I let out a squeak, shut my eyes, and covered my mouth with my hand.
It's not real.
Green eyes in a face that was so delicate and perfect it shouldn't have existed had met mine.
Medusa.
I could hear the sound of the serpents sliding over one another. Keeping my eyes shut, I waited for the sound to stop. When something cool tickled my cheek, I cried out.
The door flung open, and Orestes charged inside. “What is it?” His gaze darted around the bathroom.
I threw myself at him, not caring that I was only wrapped in a towel. “Are they still there?”
“Who? he asked. “Who was here?” His voice was deeper and more serious than I'd ever heard it. He kept his arms around me, spinning us until he stood where I had been, placing himself between me and whatever danger had made me scream.
The mirror was over his shoulder, and I forced myself to look at it. My skin along my chest was flushed from the shower, but my face was stark white, except for my freckles.
And there were no snakes. My saturated curls were a deeper red and dripped water onto my damp neck and shoulders.
I was me. Not her.
“Leo?” Orestes held me so tight.
“I'm getting you wet.” But I couldn't make myself let him go.
“That's okay,” he whispered. His lips touched my shoulder, as if sipping the moisture on my skin. “What happened?”
It was hard to think when he trailed his soft lips over my shoulder to my neck. Without meaning to, I let my head fall to one side. His tongue darted out before he drew on my skin again.Oh, my god.
I clenched my hands in the material of his sweater, bunching it at his waist. It tickled my palms, and for a second, reminded me of having healed faster than I should.
No.This wasn't a time for worries and being frightened.
This was a moment to savor. This was Orestes telling me how he felt without words, and I needed to listen.
It took all the control I had to go his speed. I wanted to touch his skin, but something inside me told me to take it slow and let him set the pace.
And the pace he set was glacial.
He spread his palms on my back, one hand on the towel, the other between my shoulder blades. He trailed his lips from my neck to my jaw, and down to my chin, not once touching our lips together.
A puff of air left me when he tangled that hand in my hair, cupping the back of my head to hold me in place. It gave him full control.
Orestes moved to my ear, bit the lobe gently, and then trailed down the other side of my neck. Goosebumps blasted down my spine, making me shiver, and he pulled me even closer.
I could feel him then, hard and long in his jeans. I shifted, getting just a little closer so our bodies were flush.
The hand he had left on my lower back pulled me in, jerking me against him. He rolled his hips, letting out a groan that filled the tiny, tiled space and made my knees go weak.
“Leonora.Gods.”
No one ever said my name like he had, and it turned our kiss into something momentous. No kisses were like his kisses. No one had ever made me want to collapse into their arms before they'd even pressed their mouth to mine.
If he did—I might spontaneously combust.
I released his sweater, trailing my fingers over his arms until I could grip his shoulders. I wanted to hold him closer, but something warned me against it.Wait,a voice inside my head told me.Just wait.
Orestes brushed his lips over my shoulders. “You have freckles everywhere.” He kissed the tip of my shoulder, holding his lips there. “I want to find constellations in them.”