Chapter 6 #2
But the sound of her, and the desperation in every kiss and tug on my hair faded away when I inhaled her scent. It caressed my adénes and instantly filled my head with an intense animal drive the likes of which I’d never even heard of before.
“Fuck,” I groaned, my cock hardening with an aching throb as I dropped my face into her neck to inhale more of her greedily. “Fuck, Amira! You smell of him.”
“I bathed this morning,” she defended herself.
“Not like that! He marked your neck. With his adénes. So I would taste him on you,” I tried to explain through a needy groan as I inhaled their combined scent.
I could tell she was confused, but she tilted her head to give me access to her neck where Riordan had left more than just physical marks. I had not realized I was pushing her backward until we hit the wall where I pinned her.
“He did this on purpose,” I growled as I was forced to succumb to the drive to suck and bite. To leave my own marks alongside his and imprint my scent upon her skin.
“Well… whatever he did, I am enjoying,” she giggled as she rested her head back against the wall behind.
I allowed my instincts to take over, switching back and forth between leaving marks on her neck and kissing her breathless until she was mindless with want.
Her kisses and touches grew steadily more demanding until I began to wish I could unlace my armour to give her the access to touch me that I could feel she wanted.
And that was when I felt a familiar pull like gravity was suddenly yanking my very soul toward her.
I tore away from her in shock, and she gasped as both of her hands rose up to cover her mouth. She looked like she had been ravaged with her hair pulled out of its bun and her collar pushed down to expose her throat to me.
“Shit! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! I didn’t even know I could do that!” she assured me.
Once my shock had worn off, I was able to recompose my expression and then leaned down to kiss her forehead soothingly. My lips lingered on her until she relaxed.
“It’s alright,” I assured her.
“It just happened. I would never force a bond—”
“I know,” I insisted, trying to calm her with another kiss on her head. “We just got carried away.”
She was quiet for a moment, clearly shaken by what had almost happened.
“That seemed… like it would be easy. It was easy with Riordan too. Is it always like that?” she asked.
“I am not the right one to ask. Ktínos,” I reminded her with a regretful shrug.
“Right,” she murmured with a nod, but I could tell that her mind was consumed with wondering what this meant. How was it that a Ktínos and a witch had suddenly found themselves on the verge of forging a bond that was only supposed to be created by Imítheos?
“Is that something that you…” I trailed off, unable to get the words out, but I did not need to.
“Yes,” she breathed, unflinching as she stared up at me so there could be no mistaking her sincerity.
I almost dove back in for more, but a familiar shiver warned me of another presence, and I jolted back.
Riordan was leaning against a pillar a short distance down the hallway. By the look of him, he had been there for some time before he mentally alerted me.
“She did the same to me when I was kissing her before we bonded. She is like gravity,” he told me, pushing away from the pillar to walk toward us.
Before I could find out what his grin meant, we heard the thumping of many wings, which drew our attention to the alcove of the flight dais down the hall. Ares landed, followed by Theo and Iris. All of them appeared harried.
“Riordan! We just heard from Dio that there has been an attack in Erétria! He is calling for reinforcements!”
Amira
I was honestly impressed with the speed with which the army of Kórinthos could mobilize. In less than one hour, the Ktínos had assembled neatly on the training fields.
I glanced back and forth in awe of their stoic ranks as we walked the path between two legions toward the front.
Sofia followed me, fussing discreetly with the stiff leather and a buckle on my right shoulder pauldron.
This was the first time that I had ever worn the armour despite Orion commenting more than once that I needed to break it in.
Not taking his advice was a mistake, in hindsight.
I might have felt self-conscious in the armour that was almost a perfect mold of my bare torso, but it was what every other man and woman on the field was wearing.
Besides Sofia, of course, who would be staying in Kórinthos to oversee all my duties in the Rookery.
We reached the front of the army where Riordan stood talking with Orion and several other commanders. He saw me in my armour and stepped away mid-conversation to meet me. I could tell before he’d even opened his mouth that he was going to object to my presence.
“I am going with them,” I insisted before he spoke.
“Amira—”
“I know Rian has you spooked. But you never doubted my abilities in battle before,” I reminded him sternly.
Riordan closed his mouth on whatever he had been about to say, his jaw clenching as he battled indecision.
“We could use her,” said Orion as he approached from behind Riordan. “You still need to go to the Highlands for the rest of the Imítheos army. None of their lieutenants or colonels will rally for either of us,” he pointed out with a gesture at me. Riordan was unsatisfied.
“We do not yet know what we are walking into here,” he reminded me significantly.
“True enough! What if they are still able to somehow repel that magic you use to eviscerate brains?” I insisted, making him wince. He glanced around to ensure no one had overheard before he nodded grudgingly.
“Please just be careful, alright? Stay close to Orion!” he said before looking at his skiá. “Will you be able to fly with her on your back? No fancy maneuvers—”
“Of course,” Orion bristled in offense. “I would never allow her to come to any harm.”
“She is not used to—”
Orion stepped forward and pulled Riordan’s head into his neck to speak into his ear. It was meant to look like an intimate embrace between the skiá, but I knew Orion was ensuring that no one but me could overhear them.
“I will defend her with my life. Just as I defend you,” Orion swore to him with an unexpectedly gentle patience. “You trust me with your life, do you not?”
Riordan inhaled, slow and deep, before his shoulders rolled down, and he melted into Orion. He was anxious, which was so unlike him, and it saddened and angered me to know just how deeply Rian had rattled him.
“I do,” Riordan responded. “I trust you.”
“I have her. She is safe with me,” Orion stated, and he did not release Riordan until the king nodded.
Compelled by Orion’s sweet display, I stepped closer so I could give the king a quick but poignant kiss.
It was mostly Ktínos around us, but I was still mindful of public displays of affection.
One never knew when one of the other Imítheos might make an appearance and complain about my audacity to kiss my own mate.
But Riordan still lingered, his lips reluctant to part from mine for a moment before he finally straightened to smile down at me.
“I did not have the chance to say that I like the armour on you. It suits,” he assured me.
“I cannot imagine why you think so,” I muttered with a playful raise of one brow.
Riordan allowed his eyes to drop, very briefly, and yet it was enough to make my heart pound with excitement. With a mere glance, without uttering a single damn word, this man could make me want to crawl for him.
He glanced at Orion with a similar appreciation for the gold armour that the Ktínos warrior had actually donned for the occasion of battle. Riordan’s attention lingered just long enough to make his skiá shift in awareness before the king turned to walk back toward the commanders.
“I swear he does that on purpose!” I muttered.
“Hmm?” Orion hummed and tore his eyes away from Riordan’s retreating form with some difficulty.
“Making us drool,” I smirked pointedly.
To my surprise, the slightest of blushes kissed his face, and Orion glanced at Sofia standing dutifully behind me, pretending like she couldn’t hear.
Then he straightened as if to reclaim his pride and composure and jerked his head toward my armour.
He was being much more professional than Riordan was in front of others, but his eyes still felt scandalous considering how naked I felt in the armour.
“I told you to break it in,” he reminded me.
“Yeah, yeah,” I sighed dismissively and turned to give some final instructions to Sofia.
But I hesitated in surprise when I saw my handmaid’s dark expression was focused behind me. Orion and I both turned to see Castor had stolen Riordan away from the other commanders. They were having what seemed to be a rather intense discussion off to the side.
I glanced again at Sofia who was so intent on the two men that she had not even noticed me looking at her.
“What do you know of Castor?” I asked her abruptly.
“Nothing good,” she replied, seemingly before she had a chance to catch herself, and then she straightened more. “He is the Oligarch of árgos,” she amended, tearing her eyes from Castor to face me with an unconvincing smile.
I gave her a look that promised we would be speaking more about whatever she was not saying later. Castor had finally broken away from Riordan and now headed…
Toward me.
Castor would like a word, Riordan warned me through our bond. He would not say what was so important.
I wondered if Castor hadn’t called Riordan away from the other commanders, but rather, the king had tried to intercept the councillor on his way to me. I watched him approaching with his head held high enough so he did not have to look any of the Ktínos in the eyes.
“My lady,” said Castor when he reached me, his eyes flicking dismissively to Orion and Sofia, neither of whom so much as flinched. “A private moment of your time?”
“They are in my confidence,” I answered, and he gave me a sigh of disappointment before shaking his head.
“Then you have not heeded my advice that you should not trust anyone,” he remarked.
I might have retaliated by telling him what I knew of his intentions to manipulate me, but I decided to hold my tongue. The least I could do was let him try in the hopes that I might glean something of use for Riordan.
Turning to Sofia, I noted the mild distaste in the set of her mouth as she stared up at Castor. We had encountered other griffins she did not like, but her distaste for them had never caused her to visibly react like this.
“Do you know what to do in the Rookery or should we go over it once more?” I asked her, drawing her gaze.
“I know what to do,” she assured me, her expression a little brittle as if her emotions were jumbled. I thought at first it was still Castor upsetting her, but then she reached for my arm and gave it a squeeze. “Be careful.”
I smiled and squeezed her hand in return before she stepped away. With a final dark glance at the councillor, she leapt into the sky with a mighty flap of her wings.
I looked at Orion next who looked like he’d rather stab himself in the eye than leave me alone with Castor, but he nodded grudgingly. He began shouting instructions to the warriors for their flight formations. It was no small feat to organize so many griffins in the air at once.
Alone with Castor, I turned back to find him eying me with intrigue.
“You command a great deal of loyalty and esteem.”
“What is it you need, Castor? We are getting ready to fly into a battle,” I reminded the councillor, and he gave a nod as if he were confirming something to himself.
“You told Riordan all that I relayed concerning Erétria. That is why he and his skiá are even more wary of me.”
“Is that what you came here to say?” I demanded.
“No,” he said sternly. “I came here to warn you to be careful on that battlefield today.”
“I did not need you to tell me that,” I assured him even as my mind began to whirl in confusion at what his game was with me.
“What I mean to say is… I believe this battle could have an ulterior motive. Someone is drawing you out.”