Page 72 of For the Love of the Gods

I fled back into my room, slamming the door behind me harder than I’d intended. Every curse and self-inflicted insult in the book was rattling through my brain but there was one that rang louder than the others—stupid.

I was stupid for letting his magnetism get to me. But, damn, was it strong. Dominic had this way of pulling me in, every sense attuned to him. I’d never felt this kind of attraction to anyone. But it was just hatred, the passion of that emotion breaking through to drive me up a wall insane.

Faster than I had ever, I washed my face and threw on a dress, itching to get Dominic’s t-shirt off. I couldn’t think with his damned cologne crawling up my nose and stealing all rational thought.

I ran back through the bathroom before I could doubt the action, barreling into Dominic’s room to find him staring at the floor in front of his own front door.

He twisted to look at me, noticing my presence before I had a chance to speak. He looked tired, and it sent my chest tightening. Iwastired, physically, but the bags under my eyes had softened. Dominic looked even more exhausted.

But he said nothing, just opened the door and motioned for me to exit in front of him. “After you.”

I walked over and brushed past him, his scent playing its age old tricks and making me delusional enough to imagine the sound of a deep inhale, a sniff even, out of Dominic. “Thank you.”

He trailed me all the way down to the kitchen, where I knew we’d find Raiden and Marcus waiting. I had half the mind to break the tension and ask how quickly it would take one of them—I had my money on Marcus—to make a quip about one of us needing caffeine after a rough night. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and reveled in the tension. It served as a much needed reminder of what we were to each other.

Married, but only in ceremony.

Even if wehadconsummated it. Three times. Four if you counted the way his fingers had—

And now I was thinking about Dominic and sex again. Not. Good.

No. No. No. The words were in time with my steps all the way to the kitchen.

Dominic reached around me to grab the door as we approached, guiding me in with the ghost of a hand over my lower back.

Either he was scared to touch me or was being painfully and unnaturally respectful.

When we stepped through the door, around ten minutes after Raiden’s one minute warning, Raiden leveled us with a deadly serious look and ordered, “Sit.”

I took the seat Dominic had pulled out for me and asked “What’s going on?” while he walked over to the kitchen.

He didn’t bother with fresh coffee this morning, just pulled out the cold leftovers stored in the fridge. I normally stayed away from coffee, my nerves already wired a bit too high for it, but I needed it this morning.

Not thirty seconds later and without an inkling of a word out of my mouth, a creamy iced coffee that smelled sweet like hazelnuts appeared in front of me, wrapped in Dominic’s strong hand.

He dropped into the seat next to me and I turned to thank him, reaching toward him. Shaking out of my trance, I realized I was leaning in for a hug, and jerked my body back.

Even if the thought of him wrapping his strong arms around me, of snaking mine around his waist and pressing my forehead into the crook of his neck felt…necessary, it was wrong.

Wrong and dangerous.

Max caught the movement with their ever-perceptive gaze, but ascribed the wrong meaning to it.

“It will be okay. We have it under control.” Max’s voice was calming,theywere calming. They had such a steady way about going through the world, identifying problems and solving them with a settled efficiency. It was something I admired, and something I needed to emulate.

Raiden took a deep breath, gathering visible strength before speaking. “So, five humans stormed the gates. Four were taken out by the Styx but the fifth made it.”

“Fuck,” Dominic cursed, his hand cracking the wood on the back of my chair.

Marcus jumped in next. “We caught him, but he isn’t talking.”

“Were they armed?” Dominic asked.

“Yes,” Marcus responded.

“Trained?”

“Probably.”

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