Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione [140]
“In my time, totem priestesses were honored. Revered as descendants of the aos si.”
“Aos si?”
“The folk. You’d call them… fairies. They possessed the gift of healing animals and killing people when angered. They’re long dead, but you obviously carry their blood.” He looked up at her and placed his fist over his heart. “You have my gratitude and my respect forever.”
Somehow, Cara knew she’d just been elevated to an equal in Thanatos’s eyes. Warmth seeped through her, but she didn’t spend time doing anything more than offering him a thank you. She’d have to ask more about the aos si later. She had two more horses to heal.
The process was the same with both Bones and Battle, and when she was finished, she wasn’t worn out at all.
And there’d been no pain.
“You were drawing on the power of the hellhound pack,” Limos said. “That. Is. Awesome.”
Ares pulled Cara to her feet as Battle came to his. Nearby, Hal and Hades were still playing their gruesome game of fetch, and the medical staff were packing up and preparing the dead for transport.
Cara wrapped herself around Ares and held tight. “I just wish my power worked on more than animals. I might have been able to save some of your staff.”
Thanatos nodded grimly. “I lost twelve vampires.”
“I’ll have to tell Vulgrim that fourteen of his herd are dead.” Ares pressed a kiss to the top of Cara’s head. “But you’re safe. You still bear my agimortus, but since you can’t be killed, you’re no longer a target for Pestilence or his minions. Which means you’re coming home with me.” He cleared his throat. “If you, you know, want to.”
How adorable was he? “Of course I want to. But… the agimortus… I’ll drain you.”
Than snorted. “Something tells me he’ll be happy for you to drain him.”
“Hell yeah.” Ares sifted her hair through his fingers, so simple, but so intimate. “Not even a question.” Her concern must have shown like a neon sign, because he cut her a serious look. “The effect is temporary, and the tradeoff is worth it a thousand times over.”
“Gag.” Limos studied her chipped nails. “Get a room.”
“It’s not all good news, though,” Than warned. “Pestilence is going to come after Limos and me now. And if one our Seals breaks, the other two will fall soon after.”
“And he still has Deliverance,” Limos pointed out.
Usually bringing up the dagger made Than irritable, but he merely nodded. “Let’s get out of here.”
“I never want to come here again,” Cara muttered.
“You never will.” Ares lifted her into Battle’s saddle and swung up behind her. “Hades handled the vapor wraiths at the Harrowgate, so let’s get the hell out of here. Pun intended. Where do you want to go?”
“First, your shower. Second, your bed.”
Instantly, she felt the nudge of his erection against her butt. “Anything you want.”
“Anything?” She twisted around in the saddle, hooked her hand behind his head, and pulled his mouth to her lips. “Because now that I’m immortal, you have no excuses to avoid the full-on rough stuff.”
He groaned. “We’re so out of here.”
They didn’t make it to the bedroom. Hell, they didn’t even make it to the house. Ares had wanted to inform Vulgrim privately of his herd-mates’ valiant deaths, so, at Cara’s request, he’d left her on the beach near his house, where she could wash in the waves and relax.
Now Ares was stripping off his clothes as he walked across the white expanse of sand toward Cara, who was splashing in the sea, her eyes sparkling like the water around her. He admired her graceful, sleek lines as she rose up, exposing her high, firm breasts and the shadowed juncture between her legs. The sea swells licked at her the way he planned to do when he got her onto land.
He was hard, hungry, and ready before he hit the first wave. By the second, his body was straining for her, his blood running like lava through his veins. By the third, she was wrapped around him, her silky sex rubbing against his, her lips sucking on his neck.
He groaned as she ground against him, working her entrance over the tip of his shaft. “Give me thirty seconds to wash off the demon blood—”
Her