Still trembling in his arms, unraveled, I realize there is something I can give him, something he needs. “I swear to you I’ll be more careful. In dangerous situations, I won’t take unnecessary risks.” Magic jolts in my veins, binding the vow into my blood and my bones. Now I’d better remember it.
“Cat.” Griffin drops his face into the curve of my neck. Both his arms circle my waist. “My wife.”
A giddy, nervous sort of elation bubbles up through me. “Not yet.” I try to turn in his arms, find my legs useless, and simply drop. Griffin catches me and then picks me up. I lean my head on his shoulder. Now that the danger has passed, adrenaline has been absorbed, and desire has been thoroughly slaked, it’s hitting me—the nearly dying and then healing process. It’ll take its usual toll, and for the next few days, all I’ll be able to do is eat, sleep, and watch Titos digest the Hydra.
“Soon,” Griffin vows.
I feel his promise, too, and smile as he walks us both out into deeper water.
CHAPTER 23
IPOTANE ARE BEAUTIFUL.WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED?
The entire herd is stunning—powerful, arresting, with fluid, predatory movements and a volatile edge that makes them utterly impossible to ignore. No wonder there are so many Wood Nymphs hanging around. Scantily clothed, if dressed at all, the female creatures vie for the attention of the male warrior beasts. I can hardly blame them, especially since the female Ipotane don’t seem to care. Even I feel more than just common curiosity toward the strikingly handsome males escorting us into the heart of Ipotane territory, and I have no interest in discovering the intricacies of interspecies contact.
My mouth still goes dry at the sight of the Ipotane Alpha. Only a blind or severely deranged person wouldn’t admire Lycheron’s sculpted torso, thick, corded arms, and fearsomely handsome visage. There’s even something devastating about his sleek horse body, jet-black and muscled for war. Not even the equine ears poking out of his waist-length ebony hair detract from the raw beauty of his masculine face and form. His chest is a work of chiseled art. It’s hard to take my eyes off it, not only because it’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous, but because there’s a huge, hoof-shaped scar imprinted into his left pectoral.
I resist the urge to fan myself, hoping my sudden spike in body temperature is due to the hot springs and steaming fountains peppering the sultry Ipotane vale and not to the blatantly sensual creature giving me a more-than-thorough once-over.
Lycheron saunters over, leaving behind two pouting Dryads. The Nymphs shoot dirty looks in our direction, particularly at me. I glare back. I’m so good at making friends.
“Hand over your weapons.” Lycheron’s command rolls out of him like a rumble of thunder, deep and threatening.
“You have us surrounded,” Griffin answers coolly. “Isn’t that enough?”
I have to hold back my smirk. With a few words, Griffin challenges the other Alpha male’s ego just enough to leave us with our weapons but not provoke an attack.I knew I was marrying this man for a reason.
Lycheron doesn’t like being outmaneuvered. His lips draw back in a snarl, and he rears, pawing the air.
My eyes drop—and widen. “Good Gods, look at the size of his—”
Flynn elbows me in the ribs, and I choke back my words. But it’s huge.Huge!
Lycheron’s hooves hit the ground again. He tosses his long black mane of hair over his shoulder, and then his eyes land on me. They’re not a frightening color, or glowing, or horrible at all. Mother had no idea what she was talking about, and it maddens me to no end that I let her scare me half to death with her stories. Lycheron’s eyes are a warm honey-brown, almost tawny in color, and rimmed with the longest, thickest, darkest eyelashes I’ve ever seen on a man.
Horse.
Whatever.
“If my guards let you into the valley, you must be bearing a gift for me.” His slow perusal of my person from the top of my head to the tips of my toes sets off a series of nervous explosions in my belly. “She is acceptable.”
Acceptable? Acceptable!
Griffin steps in front of me. Flynn boxes me in on my right, and Carver gets so close to my left that our arms brush. Lycheron’s eyes narrow at the muscular wall ofnostanding between him and me.
Kato steps forward, lifting the golden fleece from his shoulders. He tosses it to the Ipotane Alpha.
Lycheron catches the treasure and then turns it over in his hands, his fingers sliding admiringly over the springy wool. A slow smile spreads across his face.
“Artemis gave this up?” His chuckle is low, pleased, and genuine, and Gods help me, awareness ripples through me, puddling in every place it shouldn’t. “I’ve long coveted the fleece. Rumor has it the archer brought it from Attica centuries ago, before the people there eschewed the Gods and magic collapsed in their world.”
My ears perk up.A world without magic?It’s hard to imagine.
Lycheron throws the fleece over his broad back, leaving his magnificent, scarred man-chest completely naked. The bright gold garment on his glossy black coat is eye-catching, to say the least. “Did you steal this from the Goddess?”
Kato shakes his head. “Artemis gave it to me of her own free will.”
The Ipotane Alpha arches ebony eyebrows, saying without irony, “You must have pleased her greatly, then.”
