Page 11 of Bound to the Minotaur
Gregory finally turned to face me fully. He didn’t speak, but his expression was sharper than the blade on the counter. A mix of fury and calculation, like he was already mapping out where the threat might come from and how to kill it.
“He won’t stop until I’m back under his thumb,” I said, unable to look away from him. “Or… dead.” I took a slow, shuddering breath and looked down at my hands, twisting the hem of my sleeve between my fingers. “And I’m sorry, because staying here—even just for a few days—might have put you in danger, too.”
The silence between us thickened. No music. No television. Just the soft, sullen ticking of the stove’s dial and the bubbling of butter and herbs behind him. I didn’t want to see the look on his face now. I didn’t want to see the exact moment he regretted helping me. But Ihadto look because I needed to know.
I forced my gaze back up—back to Gregory, this towering, haunted man with deep brown eyes, calloused hands, and some dark, buried secret of his own. And what I found there wasn’t fear.
It was fury.
But not at me.
What he did next caught me so offguard that I was still figuring out what had happened seconds later. Reeling, gasping, but alive in ways I couldn’t recall ever being.
He abandoned the stove, crossing the small kitchen to where I perched against the furthest edge of the counter. He moved so fast that it felt like I blinked, and suddenly he was right in front of me. Right there, surrounding me with his heat and his body, towering over me, protecting me against the storm that was my father. I was in his arms then, one hand sliding along my jaw to grip my chin, and his head came down, mouth crashing against mine in a collision as inevitable as the progress of time.
Gregory was kissing me.
Chapter 8
Gregory
Her lips were soft beneath mine, warmer than I expected, parting just enough for me to fall. She didn’t pull away. She leaned in, fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt, sighing—as if this were the thing she hadn’t realized she needed until now.
Something in me stilled. Or maybe it was the opposite, something in mesnapped. She tasted like the fear still clinging to her edges, but also fire and something wild, something unbroken. I wanted to taste more of it, all of it. The ache in my chest wasn’t just want anymore. It wasneed.
For one long, suspended breath, the world made sense. Then I forced myself to stop. I pulled back slowly, breathing hard. Her lips were flushed, her eyes wide, pupils blown dark. I didn’t let go of her waist, not right away. My thumb brushed over the curve of her hip, like my body hadn’t caught up to my mind’s retreat. She was standing so close I could feel the heat of her skin, the rising tempo of her pulse.
I pressed my forehead to hers and closed my eyes. “I knew you were in danger,” I said, barely above a whisper. “Even before you called.” The words were out before I could stop them. She stilled, just a beat of silence. I felt her breathing shift.
I should’ve kept my mouth shut, but instead I doubled down. “You’ve come to the right man,” I said, lifting my head to look at her. “I will protect you. A power-hungry mobster doesn’t scare me.”
That was the truth. Her father could bring all the noise he wanted. I wouldn’t break. And if he did manage something beyond me… well, there were worse things in the world than me. Chardum the Destroyer owed me a favor or two, and the dragon loved a good excuse to incinerate scum. But Kess didn’t know that.
She shook her head and stepped back, her expression tightening with something caught between fear and anger. “No,” she said quietly. “You don’t understand. If I stay here, he’ll come. He’ll send people. You could get killed.” Her fear was a tangible thing; I could taste it in the air, simmering between us.
“I’m not going to die,” I said simply. Three centuries hadn’t seen me dead, despite the rise and fall of several wars that had pulled on me. Sundered some of my brethren with the need to protect, and with it, the agony of failing. I was still standing, and I would remain standing; no silly mobster would change that. Especially if he came to my turf, and he would. Kess knew it. I knew it.
“You might. Youwill. I can’t let anyone else get hurt. Ineedto go.” Her concern for me was both lovely and mildly offensive to my pride. She didn’t know, though, what I was, what I could do. That I was build to be the ultimate protector, and that I was build to be hers.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I warned her, with a bite to my tone that made it clear I was done talking. That got me a glare. She folded her arms over her chest and looked at me like I was just one more in a long line of men trying to pen her in.
“I’m already running from one controlling man,” she snapped. “I don’t need another.” Fire and fury, all wrapped in a tiny, palelittle package. Cozy in her soft, knitted sweater. I wanted to pull her back into my arms, to hold her there until she believed she was safe.
I felt something twist low in my gut, condemnation? Pleasure? Not sure, but the smirk that pulled at my mouth told me I was amused by that bite of hers. That I liked it, and I didn’t even feel an ounce of guilt for ordering her to stay. “You haven’t seen controlling yet,” I said, voice low and dry. She looked like she might throw something at me. I turned away before I said something worse. Better to feed her than push my luck.
I pulled the tray from the oven, the scent of garlic and rosemary flooding the kitchen. The vegetables had crisped up nicely. The mushrooms were bubbling with melted cheese, golden and perfect. I set to plating everything while she stood there, steam in her hair and rebellion in her eyes. She was beautiful, and I was far beyond the point of no return now. Leave? She wasn’t ever leaving now. It was too late for that. We were both trapped, and if I was going down, then so was she.
“One more time,” I said as I set the plates on the table. “Don’t go into my backyard. Donotwander into my maze.” My whole body thrummed at the idea, but my mind still grappled with the truth. This little human just wandering into my territory, just like that? Kess, mine? I knew the improbability of that, especially with two soulmated pairs in town. But I couldn’t deny the pull any longer.
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. You said. Something about being lost forever—” Her tone was flippant now, as if she didn’t believe me. I looked over my shoulder and met her gaze. Held it. She ducked her head after a long moment, heat stealing acrossher face. That shouldn’t be there; this was serious. That it was there, meant I was right.
“I mean it,” I said, the threat clear and sinister as it filled the air between us. Her mouth opened, then shut. Her face flushed even more, and it was definitely not from fear. There was something in her expression I hadn’t seen before.
Curiosity.
Temptation.
Dangerous.
