Page 15 of Taken By the Blood God

Not for the first time, I wished my damned visions would return so I had some idea of what I needed to do next. Then again, this was probably why the goddess had blocked my ability. I relied a great deal on my precognition when it came to making choices. Destiny loathed to be denied.

Done ruminating for the moment, I climbed out from beneath the blankets and made my bed. Then, I locked my bedroom door, took my waterproof vibrator out of my nightstand, and went to enjoy a long, hot shower and hopefully a long, hard orgasm too. Maybe if I relieved some of my pent-up sexual tension, my reaction to Talant would lessen. Or at least become manageable.

Chapter

Seven

Minerva

I was much more relaxed when I went downstairs for a cup of tea.

At least until I walked into the kitchen.

Once again, Talant’s large body was sprawled out at the end of the table, his legs straight out beneath the table and an arm hooked over the back of his chair. His other hand was curled around a coffee mug.

With his damp, dark hair waving around his sculpted face, his chiseled, bare torso, and the lord-of-the-manor demeanor, his picture could be in a wall calendar titledThe Gods of Magic and Mayhem.

But his eyes were nearly black when he looked up at me, and his jaw was tense. While his pose seemed relaxed, Talant was anything but.

I didn’t speak as I went over to the stove to make tea, but my back burned, likely from the heat of his gaze. When the silence stretched further between us, growing heavier with all the things we weren’t saying, I decided enough was enough.

“I know you’re eager to be on our way, but I think it’s best if we wait until tomorrow to leave. You need to regain yourstrength, and I need time to prepare. And that’s assuming you know where your brother is imprisoned.”

Talant didn’t respond, but I swore I could feel his attention sharpen on me. I refused to let it intimidate me.

“Did he give you permission to share his true name with me?” I asked, scooping loose black tea into a mesh ball.

This time he spoke. “Yes.”

“And he agreed to be bound to Devil Springs?”

A pause before another, “Yes.” His tone was downright surly.

I faced him, leaning my back against the counter, and crossed my arms over my chest. “You do realize that you’re asking me to risk my life to free your brother, correct?”

That question seemed to break through whatever foul mood had come over him since he left my bedroom that morning. His furrowed brow smoothed out, and he stopped glaring at me.

“Yes.”

“Then perhaps you could be a little less of an asshole about this, and we could discuss a plan so that my risk decreases.”

He stared at me in silence, and the atmosphere of the room changed. There was a charge in the air, an edge of heat that made the hair on my arms stand up.

“In what way am I being an asshole?” he asked, straightening in his chair.

He had the look of a cat moments before it pounced on a mouse.

Narrowing my eyes, I didn’t back down. “You’re answering my questions with one-word answers and scowling at me like I just kicked your puppy.”

“How does that make me an asshole?”

I flung my hands up in the air. “Right there, more of an asshole. Your arrogance, refusal to take anything seriously, and inability to have a conversation with a woman without flirting are what make you a general asshole.”

I froze at the sound of his chair scraping back on the floor. I hadn’t meant to blurt all that out, but he’d been pushing my buttons since last night. First with his talk of being lonely, and then letting me crawl all over him in my sleep.

Now he was being downright hostile.

Every time I thought I had a handle on him, he changed his behavior. I didn’t know what to expect or how to react. It made it so much more difficult to keep my guard up when he was around because as soon as I started to harden my heart toward him he did something to test my resolve.

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