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Halie yawned. Made sense. The sun set a couple hours ago, and though she hadn’t been awake too long, her body was adjusting to the local time. Anthony was clearly interested in finding out more about her, though. She appreciated it, but she never before had to put so much thought into her backstory.
Where was she from?
This was easy—Greece. She came here with a work visa.
How long ago? Had she only been to L.A.? Which part?
She mucked her way through things, hoping he didn’t notice her scrambling for answers.
Was she an only child?
No, she had fif—five sisters and a brother.
“Big family.” Anthony had given her a sad smile. “You must really miss them.”
Not yet, and not for long, but she settled for a noncommittal shrug. She tried to change the subject to him, but it didn’t last long.
“So what did you do? Before you were... downsized?” he asked.
The word took a couple agonizing seconds to click into place. What was it Mario—the guy she dated before Joss—did? “Data analyst.”
“Wow. Sounds difficult.”
Before he could ask more, she said, “What do you do?”
He ducked his head, but she caught his shy smile. Adorable. “I’m an artist. I paint,” he said.
“Maybe you could paint me one day.” And maybe he could talk some more about himself and stop with the questions.
“I’d love that. Are you staying in the area? Can I see you again?”
Now they were talking.
“Is this my cue to go?” she asked coyly.
“No. Of course not. Stay. I can show you my studio, if you want.”
Surprisingly, after what she’d experienced with human males this past century, that wasn’t a euphemism for his penis. Anthony led her down the blond-wood corridor that opened to the living room on the left, and into a large room awash in moonlight. He flipped a switch, and she blinked against the light. Bright-colored paintings leaned against almost every available vertical surface, some packed together, except for the wall across from them, which consisted of two sliding glass panes. An easel stood in the far right corner of the room, ready with a blank canvas panel, a table covered with jars and cans of paint beside it. The purple velvet sofa facing it looked well worn and comfy. Unlike the rest of the house, which was white, with clean, sharp lines, this room was cluttered and messy and vibrant with life.
“It’s been a couple months since my last piece.” Anthony sounded apologetic. “I haven’t felt inspired.”
Halie knew nothing about art, much to Mother’s chagrin, but the images on the canvases around her were hauntingly beautiful. “I hope your Muse cooperates soon.”
He arched a blond eyebrow, one corner of his mouth tugging upward. “I think she just might.”
And if she could stop thinking of Delphinos, Halie just might offer to help him.
They returned to the kitchen, and she asked about his art, and he asked about her favorite food, and they kept jumping from one subject to the other, until her stomach rumbled.
“I should go. I skipped a couple meals, and I need to feed the beast”—she pointed at her belly—“and find a place to spend the night.” The story she usually went with was that she was fired, had just moved to town, and was staying at a hotel. The witch took care of the booking and sent her details, clothes, and everything else she’d need with Delphinos. Of course, now Halie would rather avoid him, so she had taken her disaster story a step further. Like say she was living out of her car.
Not that it mattered, because now he’d offer her a late dinner and then ask if she wanted to stay the night.
“If you’re hungry, I could whip something up.”
Yup.
She pretended to consider it, then made her best to sound regretful, as she said, “I don’t want to impose more than I already have. Maybe in a couple days, when I return the clothes to you?”
He didn’t insist, which matched what she’d gleaned of his character. “Let me at least walk you to your car?” he said.
“Sure.” Uh oh. She had no idea which way the main road was, or if parking was allowed there. She had no idea what lay beyond the beach and line of houses—period. Luckily, after a few decades of dating, she knew how to distract a guy. She held out her hand and waggled her fingers. “Lead the way?”
He glanced at her hand, and then closed his warm palm around it with a grin. When she pulled him toward the kitchen door, he said, “Let’s go through the garage. It’s closer.”
So he had some inkling where her car should be. Thank Poseidon.
Anthony took her down the corridor again, through a door to the right, and out the open garage door.
“You’re not very safety oriented, huh? Leaving everything unlocked?” Halie said in a teasing tone.
He shrugged. “I have nothing to steal, and this is a safe neighborhood.”
Which would make this next part more difficult.
They made their way to the street side by side, and when she saw a series of parked cars under the street lights, she let go of him and covered her mouth with both hands. “Oh my God. Where’s my car?” She looked from right to left, hoping she wasn’t overdoing it with the drama. “My car’s gone. Everything I own was in there—my phone, my clothes, all my money... God.” Praying he wouldn’t think to ask about her visa, she let out a choked sob and hunched her shoulders. If he wrapped his arms around her, she was set. Men loved consoling women. It made them feel important.
“I’m calling 911,” Anthony said behind her.
She twirled his way. “No. No police.” They’d find no record of her, and she refused to get locked up until Vythos was erased from her mind. And since she couldn’t tell Anthony that— “My ex... He’s violent. He’s a cop. If I appear on the system, he’ll find me.” She squeezed out a tear, and sighed with relief when Antony gathered her close.
“Don’t cry,” he whispered in her hair. “I’ll help you. You can stay with me until you get things sorted out.”
“Thank you. You’re so nice.” Everything was going according to plan. And Halie felt as slimy as a Hagfish. Anthony was lovely, yet she lied and took advantage of him.
But she meant well. This way, they’d get their chance for a happily ever after.
They returned home, and he made her a vegetarian stir-fry, and they exchanged childhood stories—hers with a few tweaks so it wasn’t obvious she was a child before the Parthenon was built—and laughed at silly things until well after midnight. Anthony asked if she wanted to join him when he walked Buffy, before they turned in, but Delphinos would be waiting for her, and there was no convincing herself she wouldn’t run back to him.
“It’s chilly, and I don’t even have a jacket,” she said.
He looked pointedly at her bare feet. “Or shoes. Tomorrow, we’re going shopping.”
“I couldn’t...” But she had to, unless she wanted to face an upset daimon who loved her and whom she couldn’t live without.
No. She could, and she would. And she’d make the best of it.
Anthony let her have the guest room and even told her the door locked from the inside, so she’d feel safe.
In the morning, he took her clothes shopping, and didn’t once try to peek while she was in the changing room or convince her to buy revealing, skintight outfits. The only time he piped up was to tell her not to forget a pair of sneakers. And he wasn’t annoyed when she couldn’t decide which top to get or what color she preferred.
“How do you feel about a walk on the beach? Maybe we can go for a swim, too,” Anthony said when they were back at his place, her purchases put away.
Panic clogged her throat and stole her breath. Not the beach. Not the sea. “Can’t we stay in? You could paint me.”
His eyes lit up. “I’d love that.”
She asked him if she should wear something specific, but he told her he wanted her to be comfortable, so she stayed in the jeans and jumper she’d worn on the way back from the stores.
They went to the studio, and Anthony asked her to look out the window.
She wished he hadn’t. The sea reminded her of Delphinos, and she should be forgetting him.
No. Never forgetting him again. Just letting him go.
“Beautiful,” Anthony muttered. He didn’t speak again, the only sound in the room the scratching of his brushes against the canvas.
Halie’s body was going stiff by the time he said he was done for the day. He dipped his brushes in a jar with a clear liquid that soon swirled with color, and then helped her on her feet. He didn’t step back, so their faces were inches from each other when she stood. This was where it all came together—their first kiss. Halie closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see his were blue and not bright green when he’d slant his lips over hers.
Crash.
Halie jumped back, her heart hammering in her chest.
The noise came from the direction of the kitchen, and was followed by more crashing and what sounded like a door banging against the wall.
Buffy growled, but a loud, deep rumble shut him up.
“Stay here,” Anthony said. “I’ll check it out.”
“Halie.” Delphinos’ voice reverberated through the house.
She gave Anthony an apologetic look, while happiness and dread roiled in her stomach. “He’s here for me.”
Anthony placed himself between her and the door of the studio. “Your ex? I’ll protect you.”
“In here,” she called out. Delphinos came this far. He’d find her anyway. She only made her location known to keep him from wrecking the place, not because she couldn’t wait to see him. Nah uh.
Footsteps thudded toward them, and she gently pushed Anthony aside. “He won’t hurt me,” she said. “Ever.” Though he might wipe the floor with any guy who stood in his way.
“Are you...” Anthony kept talking, but she no longer heard him.
Her senses were attuned to the naked man who stood in the doorway, green eyes blazing.
“You came,” she said. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“You shouldn’t be here. You belong with me, Halie, and I’m done explaining this to you. If you don’t come with me right now, Poseidon be my witness, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you out.” Delphinos strode to her, not sparing Anthony a glance.
She chuckled. Would he? “Don’t be sil—”
He leaned down, shoved his shoulder against her belly, wrapped an arm around her legs, and lifted.
Halie kicked the air. “Put me down. I must stay here.”
He smacked her ass, sending a delicious tingle to her womb. “You’re coming with me, and that’s that.”
She should be fighting him off. Should be trying to get him to let go.
She was done fighting off love.
His feet were on sand now, his steps slower.
“Put me down? Please?” Halie said.
He didn’t, but he shifted her so she was cradled in his arms. “You’re not going back to him,” he said.
Halie shook her head. “Are you sure about this? My father won’t be happy. The witch—”
“I don’t care about anyone but you. I want you for the rest of time.”
She looped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the mouth. “Take me under?”
The words were barely out of her mouth, before Delphinos let out a guttural cry and ran into the sea. When the water came up to his thighs, he said, “Ready?”
She pulled down Anthony’s shorts and kicked them away. “Well beyond that.”
He plunged into a wave, and she had a tail again. How did she think she could give up on this sense of freedom that made her heart blossom?
He helped her climb onto his back, and she held on with one arm at a time, as she slipped off the borrowed T-shirt.
“Hold on tight.” He reached over his shoulder, to cup her cheek. “We’re going home.”
“No.” She felt his body tense, and hurried to add, “Not yet. I want to be with you first. On our beach.”
Delphinos clasped both her hands where they rested on his chest, and used his tail to propel them faster. They surfaced right outside Santorini as the sun peeked above the horizon, and the secluded beach was blissfully empty.
As soon as she had legs again, Halie wrapped them around him and climbed around to his front. “I missed you.” It had been a little more than a day since he was last inside her, but she meant the words.
He raised his face to the sun, and she caught a glimpse of pain in his gaze before he kissed her again with savage hunger. Why didn’t he say anything? Did he change his mind about them?
“Are you... Is everything all right?” she muttered.
“Shh...” He kneaded her buttocks with one hand and buried the other in her hair, keeping her captive while he plundered her mouth.
Halie’s worry melted away when his thoughts echoed in her head. Doesn’t matter. Mine. My Halie. Love. Need. Mine.
She wasn’t supposed to hear him when they were in human form, but she didn’t care. He loved her, and he was hers as much as she was his.
His cock, thick and hard, slid along her labia. She wanted nothing more than to feel him inside her, but first she had to taste him. She lowered her legs, and disappointment clouded his face, before it turned into surprise when she caressed his length and waggled her eyebrows.
She tangled her fingers with his, and he let her lead him out on the sand. She held his gaze as she dropped on her knees before him.
“Halie...”
She shushed him and pushed his shaft up, so she could run her tongue up his length, then wrapped her hand around him. Her fingers were an inch apart, and that she couldn’t encircle him made her all the more eager to stretch her lips around him.
She sucked on the tip of his cock and let him push inside her mouth. She wanted to draw it out, but she couldn’t pace herself as she slid her mouth up and down his length. She sucked at every upstroke before taking him in again. Faster. Deeper.
“Poseidon.” Delphinos groaned and pumped his hips, making her gag. “Halie, you need to stop. I’m going to come.”
Halie’s jaw ached, but she kept sucking as she raised her head. She let her teeth graze the underside of his glans, and stroked the velvet skin with her tongue.
“Enough.” He pushed his hand in her locks and tugged, until she reluctantly withdrew with a wet plop and stood, so he could claim her mouth again. Without breaking the kiss, he helped her down to the sand and lay on top of her, and Halie folded her legs around his hips.
Her body was a ball of raw need. She needed him. Deep inside. She wedged her hand between their bodies and grasped his shaft, then angled her hips so he nudged at her entrance. “Take me. Make me yours,” she thought at him.
Delphinos met her gaze. “I can hear you.” Awe colored his voice, and then he was piercing her, stretching her to the point of pain.
Halie didn’t care. The throbbing in her pussy stoked the fire in her belly with each thrust of Delphinos’ hips. This time she didn’t look away from the feelings simmering in his eyes. Instead, she tried to show him how much he meant to her—how she’d been his even when she denied it.
The desperation with which he kissed her minutes ago faded, as he drove inside her in long, languid strokes, his cock rubbing the bundle of nerves and making her body hum like a Midshipman fish.
Delphinos sucked on her nipple and circled her clitoris with his thumb. She bucked her hips into his touch. He always knew how to touch her—how to pluck at her body’s chords and make it sing.
“I thought I lost you forever,” he murmured against her wet skin.
His hair was matted with sweat and seawater when she grabbed a fistful and forced him to look at her again. “I belong with you. To you. I don’t care what that prophecy says. My heart is yours.”
“Halie...”
“I love you.”
He crushed his mouth to hers and pinned her in place with a punishing grip on her hips, as he pumped harder, pounding her into the sand. The fire in her womb roared. She dug her nails in his shoulders and fell over the edge, pleasure crashing into her in waves and pulling her apart, until she was no more than white foam, spreading along the shore.