to lie down for a while. Ariadne went into the kitchen to check on
Matt, who was still icing a few bumps and bruises while Noel gave
him a crash course in demigods.
Lucas gestured with his head for Helen to meet him in the next
room. She tried to shake her head no, but he had already turned
away and started moving toward the door. She had to follow.
He led her to an unfamiliar part of the house, the wing directly
opposite his father?s office, one that Helen had never entered. As
they moved through the empty hallways and past the unused
rooms, she could see Lucas tilt his head ever so slightly over his
shoulder, aware of her presence.
As she followed him, never more than a few paces behind, she
could see his shoulders tense and his breathing quicken. She
watched the warm skin of his back moving under his shirt with
every breath, and she had to rub her tight fists against each other
to keep herself from reaching out to touch him. Finally, he entered
the empty solarium on the easternmost end of the compound and
turned around. She had one second to open her mouth in protest
before he was kissing it. The second after that she felt him gently
pushing her down to the floor. The second after that Helen very
nearly gave in to him.
A wave of nausea swept up from her stomach and she clamped
her mouth shut as she turned her head away from him. Lucas
pulled back carefully, thinking he had hurt her in some way. She
braced her elbows against the marble floor and shoved against his
chest.
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?Stop,? she begged.
He shifted off of her immediately, holding his hands up in a placating
gesture. As they both sat up and faced each other, his eyes