My breath caught, then broke when his hand finally slid higher.
A sound ripped from him, untempered and almost feral, vibrating against my spine. “Gods,” he muttered, almost to himself, the words edged with hunger. “You’re drenched for me.”
His fingers pressed into my core, parting me with shameless certainty, stroking through the slickness he’d found. The first touch sent fire flashing through me, and I bit down on a cry.
My head fell back, the moan spilling from my lips before I could stop it. He caught me with his free hand and his palm cradled the back of my skull, forcing me to feel every drag of his fingers as they worked inside me.
The rhythm was merciless, slow enough to tease but deep enough to undo. His thumb circled, pressed, flicked until my hips were rocking against his hand, chasing more.
“Say it,” Achilles growled as his tongue tasted my frantic pulse. “Say you want me splitting you apart. Say you’re mine.”
“Achilles—” My voice cracked. My fingers twisted in his tunic desperately, dragging him closer as though I could fuse him into me.
“Mine,” he snarled, curling his fingers inside me, hitting the place that shattered me into sound. “Every gasp, every tremble. Mine.”
My body seized, pleasure crashing through me in a hot, never-ending wave. I choked on his name, writhing against his hand as he held me fast, his lips catching the sound with a bruising kiss.
“Look at you,” he whispered harshly against my mouth, his fingers still stroking me through the aftershocks. “Clenching around me like you were made for this. For me. I could do this forever,” he groaned against my skin, then bit lightly, sending another shiver straight through my core.
He pulled his fingers from me only to shove his hand under his tunic, groaning as he freed himself, and I felt him, thick and heavy against my hip. He ground against me, the blunt head sliding along my soaked folds, slicking his length.
A shout suddenly echoed from outside, and Achilles stilled. His breath was still heaving as he continued to press against me.
Another shout rang out. Louder this time. Urgent.
His jaw locked. “What in the gods now?” he snarled, fury lacing every word. He yanked back, pushing his tunic down with a vicious motion, his eyes wild with frustration.
Before I could speak, he caught my face between his hands and pressed his forehead hard to mine. “I’m sorry,” he ground out, the words tasting like regret. “I have to go.”
My fingers dug into his tunic, desperate to keep him, but he tore himself away, the absence like a blow. The door slammed, and then his footsteps were gone, swallowed into whatever chaos was advancing through the palace.
The silence he left behind was unbearable. My chest heaved, my skin still slick with him, every nerve screaming unfinished.
I stumbled to the balcony doors and flung them wide, desperate for air. The wind hit my face again, tangling my hair, burning my lungs. I gripped the rail until my knuckles ached as I searched for what was happening.
At first, I thought it was smoke.
But smoke didn’t move like that.
A red haze swirled over the garden, thick and shifting, wrapping the hedges and marble in coils that writhed like living things. Shapes lay twisted inside it, limbs bent wrong as they sprawled in grotesque stillness.
My stomach lurched. My throat closed.
The Dread had struck the palace again.
Chapter46
Iwoke to the sound of Alcmene humming.
The brightness of it needled against my skull. She flitted about my chamber like a sparrow, tugging open the curtains, scattering the shadows with an ease that made my teeth clench.
Sunlight spilled in, flooding the floor in a harsh sheen that bled across the walls.
“Up,” she sang, pointing to the tray of food at the foot of my bed. “You’ll miss the morning meal if you keep hiding under the covers.”
I shoved upright, rubbing grit from my eyes, though sleep had once again been a shallow, fractured thing. The sheets clung at my waist. Roz stirred at my pillow, its ribbon-tail flicking against my arm before it slunk into my lap. Its pale blue eyes blinked once, before it curled into itself again.
For the past week, the palace had been under lockdown. The gates sealed. Guards doubled. Even the courtyards were forbidden.
