Teddy looked away, feeling chastened. He shouldn’t have been looking at her at all, but it was a reflex. He had only seen one woman naked for the past few years and it was simply curiosity that made him look.
But Stella probably felt ashamed of the mark. It was bad enough sharing this forced intimacy with each other—Teddy had no right to her pain.
So he turned and let her retreat without a word spoken.
20
TEDDY
The outfit the priestess had left for Teddy was nothing he would normally wear, but he wasn’t about to upset a goddess in her own temple. He’d dressed in the thin, pale pink linen shirt and perfectly fitted pants. It was a bit unnerving that they fit so well, as if the priestess had taken one glance at him and knew his measure.
He ran a hand through his hair, stepped out of his room, and followed the white stone hallways to the main temple. Candles in various shades of pink and cream and roses and peonies covered a white marble altar.
Behind the altar, Goddess Desiree lounged on a plush chaise, an attendant pouring her wine. She looked regal and stunning in an uncanny way that made it hard to do anything but stare at her. Her brown skin glowed in the firelight and her dark fuchsia dress hugged her curves. Her black hair was braided elaborately, twisted around her head and topped with a diamond-encrusted diadem.
When she saw Teddy, her face brightened. She passed her cup to the servant and stood, descending the few altar stairs to be on his level.
Teddy pressed three fingers to his forehead, lips, and heart in a sign of reverence and bowed to the goddess.
“Your Grace,” she said, her voice a sultry caress. “How lovely to see you looking refreshed. My colors suit you.”
Teddy nodded, keeping his eye on the goddess of love’s face and not the barely-there fuchsia gown that showed off large swaths of warm brown skin and accentuated her full hourglass figure. Her blue eyes glowed brightly as she looked him over, lingering on his chest as if looking at the bond itself.
“Thank you for your hospitality, goddess.”
Desiree clapped her hands and grinned. At first Teddy thought it was at his praise, but then he turned and saw Stella walking into the room.
If he’d thought the bathing situation was inappropriate, the dress Stella wore was downright indecent.
The dusty rose color was beautiful against her fair skin. The neckline plunged between her breasts and the fabric was so sheer that, were it not for some strategically placed ruching and draping, he’d see everything he’d been trying so hard not to look at when they were bathing.
Teddy’s mouth went dry as she walked toward him.
He felt the goddess’s assessing gaze, but he could not drag his eyes away from Stella.
Finally, when she stepped up beside him, he managed to stop gawking.
Desiree’s full lips pushed into a pout. “Look at her. She has still not been well-fucked. What are you waiting for, Your Grace?”
“Aunt Des!” Stella shrieked. “I have, too!”
The goddess gave her a patronizing smile. “My lovely girl, you don’t know what you’re missing. I can see the lack of vitality in you. I gave you the perfect opening this evening out in the baths. Why did you not take it?” She stepped behind Stella and looked at Teddy over her shoulder. “A man like that is so pent-up. You don’t know what you might discover if you can let him loose.”
Teddy didn’t like the reflection of himself through the goddess’seyes. He knew how to have fun and he certainly knew how to please a woman.
Grace was not his first. He’d had his fair share of fun before they got together. He was certain no one would have called that version of him pent-up, at least not in the bedroom. But that version of him felt remarkably distant now, as if it had happened in another lifetime and he was only now remembering the faint whispers of it.
When neither of them spoke, Desiree crossed her arms. “And you both wish for me to break this bond?”
Teddy and Stella nodded in unison.
“Okay, prove it. Just one kiss and I will stop my nagging,” the goddess said. “Honestly, Stella, the fact that you don’t have any faith in your favorite auntie is very disappointing. I am telling you that the potential between you is somethingextraordinary.”
Stella hesitated for only a moment. “I’m not kissing him. We came here to have you undo this. Teddy is controlling and petty and only cares about himself and his five-year plan for self-improvement or whatever it is he fantasizes about,” she huffed.
Teddy gaped at her. Did she really still think that of him? Even after he’d saved her from having to kill someone? Perhaps his chiding her about it was the reason. Teddy understood that conflict. He used to feel that way, but his parents had trained that hesitance out of him—not to be cruel, but to make a point. When he was younger, he’d hated it, but as he’d grown, he understood they only did it for the sake of his survival.
Now if a man was coming for Teddy, he wouldn’t even flinch. And yet, some protective instinct—probably their bond—wanted him to save Stella from needing to be that way. Not to keep her in some state where she was dependent on him, but to preserve the wild whimsy about her that was growing on him. She didn’t belong in the Gauntlet Games—not because she wasn’t skilled or because she couldn’t win, but because she didn’t have it in her heart to kill. Every other competitor was there to do what they must, and while death was not a guarantee, it was a clear and ever-present possibility.
