"Until you reached the other side of the field."
What the actual hell? Understanding dawned on her, and she swallowed back the bile. So now she knew why he didn't want her to leave. He wasn't so much upset he couldn't get aroused by her. No, he wanted to continue not being aroused, and she provided that loophole for him. Had even told her as much but she hadn't caught on to what he'd implied.
Forget the cold shower he'd promised to cool down her libido; that revelation did the trick for her all on its own. At least, in his own weird way, his need to prevent himself from becoming a lust-crazed monster gave her assurance that he wasn't lying about nearly losing control with this Lily person. Someone who had gone past the point of no return might feel guilty, but a monster never stopped at one.
Adonis didn't want her—he wanted the control over his body she gave him.
7
Downtown Savannah hustled and bustled with locals on their way to work and tourists stopping in the middle of the sidewalks to take pictures of the monuments and the horse-drawn carriages strolling through the squares. Many of the shop windows were decorated for Halloween with spooky cobwebs and cut-outs of cartoonish ghouls. When night fell, numerous ghost tours would trek through the squares, some on foot, others by trolly or hearse. As one of the most haunted cities in America, Halloween had plenty to offer the city.
Jacen stopped to browse a display window on Broughton Street and smiled. A handbag shaped like a bundle of hardback books rested amongst other specialty bags and wallets. London loved to read, so she'd adore such a purse. Without further thought on the issue, he stepped into the shop and bought it. He couldn't wait to see her face when he gave it to her. Nothing brought him more pleasure than seeing his girl smile.
Well, he could think of a few other things…but they all involved her smiling by the end of them. It still counted.
With his errands done and a spontaneous present acquired, Jacen needed to get back to The Aegean Inn. He had planned to spend the afternoon with Melancton, searching for Theron, but they hadn't finished mapping out where they would start. As the lights changed, he stepped off the curb to follow a crowd of tourists crossing the street, and his cell phone rang. A quick look at the screen made his heart leap into this throat. He accepted the call from Pan.
"What's the news?" Jacen said, afraid to hope. He turned onto Bull Street, and in the opposite direction from the inn. If there was bad news, he needed to walk it off or he would break. "Is it going to be possible?"
"I know how much this means to you. If we can't get confirmation before this Satyr Moon, it's not like there won't be others."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Only a nymph could break the satyr curse, and Pan had changed a mortal into a nymph successfully before. Problem was…Pan didn't know how he'd managed it, and she may have been coming into her powers the first time for all they knew. They had a theory that only women who had nymphs in their bloodline could be awakened, so to speak. "The Fates still won't meet with you?"
"My grandfather caught wind of what I was doing and forbade them." The annoyance in Pan's voice was palpable. "I have my syrinx, and Dionysus is dead. I don't understand why he's so tight-fisted about what we're doing or not doing still. Hell, Apollo is even out of the picture for a while. The only loose ends that risk exposure are Theron and his buddies…maybe Cyprian and his taste of stardom."
"About that…" He relayed everything Chrys had told him about Theron and his buddies. "Melancton and I will try to find them before it's too late, but what he took…"
"Could cause a huge fucking problem." Pan cursed under his breath. A satyr named Silenus had tried to kill Pan with the same axe now in Theron's possession. And who knew what the false ambrosia was meant to be used for. "I'll stop in to help you after I get Katerina and the baby settled back at home. They were remiss to leave Greece, but suddenly all these news outlets are inviting her on their shows because of that stupid documentary."
Jacen snorted. One of the Boeotians had probably waited until Dionysus went missing to leak it, hoping to cause trouble for Pan. Chrys hadn't known anything about it when they'd asked him. "If not for that stupid documentary, you wouldn't have ever met her. And, I might add, no one told you to go full Jersey Devil on camera. You made that decision."
Pan exhaled dramatically. "That's the kind of decision-making that happens when you think with your dick. Remember that. Our own dicks fuck us more than anyone else."
As they continued to laugh about Pan's poor decisions, Jacen crossed through a city square and headed down an alleyway. Alleys in Savannah were more like side streets, but they were less frequented than the main roads. He was straight up meandering at this point. He didn't even know where he was headed other than following the need to roam while he spoke. "Nestor has been a godsend with these pills he made using Vander and Bremusa's cells. I almost feel normal again. For a while, anyway."
Pan made a sound of agreement. "Let's hope the curse doesn't develop a tolerance for it."
He stopped dead in the middle of the road. "Don't you dare even jinx it that way."
"Would I do
