Page 76 of Courting War
Kellyn’s attraction defied all expectations, all sense. She was a magnet, and he couldn’t keep himself from craving her . . . even though she’d be the end of him.
Lacing his fingers into her hair, he tilted her chin, tension eating at his core. He wanted her mouth on his again. “You’re so beautiful.” Kellyn’s eyes rested on her lips, and her fingers curled deeper into him, pulling him closer.
His lips moved toward her, hovering too close. Morrigan’s breath hitched. “I want you, Kel.”
She tugged him down, and his lips grazed hers. Soft and gentle, light and tender. Exploring. This would be different from the first time. It would be—
“You called me here for this?” The voice of a villain wrenched them apart.
Gallagher Healy.
Chapter Twenty-Two
THEODRA
Extremely Enraged Ex-God
THEODEN’S QUARTERS, CITY OF THE GODS
All sense left Theo. She wanted to consume her champion, wanted to taste his seductive lips again—wanted way too much from him.
He was so different from what she ever imagined a male could be. A fact that rocked her entire foundation. If he was a good person, so too might other males be, but that was a thought she couldn’t contemplate.
Not now.
So she gave entirely into lust.
Theo pulled him by his white collared shirt into her, losing a couple of buttons in the process. Fire crackled in her stomach, her veins bubbling with delight.
She shivered, her body awakening from ages of sleep. This human was trouble—
“You called me here for this?” Destruction’s amused tone ripped Theo from her wicked passions.
Slowly, Theo inched away from Kellyn, a growl on her tongue. Her breath hitched, and her fingers dug into his shirt, exposing his decorated pectoral muscles to the world. Her eyesfixed on the tattoo, and with the pads of her fingers, she shifted the fabric more to the side.
“The House of Azraelle,” Theo whispered. And if I had to guess, you’ll be finding one soon.Andromache’s words pounded in Theo’s skull.
Kellyn was the key to everything.
“Oh, gods, what is this horrible decor?” Gallagher, Goddess of Destruction, asked, her azure hair forming into a miniature ballerina that twirled on pointe through her long locks. “It’s hideous. Let me help.”
“No—” Theo opened her mouth to protest, but Gallagher had already snapped her fingers.
Porcelain climbed over the fireplace and carved crimson gingerbread trim into the frame, giving the effect of teeth crying tears of blood. A line of human skulls appeared mounted across the top mantle. Ivy, mushrooms, and mold grew from the eye-sockets and twisted along the walls. On another wall, Gallagher created wallpaper formed from a mixture of skin pelts and hides; the surface was wrinkled and stained red. She turned the light fixtures into taxidermized elk heads.
She turned the place into a shrine of blood and death—a shrine of War.
“Much better.” Destruction gleamed, her tawny skin glowing with excitement.
“A thousand fucks, a god?” Kellyn breathed and ran a hand through his hair. “What the—”
“Of course, I’m a god, foolish boy,” Gallagher said. “Theodra sent me to the Agoge to watch over Cecile.”
“Watch over?” Kellyn’s disbelief sounded like that was the very last thing the god did. It sounded like she reveled in antagonism, which, given it was Gallagher, couldn’t be far from the truth. Her aid often felt like an attack. “You’re a goddess?”
Kellyn’s face looked like a broken gear. He was baffled and struggling to comprehend.
“Gallagher, what in all hells are you doing?” Theo asked, interrupting.
