Kaia snorts and then sucks the sound back in, making for an interesting combination.
Jocasta’s eyes jump to Flynn’s, tense and grateful. I could swear Flynn’s color rises. He tries to back away, but she holds her hair to one side, and he has little choice but to help her with the necklace himself.
It’s a somewhat awkward walk home, mostly because Flynn and Jocasta act like they can’t see each other even though they’re never more than five feet apart. Griffin is in the Athena courtyard when we arrive. He looks at the sundial, turns on his heel, and goes back inside. Five minutes to spare.
“Let’s meet back here in one hour,” Flynn suggests. “We’ll take lunch to the kids at the north wall.” He’s not looking at me. He’s finally looking at Jocasta.
She nods, and we go our separate ways.
*
“That’s a lot of lemons,” Griffin says, following me into the bedroom after dinner.
I found a bowl earlier and put the lemons on the table, using them for decoration instead of handing them over to the kitchens. “The old lady selling them bowed to your sisters, so I bought her lemons.”
“All of them?”
I throw him a dirty look. “No, not all of them.”
He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, resting his chin on the top of my head. His earlier irritation seems to be forgotten. I feel more settled, too.
“You’re not nearly as mean as you pretend to be,” Griffin says.
“Oh, I’m mean,” I assure him.
He chuckles. “My apologies. I believe you.”
“Everyone loves them.” I sigh. “They love you all.”
“It seems so.” He sounds pleased, and a little proud.
“It’s revolting.” We both know I don’t mean it.
“Let’s hope Magoi are as easy to win over as Hoi Polloi.”
“Don’t count on it, but if anyone is capable of conquering with charisma and ideas as well as force, it’s you. You have the people. Get the nobles, and most Magoi will follow. Sinta will be locked down.”
He rubs his jaw over my hair and then inhales deeply, as if enjoying the scent he stirs up. “With Sinta definitively stable, we can focus on the next step.”
My gut tightens with worry. Is he talking about increasing Sinta’s defenses and implementing the projects he and Egeria have cooked up, or something else? Something far more dangerous? I don’t want to know. Not tonight. Maybe not ever.
Eager to change the subject, I wiggle out of his arms, sift through my purchases, and then shove the soap at him. “This is for you.”
He looks surprised. “You got me something?”
I roll my eyes. “It’s just soap. And you paid for it.”
“No, you did. I keep forgetting to give you your wages, so I just gave you everything at once.”
“Oh, well, we’ve been busy dying, and healing, and…everything else.”
A smile tugs at his full mouth. “Everything else?” His voice turns gruff. He seems very interested in the everything else part. “Are you sore?”
A fiery blush paints me from top to bottom, but I shake my head. “It’s better now.”
“Good.” Closing the small distance between us, he wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me up, kissing me deeply. “You know what they say about Ares and Aphrodite?”
I twine my arms around his neck. My feet dangle above the floor. He’s strong and broad, and I cling willingly to his warmth. Our lips and tongues begin to dance, and the awareness I always feel around Griffin explodes into fierce, bone-deep desire.
“Cat?” he murmurs against my mouth.
“Hmm?”
“Ares and Aphrodite.”
I’m more interested in kissing. Griffin lets my feet touch the ground again so he can slide his hands over the curve of my bottom and pull me tightly against him. His arousal presses into my belly, and an ache blossoms between my thighs.
“She’s drawn to his violent nature,” I finally say, breathless.
He chuckles, trailing kisses down my neck and unbuckling my belt at the same time. “That, too. But I was thinking of something else. She’s so beautiful, so coveted, that she can have anyone, and yet she returns to him time and again, even though he’s despised by the other Gods. He binds her to him. She can’t live without his touch.”
I frown. “You don’t have to bind me to you with sex.”
Griffin picks me up and carries me to the bed, lying down next to me. “I’ll bind you to me in any way I can. Sex. Children. Love.”