Page 32 of Protected By Artemis

Because despite the clawing desire ripping at her, she couldn’t have sex with Cade. It felt like a definitive line she couldn’t ever cross because once she did, there was no going back. She could never go back or put the genie back in the bottle. He made her feel things and want things that she knew she just couldn’t have.

Closing her eyes shut, she reminded herself of her friend Lida.

Lida had been a shepherdess, a devoted follower of Artemis, but then she also became something more—a friend. She would have done anything for Artemis and vice versa, so much so that when she was at her deathbed, she made Artemis promise to watch over her daughter, Kyra.

And, of course, she did because she always kept her promises. Kyra, under the care of her grandparents and Artemis’s guidance, grew into a beautiful, accomplished young woman, who too, married and had children of her own. For a time, Artemis was happy, watching over her ward and spending time with her and her children and grandchildren. But then came the dreaded day—Kyra, so old and frail, surrounded by her family, passed on too, just like her mother.

The pain had been too much, and for an immortal, the years of watching her grow from a chubby little baby to a withered old woman felt like it had been mere days, the time slipping through her fingers like sand.

No, she couldn’t watch another child die while she remained young and healthy. And when The Fates told her, on that day, the worst day of her life, that she would never have a child who would be immortal or choose to be immortal by eating the golden apple, she made her choice.

It’s just sex.Or not sex, as it was.

But then, it wasn’t like Cade was asking her to marry him. This was all fun for him too. As he explained, shifters needed sex, not necessarily the emotional connection. They mated and married for political reasons, and had heirs to continue their line and keep their packs strong. Maybe it was time she gave up her virginity. And he did volunteer to be her first.

“Shower’s all yours.”

She rolled around to face him. “Thanks, I—” Her mouth was dry as a desert as she stared at him, hair all wet, water droplets clinging to his chest and six-pack, and his towel wrapped low on his slim hips. Gods, she’d already seen him naked, yet in this half-dressed state, he still managed to make her temperature rise a few degrees.

“Ahem.” Cade shot her an amused smile. “Eyes up here, please.”

She tossed her pillow at him, which he lobbed with ease before jumping into bed and wrapping his arms around her.

“Cade! Your hair is still wet,” she protested.

“So?”

“And you have your meeting. Last day, remember?”

He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I can be a minute late.”

She smirked at him. “As tempting as that is, I need to remind you that you’ll need every minute you have.”

“I’m almost done, just one, or rather, two more phones to go.”

Gently, she pushed him away and sat up. “Who do we have left on the list?”

“Daniel and Mallory Philipps.”

“Are they husband and wife?”

“Mother and son, actually,” he explained. “Mallory is Alpha, but he’s her heir, so he’s sitting in on all the meetings, making connections, learning the ropes, that kind of thing.”

“And why can’t you copy their data?”

He shrugged. “That’s the thing, I don’t know. I get my phone as close to theirs as I can, for as long as I can, but the app keeps saying ‘error, data cannot be copied.’”

“Maybe there’s something wrong with the app?” She grabbed her phone from under her pillow and called Hephaestus. “H?”

“Yeah?” came the god of fire’s voice from the speaker.

Artemis quickly explained the situation to him. “They’re the last ones we need, H. Any idea what’s wrong? Could the app be malfunctioning?”

“My apps do not malfunction,” he stated. “Give me one sec…” There was a clacking of keys and a series of beeps before his voice came back on the line. “Ah, interesting.”

“What is it?” Cade asked.

“They have top-of-the-line security installed on their phones. Like, shit that the NSA could only dream of.”

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