Daughter of Asteria (The Daughter Trilogy) (39 page)

“I’m game for a nighttime excursion,” Hale interjects.

“Here, here,” Jace adds as he climbs out to plop down on the dock.

“I could use a minute of reprieve,” Slash whines.

“Well?” Devin urges, his grin growing as his eyes stay fixated on mine.

“Yeah. I’ll see what else Persia has in my closet,” I murmur hesitantly.

He tilts my chin up so my face meets his.

“Don’t worry about immortal things, baby. That’s my job,” he soothes while gauging my

hesitance.

His lips find mine, and I can feel the water around us starting to boil.

“Ah, hell,” Hale gripes.

“Let’s go get ready,” a girl prompts.

“We’ll meet you guys at eight,” Devin says menacingly as his eyes swirl mischievously.

My body heats more and the boiling bubbles begin to spread. Devin’s lips return to mine, and as

soon as the last person flees our sight, my bathing suit is no longer blocking his body from mine.

I feel the water wrapping around me as he holds me to his perfectly toned masterpiece. My head

falls back as his lips scour my chest, and the salt water courses against my bare skin.

I moan as my lips reconnect with his, and the water rushes around me more with a swirling force.

The rain slips free from above, and adds to our wet seduction.

I feel his lips chartering new paths against my greedy body as I claw for more, and I only pray

Kahl doesn’t walk out of the house.

Chapter 13

Trouble in Paradise

“You ready, babe?” Devin murmurs with a completely sated tone to his delicious voice.

I smile as I step out of the bathroom to reveal the one-sleeved dress that rises to be just below my

rear so that it shows off my legs. The daring heels offer more seduction to the sleek ensemble.

His eyes dare me to seduce him, and I strut very confidently to accept the challenge.

“You like?” I smolder.

He sighs out with anguish as he grumbles, “I like it too much, and unfortunately the others will be

joining us, including Kahl. I’m not sure how he’s going to fare with the way that dress is going to

make me act tonight.”

I laugh a little, and then my lips beseech his. He responds without hesitance, and pulls me tighter

to his body.

“Let’s join the others,” he mumbles very stiffly.

I giggle a little, and he pulls my hand into his before flashing down the stairs.

“You can pick a car,” Persia offers to Devin as soon as we reach the main floor.

He smirks mischievously before responding, “Actually, I stowed something special on my jet.

We’ll just meet you there.”

I tilt my head to question his vague remark, and he flashes with me outside to avoid answering.

He drops my hand when we finally reach the jet, and holds one hand up to signal he needs a minute.

“I’ll be right back,” he says while smiling too big.

I almost giggle at his exciting behavior, and the back lowers to release a secret cargo hold.

I hear a roaring, and then I gasp when he drives off with a big, metallic blue motorcycle harnessed

between his legs. He grins fiercely and uses his head to motion for me to climb on.

“
Really
? I think you’re trying to get laid right now,” I tease.

He laughs hard and props on the handle bars to seduce me further.

“I felt it warranted. I was going to use it to entice you when you were still fighting with me, but

now I just want you to ride,” he says with a menacing wink.

“I’ll ride,” I seduce.

“I’ll drive,” he smolders back.

I laugh a little at the dirty banter before climbing onto the back of the gorgeous beast blaring its

power to our ears. The faint smell of gasoline intrudes momentarily before the thunderous roar erupts

even louder.

A subtle jolt bobs my head when he peels out of the lot, and I breathe him in as my dress tries to

stay in place.

I laugh ridiculously hard as he weaves playfully on the road and I gasp when he takes a sharp

curve. My hands grip tightly around his waist and one of his hands reaches behind him to jerk my

body closer.

He returns his hand to the handle bars as he rattles out, “That’s better. That’s kind of the whole

point of this - keeping you as close as possible,” he smolders.

I kiss his back through his shirt and snuggle up to him so my body is as close as it can possibly

be. The wind whips my hair, and I still it so it doesn’t completely undo the hard work I put into my

style.

“That’s cheating. You’re robbing yourself of the full experience,” he laughs.

“If we were mortal, we’d be wearing helmets. It’s the same difference,” I giggle back.

“We’re not mortal. Just enjoy it,” he dares, and I release the wind to let it do with me as it

wishes.

The roar slows to a purr as we reach an island bar that looks exactly as tropical as I envisioned

one to be.

The pineapple leaf decorations are displayed proudly as a live band plays music for a singer

humming lyrics in a language I can’t understand. The sweat drips from the mortals, and drunkenness

joins the aroma.

I laugh a little as Devin takes my hand and swivels me in a twirl before leading me up the small

steps to the outdoor party. Paper lanterns trim the edges and offer a light glow to illuminate the large

space. Wild, drunken mortals dance and holler to the music, and I see our very crowded group taking

up half the seating area.

Devin pulls me into his lap as he sits down in a chair beside Deacon. The waitress instantly

brings over scotch as if he’s already ordered, and she hands me a clear liquid that is filling the glass to

the brim.

I smile as I sip the strong liquid that offers little burn.

“How did she know what we wanted?”

“I ordered before you got here,” Deacon answers.

Camara’s eyes are swirling wildly, and she stands to grab Deacon’s hand.

“Dance with me,” she commands.

“I don’t dance, lass,” he jokes.

“You do now, lad,” she taunts, and she jerks his grumbling self to the dance floor.

Devin leans over to kiss the back of my neck, and I feel the air lightly stirring in response.

“Do you want to dance?” he smolders.

“I don’t really know how to dance to this sort of music,” I mumble out self-consciously.

“I do,” he dares, and he lifts me to my feet before swirling me into his arms.

He slowly seduces my body as his eyes burn into mine, and I’m forced to endure the torture of his

body heating me.

Please don’t let my passion or my fire singe this dress. I’m not wearing anything underneath.

The slow, tantalizing song only adds ambience to our already sizzling bodies, and Devin’s lips

fold over mine to offer even more zest.

“I love having fun with you,” he seduces.

“I love being with you in any sense,” I murmur sincerely.

His lips find mine once more, until we’re interrupted by a bar fight breaking out between two

mortals. Devin’s eyes instantly scold Deacon, but he holds his hands up innocently.

“It wasn’t me,” he defends.

I roll my eyes and part the skies for the rain to brew, and I throw a gust of wind to knock them

outside. Devin smirks as the water sobers the men up a little, but then they just jump back into the

fight.

“I’ll break it up,” Jace grumbles as he leaps over the railing.

He jerks the men apart, his light grip used to keep from breaking their fragile bodies. I stare at

the scene until a girl walks over to stand beside Devin.

“I’m Simone,” she bluntly offers. “And you are?” she continues.

“I’m engaged,” he chuckles out as he glances down at the jealously fuming from my face.

The fucking nerve.

This bitch doesn’t realize what I’m capable of, or she shouldn’t be so bold.

Then I notice something. She’s not sweating. The air is hot, thick, and muggier now. She should

have some perspiration.

Before I can say anything, Kahl leaps between us.

“You don’t have any reason to mess with her. You came for me, and here I am,” he pleads.

“She’s your daughter. I can see your blood in her veins. I want you both now,” she threatens.

“Get the mortals out,” Persia yells to the others.

Her eyes flicker, and Kahl quickly looks away as if he’s deliberately avoiding her gaze. Devin

does the same when her eyes turn to him, and I don’t have a clue what’s going on.

White floods my eyes, and I grab the bitch by the throat before I realize what’s going on.

“Adisia, no! Don’t look into her eyes!” Kahl screeches.

I throw her onto a table, and she smiles as I stare into her flickering eyes, but that smile fades

when whatever she was expecting to happens fails.

“What the hell?” she gasps, and my grip tightens around her throat when she struggles to free

herself.

“What’s wrong?” my voice echoes. “Expecting me to fold to you? I fold to no one,” my dark

voice releases.

“Who… what are you?” she pleads.

“The last thing you’ll ever see,” I growl, but then several new faces flash into the room.

“Release her$, daughter of Kaos, or I swear I’ll rip your unwavering eyes from their sockets,” a

man hisses.

I look up fearlessly, and then my blaring eyes threaten the surrounding mass of new threats.

There are as many of them as there are of us now, and every one of our people steps up behind me.

“I’ll let her go when she stops breathing,” I eerily stream out.

“We’ve come for him this time, we’ll let you go this once,” the man hisses again as he points to

Kahl. “He killed several of our people. He has to pay the price,” the man continues.

“He killed them in self defense, in case you’ve forgotten. He had to get to me. This petty group

only disgusts me, and I won’t waste another second on your insolence,” Asteria blares through me and

in that moment I lose the control completely.

I watch as the white exudes from my body for the first time, and screams erupt as the girl beneath

my hand bursts into ashes from the cosmic flow.

The group charges me, but before anyone behind me can launch the first attack, the white expels

itself from me once more, and it burns hotter than the fire I had felt earlier. Ashes splash around as

the bodies combust from the intensity of the fire, and yells for retreat erupt from all around.

Devin spins the water to block their path of retreat, and then he corals them into one big huddle.

The lightening surges from the sky, and they scatter to avoid the blasts.

I stalk toward them with predatory ambition, and fear spreads throughout the air as I near without

falter.

One large guy blasts a blaze toward me, but I don’t flinch as my body absorbs it like water. I

breathe it in as if it’s a refreshing gust of air, and their eyes panic that much more.

I feel invincible, and my smirk dares them to try something else.

Another girl steps up, and I see thorns flying at me from the ground. They stop midair, then turn

and rush back into her body when I use the wind to deflect them.

I brush off the few strays that made it to me, but they have proven to be as harmless as mortal

thorns.

I smile bigger as I let one last burst of the brilliant white burn escape from me, and they turn to

complete ash just as the others had. The aqua corral slowly slinks back to the ocean, and the rain

steadily slows to a halt.

The wind shifts to a gentle pace, and the thunder dully rolls until it completely retreats from the

air.

Devin’s arms wrap around me, but the white still stains my eyes. He’s staring fearlessly, and his

lips bring the sanity back to the surface. I sink into his arms, and he pulls me close to him as the

white disappears.

“Holy fucking shit,” Jace gasps. “Did she really just take down all of them? Most of them were

stronger than some of ours.”

“Yeah, and she stared into the eyes of a Medusa without turning to stone,” Kahl murmurs in

disbelief.

“She absorbed fire,” Persia almost cries as she comes down from her adrenaline terror.

“She deflected the spikes of a Manticore,” Hale sighs in complete stupefied wonder.

“Asteria took over again,” I grumble.

“She didn’t do anything wrong this time. She was protecting her son,” Devin soothes.

“My mother wasn’t that strong,” Kahl interjects. “That was her channeling the power Adisia has,

but it wasn’t her the whole time,” he finishes.

“No. Aphrodite jumped in somewhere along the way, and I’m the one who started the fight,” I

explain.

“You have no idea how much power you just exerted, do you?” Devin spouts in awe.

Suddenly, everyone kneels to one knee and bows their heads to me as if I’m royalty. Devin starts

to do the same, but I grip his hand and glare at him.

“Don’t even think about it,” I scold. He lets a small smirk escape, and I turn to gripe at the rest of

the room. “Stop that right now.”

Hale and Deacon stifle a grin, and Camara covers her mouth when she’s unable to do so

successfully. Persia and Kahl continue to bow, and I scowl at them.

“You two had me. Get off your damn knees right now,” I blare.

Devin finally lets a small chuckle escape, and Deidra scolds him.

“It’s very improper to laugh at the Emperian, especially after showing such dominance.”