Radiant Sin(37)

“You’re right.” She gives one of those delicious little shivers that makes her breasts shake. Her nipples are hard points against the silky black fabric of her top. “I don’t like pain. We played bondage and some light dominance and submission. Occasionally she got more creative with the games, but it was only ever the two of us. No sharing.” She looks away. “And yeah, there was some nearly public stuff. I was young and foolish enough to think it wouldn’t matter if we were caught—and Hermes ensured we never were.”

My cock goes so painfully hard. Bondage. All too easily, I can picture Cassandra’s body crisscrossed with Shibari. Art. The sexiest art in existence. And once she was well and truly tied…

“When was this?”

“Six years ago, give or take. We weren’t public about it by my request.” She gives a half smile. “Even as angry and impulsive as I was, I knew better than to be linked to one of the Thirteen officially.”

I have to step back, have to turn away to avoid kissing her right now. This isn’t real, no matter how visceral the attraction. We have a job to do. “I see. We’ll…” I clear my throat again. “Let’s get moving.”

She arches a brow. “Do you have bondage gear hiding in that bag of yours?”

No, but if I’d known to ask these questions, I would have packed some. “I’m sure Hermes has some stashed somewhere.”

“What an excellent way to mark your territory just like a real boyfriend.” She licks her lips. “Let’s go.”

She’s right. At this point, I’m stalling. Inexcusable. “After you.”

We step into the empty hall and look around. My arm brushes Cassandra’s bare shoulder and it’s everything I can do not to press her to the wall and ravish her mouth. With so little clothes on our bodies, I’ll be able to feel her skin against mine, will be able to slide my hands under the hem of her top and…

She starts moving down the hall toward the main stairs. Her ass is truly out of this world. I normally try to resist ogling her, but there’s no resisting this. Especially not when she puts a bit of extra sway in her step. “You’re doing that on purpose.”

“Doing what on purpose?” She doesn’t look over her shoulder at me, but the teasing in her tone confirms my suspicion.

I manage to keep it together as we check the first three rooms. They’re exactly as Ariadne described—sitting rooms. Truly, they’re just as soulless as Minos’s office.

Cassandra’s soft laugh makes me look over. “What?”

“He missed this.” She points up to where a hook is cleverly tucked into the ceiling. It’s a sturdy thing, obviously meant to hold enough weight to suspend a person.

Again, the image of Cassandra’s body patterned with rope hits me with the force of a freight train. Her arms bound above her head, giving me full access to her body…

“Apollo?”

I shake my head sharply. “Let’s move on to the next room.” I don’t expect to find anything during this search, but I’ve been doing this long enough to know better than to make assumptions. We have to check every room we can get access to, if only to eliminate them as possibilities.

We slip back into the hall and start for the fourth door. It takes me several seconds to realize the sound I’m hearing isn’t our footsteps. Someone is coming up the stairs. They’re moving fast enough that we won’t have a chance to make it back to our room.

I don’t think. I wrap an arm around Cassandra’s waist and drag her through the fourth sitting-room door. To her credit, she doesn’t make a sound. A quick glance around the room doesn’t show much to hide behind. There’s only the couch, facing away from the door.

I haul her around the couch and press her down onto it. All someone has to do is walk fully into the room and look around the edge of the couch to see us, but hopefully that won’t happen. Still, I press my hand to Cassandra’s mouth and lean down. “Someone’s coming.”

Her only response is to shiver.

Which is right around the time I realize that I’m cradled between her thighs. It’s like my mind shorts out and my body takes over. I have absolutely no intention of moving, but I thrust against her, just a little. Her breath catches against my palm and she whimpers.

That whimper stops me short.

I stare down at her in the darkness. The faint light from the window doesn’t reach us here on the couch. The shadows are too deep to reach her expression, but I’ve just manhandled her in the darkness and now I’ve pinned her to the couch.

What am I doing?

I don’t have a chance to figure it out because the footsteps stop outside the door. I strain to hear them over my racing heart. Did the person see us duck in here? Or are they going to check all the rooms?

The door opens softly. I hold my breath. Beneath me, I can feel Cassandra doing the same. The seconds tick past, but the person doesn’t step into the room. Finally, a small eternity later, the door closes softly and the footsteps retreat. They pause at each door, though.

Looking for us?

Or just doing a nightly round since the cameras are down?

I don’t shift my hand from Cassandra’s mouth until I can no longer hear the footsteps. “We should be good.”

Except my adrenaline doesn’t fade. Not when she shifts against me, her breasts pressed to my chest and her thighs so soft around my hips. My brain glitches again and I thrust against her. Again.