Hunting Medusa: The Medusa Trilogy, Book 1 (35 page)

“There is no way to predict what we’re going to run into up there,” he admitted. “If I tried to strategize for a month, I still couldn’t come up with every possibility, and inevitably we’d run into one of the scenarios I’d failed to imagine.” He touched the corner of her swollen lip. “We’ll have to improvise.”

Andi stared up at him, aware her mouth was hanging open. “You must be more exhausted than I realized.”

He chuckled and drew her on top of him. “Then you should help tire me out so I can stop thinking and get some sleep. I have a feeling we’re going to need all the rest we can get tonight. Besides, I’m sure your hormones are starting to fire up now too. We can kill two birds with one stone.”

“How romantic of you,” she murmured dryly, letting him settle her over his chest, her legs opening to fall on either side of his hips. Between them, his erection thickened with his desire. “And whose hormones are getting happy?”

He laughed and caught her nape, jerking her against his mouth.

She let him, opening for him when his tongue slid along her lower lip. Heat burst in her middle, sliding down her spine. She glided her hands up from his shoulders, into his hair, stroking his scalp and neck until he purred into the kiss.

Kallan took charge of the next kiss, and the next and the next, devouring her—claiming her—as he pressed his fingers into her tight sheath. She wedged one hand between their bodies to curl her fingers around his shaft, stealing his breath for a moment. His hips rocked into her touch, and while he thrust his fingers inside her, he pressed his thumb over her hard little clit, making her moan.

He rolled her over and caught one of her legs, then hitched it up and out over his arm, higher until it rested on his shoulder.

She opened her dark eyes slowly, the desire and emotion mingling there for him to see. To feel.

He forced her to unwrap her fingers from his erection, and guided the head along her outer lips several times, until her hips rocked up toward him.

“I love you, Andrea Rosakis,” he whispered, his mouth an inch over hers.

Her smile was breathtaking, making his already-racing heart stop its crazy pounding for a second before tripling in pace. “I love you too, Kallan Tassos.” She used the hand still tangled in his hair to draw him down, brushing her lips along his. “Come inside me now, please.”

He didn’t make her wait. He let his heavy length slide deep, until he could go no further. Her inner muscles fluttered around him, making his pulse skip and quicken even more.

They rocked together slowly, smiling into each other’s eyes for what seemed like hours. Or maybe only a few minutes. When her first release rushed through her, he gritted his teeth against the need to let go and watched pleasure wash over her face. Her next orgasm triggered his own, so he could do nothing but feel for a very long time.

He realized much later that he’d collapsed on top of her, and he tried to shift away, but she held on. “Don’t move yet,” she whispered.

He stopped trying to roll onto his side, though he did ease her leg off his elbow.

For a long time, he listened to her breathing as it evened out, feeling little aftershocks clench her body around his, gently. Eventually, he lifted his head far enough to look into her still-flushed face. Her eyelids fluttered up, and she smiled up at him.

“Hi.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

“Hi.” She slid one hand up from his arm to his nape. “Are you tired yet?”

He huffed out a laugh. He’d forgotten his challenge to her. “Not tired enough to sleep,” he admitted.

“Then we have to try harder.” A sly smile curved her lips this time, and her foot slid up the back of his thigh.

Heat burst at her caress, rushing up to his groin. “You don’t need to—”

She touched her lips to his. “I want to.” She rolled toward him, and he let her tumble him to his back.

This amazing woman was his. And he’d do whatever he had to do to keep her.

But right now, he simply let her do whatever she wanted to do
to
him.

Andi stretched in the shower in the morning, feeling some achy muscles complain about overuse. She smiled as she put her face under the spray. Kallan’s arm brushed her back. But when the faint twinge in her belly echoed the complaint, her smile disappeared.

They didn’t have long.

“We need to get moving,” she said, turning blindly toward him.

He caught her and pressed a kiss onto her lips. “Okay.” He shut the water off and grabbed two towels.

Andi dried quickly, dragging the towel over her head. She tugged on clean clothes and went to check her email one more time before they got on the road.

She sighed. Still nothing from Aunt Lydia.

“Do you have a plan in that gorgeous head of yours?”

She hesitated. “I know we can’t just go on up the driveway.”

He shook his head. “They’ll be waiting.”

“Exactly. Which means we need to hike in.” She chewed on one corner of her lower lip. “I kind of wish we’d brought one or two of your guns.”

He smiled a little. “It’s too late to pick one up now. Besides, once we fire, everyone else will know we’re there.”

She knew that. “The blades are silent,” she agreed reluctantly. “But we do have to get in close.” And she wasn’t sure she could do much damage yet with her curse. Just thinking about it, she felt her gut tighten reflexively. “If I can’t go in on my own, leave me behind. Or if I have to stop, don’t wait.”

His smile vanished in a flash. “Won’t happen.”

“Kallan.” She turned fully toward him. “They’re going to be after you as much as they’re after me now.” She lifted her hands to cup his face. “I’ll get there eventually.” She winced involuntarily when her belly cramped. “We need to make a stop at the drug store.”

Some of the annoyance in his face faded, and he set his hands gently at her waist. “All right. Let’s get out of here.”

They got everything into the car in one trip.

Andi stewed as he drove, watching out the window. It was still early, so the tourists weren’t up and out yet, and only a few locals were on the sidewalks. She rubbed her belly, determined to resist the urge to curl into a ball in her seat. Not yet.

After they made a couple stops for supplies—for her and for their trek into the woods—she guided him along back roads to her mountain. The familiar area made her tension ease just a little, though knowing someone was waiting at her home to kill her wouldn’t let her fully relax.

Kallan’s fingers tapped on the steering wheel as he drove, almost nervously.

She smiled to herself. Even the big bad Harvester was worried.

He set one hand over hers on her thigh, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. “This time tomorrow, we can be on our way anywhere you like.”

She shut her eyes. It was a nice dream.

Kallan didn’t like the pallor of Andrea’s face. Or the way she was rubbing her abdomen. He frowned as he maneuvered the car along the twisting back road. Well, it was almost a road—oiled-down dirt and gravel nearly wide enough for two cars to pass one another.

He grimaced as the car hit a pothole and bounced. Andrea’s knuckles whitened for a second on the door handle before she resumed massaging her belly.

He steered the car around the next dip, then back onto the right side. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

She nodded. She had her eyes shut tight, and he realized they hadn’t brought her sleep mask. Neither of them had thought about it when packing for their first flight. He wondered if he had anything they could use. It would be bad if he got in the way.

At last, he reached the turn-off she’d told him was coming, and he pulled in to park the car. He considered the woods surrounding them.

“How long do you think it’ll take us to hike in?” he said at last.

She inhaled slowly, as if she were concentrating on the pain gathering in her belly. “An hour or so. Maybe longer, depending.”

Depending on how she held up. He stifled a sigh. She was right. He wasn’t a runner. But for her, he’d run far and fast. She had made it clear that wasn’t an option, however, so they had to do this.

He took the keys from the ignition and stuffed them into one of his pockets.

“You’ll have to let me lead,” she said.

He studied her pale face, the sweat beading on her brow. And swallowed back the words that wanted to come out again. She’d never agree to leave now. “Okay.” He pushed his door open and climbed out, stretching, trying to twist away the anxiety knotting his muscles.

She did the same on the other side of the car, though her stretching was less vigorous than his.

He pulled the backpacks from the backseat, double checked the things they’d picked up in Bath, and locked the car. Andrea stood with her face toward the forested slope ahead of them, and he helped her into her backpack.

“I love you.” He kissed her temple.

A small smile curved her lips then. “I love you, too, Harvester.”

“Let’s do this.” He shouldered his own pack and followed her into the woods.

They walked in silence, avoiding fallen twigs and dry leaves. He listened, his senses open. His cousins weren’t very close yet. But they were there, waiting.

When she stopped walking and bent over, one arm across her middle, Kallan slid his hand to her waist. “Let’s sit for a minute. Get you a drink of water.” His heart ached.

She shook her head, eyes shut tight. “There’s a spot a little way ahead we can sit.”

“How far?”

“Not too much.” Still, it was a moment before she straightened.

He waited, feeling helpless. He’d felt it when she went through this last time, and he hadn’t liked it then. He hated it now. He wanted to make her pain stop.
Now.

 
Taking a deep breath, she patted his hand at her side before moving away. Slowly. Carefully.

He stayed close, wishing he could see her eyes.

“You know what?” Strain was obvious in her voice, despite her effort to keep her tone light.

“What?”

“We could go in there with me blindfolded and handcuffed. Make them think you’ve captured me. Lull them into a false sense of security for a few minutes, then take them out.”

He watched her feet as she stepped over a fallen tree, considering her idea. “They might believe that, but if you’re handcuffed, how do you think you’re going to get rid of the blindfold?”

“Mm. Yeah. I guess the handcuffs would have to be behind me, wouldn’t they—for them to really believe.” She sighed audibly.

Kallan thought hard. “What about rope?”

She paused before stepping over another limb on the ground. “Rope. If you have a long enough piece, you could tie my hands in front and keep hold of the other end. Then they wouldn’t think anything of it.”

He didn’t want to do it. It would involve her getting far too close to Stavros.

She stopped walking and doubled over again, almost stifling a moan of pain.

He bent closer to support her while she breathed through the cramping.

After a few long minutes, she eased upright once more.

“
Agaph
.”

She smiled faintly when she turned her pale face toward him, eyes shut. “I know.” She let him gather her close for a moment. “It’ll be all right.”

He wanted to believe her. But he couldn’t see how this would ever turn out all right.

When she took a deep breath and pushed away, he let her, though it was a challenge not to hold on.

He kept his eyes peeled for movement as they made their way up the side of her mountain. “Stop,” he breathed.

She froze, one foot in mid-air.

His cousins were closer now. Much closer. He could feel them. “Four.”

She set her foot down carefully. “All together, or can’t you tell?”

“Three are together.” The other was some distance from the others, but closer to where he stood with Andrea. Probably keeping a lookout. “We’ll have to deal with the one alone first.”

“I can do it.”

He exhaled slowly and moved to stand at her side. “They’ll be armed.”

“So am I.” Though her eyes were closed, he knew the stubborn look he’d find in them. “We just have to get close enough to him before he alerts the others.”

Kallan dropped his head back far enough to look up into the green canopy overhead. Birds flitted there, from tree to tree, singing and scolding. He knew what they had to do, but a voice in his head pointed out this was his family—it sounded very like Great-Uncle Ari again. He reminded himself that they’d tracked him as if he was their enemy. Clearly, he was, which meant he owed them no allegiance any longer.

His blood family was trying to kill Andrea, and he couldn’t allow them to succeed. She was his real family now.

“All right.”

“You’ll have to let me know when we’re close enough to have to sneak around him.”

He grunted his assent as she started walking again, more carefully this time. His gut was tight with the mounting tension, making him glad breakfast had been just an energy bar several hours ago.