Page 43 of Axios

I never told Eryx how much he truly meant to me.

I thrashed around once more, refusing to surrender, but the weight intensified. Green eyes drifted through my mind—eyes I feared I’d never see again.

However, then something changed. The pressure on my neck lightened right before a kiss was placed at my ear.

“You are fortunate it is only me and not a real enemy, my warrior, or else you would be choking on your blood as we speak.”

Both relief and irritation washed through me, and I was uncertain which was strongest.

I pushed Eryx off me and rolled to my back, glaring at him.

His wide grin caused an indention in his right cheek, and his green eyes held delight and amusement at my expense.

“I could have killed you!” I growled, remembering how I’d prepared my spear for the attack. How I’d been intent on striking anything that moved.

Eryx chuckled. “No offense, but no, you couldn’t have. You move through the woods like you have giant’s feet and your breathing is so loud, I could hear every exhale as if you were an overfed child.”

Not liking being the subject of his jests, I slapped at his arm. “I donotbreathe loudly.”

“You are not only a heavy breather, but your screams can get quite loud as well,” he said with all the mischievousness of the world gleaming in his green eyes. “Especially when I touch you in all the right places.”

“You’re an ass.” Embarrassment flooded me—as it always did when he mentioned my overzealous moans during our love-making—and I punched his arm, that time harder.

Ignoring my aggressive behavior, Eryx crawled toward me and covered my body with his, staring down into my eyes with a softness he hadn’t held moments earlier.

“You were frightened when I ambushed you.”

I turned my face away, ashamed. “I was not.”

His fingers lightly touched my jaw and made me look at him. “Do not lie to me, Axios. Please. Even after the shock of it passed, you trembled in my grip. What was it that frightened you?”

Putting my thoughts into words was difficult. In the short time where he’d cut off my air and I was left to his mercy, many things had swarmed in my mind. What came after succumbing to death? Was there an afterlife, or did our souls die with our bodies and leave us to roam in darkness for eternity?

But those questions paled in comparison to others. Eryx. What would become of him with my absence? His combat skills far outweighed mine, and yet, I feared the day I was not there to protect him.

I lifted my hand and smoothed my thumb along his strong jawline before trailing to his slightly parted lips.

“Although admitting such a thing goes against everything we are taught as Spartans, I feared death,” I answered, still touching him. Storing him into memory, for when one day if we were ever parted, I could close my eyes and recall every part of his perfection. “But, what frightened me most? Never looking upon your face again. Never feeling your mouth moving on mine nor hearing again the sound of your voice whispering my name. All of these things I have memorized of you would be lost to the unknown abyss.”

Eryx watched me in silence, allowing me to speak as I rambled through my thoughts. Even though his face remained neutral, his eyes glistened and gave way to the emotion he tried so hard to keep at bay.

“I do not fear death because I’m afraid of dying, Ery… I fear it because it would take me from you.”

And then his lips were on mine. Hot and demanding. It was his way of expressing his emotions without having to speak the words aloud, but I felt his affection in each movement of his body.

He pushed my knees open so that he could lie between them, and he started a grind I’d become all too familiar with.

I gasped into his mouth, yearning for more of him. All of him.

“Wait,” he said, pulling back from my lips and panting. “We cannot become lost in each other this moment. Our orders were to hunt and return home.”

The indecision on his handsome face made me grin. His warrior mindset won over all other desires… except for when it pertained to me.

I waggled my eyebrows as I peered up at him. “Youarehunting. Now it is time to claim what is rightfully yours.”

He growled before capturing my eager lips, both kissing and biting them. His teeth snagged my bottom lip and nibbled before sucking it into his mouth.

The sensation was enticing, and I needed more. Grabbing my arms, he shoved them up and placed them behind my head on the ground.