“Mmm,” he breathes out, his lips skimming across mine. Once. Twice. His tongue slides along the seam, and I open for him. With a groan, firm lips capture mine, and it’s carnal and deeply sensual, the taste of him dark and delicious like the most decadent chocolate.
Pure sin. He tempts me to fall into him and forget about the rest of the world. I slide my hands under his arms and wrap them around him, wishing I could ask him to stay here and kiss me for the rest of his life.
He suddenly jerks back and looks at me in surprise.
“What?” I rasp, licking my lips to savor the feel of his lips on mine.
His expression is back to being unreadable. His phone buzzes. Swearing, he grabs it. “I have to go.”
I drop my arms from his body and wrap them around my waist. “Of course. Please be careful. Given what happened toJamison, you know they’re quite capable of blowing up their own people to accomplish their goals.”
He hesitates for another second, then spears a hand through my hair and tilts my head up to meet his gaze. “This isn’t over between us.” His eyes drop to my swollen lips, and he takes a deep breath. “I know I need to explain this mate bond and what it means, but they have me on a short leash. And I need to get into their inner circle. It’s the only way.”
“To get to the panels?”
He hesitates, then nods, and I shake my head, uneasy with the idea of him returning to the enemy. “Panel.” When he raises an eyebrow, I tell him that vampires have a fake replica of the top, so the side panel I gave them in exchange for his life is the only legitimate piece we need.
He slides his hand from my hair, and I immediately miss the feel of him. “Good to know. I’ll be in touch.” With a shift of air, he’s gone.
I raise my fingers to my lips, replaying the kiss over and over in my mind. Why did I let him kiss me? I’m trying to let him go, not fall harder for him.
The front door opens, and Gatlin strolls out, his eyes searching the porch. When he finds me, he swoops in and picks me up. “I thought I’d find you asleep at your desk. What are you doing out here?”
“Talking to Mathias,” I admit with a sigh. When he looks around, I shake my head. “He had to go.”
He sweeps the hair out of my face and peers down into my eyes. “I see. Are you okay?”
I lift a shoulder. “I’m good, I think. He’s angry. Hurt. I told him about the panels opening the portals.”
“And?”
“For some reason, it made him angrier,” I admit with a sigh, laying my head on Gatlin’s broad shoulders. “I don’t understand him.”
“Is that all?” he asks, his eyes dropping to my lips.
“He kissed me.”
“I see. Maybe you should piss him off every time you see him,” he says in an amused tone as he hugs me closer. He turns toward the door, then stops. “What happened to the railing?”
Confused, I look down and see two cracks in the top rail, exactly where Mathias’ hands were right before he kissed me. That’s the noise I heard. The sight perks me up. He’s not completely indifferent to me, but is that only because of the mate bond?
“Not sure,” I tell him, although I have a pretty good idea. “I told him about the fake panel. He said right now he’s trying to get into the inner circle.”
Gatlin crosses over to the couch and sits down with me still in his arms. “He’s trying to get enough votes to be nominated for their court.” He sighs and wipes a hand down his face. “Except to get in, the contenders must compete in brutal matches. Last one standing wins.”
Alarmed, I stare at him. “Wins what?”
“Nolan’s seat on the council and head of the vampires,” he says in a gruff tone. I sit up straight, and he runs a large hand down my back to soothe me. “Don’t worry, we’re working on a plan. But we have to give him enough time to become one of the ten. In the meantime, we’ll finish Hera’s quest and find Jamison’s father so he can lead us to Bennett.”
My mind flashes an image of Mathias standing in my villa in Rome, knives strapped to his chest, hardened gaze searching the room, waiting for me. I shiver. “And find the last panel. The one Ares hid.”
“That too. But not tonight,” he states firmly. “Tonight, I’m going to take you upstairs to sleep in your bed.” He stands and picks me up again.
“Yes, please. With you.” I lean over and whisper some of the things I want to do to him, and he shifts his hold until his arms are wound tightly around me. “What are you doing?”
“Running,” he replies with a grin.
19
