The Return (Titan 1)

I couldn’t hold a grudge.

Dropping my clothes on the floor, I sprang forward. Her eyes widened as my arms circled her shoulders. I pulled her in for a tight, fierce hug. And I didn’t say anything. Neither of us did as she hugged me back. We stood there for a few minutes, and when we pulled apart, her deep eyes glimmered with tears.

“You better get ready,” she said, her voice thick as she smiled faintly.

The lump in my throat was hard to talk around, so I nodded as I drew back. I needed a deep breath before I spoke. “You’re my best friend, no matter what.”

Her eyes squeezed shut briefly as she whispered, “You’re my best friend, too. No matter what.” Then she stepped back, her smile spreading as she flashed me the peace sign.

For some reason, knowing what she was, that made me laugh as I gripped the door. But it wasn’t until the bathroom door was closed that it really set in she was leaving and I…I wanted another hug.

Throwing the door open, my shoulders slumped. Like I’d suspected moments earlier, the hotel room was empty. Erin was gone.

Chapter 11

TIME WAS ticking and we had a thirteen-hour-and-then-some drive ahead of us, and here I was, standing at the back of the silver Porsche Cayenne that I had borrowed, staring at Josie’s ass.

In my defense, I was a guy, so when I had the choice between staring at a bunch of trees or a female’s ass, it was probably going to be the ass. And it was also a nice ass, too. Plump. Not too hard to imagine peeling down those jeans that hugged her ass and shapely thighs. The pink sweater she was wearing rode up, exposing a ribbon of skin along her lower back. Huh, it was a very tempting area of the body I’d never paid attention to.

I reached out before I knew what I was doing. My fingers hovered just above the hem of her sweater, preparing to tug it down, when I jerked my hand back. A series of tingles rippled across my fingers, almost as if my skin was protesting not touching her.

What the fuck?

Searching for a distraction, I scanned the parking lot of the hotel again. No vengeful shades lurking around—unfortunately. My gaze moved back to Josie, and to her ass as she wiggled it, stretching even further.

I sighed. Maybe groaned a little, because her ass stopped wiggling, and I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or disappointed by that.

“Why don’t you go ahead and climb in the back?” I suggested.

Her body stilled. “I’ll just be another second.”

“What are you looking for in there? The answers to life?”

“Ha. Ha,” she responded, her voice muffled. “Erin packed everything, so I don’t know where anything is at. A-ha!” Triumph rang out in her voice. “Found it.”

“What? Did she accidentally store some cow hearts in there?”

Josie flew out from the back of the Porsche, clasping a slender black rectangle electronic thing in her hand. She took a step toward me, and that black thing smacked into my arm.

“Hey!” I stepped back, folding my hand over my stinging upper arm. She’d actually hit me. She’d seriously swatted me with something. I was freaking stunned. “What the hell was that for?”

“She does not eat babies or cow hearts!”

“How do you know?” I challenged, damn well knowing furies tended to not eat babies or hearts, but whatever. Her sweater was a V-neck. Of course. The swells of her breasts all but defied the limitations of her sweater. I shifted, spreading my legs. This was just ridiculous. “Did you Google a furie’s diet while you were hanging out in the back of this car? Was that what you were doing this whole time?”

“Erin’s a vegan, smartass.” Her lips pursed and her nose scrunched in that cute way again. Cute? Dammit. “Or at least veggies and crap is all I’ve ever seen her eat. And I wasn’t Googling crap. I was looking for my Nook, which I’ve now found. It’s a requirement for any road trip.”

“Nerd.”

Her arm flew back as she prepared to swat me upside what appeared to be my head this time. I caught her arm before she delivered the blow. “Do not hit me with that again.”

Deep blue eyes flashed. “I’ll hit you with it again if I want to.”

“If you hit me with that again, I’m going to bend you over the back of this car, right in front of everyone and all the gods, and smack your ass like your momma should’ve done.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Not even using any amount of strength, I tugged her forward, and before she could pull away, I circled my other arm around her waist, keeping her in place. My body immediately warmed in every place we were connected. She was a good head shorter than I was, but we lined up well enough in all the important areas. As focused as I was on all of her softness pressing against me, I forgot what the hell I was doing. Something about spanking her ass?

That was a damn good plan.

“I would so dare,” I told her, my voice dropping low. “And I would also really, thoroughly enjoy it.”

She tipped her head back, lips parting as our gazes locked. “I would so not enjoy that.”

I dipped my head, coming so close to kissing her that my groin tightened with need. The sudden rush was all-encompassing. “I think the blush traveling across your cheeks tells me you’d enjoy it just as much as I would. Maybe more.”

Her soft exhale sent another jolt through me as her breath danced over my lips. “I’m not blushing,” she said. “The breeze is chilly. And I have sensitive skin. I burn really easily, which is funny considering I have some sun-god blood in me. Go figure—”

I placed the tips of my fingers on her cheek, stopping her chatter. Her eyes widened then, the blue going so deep if I wasn’t careful I could tumble right into them and do something really idiotic.

And there were a lot of idiotic ideas that were coming to mind right now.

I trailed my fingers to her mouth, my touch feather-light. When I reached her parted lips, the softness of them against the tips of my fingers spiked the need into something damn near primal. The feeling was raw, and as I pressed her lips together, the whole fucking thing backfired on me, because parts of me were aching now.

“Liar,” I said to her.

Josie jerked back, but her chest rose and fell quickly. “I don’t like you.”

I bit down on my lower lip, but it didn’t stop my grin. “I don’t like you, either.”

She shot me a dirty look over her shoulder as she rounded the side of the SUV, heading toward the passenger side.