Now that the big day has passed, I guess it’s time to wind down the festivities. There is only so much cake and ice cream one person can eat (or should eat, maybe, if they’re trying to be conscientious about getting healthier). Still, the month only has a few more days, so maybe we just downsize the intake of birthday cake…
( Photo on Foter.com )
I spent part of my birthday morning at the eye doctor for a very overdue exam, and just ordered new (and much stronger) glasses, but for fun, I followed it up with an hour on the massage table, and then the boys came over for dinner and cake, which made me happy. The hubby and I are winding down my birthday weekend with dinner at my favorite Asian restaurant tonight, before I buckle down to work again. Work = the day-job and the writing job. That said, I’ll keep this post short and sweet for a change. I have a story snippet for you, from the third Medusa story, Freeing Medusa.
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Katharine bolted upright in bed, breathing hard, and Hunter shot upright, too, suddenly wide awake, and caught one of her flailing arms.
“Easy,” he murmured, “easy, Kat.” He set his other hand on her back.
She went suddenly still, her breath coming too quickly. “Sorry,” she managed after a moment. “Bad dream.”
“Lie down.” He loosened his hold on her wrist, gratified when she obeyed him, dropping back onto her pillow again. He eased down beside her, stroking his hand along her arm, lightly, from wrist to elbow and back. “What was the dream?”
She took a deep breath and held it for a moment, then let it out slowly. “Athena.”
Hunter exhaled, too. “You okay?”
He heard the movement her head made on the pillow as she shook it. “She’s angry.”
“You can tell that from a dream?”
“Not sure it’s just a dream, exactly,” she said softly. “Not this time.”
“What do you mean?” He let his fingers stay circled around her wrist, feeling the rush of her pulse beneath his forefinger.
“I know what a dream feels like.” She went silent for a moment again. “This wasn’t a dream. This is something else. She was with Aristotle, and She’s furious that I’m not dead.”
Hunter frowned in the dark, wishing he could see her eyes. “And?”
Another rustle of the blankets. Maybe a shrug, judging by the slight motion of her arm in his hold. “He’s afraid. That’s it.”
He smiled at the frustration he heard in her tone, but only for a second. An angry Goddess couldn’t be a good thing. Not when the Goddess in question had placed a curse on a family that had lasted for millennia. “Does She rely on them to do all the work as far as tracking the Medusa?”
Her breathing slowed a little. “I don’t know,” she said after a few seconds. “We could find out from Andi’s husband Kallan, I suppose.”
“You’d think a Goddess would be able to give them an unfair advantage in their hunt, wouldn’t you?”
Her pulse eased a bit under his fingers. “You would.” She sounded as if she were seriously thinking about it.
“It sounds like She doesn’t, though. I wonder why?” Hunter rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand.
If Athena wanted the Medusa dead so badly, one would think She’d give her Harvesters every advantage She could.
“Maybe She can’t?”
It was definitely a question, he noted. Her tone was uncertain, plain even in the dark.
Hunter lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed a quick kiss across the back of her fingers. “I don’t know, but we can try to figure it out in the morning. Can you go back to sleep?”
Her fingers tightened in his hold for a quick second before relaxing again. “I can try.”
He let their joined hands drop to the bed between them. “Try, honey.” He listened to her for a while, the tiny shifting motions as she settled back into the bed, her breathing slowing gradually. While his own brain raced.
Why wouldn’t Athena help Her Harvesters? Why would She expect them to do all the work on their own?
Maybe She couldn’t find the Medusa Herself.
He lay awake for hours, thinking about the possibilities and what they might mean for Katharine, until his brain finally shut down from sheer exhaustion.
He jerked awake again when Kat stretched in her sleep, and he realized he was wrapped around her, the soft curve of her ass snuggled into his groin, one of her breasts only inches from where his hand rested on her ribs. He shut his eyes for a second, allowing himself to savor the feel of her against him, just for another couple heartbeats before he eased away from her, putting a few much needed inches between her cotton-clad butt and his strengthening erection.
He took a slow breath, but all that got him was a bigger lungful of her scent. He rolled onto his back and slid one foot up to bend his leg. The sheet and blanket weren’t nearly as warm as Katharine.
She shifted beside him again, rolling first onto her back, then onto her side to face him.
Hunter stifled a groan when her hand landed on his abdomen and her leg brushed his. Her fingers flexed along his belly, and he covered her hand with his own to keep her from sliding her fingers any lower.
A sleepy sound escaped her as she snuggled closer again.
Torture. He shut his eyes. It was torture to have her fingers so close.
Her knee rubbed along his thigh, higher.
His heart pounded harder, drowning out the quiet voice of reason in his head that was attempting to remind him he could wait until she was ready for any more intimacy.
Her knee nudged at his erection, and the groan rumbled up from his throat this time. He slid away, until he could put one foot on the floor and get out of bed.
Kat’s hand moved across the blanket for a few seconds, as if she were searching for something, then stopped, and her breathing evened out again.
He shut his eyes for a heartbeat, then turned away to gather clean clothes and head for the shower. A cold shower.
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Okay, maybe one more cake, just to finish off the month.
I hope you all have a great week!