Page 17 of Protected By Artemis

“And that is?”

She snapped her fingers. “We’ll practice.”

“Practice?”

“Being, uh, lover-like.” Gods, that sounded stupid, even to her ears. “I mean…” She sidled toward him until they were mere centimeters away. “How hard can it be?”

“We’ll have to play it like we’ve been together for a while. You can’t flinch or look even the slightest bit uncomfortable.”

“I won’t,” she said. “Try me.”

“So, I have your consent to do anything, my lady?”

Now, that honorific definitely didn’t sound anywhere near honorable. “Of course,” she said, trying to sound confident. “This is all just practice. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“No, it doesn’t.” An arm snaked around her middle and then hauled her up against his chest. “Not a thing,” he said before his mouth came down on hers.

The force of the kiss caught her off guard, her hands planting themselves on his rock-hard shoulders to keep herself steady. His mouth was demanding, moving over her lips with such urgency, that it was as if there was nothing more important in the world right now. A plane could crash on top of them, and he wouldn’t stop.

She found herself meeting his arduous kiss, and wanting to show him exactly how ready she was for this, she stroked at the inside of his mouth with her tongue. The thrill of triumph and excitement shot through her when she heard his low, throaty groan and his hips thrust against her.

Before she could continue her seduction, something wet swiped at the bottom of her lip—his tongue this time. Drawing her lip into his mouth, he gently grazed it with his tongue before sucking at it, making her body tingle in all her secret places.

Somehow, he had turned the tables, and his mouth was the one seducing her. His tongue caressed her mouth with masterful strokes, teasing her. When she attempted to capture it, he would pull back, evading her. Her own groan of frustration seemed to amuse him as he smiled against her mouth. Her competitive nature refused to give up, and she cupped his jaw, shot up on tiptoes, and fully fused her mouth to his so she could touch his tongue with hers. His flavor—masculine, salty, and rugged—exploded in her mouth, making her knees go weak. When hethrust his fingers into her scalp and tugged, she was a goner. If he asked her to do anything right now, she would obey.

Oh gods, pull yourself together!

Artemis finally found the strength to wrangle her raging hormones and broke away from the kiss. Pulling back from him, she took a deep, cleansing breath. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Cade, on the other hand, let out a frustrated groan, which Artemis had to admit, made her do a little victory dance on the inside. “Well…something’s definitely hard.”

It took all her willpower not to stare down at what she had obviously felt brushing against her stomach while they were making out. “Good. Then I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Tomo—hey, just wait a goddamned minute.” He scrubbed his palm down his face. “I still haven’t said you can come.”

“Too bad, because I am.” She smirked at him. “Besides, you don’t have Hephaestus’s number, and the only way you’ll get him to install the KLonus on your phone is through me.”

He let out a frustrated sound. “Fine, you can come. But you know the conditions.”

“What conditions?”

He closed the distance between them again. “You’ll have to let me touch you and put my mouth on you, anywhere and anytime I want. Even if it’s just us.”

Frankly, that didn’t sound too bad. “Of course. For practice.”

“Right.” He leaned down until she could feel his hot breath on her ear. “Just practice.” His tongue licked behind her ear, which sent a shiver down the back of her thighs, and other places on her lower body. “We’d also have to sleep in the same bed.”

“We do?”

“The staff will be suspicious if they find out we’re sleeping separately. We need to be convincing. Act like real lovers, completely at ease with other, like we can’t keep our hands offeach other. Can you even do that?” His tone made it sound like a challenge.

“I can.” Oh, she would show him how much she could do it. From this point on, she would treat him like a close lover. Somehow it didn’t sound as hard as he made it seem. She closed her eyes. “It’ll help us find out who tried to hurt Geri.”

The atmosphere shifted around them as if breaking whatever spell had been in the air. He straightened himself. “Of course, for Geri.”

“I, uh…better get going then.” She smoothed her palms down her hair, which only moments ago had been fisted in his strong, rough hands. “I should find Hephaestus and get that app.”

“You do that.” There was a slight tug up of the corner of his smug mouth, and for some reason, she wanted to wipe it away.

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