The Goddess by Robyn Grady Read Free Book Online Page B

turned his beloved into a tree.”
    “Why?”
    As Helene gazed out at the hickory, he became more aware of the rise and fall of silk
     draped over her breasts.
    “I suppose a tree can still breathe,” he said. “Can still feel.”
    A breeze picked up. Nearby, a torch threw sparks and Helene moved back. To shield
     her, Darius skirted around to stand close on her other side—closer than he had been
     to her before.
    “It’s said that when Dionysus and Carya first kissed,” he went on, “all the birds
     in Greece began to sing.”
    The silk of her dress, moved by the breeze, fluttered against her body; every curve
     and peak beneath was thrown into tantalizing relief. When his gaze met hers again,
     her eyes were glistening. He tried to read the emotion waiting there. Apprehension?
    No.
    Anticipation.
    “Maybe the birds started singing on this island first,” she said.
    His hand slid along the rail toward hers. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
    Her gaze dropped to his mouth before she cast a look out over the surrounding trees
     again. “All the birds are asleep now though.”
    “Perhaps we should wake them.”
    “Wake them how?”
    His hand scooped around her waist. Bringing her close, he inhaled her lavender scent
     and murmured, “I’ll show you how.”

Chapter Six
    When Darius’s lips touched hers and lingered, Helene let her eyes drift shut. A heartbeat
     later, he drew her closer, and she dissolved like a tablespoon of sugar in hot water.
     One warm palm cupped her nape and gently angled her head. As the kiss created in heaven
     deepened, Helene leaned in more. When the hand on the small of her back slid lower,
     her pulse began to pound in a way that left her reeling.
    Out of breath, she broke away.
    His mouth found hers again and this time he held her so securely against him, every
     cell in her body seemed to catch fire. Rubbing against the hard span beneath his shirt,
     her breasts felt so full. Their tips felt so sensitive. Through to her core, she was
     tingling. Everything, everywhere, sizzled and ached for his touch.
    Darius’s mouth finally left hers, but his arms remained, iron bands supporting her.
    “Listen.” His smile grazed her lips. “The birds are singing now.”
    The next kiss was even deeper. A thousand times hotter. With his mouth covering hers,
     his tongue parted her lips and a kernel formed, glowing and throbbing deep inside
     of her. As the stroke of his tongue stirred that spellbinding beat, her head swam,
     and she clung on to his shirt .
    He finally drew away, and she slumped. The backs of his fingers traced her hot cheek,
     gently lifted her chin.
    “Are you all right?” he asked.
    She managed a nod.
    “I should let you sit down,” he said. “Eat something.”
    “I’m not hungry,” she got out. Just… dizzy .
    He tilted her chin higher and searched her eyes. “Perhaps I should kiss you again.”
     His slow, knowing grin left her even more light-headed. “That’s what you had planned
     when you put on that dress, isn’t it? You wanted to tempt me.”
    “I didn’t think I was the kind of girl a prince would want to kiss.”
    “You had no idea?” He didn’t sound convinced. Then his lips brushed her temple, a
     frisson of heat licked up her middle, and she melted all over again.
    “I imagined,” she confessed.
    She’d hoped.
    As he pressed her close again, he traced soft kisses over her brow before he whispered
     against the shell of her ear. “I want to do more than kiss you, Helene.”
    When her knees buckled, he held her close enough to feel the ridge beneath his trousers
     press against her belly. Helene cupped his bristled jaw, and this time she kissed him .
    As he curled over her and his tongue pushed past her teeth, she coiled an arm around
     his neck and gave herself over to sensations she’d never known before. Nerve-endings
     fired, the world dropped away, and she knew. This was the emotion she’d wondered about
     all this time. This was the