Page 13 of Gambling with Time

She landed on her hands and knees, her fingers still curled around the dagger, and her breath came out in pants.

I knelt down next to her, my heavy breaths still moving my chest. “If my sisters created a prophecy, it is not something that you can run from.”

Her gaze trained on mine at my soft words. “Do you think it is real?”

“I think it sounds like something my sisters would do. And I can’t deny the connection I feel for all of you.”

“A connection?”

I leaned back on my heels. “With you. It is a feeling of belonging like my soul is in the right place. Is that crazy? I have glimpses of memories. I can see your face and my feelings from the moments, but it is more than that.”

Her eyes filled with unshed tears, and she nodded, her lips pressed together. “Yes, exactly that.”

I wasn’t sure who moved first, but she was in my arms, and I felt like the constant buzzing that had filled my head with white noise disappeared. It settled and relaxed. Replacing it was a knowing. I knew the prophecy was right, and if it was, that meant we had a limited time to get our memories back before Osiris brought his army to face us.

We had to gamble with time. My heart thundered in my ears, roaring the urgency through me. My arms tightened around her, and she leaned into the hold as if we could become one person.

Her legs curled around my waist, and her hands ran up the back of my neck and into my hair at its base. Every fiber of my body reacted to her soft curves pressed into me, and she squeaked as I grew hard beneath her. Lifting her head, her eyes dropped to my lips before meeting mine.

She leaned in, her warm lips pressed to mine. Her tongue slid along my lower lip, and I parted them for her. She tasted like sugar and cherries as I devoured her. I couldn’t get enough, and before long, we were panting into each other's mouths between frantic kisses that didn’t feel like nearly enough.

CHAPTER 8

Samantha

My head was spinning, and it felt as if the ground beneath me was shifting. A flood of memories washed over me. A gasp parted my lips, and Lex drank it up. I remembered. Everything.

Butterflies went brain-dead in my stomach as my heart leaped into my throat. Home. I had been lost in a sea of doubt, but now I was saved. Tears flowed down my face, mixing into our kiss, and Lex pulled back, concern etched on his face.

He brushed his knuckles over the trail of tears, wiping them away with his gentle touch. “Did I hurt you?”

A watery laugh bubbled up my throat as I shook my head. “You could never hurt me, Lex.”

Relief filled his eyes, but the concern was still there in the slight tightness at the corners, and the ever-so-tiny downward tilt of his lips.

“I remember everything,” I said, sliding off his lap and back to my feet. “Maybe kissing each of you did something, like waking Sleeping Beauty.”

He slowly pushed to his feet, the very obvious bulge in his pants making me want to drag him someplace a little more private. But that would have to wait, because if kisses unlocked memories then I had a whole lot more kissing to do. Not that it was a hardship or anything.

My gaze dipped to his crotch as he adjusted himself, and I gave him a rueful smile. “We will take care of that soon.”

“I still don’t have my memories, not all of them,” he replied.

“You also haven’t kissed Bellamy or Alastor.” At his confused look, I grinned. “You have grown very close to both of them.”

“Alastor?” he asked doubtfully, his eyebrow lifted as we made our way back to the palace.

Catching sight of the God at the top of the steps, I smiled up at him. “Yes, the man brave enough to save us all.”

Taking the steps two at a time, I threw myself into his arms. He grunted in surprise before his arms wrapped around me. I buried my head into his neck inhaling his scent. I’d missed him. Hell, I had missed all of them and not even realized it.

“Samantha?” Alastor murmured softly into my hair, his question clear.

I melted into him. The hope in his voice was everything at that moment. I lifted my head to meet his stare. “Alastor.”

His fingertips traced my cheek as he examined the look on my face, reading it for what it was. A relieved smile spread across his face, and he hugged me harder, burying his head in my hair again.

“You don’t hate me for being a coward?” His words were muffled, but I understood them.

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