Awakened (Eternal Guardians Book 8) by Elisabeth Naughton Read Free Book Online Page A

of Isadora’s blouse and only just held back from flashing straight to Olympus to kick some immortal ass.
    “It’s intensive.” Skyla sighed. “And Max’s guess was right. It will change Elysia. In ways none of you can imagine.”

    D amon couldn’t stop staring.
    Peeking between shuttered eyelids, he watched as the Siren recruit pulled a skewer from the fire and touched the sizzling meat on the end of the stick. She winced and jerked her hand back, then blew on her fingers to ease the burn.
    He should already be back on Olympus. His wounds were healing. Even though things hadn’t gone as planned, he’d done what he’d been sent here to do—to play the victim so the recruit could rescue him.
    Color him shocked. In all his years playing this part for Athena’s recruits, he’d only ever acted as a victim. After being chased by that manticore, tumbling down the hillside, and passing out at the bottom of the ravine, though, he’d seriously been one. Lucky for him, the recruit hadn’t just been in the area, she’d gotten him to the safety of this cave, torn off part of her skirt, and fastened a bandage to his wounds. Then she’d gone back out into the wild, found herbs known for their healing properties, come back, built a fire, and cooked up a brew that she’d applied to his wounds to aid his recovery. And as if all that wasn’t heroic enough, she’d gone back out into the dark where all those monsters lurked, found and killed a rabbit, brought it back here, and cooked it so they had something to eat.
    Who the heck was this chick? He’d never come across a recruit so levelheaded and selfless. Nowhere in labor five was the recruit expected to heal or feed him. She just had to rescue him. So why in Hades was she bothering to take care of him? Didn’t she know she’d already done what Athena wanted her to do? Every other recruit he’d ever encountered cared only about completing the seven labors and getting off this hellhole of an island.
    Knowing he couldn’t just come out and ask that—especially when he was still pretending to be injured—he feigned sleep as he watched her blow on the skewer of meat and carefully pull a piece off the stick, pop it into her mouth, and slowly chew.
    Damn, but he could see why Zeus had marked her for the Sirens. The female was gorgeous—long silky hair the color of melted chocolate,   mesmerizing coffee-colored eyes, high cheekbones, and a regal nose. She was slim—more athletic than curvy—and her breasts were small and firm in the miniscule halter top the Sirens had dressed her in before dropping her here, but he liked that about her. She wasn’t altered like the Sirens. Not yet, at least. If she made it to the third phase of Siren training, though, she would be.
    Zeus took pleasure in remaking each of his Sirens into the most seductive form he could imagine—small waist, big tits, long legs, firm ass—a form of magical plastic surgery that took a recruit from competent warrior to deadly seductress. And he did it for a reason. Because Sirens—by definition—were the very creatures males—mortal or immortal—could not deny. They used their sexuality as a weapon, and when they had a male exactly where they wanted him, then they were at their most deadly.
    Damon hated the thought of Zeus tampering with this female. She was already perfect. Why the fuck did Zeus feel the need to mess with natural beauty?
    Heat rolled through his belly and slid lower. And as he watched her, Damon recognized the stirrings of an arousal he hadn’t felt in years. Sure, he was male. His body responded to a female’s touch whether he wanted it to or not. But this was different. This was an arousal that came from within. From interest. From lust.
    She set the stick on the rocks around the small fire she’d built, wiped her hands on her even shorter skirt thanks to her bandaging techniques, and crawled across the sandy floor of the cave toward him.
    Muscles flexed in her thighs, and