Page 35 of Grave Curse

Except…

I did need him.

On some primitive level, Ineededhim. To hold me. To kiss me. To fill me. To rip me apart in the most carnal way, then put me back together in a shape of his liking. God, I needed him so much I couldn’t hold back a small moan of yearning when he deepened his kiss.

The fiery heat of his lips wasn’t startling anymore. Only addicting. I had a real fear of addiction of any sort, thanks to my mother, but in that moment I didn’t care. I let my eyes close so I could sink into the searing embrace of it, reveling in what I believed deep down was our first real kiss rather than something he took before I was prepared to give.

He seemed to recognize the difference as well, if the rough groan that rumbled from him was any indication. I leaned into him, deepening the pressure and savoring the sweep of his tongue against mine.

Delicious.

The feel of him made me crave more, so I turned my torso so that it pressed fully against his chest. God, how I wished I had the power to make clothes magically disappear. I tried to memorize all the intriguing ridges and hollows of his body through feel alone, and a shiver tore through me at the sensation of my breasts flattening against his chest. He was as solid as a brick wall and hot as a furnace. He seemed to have the ability to shift and absorb my weight so that not even a breath of space existed between us, and I loved that. As satisfying as a puzzle piece fitting into its rightful place, that was how I fit into Tyr’s arms, and I could only hope he felt the rightness of it, too.

The rightness.

Was that what this was?

Kissing Tyr was hot and exhilarating, and as much as the two of us getting together made no sense, there was no denying my underwear had become uncomfortably wet in the time that I’d been sitting on his lap. Like, time-to-freaking-change kind of wet. But as soon as he stopped touching me, stopped kissing me, the reality of my world would be waiting to smack me right in the face. A reality where I didn’t trust him. A reality where he wanted the world to think he hated me. That we hated each other.

What the hell am I doing?

I leaned back, breaking the kiss, while my hand had found its way to his chest to push him away without my realizing it. Boiling over with frustrated need and conflicted confusion, I looked into his eyes only to find him watching me with such absolute focus I could almost believe nothing else on earth mattered to him more than me.

“I know you’re at war with your uncle.” Hades was the last thing I wanted to talk about, God knew. Doing so left a bad taste in my mouth, like I’d just licked the bottom of a trash can. But I needed to know where I stood. “I know you’re always looking for a chink in his armor.”

I couldn’t blame him for the epic slow-blink he bestowed on me. “Are you serious? You want to talk about that cocksuckernow?”

“I just want you to know that I’m not a chink in his armor, Tyr. I can’t be used that way if… if that’s what you’re wanting to do with me.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I can’t be used in your war against Hades. Not only will I not stand for it, the fact is I have nothing to do with that monster anymore. I haven’t for years. You know this.”

“Damn right I know it. I’m the one who got you out of his house and sheltered you until you were old enough and strong enough to move out on your own. If you never lay eyes on that shitbird again it’ll be too soon.”

Something vital loosened in my chest, and I sighed at the relief of it even as I tried to get to the bottom of our new reality. “Okay, so you’re saying that you know I can’t be used in any strategy.”

“Exactly.”

“And you know I want nothing to do with any of your stupid wars.”

“I wouldn’t let you get anywhere near it even if you wanted to jam a stick of dynamite up H’s ass and light it yourself.”

“Good,” I said faintly, still frowning as I sifted through every possible angle. “For what it’s worth, I personally believe that bastard will die soon enough, and the Chicago Gravediggers will die with him, leaving you a clear field to take over the entirety of Chicago.”

“Are you going somewhere with this?”

“I’m just trying to make sure we both understand how things are. The change in your attitude toward me… It doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with Hades or your war with him.” I looked up at him warily. “Right?”

“You’re having real trouble figuring me out, aren’t you?”

“Just answer the damn question.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said, while his scowl dissolved into a grin that clearly showed he was laughing at me. “And good for you, digging up those answers all by yourself. It’s like you’re a detective or something.”

“And you’re a comedian.” I tried not to huff, but when the man was laughing at me, a little huffage was required. “You can’t blame me for questioning your motives. For most of our lives we’ve hated each other.”

“Not when we were little.” His hand came up to cup my chin, and my heart stuttered at the tenderness in his touch. “And I wasn’t kidding when I said I won’t let you hate me. I know there’s a lot of shit in our past, but that wasn’t generated by us. If you can fight your way through all that and let it just be us—justusand nothing else—then you’ll get why I’m doing what I’m doing.”

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