Awakened (Eternal Guardians Book 8) (17 page)

Elysia went completely still. Drawing in a whiff of her delectable scent, Damon let his fingertips hover on the bottom pearl, right at the apex of her cleavage, and watched as her succulent breasts rose and fell.

Gods, she had the best breasts, small and firm and high, and at the moment not nearly as exposed as they’d been on Pandora. He wanted to feel them in his palms. Wanted to hold them and squeeze them and lick them until she was quivering. But he held back. Because what he had planned needed to come first. And because when he did those things, he wanted her writhing and begging for more.

Reluctantly, he lifted the necklace from her skin and drew it over her head. She shivered as if he’d removed an article of her clothing, which only made his pulse beat faster and his pants grow even tighter. Moving around behind the chair, he reached for her right hand and gently pulled it back, then did the same to her left. She tensed as he used the pearls to tie her wrists together behind the chair, but didn’t voice a protest.

“Relax,
oraios,
” he said softly as he pushed to his feet and walked around the chair. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”

He pulled the blindfold free. Elysia’s dark eyes widened, and in a rush, he saw exactly what he’d missed in the ballroom when she’d looked at him across the distance. He saw shock, disbelief, and rage. But mostly, he saw betrayal.

“You,” she muttered.

She was pissed. He had that coming. “Yes, it’s me. I know you think—”

“You don’t know a thing about me. You never did.” Disgust rushed across her features as her gaze swept over him like a broom brushing aside nothing but dirt. “All you know is being a yes-boy for the Sirens and man whore for some slutty goddess.”

CHAPTER TEN

D
amon stiffened at Elysia’s sharp words. She tried not to let his reaction faze her, but something inside shrank with mortification.

She wasn’t this girl. The angry jilted lover. She didn’t want to be that girl. Didn’t want to feel a thing for him. But she did. Her chest pinched so hard at the sight of him, pain spiraled through every cell.
 

Skata
. She wasn’t about to be enchanted by this gorgeous male any more than she’d been on Pandora, but one look at his thick legs, cut muscles, and trim physique and she was a quivering mess. He was dressed in loose black drawstring pants and a lightweight, short-sleeved, button-down shirt that showcased the rippling muscles in his arms and exposed just a hint of the rose tattoo on his shoulder and biceps. And when her gaze lifted to the shadow on his square jaw, his tanned and weathered skin, and his chocolate irises rimmed with gold, her resistance wavered.

Don’t do it. Don’t fall under his spell. Because that’s all it was.
A spell.
The same kind of spell Aphrodite clearly uses to turn hot males like him into
manipulative man whores
.

She stiffened her spine.

“I see a month with the Sirens has exercised your tongue well,” Damon said.

“My tongue gets plenty of exercise, thank you very much.”

A wry smile spread across Damon’s lips, making him look that much sexier, and Elysia’s cheeks heated when she realized just where his thoughts were heading.

“Not like that,” she snapped. Then, when she realized this was her chance to make him squirm a little, she added, “Actually…just like that. There’s this really hot ebony god who’s been helping me—well, flirting with me, really—in the field. He’s—”

“Tall guy? Scar near his left eyebrow?”

Suspicion drew Elysia’s brows together. Damon didn’t seem the least bit jealous. Panic sent her pulse up. “Yes. But he’s—”

“A minor god.” Damon crossed his thick arms over his chest, the movement pulling on his shirt. “His name’s Erebus. And I guarantee he wasn’t flirting. Unless your name was Sera. I noticed him eyeing her a month ago. He’s been assigned as her seduction trainer.”

Elysia’s eyes widened. “
He’s
Sera’s trainer?”

“Jealous?”

No, Elysia wasn’t jealous. She was a little afraid for her friend. Erebus was huge. Before she could say so, though, Damon’s words hit her.

She tugged at the pearls tied around her wrists, which—as he’d planned—kept her completely immobile against the chair. “You were here a month ago? I’d have seen you if that were the case. What did you do, run back to Aphrodite’s temple for a little fun?”

He moved to her left and disappeared behind her chair. “Actually, Athena had a job for me.”

Elysia huffed. “Another recruit to manipulate?”

“Something like that,” he muttered.

Heat burned her cheeks when she remembered the way she’d fallen for his ruse. The injured, innocent male. She nearly huffed again. There was no such thing as an innocent male.

“I’ve spoken to a few of your field trainers.” Damon moved around her right side. “And it seems you’re in a precarious position.” He stopped in front of her again. “You need me, Elysia. You need high marks in seduction if you’re to make it through the first elimination round, and I’m your seduction trainer.”

Her temper spiked. He was the last person she wanted to learn seduction techniques from, now or ever. “How did I get stuck with you? I want someone else.”

“There is no one else. Everyone’s been paired up,
oraios
.”

“Don’t call me that. We both know you use that on every female you seduce.

He stepped closer. “Perhaps you’d prefer I call you
thisavrós
.”

My treasure.

Elysia stiffened.

“Or
chará.
“

My joy.

The breath caught in her lungs.

Resting his hands on the arms of her chair, he eased forward until he was a breath from her lips. “Or better yet,
emmoní.”

My obsession.
He’d called her that on the beach. Just after she’d killed that recruit. When he’d come rushing up to help her.

Skata
, don’t remember that beach. Don’t remember your time with him on Pandora. Don’t remember anything about the slimy male.

“Yes, I like that.” Warm breath with a hint of mint washed over her face and ran down her neck, bringing every nerve ending to life. “
Emmoní,
” he said again in that deep, sexy, titillating voice. “My obsession. That’s what I’m going to call you. Because that’s what you’ve become. A drug I can’t stop craving.”

Elysia’s mouth grew dry, and behind her back, her fingers trembled. He was manipulating her. The same way he’d manipulated her on Pandora. She knew that. But her heart beat hard against her ribs just the same, and her skin tingled in anticipation of his touch.

“You lie,” she whispered.

His gaze held hers. Intense. Unwavering. Smoldering. His lips so close, she could almost taste him. And his hot breath cascading over her flesh only made her breaths faster and shallower and her heart race beneath her ribs.

She wanted to kiss him. Wanted to hit him. Wanted… She didn’t know what she wanted. She couldn’t seem to think when he was close, and when he looked at her—really looked at her as he was doing now—the same connection she’d felt on Pandora flared hot inside her. A host of emotions rippled through his gorgeous eyes as they held hers, ones she felt all the way in her toes, ones she sensed he felt as strongly as her.

He blinked, and the connection was broken. Cool air swept over her as he straightened. And though she knew she should be relieved, disappointment washed over her like a tidal wave.

He walked around behind her chair and pulled the string of pearls from her hands. The strand broke, scattering pearls over the floor. “We’re done here.”

Surprise rippled through Elysia. She pulled her hands together and rubbed her wrists as she twisted in the chair. “What do you mean, done? We haven’t done anything yet.”

“Return to your barracks.”

Panic tightened her chest. He was dismissing her? Just like that? Sure, she didn’t really want to stay and be seduced by him, but if she went back now, everyone would know she’d failed seduction just as she’d failed every other task assigned to her in this place. “But—”

His gaze met hers once more, only this time it wasn’t smoldering. It was hard and cold and very guarded. “You’re dismissed.”

Elysia slowly pushed to her feet as he moved toward the candles and blew them out one by one. A new sense of dread trickled through her.

He was right. She couldn’t fail seduction. She did need him. “Damon—”

“I said you’re dismissed, recruit.” He didn’t turn toward her, but in the dim light, she watched his jaw clench down hard. “Don’t make me say it again.”

Dazed, Elysia stepped out into the dimly lit hallway, completely unsure what had just happened. All she knew for sure was that Damon was her trainer, and that sometime between the moment he’d untied her blindfold to now, she’d upset him.

She ran back over their conversation. Knew there had to be a moment when something had flipped. She was the one who had every right to be upset, not him. Then she remembered the way he’d stared into her eyes as if searching for the truth, and her breath caught.

She hadn’t been able to hide her disgust. Hadn’t even tried. And now he knew just what she really thought of him. But instead of reacting indifferently, as she’d expected someone like him to be, he’d seemed…hurt.

Her pulse beat hard. She pressed a shaky hand against the wall. Tried to make sense of what was happening. Couldn’t, because he had no reason to be hurt, unless…

Her throat grew thick, and the axis her world was perched upon tipped and swayed.

Unless the connection they’d shared on Pandora truly had been real.

“E
lbow up.” Damon brushed by the redheaded recruit and nudged her elbow higher. “Draw the string back closer to your ear.”

The recruit did as he said and released. The arrow sailed toward the target, striking the outer circle with a thwack.

“Better.”

The recruit—he couldn’t remember her name—lowered the bow and looked up with a flirty smile. “It’s easy when you have the best instructor.”

Damon’s gaze skipped over her. She was dressed in familiar, tight Siren garb, and she was hotter than hot—hourglass figure, firm tits, with high cheekbones, a slim nose sprinkled with freckles, and full, pouty lips that drew attention straight to her mouth. But even with her fuck-me looks and come-get-me caresses every time he stepped close, he wasn’t interested. The only female he was interested in was a temperamental brunette. The same one who’d made it more than clear last night she’d rather slit her wrists than be anywhere alone with him ever again.

His gaze skipped across the training field toward the far side where Elysia held a wooden sword and was currently getting her ass kicked by another recruit. Her dark hair was piled on the top of her head in a messy bun. Sexy, damp tendrils tickled her cheeks and the back of her neck. She swung out with the sword and completely missed her target. The other recruit—an Amazon Damon had already discovered had nothing but attitude—shoved her foot against Elysia’s lower back and pushed. Elysia fell to her knees in the dirt with a grunt.

Damon cringed. Erebus was right. She was awful. After a month, she should be much further along in combat, marksmanship, and archery.

Frowning, he looked away from her, still unable to stop thinking about last night. Could he really blame her for her reaction? She was right. He was a yes-boy for the Sirens. A slut for Aphrodite. He fucked Aphrodite whenever she called him. He fucked her slaves whenever she ordered him to do so. Then he went along with the sadistic goddess when she pimped him out to the Sirens so he could fuck their recruits. He was the epitome of a man whore, and they all knew it.