Eros (Contemporary Mythos Book 4)

We’d taken a corner table under the canopy, far enough away from the dance floor and instruments blaring we could make conversation without yelling at one another. I curled my hands around the tankard of ale, tapping my fingernails against the metal handle.

“Why didn’t you text me back?” I chewed my lip.

Eric sat back, spreading his legs wide. “As much as it pains me to admit, I figured you didn’t mean to text the racy photo to me. Didn’t want to embarrass you.”

“Oh? So, you decided to do it in the middle of the Calling of the Clans?” I half-smiled.

A wide grin tugged at his lips, deepening his cleft chin. “You were all flustered about Graeme. Figured it’d be the best way to pull you out of it.”

Graeme. Hearing his name made me queasy but still strangely fluttery.

“You do look good in red.”

My eyes shot to his face, his gaze sending heat up my neck. “Thank you. I don’t do things like that normally.”

“Take risqué photos and send them to random men, you mean?”

I swatted his arm. “Definitely not. But, no, I don’t take photos like that, period.”

He leaned forward with a twinkle in his eye. “The real thing is so much better anyway.”

My stomach tripped over itself in a crazed bout of twists. I shoved my nose into my cup, slurping some ale into my mouth, so I didn’t sit there slack-jawed.

“Are you going true Scotsman?” I raised a brow, dropping my eyes to his kilt.

He licked the corner of his mouth, his eyelids growing heavy. “Would you like to find out?”

Yes.

I dropped my cup, clumsily catching it before it hit the ground. Thankfully, it was half empty. Otherwise, my lap would’ve been an ale-soaked mess.

Eric watched me with a grin, his eyes roaming from my face down to my ankles.

“What’s that look for?” I set the cup on the table, not trusting myself with the simple act of holding something.

“I have a hard time understanding why a woman like you resists falling in love.”

“What kind of woman am I?”

“Caring. Passionate. Adorable. Any man would be a lucky bastard to have you.” He canted his head to one side with a squint.

I’d been breathing my entire life and suddenly forgot how to push the air out of my lungs. “Why are you—why are you being so nice to me?”

He rested his chin in his hand. “Elani. You can’t tell me all our verbal battling was because we didn’t like each other.”

“I—” I snapped my mouth shut, slinking against my chair. “If you liked me from the very beginning, why try to pass me off to someone else? Why make a bet?”

“Because you’re the type that needs to see the proof. Touch it. Feel it. Experience it.”

My hands numbed. “Proof of what?”

“Lani girl! Come show us those Highland moves,” Flora beckoned from the dancefloor.

Eric’s lips curved, and he sat back. “Better not keep them waiting. Seems like a rowdy crowd.”

He had no idea. I stood and walked to the dancefloor on autopilot. Physically I moved, but mentally I was caught up on Eric’s words. The sudden burst of bagpipes pulsing from the band in the corner snapped me back. Flora grabbed my hand and dragged me to the center of the floor.

As a child, I loved Highland dancing. Except for the occasional urge to dance through my kitchen, I didn’t do it now unless here in Scotland. Eric’s eyes bored into me from across the way. He sat back in his chair with a relaxed demeanor, letting the cup of ale dangle from three fingers. His eyes glinted as he settled in to watch me.

I threw one arm up, resting the opposite hand in a fist on my hip. Bouncing on the ball of one foot repeatedly, I pointed the other foot in front, then to my knee, and repeated on the other side. It was a constant up and down movement, switching legs, turning in a circle, raising one arm, or keeping both fists on my hips. As the bagpipes chimed, the happiness the simple dance movement gave me swirled in my stomach until I erupted into giggles.

“Lani, why’s your lad all by himself in the corner?” Flora jutted her head at Eric.

I tried to avoid his gaze. There were two scenarios here: he could come to the dancefloor and change our dynamic even further, or he could stay put. Either thought had my nerves on fire.

Maybe he wasn’t the type to dance?

“Laddie,” Flora yelled with her hands cupped around her mouth.

Eric glanced behind him and pointed at his chest with raised brows.

“Aye, you. Get your arse up here.”

Warmth pooled in my cheeks.

The world blurred around me as I watched Eric stand, adjusting the sash of the great kilt on his shoulder. He took another sip of his ale, making sure to keep his eyes on me. With a swagger only he could pull off, he made his way through groups of happily drunken guests chatting and dancing. My hands wrung around my sash.

“I believe I’ve been summoned?” Eric placed a palm on his chest and bowed in front of Flora and me.

Flora elbowed me in the ribs, making me squeak. “Oh, you’re a looker, you are. Not a Scotsman though, aye?” Without shame, Flora cupped Eric’s chin, turning his face side-to-side.

He chuckled, offering a smile warm enough to melt iron. “Afraid not. I’m…Greek.”

A sizzle shot across my mind—a type of current trying to push through the fog but losing the battle.

“Ah. No matter. You wear that kilt like a true Scot. At the end of the day, that’s more important, hm?” Flora beamed, and she reached for the hem of Eric’s kilt.

I laughed and playfully slapped her hand, though Eric hadn’t tried to stop her. He continued to stare at me with a lazy grin.

“Flora, this is Eric. Eric, Flora.”

Flora twirled her hair around a finger, shimmying her hips, all but cooing at Eric. I frowned, remembering the way Alex reacted to him.

“Who’s up for The Highland Rose?” Clan Campbell shouted over the music.

The instruments died off as they readjusted, readying to switch styles.

Eric arched a brow. “Is that a type of dance?”

“Yeah. It can get a little confusing if you’ve never done it. We don’t have to—”

He brushed a fingertip over the top of my hand. “I’m a fast learner. I didn’t come out all this way to take up a seat at a table.”

A hummingbird furiously beat at my ribcage. “Um. Alright. Let’s be the third couple so you can see the others go first?”

Couple.

“Perfect.” His lips curled into a smile that sent a delicious heat straight to my—stomach.

Eric kept an eye on everyone as I, Flora, and two other women stood in a line shoulder-to-shoulder. Eric stood across from me. I would’ve been far more nervous than he appeared to be, or he did a bang-up job of hiding it. I pressed my fists to each hip and bounced on the balls of my feet as the bagpipes played. The first couple went, crossing diagonally and meeting up with the opposite person.

Eric nodded once as if he already understood the dance, and two-eye winked at me. When it was our turn, we crossed in front of each other, my breast brushing against his arm. Staggered whispers clouded my ears, making me wince. The look on my face must’ve been anything but pleasant, judging from the cocked bushy eyebrow from my new dance partner. I forced a grin and snapped my head to Eric. He danced with Flora in his arms, spinning her around but still keeping me in his sights.

The dance continued in a crisscross pattern between couples. No matter which partner we ended up with, me and Eric couldn’t take our eyes off each other. It was like a swirling wormhole, and fighting the constant pull proved useless. As the dance finished, we ended where we began, standing across from each other. I gulped as I bounced forward, slipping my arms against Eric’s. His right hand curled over my left, his other arm snaking around my shoulder blades.

“How is this happening?” My eyes traveled from the Stewart clan brooch on his sash to his cleft chin, inviting lips, and didn’t stop roaming until they landed on eyes the color of sapphires.

He pressed his cheek against the side of my head. “What do you mean?”

“This.” The coarse stubble brushed my skin. “I went from wanting to wipe the floor with you to keep you away from my algorithm code and prove a point to—”

He leaned back, peering down at me as he brushed a thumb along my jawline. “To what?”

The fog in my mind punched at my skull so fiercely I had to grab my head. Every time I thought I had my feelings sorted, my brain bashed me back to reality. There was a tug on my hand. I blinked—another tug.

“Come here, Elani,” Eric’s distant voice beckoned.

I let him lead us away from the crowds—drums and bagpipes blazing in the background. He didn’t stop until we were in a vacant corner of the canopy near the roaring bonfire. He wrapped a hand over my hip, sending jolts of electricity down my legs. I moved until my back hit against one of the wooden support beams.

“Let me kiss you.” His words floated like a silky whisper.

I wanted him to. So, so badly. The fog pulsed in my mind.

“What? Right here? Right now?” I risked a glance at the surrounding people. No one looked at us. They probably couldn’t even see us given the shadows cast from the fire.

He didn’t look away, using a gentle finger to pull my gaze back to his. “Right here. Right now.”

I could tell my heart wanted to kick me in the face for not screaming, “Yes!” My nails dug into the wooden pole behind me. Not only was it keeping the canopy from toppling over us all, but it kept me from retreating.

If I could ever be thankful for an inanimate object.

“I don’t know…”

His thumb swirled in circles over my hip. “I know how much a kiss means to you. The weight you put on it.”

How could he possibly know that?

“But I promise you when I’m done—” Our gazes locked, and my heartbeat went into a furious gallop. “You’ll be a puddle at our feet.”

I stared at his lips, craving to know how they’d feel. “That’s quite the declaration.”

“No.”

The word jarred me, my eyes darting back to his.

“It’s the truth.”

Who was this guy?

My heart lurched in my chest, and I nodded. “Alright.”

He stepped closer, filling the surrounding air with faint smells of cinnamon. “There’s only one rule.”

“Rule?” The word cracked from my throat.

“You can’t touch me.” The tip of his nose brushed over my ear.

A puddle when he finished? The man hadn’t even kissed me yet, and my knees felt like putty.

He dragged his cheek over mine, fingers kneading against my waist. His lips brushed one of my brows, sending a shiver through my jaw. He kissed my forehead—a light peck that kept the feel of his lips a secret. His breath skirted over my hairline as he continued his torturous tour of my face, his eyes dropping to my lips.

This was it. I was a spool of yarn unraveling. My heart raced, matching the steady beat of drums from the band.

His mouth neared mine and then moved to my nose, brushing his lips across the tip. I pinched my thighs together, the anticipation of when and if this were truly going to happen turning my insides into a Celtic knot. He pressed into me, and I suppressed a whimper at the hardness pushing against my stomach. His gaze lingered over my mouth again before gliding back to my eyes.

Like it had a will of its own, my right hand slipped over his forearm, tensing at the power exuding from the taut muscle hidden underneath his shirt.

“Hey now.” He whispered into my hair. “One rule and you still broke it.” A deep chuckle rumbled from his chest. He slipped his hand over mine with a gentle yet demanding touch, forcing it back to the pole.

My teeth chattered as his nose dipped to the nape of my neck, breathing me in. He gave one tiny flick of his tongue before dragging the stubble on his cheek over my skin. He lifted his head, the intensity in his stare making my insides pulse. He clamped three fingers under my chin, his gaze drifting to my mouth. My hands balled into fists, fearing I’d explode if he didn’t kiss me. It was a sweet mix of torture and pure bliss that I didn’t want to end.

His forefinger played over my cheek while the tip of his thumb traced under my bottom lip. A whimper fluttered from my throat. I couldn’t have held it back if I tried. Without a physical cue this time, his lips brushed mine. I pressed my back against the pole, knowing if it weren’t there, I would’ve gone limp in his arms.

It started as feather-like touches. Pecks across my lips with the occasional lingering moment. And then he deepened the kiss, keeping his hand clamped under my chin, grounding me to the reality of what was happening. His tongue slid over the seam of my lips, coaxing me, luring me, until I opened my mouth, welcoming the swirl of his tongue with mine. He moaned, deep and masculine, pushing further against me.

As he devoured me with this mouth, he dragged a single finger over my collarbone, tracing down to the dip between my breasts. His hand slid into my hair, bunching it in his grasp. An invisible boulder had settled on my chest. I’d only now realized it existed because the unseeable force lifted—a sense of relief, freedom, coursed over my skin in waves. His tongue lapped over mine, pausing every few moments to suck on my bottom lip and dive back in. His fingers kept playing over my cheek, dragging down my throat.

The mysterious fog that’d clogged my brain for days diminished, falling from my mind into a puddle at my feet just as he’d promised. My eyelashes fluttered, the clarity of where I was and who I was with punching at my thoughts like an angry boxer.

I pulled back, staring up at him with a fresh pair of eyes. His tongue lapped over his lips, tasting me on him.

Screw his rule.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him. I’d wanted to kiss him since the moment we met. The universe tried to call out to me about him—an attempt to tell me there was the possibility of something I’d always wanted if I only gave into it. Fear was a driving force for me. But right now, at this moment, all I wanted was him.

Eric groaned and pulled from the kiss, blowing out a ragged breath. “How’d we do?” He pressed his forehead to mine.

“Are you even human?” I let out a gentle laugh.

“How do you feel?”

“I feel—” My body hummed, the bagpipes blaring in the background warming my belly. I closed my eyes with a sigh and slowly opened them. “Renewed.”

Eric winced as his hand curled into a fist. “Glad I could help.”

“Are you okay?” I gripped his shoulder, watching the skin between his eyes wrinkle. I’d seen him like this before…

“Never better.” He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath.

“Do you—do you need to go somewhere?”

A puff of air escaped his cheeks. “I didn’t want you to think I was running away or—” He grimaced, beating his knuckles against the pole behind me.

“Eric. Go. I’ll wait for you here.”

He kissed my temple before sprinting away.

I tapped my fingernails against my lips, watching the direction he went. Curiosity pulled at my heart. Something repeatedly called him away—something he couldn’t handle in front of everyone else. It had to be something big enough to leave after a moment like what we just had. Or maybe it wasn’t as big of a deal for him as it was for me?

Time for some answers.

I pushed off the pole and followed him. The light from the fire and hanging sconces underneath the canopy weakened. My breath curled like liquid smoke from the cold air as I moved further and further from the crowds. Only the sound of the drums echoed over the hills. There was a thicket in the distance and not much of anywhere else he could’ve gone. I moved to the valley, spying his dark hair within the mix of trees and moonlight spilling through the leaves.

He tore his sash and shirt off, standing in the middle of the forest in only the bottom half of his kilt. After a grunt, two large white wings sprung from his shoulder blades. He tilted his head back, sighing in relief as the wings stretched, feathers rustling.

My heart punched at my ribs. “Er—Eric?” I managed to stutter.

He snapped his gaze at me over his shoulder, the look of shock no doubt matching my own.