Rogue Soul (The Mythean Arcana Series Book 3) by Linsey Hall Page B

out the sounds escaping from Ana’s lips. Desperate, needy sounds that he couldn’t get enough of. They spurred the same from him—rough, raw noises that sounded like those of an animal.
    “Fuck,” he rasped, then gripped her ass and ground her against him, working her soft body on his thigh to coax more of those sounds from her throat.  
    She’d scared the hell out of him when she’d gotten so close to the boars. Fear for her had pushed him over the edge, broken his control where she was concerned.  
    “I want you,” he rasped. “Always have.”
    More than that, he cared. He couldn’t hide from it any longer. All those years ago, she’d given him the gift—and the curse—of emotion, dragging him from the cold existence of the gods. Now, all that emotion and lust and caring that she’d dredged up in him were becoming wrapped up in her. It was stronger than anything he’d ever felt for anyone else, and it confused the hell out of him.
    “I care, damn it.” The sandpaper words scraped his throat, pulled out of him by a force he couldn’t control. He never talked like this. Never thought like this. Except with her.
    She stiffened in his arms, her hands in his hair going still.
    “No.” She pushed him away, struggled to get out of his arms. She shook her head, eyes wide and wild. He stepped back, hands clenching to keep from reaching for her. “I don’t want this. I didn’t come here for this.”
    “Ana.” He reached out to draw her back.
    “No.” She slipped around him and backed away, shaking her head. “No. Our past is totally fucked up. And now we’re the only two who can serve in Otherworld. You won’t take my place, and I don’t blame you, but starting something again under these circumstances will lead to disaster for both of us. I can’t risk that.”
    Something squeezed his heart until he thought it would pop. She was right. Selfish bastard that he was, she was right. His actions had gotten her stuck in Otherworld, and he couldn’t—wouldn’t—take her place again. His work needed him here on earth. Millions of people needed him for the good he could do.
    But that left Ana out in the cold, trapped in Otherworld.

CHAPTER TEN

    He’d have thought it impossible, but Cam was even more grateful to see the wharf at Bruxa's Eye than he had been to see Havre. Being cooped up on a boat with Ana was hell on his mind and his damn emotions. He needed to get a grip.
    He kept his sights on the big dock, which swarmed with activity, and brought the Clara G. alongside. He leapt down and quickly tied off the bow line.
    He made quick work of securing the stern, and as he was brushing his hands off, caught sight of Ana sitting up from the hammock to look around at the bustling port city.  
    Dusk would fall in another hour, but for now the low sun revealed a town that pushed out of the jungle and onto the shore. Trees had been hacked down to make space for both the wooden buildings and the Mytheans who made their homes or businesses in the largest supernatural town in the Amazon River basin. It was so well hidden by magic that mortals who passed on the river wouldn’t even notice it.
    Mytheans liked it so much for its secrecy that they moved here from all over the world. He could hear at least half a dozen languages from the people on the docks, and it explained the Portuguese-English mashup of the town’s name.
    “This is the town with the airport?” Ana asked.
    At the sound of her voice, he squeezed his eyes shut. Damn it, he had no idea what to do about her. She roused feelings in him—fucking feelings , which had never been an issue before he met her those many years ago—and now that he’d admitted to them… Well, he was fucked.
    She’d rejected him. It was smart of her. They were the only two Mytheans qualified to serve in Otherworld as war gods. If she didn’t want to be there, he was the only one who could take her place. And he didn’t want that, no matter how guilty he felt about