Page 14 of Seducing Scylla
I should feel indignant that I’ve just been bundled up like I’m helpless, but it’s actually a relief to not have to run after her anymore, so I stay quiet and try my hardest to ignore the aching that’s quietly building in my lower abdomen. Some of Scylla’s tentacles gently wrap around my dangling legs, caressing me while I’m being held bridal style in her arms. I gnaw at my lip. If they just moved a little higher… the tentacles tighten. I breathe deeply through my nose, wetness pooling between my legs and I say a silent prayer to whoever is pulling the strings, thankful that my dress is still wet and hope it hides the telltale signs of my arousal.
Scylla’s nostrils flare. “Your smell has changed.”
Curse all of the gods. Why me? This is so embarrassing. Play dumb.
“I just bathed?”
Scylla growls. “That is not it. You smell good enough to eat.” The silky rasp of her voice and her three rows of teeth send shivers down my spine.
“Did it just get hot in here or is it just me?” I fan myself.
My body is on fire, and I just need her to touch me everywhere.
“Maybe I should walk?” I squeak.
“If you think I am letting you out of my arms, you are sorely mistaken.” The seduction laced in her voice reminds me she is an apex predator, and I am nothing if not prey in her arms.
“Now, if you do not start telling me this story of yours, I will not be able to control myself. I will lay you here upon this stone floor and ravage those sweet breasts of yours with my tongue. But I want you ready and willing as my mate, so distract me. Please.”
That’s not a threat at all. I’m willing, I want to shout. Willing, at least, for the tongue part. The mate part is what has me opening my mouth to begin my story.
I tell Scylla about the men in the van at the library. A low feral growl vibrates through her chest when I get to the part about them drugging me. I tell her how I woke up in the shipping container and the storm that knocked us off the ship.
She nods, knowingly. “Charybdis.”
Something about that word strikes another chord in my brain, but I carry on.
I tell her of how I dragged one of the women to the beach, and of Elena who was stuck in the rising tide. Then I tell her of the two red creatures, and how they carried away the woman I had dragged onto the shore, and how I ran.
“That’s when I found your cave,” I whisper, shame sitting fresh in my heart for having left the others to fend for themselves.
She hums as I finish my story. “Ladon and Pytho have your friend.”
I don’t correct her on the friend part. “Who are Ladon and Pytho? The creatures?”
Scylla snorts, and I bite my lip. “They are Drakons.”
“Dragons?” I squeak.
“Drakons. They are mighty warriors. Zeus’ guardians before we were hidden away. We will not be able to get your friend back as I do not know where the Drakons keep their lair, but we can check for the others.”
Silence encompasses us as Scylla continues through the cave system. We take a left at the fork and Scylla gestures to the other path with a nod.
“That is the way to my home.”
This tunnel is dotted with streams of light filtering through worn holes in the ceiling that expose the world above. The smell of salt and sand wafts through a light breeze as we seemingly get closer to our destination.
16
Morgan
“What is this place, anyway?” I ask Scylla, my arm raised to shield my eyes from the glaring sun after being in the muted light of the caves.
We exit the cave system on the opposite end of the beach to where Scylla lives, the wrecked container is visible in the distance, half beached in the sand, and the other half still in the water, waves crashing around it as the tide comes in and out.
“This is Aeolia.” She says it like ee-ol-ee-ah.
“An age ago, we were free. We were worshipped, or feared, or both.” She quirks a smile at some inside joke I’m not privy to.
