She frowned. He had used her already, hadn't he? Some of her happiness sobered as she contemplated what she meant to the satyr she was close to falling for. And it was hard not to after a night like that. Sage would have to harden herself before the other shoe dropped. Physical pleasure and affection were different things. She'd said as much to him when he'd claimed he felt something for her last night.
Yet…the change in him told a different story. When he'd been using her to keep his curse at bay, he hadn't been pleasant. In fact, he'd been extremely pissed off by the whole situation and annoyed with her and her constant chatter.
"Sage?" His hand being pulled out of hers startled her back to the present. She'd zoned out. Adonis looked down at her with concern. "Are you all right?"
She forced a smile. While she didn't like the circumstances that had brought them together the night before, she was thankful they had. "Yes, sorry. Just lost in my thoughts."
Adonis' features softened again and he nodded. "I'm going with Melancton to speak to Jacen. Daphne will stay here with you, and London will probably be up in a minute. If you need anything, one of them can come get me."
This amused her, and she raised a brow. "Am I a secret from Jacen?"
"Nah," Adonis said, "he's probably naked, and maybe I don't want you looking at other naked satyrs right now."
That was the last thing she expected. "Oh." The two satyrs disappeared through a door and down the stairs. If he didn't want her looking at other naked guys, did that mean…he was interested in her? Like, as in…more than to break his curse? Butterflies erupted in her stomach and she felt warm all over.
Daphne sidled up next to her, dressed in a silky silver maxi dress that was longer in the back than the front, and a pair of dainty pink sandals. Her hair was braided, with the length of it over her shoulder. "Satyrs are not embarrassed by nudity."
"As it would seem." There wasn't more to say about that, really. Adonis wanted her to himself, and that was as far as her thoughts could process at the moment.
"Why don't we take you upstairs to shower and change?"
"I, um, didn't bring any clothes." Her dress was wrinkled and in need of a wash, and the pajamas she'd borrowed had been stolen by a goddess. She was wearing Adonis' sweats and a T-shirt again.
Daphne gestured to a pile of dark clothes sitting on one of the chairs. A pair of black flats lay on the floor beneath it. Sage hadn't noticed them before. "Already have you covered there. I can wash your clothes while you shower."
"You're a blessing." A shower sounded amazing.
Daphne winked. "I take it the issue with Adonis has been mended, and he realized he didn't need the use of his favorite appendage to pleasure a woman?"
Abashed, Sage turned to pick up the pile of clothing. She wasn't embarrassed by her sexuality, but by the fact that she had yowled all morning like a cat in heat with the door broken. "Sorry if we, uh, woke you."
Daphne grinned. "It didn't bother us. In fact, it stimulated a quite decent morning."
Sage's cheeks burned, yet…the fact that people had heard them and gotten turned on sort of turned her on. Maybe she was a bit of an exhibitionist and never knew. Or maybe it was the nymph hormones again. "Oh, well…that's good, I guess."
She was definitely happy to take a shower and hide for a little while. Though the thought of having more time with Adonis later proved the proper motivation not to take too much time hidden away.
Adonis stood awkwardly in the doorway to Jacen's bedroom, hands in his jeans pockets, wishing he was anywhere else right now as the Arcadian stared at him with a speculative gaze. Jacen's dark hair was at that awkward stage between short and long where it would always appear messy even if he brushed it, and he lay in bed with a blue sheet pulled up to below his pectorals.
"So," Jacen said. "It is true. You're really here…" While his words didn't sound angry, they didn't sound at all that welcoming either.
Adonis didn't have the patience to deal with another round of Twenty Questions. He'd rather be upstairs with Sage. Funny to think he'd wanted nothing more than for her to leave a day ago. Part of that had been annoyance at his situation, and bafflement that his temperament didn't easily scare her off. "I guess I am."
Melancton, sensing the tension, sat on the end of Jacen's bed and gestured toward a chair for Adonis to sit in. While he complied, the other Boeotian turned back to Jacen and asked, "How are you faring?"
Jacen groaned. "Waiting for my ribs to heal and about to go out of my damn mind."
"It should only take another day or two."
"And that's what I'm afraid of." Jacen glowered at the ceiling fan. "If Pan can change London into a nymph, how am I supposed to go through the Satyr Moon ritual with her? Ariston said the earth produced a dais that bound Lily to it. I can't stand up."
Well, at least Adonis wouldn't be the only one with performance issues. He immediately regretted that thought. It wasn't Jacen's fault that Adonis had gone and gotten an additional curse. "It should be fine."
Jacen's gaze shot to him. "And how do you know? Oh, that's right. You were there."
Adonis winced. He wished he'd seen Dionysus' manipulation sooner. Had seen how his anger made him easy prey. But he hadn't, and he couldn't change the past. "What you described
