’t.
“Where was your mother?”
He shrugged again and went back to stoking the coals. “I don’t know. They weren’t bound. According to him, she seduced him one night and I was the unwanted result. Then after I was born she dumped me with him, and because I had the Argonaut markings he was duty bound to train me.”
Not love him. She heard the sad truth in his words. “You don’t have any siblings?”
“One. A brother. But he was raised in the human realm. And we’re not exactly close.”
“In the human realm? Where?”
He shrugged and eased back. “Closer than you think.”
She wanted to ask more, but the hard line of his words told her he wasn’t about to open that box of horrors—at least not yet—so she didn’t push. Instead she said, “What he did to you was wrong, Demetrius.”
“Why? You didn’t like my tricks when you first saw them.”
“That was before I knew you.”
“You still don’t know me.”
His low voice set off a tingling in her chest.
“I got him back though,” he said in a carefree voice. “We were in the human world. It was during my training. One day we were separated from the rest of the Argonauts and a pack of daemons came upon us. Completely outnumbered. He ordered me to cast an invisibility spell around us. I refused. After all, I wasn’t supposed to.” He stared down into the flames and his tone sobered. “It was the last thing he ever ordered me to do.”
Her stomach clenched. She heard the unsaid words: he’d watched his father die. Could he have prevented it? By then he had to have been how old? Thirty? Forty? If it had been her, if she’d been abused that long, she may have done the same.
Even as the questions hit, something else registered. The way he kept flicking his eyes at her, judging her reaction, checking to see if he’d shocked her. As if he wanted to shock her. But why? After everything that had happened between them, why would he want to scare her into thinking he was—
And then it made sense. Being cruel hadn’t worked. Telling her no hadn’t done anything but push her closer to him. He was as attracted to her as she was to him, and it scared him so much he was reverting to his last defense—shocking her into disgust.
She pushed up from the ground and walked around the fire before she could rethink her action. He looked up with a wary expression as she approached.
“The fire’s almost out.” She held out her hand. “Let’s go to bed.”
His gaze dropped to her hand and he swallowed hard. “I—”
Oh yeah. He was definitely pulling out all the stops. Well, so was she. For the first time in her life she knew exactly what she wanted and she wasn’t afraid to go after it. “No more excuses, Demetrius. Come with me.”
Hesitantly, he slid his fingers in hers and let her pull him from his seat. They walked through the secret doorway into the stairwell together. The door sealed behind them. As she led him down the spiral staircase, her heart thumped so hard against her ribs she was sure he had to hear it. But she wasn’t afraid. If anything, she felt powerful.
The Hall of Heroes was dark when they reached the bottom step. He waved his hand and lit one torch along the far wall. Shadows and light played over his face, over his muscular body as she pulled him toward the makeshift bed. And when she turned to face him, she saw a thousand thoughts and emotions rush over his features.
She moved into him, until the heat and life of his body swirled around her and settled deep in her soul. “I want to be with you,” she said softly as she rested her hands on his rock-hard abdomen.
His fingers landed gently on her shoulders, the brush of his skin against hers igniting a rush of hormones deep in her body. “Kardia—”
“Here, tonight. Like last night, only this time I want you.” His eyes darkened at her words. “All of you, Demetrius.”
“You can’t. Your father—”
“It’s my choice to make. I’ve waited a long time. And tonight I choose you.”
“Kardia.”
The emotion in that one word, my heart, stole her breath. Grasping the hem of her tank top, she tugged it over her head. The worn cotton landed against the dirt floor, but his eyes didn’t follow. They were locked on her. Right where she wanted them.
“Touch me,” she whispered.
His hand came up and she held her breath in anticipation as his fingertips grazed the swell of her breast. Her nipples puckered and a heavy ache settled between her legs. He stared at her breast, licked his lips, moved a fraction of an inch closer.
“Yes.”
“I…” His eyes darted up to her face. “I think you should get some sleep.”
He was gone before she could stop him. Before she even realized what had happened. “Demetrius?”
But he didn’t answer. The only sound was his bare feet hitting the stone steps. Then the whoosh and slam of the great door at the top of the staircase.
Confused, she tried to figure out what she’d done to make him run. Every time something happened between them, he pulled back at the last minute. Almost as if he was afraid she wouldn’t really want him if he got too close.
Her gaze swept over the room and landed on Jason’s chest. Every time, he pulls back.
Her skin grew hot and damp as an idea took root.
A leader goes after what he wants. He doesn’t take no for an answer. Her father had said that so many times it was ingrained in her mind. Wasn’t it time she started acting like the leader she was destined to become?