Page 141 of A Tribute of Fire

“Thank you for allowing me to keep all of my appendages,” he said in a teasing tone as his nose grazed mine. My breathing hitched as my nerves quivered from his nearness.

“You’re welcome,” I breathed.

He reached up and began running his fingers through my hair. The sensation was utterly divine and I was going to turn completely liquid and wind up as a pool at his feet. “Have I told you how much I like the red? It suits you.”

“What red?” I asked, confused.

“Your hair.”

“My hair is not red,” I told him. “It’s light brown.” He knew that. He had seen me in Locris when it was still long.

He looked at me like I was seriously confused. “No, it isn’t. You’ve been dyeing it red.”

It was such a ridiculous and odd thing to say. Was he lying? Making it up to torment me?

But then his fingers were stroking the back of my neck and I couldn’t recall anything he’d just said. My entire body was vibrating with desire and awareness. Even my earlobes were throbbing with want.

“What is it?” he asked, even though I was fairly certain he knew exactly what was happening to me.

That he had caused it deliberately.

I was past caring about any of that. I forgot everything and everyone else. I shifted my gaze up to his lips.

“I always pay my debts,” I told him.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

His eyes lit up with understanding. “Oh? Does that include outstanding tolls, unpaid bets, and debts of gratitude as well?”

How could he joke at a time like this? “Yes.”

“Interesting.” Now he was ghosting his lips along my forehead, down over my eyelids, across my cheekbones. His warm breath fanned over my skin, causing prickles of heat. “Although I don’t know if out here on the street is the proper place for you to thank me.”

He was teasing me, tormenting me. Nearly offering me what I wanted but staying just out of reach.

Why was he behaving this way?

Stupid girl, because he likes you!

I quickly pushed Demaratus out of my head. I did not want him here while this was happening.

Maybe Jason withheld his kisses in some misguided attempt to wear me down. He didn’t know that I was already worn down. My resistance was so thin it was like a spider’s web, easily pushed aside with the tiniest amount of pressure.

He kissed my cheek. “Perhaps I’ll sneak into your room in the temple one night and surprise you. That would be a better place for you to thank me.”

His words sent an illicit thrill through me. “You wouldn’t dare cross onto the temple grounds.”

Lips brushing against my forehead, he said, “It would depend on who was waiting for me on the other side. And how willing she might be.”

If he were anyone else, I probably would have punched him for his implication that I was willing and waiting.

But when Jason said it?

There was no one more willing than me.

And I was tired of waiting.

His arms were on either side of me, enclosing me against the wall. It was a terrible defensive position. He could have easily overpowered me.

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