Page 56 of Spellbound
“No.” His jaw clenched. “Becauseshewas killing people. She framed us.”
I ran cold. Was he just saying that? What would be his motivation to lie? He didn’t care what I thought about him, and he knew I didn’t have the power to stop him. “Why would she frame you?”
He winced. “She killed my sister.”
“Leda, the original goddess of the hunt,” I said slowly, remembering the books I had read on the gods, and my conversation with Maddox and Naomi when Raiden had first arrived. She had been killed and replaced by Freya.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Leda was my favorite.” A small smile flashed in his expression as he looked up, lost in a memory of someone who no longer existed. “Freya found out how to kill her, then did it while she was sleeping, like the coward she is.”
“I’m sorry.” My lips parted. She’d not only taken away his freedom, but she’d also stolen his sister, tearing apart his family. At least when he’d told me about finding his sister’s body, he was telling the truth, except I had believed him to be a little boy when it happened, not a man, a deity.
He shot me a pained stare, and my heart cracked. “Don’t pity me too much. I’ll have her head soon enough.”
I reached out instinctively but thought better of it. I was still angry, but seeing his tortured expression, I wanted to take it away. I knew that kind of pain, of losing someone I loved. “If I’d known yesterday, I’d have shot her while I had the chance.”
“It wouldn’t have hurt her, but the sentiment isn’t lost on me.” He inched closer. “We don’t have to be enemies, Elle.”
“I need us to be,” I admitted.
“Why?”
My heart skipped a beat. Because if we weren’t, then I’d have to admit the truth.
He inched closer again, my gaze settling on his full mouth. His breath tingled my lips, as the small distance between us seemed heavier somehow. “I don’t want us to be.”
I didn’t think about it. I cupped the side of his neck, running my hand into the line of his hair where Freya had played yesterday. He must have hated to have her so close, taunting him like that. My heart ached when I thought about it—him, locked away, grieving his sister while separated from the rest of his family.
Something in my gaze widened his. My other hand touched his, and electricity buzzed through us. My lips parted. “Raiden,” I whispered.
His hand ran up my back and into my hair, knotting my curls through his fingers. “Fuck,” he cursed before pressing his lips against mine.
His fingers grazed the inside of my leg, trailing a path to the top of my thigh. I closed my eyes as he deepened the kiss, instinctively rocking against the whisper touch of his fingers.
His body pushed against mine, his hard length pressing against the crease of my thigh. Wetness gathered between my legs as throbbing coursed from within, begging for him to take me on my bed. I rolled my hips against his, and a low growl escaped him.
I should have stopped. I knew this wasn’t right, but my body moved of its own accord. He moved his hand down, pulling away from my lips. He pulled my pajama top up, breathing heavily against my chest as his lips grazed my cleavage. “Beautiful,” he whispered against my skin, moving his touches to my hard nipple.
His hot tongue ran over one, jolting my hips upward. I moaned as he flicked his tongue again, making my back arch. His hot breath trickled from my breast to my stomach, over my navel, and to the top of my bottoms. After unraveling the tie on my shorts, he grabbed the sides, ripped them down my thighs, and met his lips against my wetness. I grasped the sheets, and my eyes rolled back as his tongue flicked my clitoris. He swirled it around, then pushed his tongue inside me, tipping me over the edge. A wave of pleasure rippled through my body and down my legs into my toes. I moaned, thrusting myself harder against his lips as my orgasm sent my eyes toward the back of my head.
Left panting, I wanted more. I wanted him, every inch of his godly body. Wild-eyed, I grabbed him and pulled him over me. I unbuttoned his pants, my breath hitching as his erection sprung free. Wrapping my fingers around it, I moved gently first, then faster as his breaths quickened.
“Tell me you want this,” he demanded. “Like I want you.”
“I want this,” I admitted.
His gaze burned into mine, his eyes moving down to my breasts. He thrusted in my hand as I moved faster. Feeling his want for me caused my clitoris to throb. “I want you, Raiden.”
“Fuck, Elle.” He moaned, his dick pulsating under my fingertips as he released onto me.
“I’m back,” Maddox said.
Shock coursed through me as I scrambled back, pushing Raiden away.
Raiden pulled the blanket over me. “We’re in the middle of something.”
I pulled my shorts up under the covers. Maddox had turned away, and my face flooded with heat. “It’s not what it looks like.”
Maddox tsked. “Are you decent now? I need at least four martinis to erase what I just witnessed.”
