Free Giving It Up for the Gods by Kryssie Fortune Page B

thing ever. Then Jase stretched overhead and grasped a narrow ledge, pulled himself up, and vanished. Even though Saul and Merc were close behind her, she’d never so felt lost or alone.
    Those two minutes he was gone were the longest ever. Then he reached down and gripped her forearms. “Okay, princess, up you come.”
    As he hauled her up, he carefully avoided her wrists. One minute she dangled in darkness. The next she was snuggled in his arms, breathing in his frankincense essence and craving his kiss.
    His gaze was warm, as hungry as her body, and he leaned in for a kiss. He hesitated, his mouth almost touching hers. She parted her lips and swept her tongue over them. Finally he was going to kiss her. Then he shook his head and snarled, “You’re still a Siren.”
    Saul and Merc emerged from the tunnel. Part of her wondered why they walked when they were gods. Invisible walls, lightning strikes, and winged helmets—they have powers. Why don’t they use them? Maybe Jase wasn’t the only one who hated Sirens. Why else would they torture her like this?
    Jase dragged her upright, surprised her with a brief touch of his lips against hers, and shoved her into a tumbledown barn. A beat-up vehicle—small, with no glass in the windows—rusted behind a patched-up barn door. Souped up with twin exhausts, it looked like something that had survived a demolition derby. She just hoped the engine was better than the chassis.
    “Get in and stay down,” Jase commanded.
    If Neptune’s goon squad wasn’t close by, she’d have told him where to stick his orders. Instead, she curled up in the rear footwell. Jase relaxed and shot her a grin that almost made her blood steam with need, but that stern look still lingered in his eyes. Damn it, I can’t take much more of his hot-and-cold thing . Still, desperate times, desperate measures, and for one night, she’d give it a go. She’d have to.
    The barn doors swung open without anyone touching them. Jase waited until the others lined up beside the car. “Okay, guys. Push.”
    Push? What’s the use of a car that doesn’t go? Then she realized they were sneaking off into the night. The instant Neptune’s fish-folk spotted them, Jase, Saul, and Merc would pile in and speed off. Then she’d finally get to fuck Jase.

Chapter Eight
    Lindy woke slowly. Unsure where she was or how she had gotten here, she lay still and listened; then she gently tensed each muscle in turn. She heard the distant roar of traffic on a busy road and regular breathing close by. Her body was toasty warm, swaddled in a duvet, and she lay on a soft mattress. When she peered through half-closed eyelids, her surroundings—all cream-colored walls and cheap white furniture—shouted run-down hotel room.
    She didn’t remember much about the journey, since she’d fallen asleep once they hit the road. Her protectors had pushed that beat-up car down the country lane without even breaking a sweat. Once they reached the main road, they’d piled in like sardines.
    Saul had squashed in behind the steering wheel, Mercury at his side. They coasted downhill and away from Neptune’s minions. Finally he’d let out the clutch, and they’d left the farmhouse far behind. Jase had leaped in the back with her. She stifled a giggle when she remembered his long legs in that confined space. Mercury had fit okay. Saul and Jase looked ridiculous, their knees pulled up to their chins as they hunched up in the tiny seats. Jase had shuffled uncomfortably. Finally he figured out that if he pulled her onto his lap, he could spread out across the rear seat. She’d curled up against him, her head resting on his chest, and she’d let him stroke her hair until she fell asleep.
    She couldn’t believe she hadn’t woken as he carried her into the hotel room. Still, it beat running around the car park in the oversize pair of flip-flops Mercury lent her.
    The sun already shone in through the open window, and as she peered at the TV’s