Chapter Eighteen

“Are you a total idiot? Or just blind as the Graeae when Perseus stole their eye?”

Castor checked his watch, noting the late hour. How had she known he was still at work? “Hello, Delilah.”

“Leia is perfect for you. What the hell are you doing replacing her?”

“Poseidon is giving her spring back.”

“I heard.” No give in Delilah’s voice.

“She’s going home.”

“Does she want to?”

He frowned. “Of course she wants to.”

“She said that?”

He ran his hand through his hair and leaned back, his chair creaking a protest. “I heard her talking to Calliadne after the fight. They didn’t know I was there, and she said she wasn’t worthy of me. Because she thinks she’s a failed nymph.”

“So, you arranged to have that failure fixed…” Delilah guessed.

“Yes. And she chose the spring.” Gods that hurt. His heart had been bleeding since. “I have to let her go.”

“Why?”

Delilah wasn’t usually this dense. “She’s been lost without her spring for over a millennium.”

“Until recently, I would’ve agreed with you.”

He scowled, getting tired of the riddles. “What does that mean?”

“It means she’s perfect for you.”

“You said that already, and I agree. She’s been a terrific executive assistant.”

“I’m not talking about the job.” The level of frustration in her voice was so unlike Delilah, who never flapped, that Castor paused.

Hope, that deceptive emotion, sprang to life inside him. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve never seen her happier than she has been this last year working for you. Especially right after Tala and Marrok’s mating.”

“But Kaios…”

“Don’t get me wrong. He had her worried, but she was also more alive than she has been in…”

“In?”

“At least as long as I’ve known her, which includes before she lost her spring.”

Castor thought back over the last year. Delilah was right. Leia had changed. When she’d first started with him, she’d been serious and distrustful of him. Over the course of the year, the real Leia had emerged—smart, still mouthy, and strong. Lately, she’d let him in more and more. Right up until today.

He gripped the phone. “Did she tell you why she’s been so happy?”

“I think that’s something you should discuss with Leia herself.”

…

Wrapped up in pajamas and a fleece robe, her hair still wet from a long soak in the tub because she couldn’t be bothered to dry it, Leia plunked down on her sofa and put her feet up on her coffee table. With a little salute, she lifted a glass of red wine, a Christmas gift from Castor she had just opened, and gave a silent tribute to Dionysus. She had to hand it to the pleasure god—wine was good stuff. The full-bodied liquid slid over her tongue and she savored the chocolate and cherry aftertaste.

Closing her eyes, she lay her head back against the comfy cushion of her overstuffed chair and tried to relax away her gods-awful day. Pun absolutely intended.

A loud knock at her door startled her, and she jerked her hand, sloshing a few drops of her wine on her cream-colored cushion. “Damn. Damn. Damn.”

She hopped up and ran to the kitchen, where she wet a rag, then back to the couch where she dabbed at the stain.

Whoever was at the door knocked again. Only louder. She glared at the door and wished whoever it was on a long trip across the river Styx. “Just a second.”

“It’s me.”

She paused mid-dab at the deep, unmistakable rumble of Castor’s voice. What was he doing here? More importantly, she couldn’t take another round with him tonight. She was too emotionally drained.

She slowly went back to working at the stain. “What do you need?” she called.

“Let me in, please.”

She ground her teeth. Rag clenched in her fist, she hopped up and crossed to the door, which she unlocked and opened a crack. By Olympus, he looked good. Edible. She loved it when he rolled back his sleeves. “I’m not in the best mood right now. Can it wait?”

“No.”

Stupid question anyway. This was Castor. Patience was not his gift.

“Does it have anything to do with my replacement? I talked to Delilah today, and she’ll be at the office tomorrow to get things rolling.”

“I’m not here to talk about your damn job.”

She opened the door wider and put her hands on her hips. “There’s no need to swear at me.”

Rather than answer, Castor stepped inside, invading her space and forcing her to back up. He kicked the door closed and yanked her into his arms. His lips covered hers in a kiss that blasted her senses and chased her questions and exhaustion to the back of her mind.

When he encountered no resistance, Castor framed her face with his hands and the kiss gentled—both reverent and drugging at the same time. Her body came alive beneath his scorching touch. Eventually, reluctantly, he pulled back. His blue eyes were almost navy, eyes she could drown in.

“I can’t let you go.” The words seemed ripped from a dark place within him.

Hope surged, but experience taught her not to trust it. She gazed at him warily. “Why?”

He swallowed. “Because I’m in love with you. And I think you’re in love with me.”

His words stole the breath from her lungs as happiness and relief poured through her like a tidal wave.

He gave her a little shake. “Say something.”

She gave him a broad grin. “Something.”

“Not what I was going for.” While his lips twitched at her teasing, a worry lingered in his gaze she’d never seen before. She didn’t like it.

She slipped her arms up through his and around his neck and gave him a sweet, lingering kiss. “You’re right. I love you, too.”

The shadow in her heart must’ve reflected in her expression, because he didn’t celebrate. “But?”

She swallowed. “I thought you’d shut out love for good after your wife.” There. She’d said it.

“Ah.” He smoothed the hair back from her face and ran a tender finger down her cheek. “I thought I had, too. But I’ve never felt for anyone what I do for you. It borders on irrational. I’ve been waiting thousands of years to find a love like this.”

Leia’s heart swelled. She went up on tiptoe to place a light kiss on his lips, inhaling his now- familiar scent. “So have I,” she whispered.

“Thank the gods.” His arms tightened around her almost painfully, but she didn’t protest. He leveled a strangely intense look on her. “Be my wife, my partner in this unending, extraordinary life?”

She blinked, both her emotions and her mind still catching up, not expecting either a declaration of love or a proposal, let alone in the same night.

Before she could answer, he rushed into speech. “Don’t say no. We can relocate. I’ve already started searching for property close to your spring.”

She shook her head. “I’ll trade with a nymph closer to here. A spring in Greece is a real find these days, so it shouldn’t be difficult.”

The tense muscles of his shoulders relaxed slightly. He searched her gaze. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Gods yes. “Wherever you are is home for me.”

Air punched from him and he leaned his forehead against hers. “I don’t deserve you.”

Instead of tossing off a joke, she kissed him gently. “You won my love with every good part of you.”

“It doesn’t hurt that I’m pretty hot, either.” He waggled his eyebrows, so different from the solemn, often irritated Castor she’d started working for a year ago.

She rolled her eyes. “Did you know…”

For once he waited for the end of that statement.

She flashed a mischievous smile. “…vanity is just not sexy at all.”

“I’ll show you sexy.” He swung her off her feet, into his arms, and strode toward her bedroom.

Leia wrapped her arms around her neck, snuggling against him in a delicious way, because she was allowed now. Free with him because forever was just on the horizon. “How about we take a bath,” she whispered in his ear, and felt his shiver against her body.

Castor stopped walking, the evidence of his reaction to her words surging against her hip and driving her own need higher. “Are you sure?” he asked.

She nibbled at his ear. “I want to find out what all the hype is about. With you. I’ve been waiting to share this with the man I love.”

Castor swallowed. With a grin that made her laugh, he changed direction. “Your request is my command.”