I kinda hate that everything he's saying makes sense. "Go on, I'm listening."
"We can continue to try and run, knowing that the gods will approach us when they please…" His thumb strokes my skin thoughtfully.
"Or?"
"Or we confront them head on. We go back to your dwelling, we greet whoever is waiting, and we see what they want."
I groan, because I know he's right. "And what if they want to kill us and like, obliterate us from existence?"
Kassam's thumb skates across my lower lip, sending heat through my body. "You think they would wait for us to approach, then? Why would they not do it now? I do not think they seek that. I do not know what they seek, but I do not think it is our doom."
"Maybe it's another goddess that wants to marry you," I point out, letting my tongue brush against his fingertip. "And she's going to be pissed to find out I beat her to it."
He laughs at that. "High Father forbid. The last thing I need is females fighting over my carcass. One unnecessary wife is enough."
I bite his thumb.
Kassam doesn't pull away, though. His eyes only grow that smoky, dark silver with arousal, and the look he gives me is even more heated than before. If this continues, we're going to return to that back room and go for round two, and while my thighs quiver with joy at the thought, I know we can't stay here. If something dangerous is following us, I don't want to lead it to my mother.
"You think this is wise, then? To confront whoever—or whatever—this is?"
"Wise?" He chuckles, dropping his hand. "Oh no. We are long past wise options, my little light. We are just going for the ones we have left."
Fair enough. "Let's get it over with, then. But if I die, I'm coming back through time and space to haunt your ass."
Kassam tosses his head back and laughs, delighted at my crankiness.
Our cab driver is so besotted with Kassam that I could pay him nothing and he wouldn't care. Even so, I'm starting to feel like a freeloader, so I make sure he's paid well and apologize a dozen times for the fact that we have no shoes. When we get to my building, I inwardly cringe at the sight of all the overgrown vines crawling up the side of the building directly up to my window. I guess we're not exactly hiding Kassam's location. That's practically a flashing sign right there.
We pause outside the building and I look over at Kassam. He nods at me. "Still there, whoever it is."
A knot of worry forms in my belly. "You can feel it?"
"Oh, yes." He closes his eyes. "Pulsing like a dark heart. You cannot?"
I have to admit, I'm still a little dazzled by Kassam and his nearness. The sex we had a short time ago feels as if it cracked me open. There was something different to our coming together, something a little more raw and needy, a little more intense. I'm still reeling from it, and as he takes my hand in his, I ache with need. "All I feel is you," I say, voice breathless. "You're a little distracting."
"Am I?" He glances down at me, pleased. "Is it because you're madly in love with me now, and you want me to kiss you?"
"Nope. Takes a bit more than one round of sex to make a girl fall in love."
"How many rounds, exactly?"
I just roll my eyes. "Can we focus on the problem at hand?" I gesture up to my window. "Do you think we need weapons of some kind? Wards? Like…vampires hate crosses. Do you think our friend up there has a vulnerability to something?" When he's silent, I glance up at him, and he's giving me an incredulous look, one that says I've grown another head. I can take a hint. "All right, that's a no go, fine."
"Whoever is there is likely thousands of years old and will not be affected by a paltry symbol or two." He shakes his head. "We will try to reason with him—or her—and see what it is they desire. I am near powerless in this world, so a battle is not an option we have."
Considering that he's invulnerable and I'm the one that has to die for him to be “defeated,” I agree with that assessment. "And if they want to fight?"
"Then we are doomed anyhow." He smiles down at me.
"You sure are smiley for a guy discussing doom," I grumble.
"I am Hedonism. I take my pleasure where I can. Right now, my pleasure is in how cranky my every word makes you." He grins, pausing and cupping my face. "Want to kiss me now? Before we race into danger and battle the gods?"
I push his hands away. "First of all, you said we weren't fighting anyone. And second…no? What makes you think I want to kiss right now? I want to run for the hills."