by Lazu, Sotia
“The Dionysos.” He tilts his head, studying me.
“And you have no powers now?” I ask, because it seems like the least threatening thread to tug on.
He sweeps the room with his gaze, before gazing at me again. “I bring down people’s inhibitions. It’s not a conscious thing. I can’t control it; it just is. I touch someone, and their hang-ups disappear.”
That doesn’t sound too bad. “So you’re like a glass of wine?” Fitting, since he’s the freaking god of wine.
His smile this time is sad. “More like a bottle or six, but without the alcohol poisoning.”
“Oh.” So my inability to control myself when he’s around, this insane attraction I feel toward him even now, is because of his power? My brain is finally registering fear, but I’m also angry and frozen on the edge of his mattress, unable to decide whether I should scream, cry, or hide.
“My power doesn’t work on you.” His voice is soft, his tone cajoling. “I swear. I was afraid it would, at first. That’s why I wouldn’t... With you. You know. But it doesn’t.”
He wouldn’t sleep with me because he was afraid of what his power would do? “How bad does it get?”
“It steals your free will. Makes you act on instinct and desire.”
And he says it doesn’t work on me. I’ve been a ball of instinct and desire since I walked into his bar.
He glides down from the bench and approaches me slowly, like I might attack. “I wish you’d trust me.”
When he drops to his knees in front of me, I flinch and lace my fingers together. I want to reach for him, but I don’t want to want it. “You haven’t given me reason to,” I say. “For all I know, my still being here is evidence of your power, overriding reason.”
He throws his head back and lets out a frustrated roar. “I couldn’t get you to eat the fucking soufflé, although you wanted it. Besides, we wouldn’t be having this conversation if I could get through your defenses.” In my mind, he adds, “Because you don’t want to be arguing with me; you want to be fucking me.”
God help me, he’s right.
“The way to ascend is by bonding with our soulmates.” He crawls closer, watching my face. “Until I met you, I was determined to never go through with the bonding. To live—and die—mostly human.”
I hear the words, but they make no sense.
“You’re my soulmate, Moira. My destiny. I’ve known about you since you turned eighteen, but I never expected to be so uncontrollably drawn to you. It’s like I’ve always known you. And as I found out before you came upstairs, I always have.”
Huh? My chest hurts. I’ve been holding my breath. I let it out and try to put my thoughts in order. I’m his soulmate, and bonding with me will make him a full-on god? “What exactly is bonding?” Let’s take it one step at a time.
“Essentially, bonding is tying our souls together for eternity. The bond starts forming as we develop feelings for each other, but it’s not complete until we promise to love one another forever. While making love.”
Wow. Wow. He’s talking forever, and my most long-term plan at the moment is tomorrow’s brunch.
He pulls the elastic off his ponytail, smooths back his curls, and replaces the band. “You should know that bonding will make us both immortal.”
As in, the forever is literal? Panic claws at my chest. “I should go.”
He’s close enough to plant his palms on the mattress, trapping me. “Listen to me. Please.” His body heat seeps into my clothes, to wrap around my body. If I lean forward, our lips will meet. I can melt into him, inhale his scent that’s so distinctly male, and let him tear off my clothes. Make me his. Forever.
“You said you wouldn’t stop me.” I need to be away from here. Now.
Chapter Eighteen - Dionysos
I look into her eyes, willing her to understand. “Don’t you get it? We belong together. We were made for each other. Not just this time, but always.” I know she can feel it too. Her desire for me is blasting through our developing mental link. There’s fear and confusion in her gaze, though, and I hate that I’m the reason why.
Maybe if I explain...
I focus on the threads of a half-formed bond, tethering us together, and hope she sees there’s no hint of deception in what I’m saying. “I knew you when I first walked this earth. You were Ariadne, the Minotaur’s half-sister, and we fell in love after Theseus abandoned you. The dream you had was a memory from that time.”
Her hand flies to her mouth, and her irises fill with silver.
She remembers?
I try to glean something from her thoughts, but a mental wall slams down between us as she plants both palms on my chest and shoves me back.
She can’t dislodge me, but I won’t press on. She needs time to process. Can’t blame her. I stand and move out of her way, as she storms out the door.
I hear her feet stomping down the stairs, and then the downstairs door bangs shut.
And I’m left with my heart’s desire—any chance I had of ascending is gone. Only, when I told C and the guys that I planned to remain human, I didn’t expect the rest of my human life to be spent in misery, which I now know will be the case if I’m not with Moira.
Snap out of it.
And do what? Chase her down in the street? She has the right to turn me down. I can’t force her to accept the bond.
But I can plead my case until she sees the light.
I take the stairs down two at a time, relying on my godly genes to ensure I don’t slip and snap my neck. I throw the door open and see her across the street, heading toward the main road.
“Moira, wait.”
She obviously hears me, because she lengthens her strides.
“Moira,” I call out. “Stop.” I hurry to her side of the road, and she turns toward me long enough to hiss, “Leave me alone.”
“We can work this out.” I wouldn’t insist if I hadn’t sensed her hunger for me moments ago. I’d rather spend eternity alone, than force her into anything.
A fat drop of water lands on my nose. Perfect. Where’s Sei when I need him to control the weather? He’ll probably show up if I call for him, but odds are Moira won’t appreciate another Olympian’s presence.
“You want me,” I send to her. “Admit it.”
Her step falters. She slows but doesn’t stop. “What difference will that make?” she yells without turning around.
More droplets, dripping down my cheeks and clinging to my hair. “All the difference in the world.” If she admits to wanting me, she may be open to loving me. “Say you don’t, and I’ll leave you alone. I swear.” Immortals are bound to our oaths.
“Will you shut up?” a man yells from somewhere up above. “Some of us have work in the morning.”
Ahead, a door opens, and a woman rushes to Moira. “Are you all right, honey? Need me to call the police?”
Why don’t people mind their own business?
The woman makes a U-turn and disappears inside her building. Moira stops and swivels to face me. “Did you do that?” she thinks at me.
“Do what?” I ask the same way. Oh. Did I make the woman leave? “Let’s check,” I send Moira through our mental link, before sending a thought out to anyone who’ll listen. “If you can hear me, turn your lights on and off three times.”
A second passes. Then another. And light pours out of every window I can see. And again. And again.
“That’s enough. You can go back to bed now,” I think at the unseen mortals. Showing Moira how wide a mental net I can cast was a stupid thing to do. If she wasn’t terrified before, she will be now.
But she stands there, fists on her hips, looking like Wonder Woman, ready to take on the world. “You lied. You can control humans.”
“Then why are you still so far away?”
Because she’s not human. For me to be able to use compulsion to this extent, the bond is in place, and she and I are both gods. And if the bond is in place, I’m not the only one madly in love her
e.
Yes, I’ve come to terms with my feelings. I’m in love. Shocker.
The rain grows stronger. Thicker. Still, I see Moira’s outline and those luminescent eyes. Without conscious thought, I blink right in front of her. I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her to me hard, the rain soaking into our clothes. “Got you now.”
She looks up at me, stray strands of hair plastered to her cheeks. She doesn’t seem scared. Her eyes are blazing, and her jaw is set. “Congrats. What next? You throw me over your shoulder and carry me to your cave?”
Tempting, but maybe later. “You love me,” I say. Containing my exuberance is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
She scoffs, and sputters when rain drips inside her mouth. Droplets sparkle on her eyelashes, like gems.
I duck my head and nuzzle her cheek. “You love me,” I whisper.
She bats at my arm, but it’s half-hearted. “Does the cockiness come with the being-an-immortal thing, or the being-a-guy thing?”
I trap her earlobe between my lips and nibble on it. “You love me.”
Moira clutches at my arms before breaking free. “I barely know you, and I’m not even sure I like what little I do know. I mean you’re a lying, manipulating, indecisive—”
“Then why don’t you just say no?”
She bites her bottom lip, and the line between her brows deepens.
That’s what I thought. I clasp her wrist and can feel her pulse thrumming under her skin. When I tug, she falls into my arms. Her face is turned up to me, her eyes wide and round like saucers. Her pupils are blown. This isn’t fear; it’s lust.
When she licks her lips, I swoop in for a taste. She growls and opens her mouth, to suck on my tongue greedily. The rain pours into our mouths, and her kiss tastes of anger and darkness and despair, but with a hint of promise. This is more than raw carnal desire.
She loves me.
I shuffle through fresh memories that are as old as time, to get back to the first ever kiss we shared. Her face was different then, and she had wine on her breath and a smile at the corner of her lips, but she was the same woman.
Can she see? Can I make her remember me without dredging up the pain that brought us together?
Moira clutches my T-shirt. Bunches her fists in it. Arches her neck, so I can slide my lips down its side. Her bun is a dripping mess. I pull her hair free, and twist my fingers in her tresses, to hold her closer. Kiss her harder.
I need her. Need to be buried inside her. Now.
The street drops from beneath our feet, and I stumble backward into a hard surface that wasn’t there a moment ago. I blink and break away from Moira, careful not to let go, lest she start overthinking things again. We’re in my apartment.
Moira lets out a startled laugh. “Oh God. It’s all true. I mean, I knew it was when you said it, but... I mean, you blinked me.” She clutches her head. “Whoa.”
I chuckle and tug on her shirt that clings to her breasts. “Need to get you out of these clothes. You’ll catch a cold.”
She arches a dark brow, even as she lets me peel the sodden cotton off her. “I thought we’re immortal now.”
I shrug. “Thought I’d give it a try.”
And she laughs again. The lilting sound fills the room. It fills my heart, until it’ll burst with happiness. I’ll make it my life’s mission to hear this laugh every day.
Moira grabs my T-shirt with both hands and pulls. It gives her no trouble, as it rips from neckline to hem. “You are soaked too,” she says with a smirk. “We need to get you nice and dry.”
This is perfect. It’s playful and light and sexy.
But the mental wall is still blocking me from gleaning her thoughts.
I don’t need to read her thoughts, to know what she’s doing. The single-mindedness with which she tugs at my fly is telling. Moira decided to focus on the sex part of the bond, rather than deal with the emotional part.
I still her fingers moments before my poor cock is free. “What is this?”
I should have my phone ready to capture the what the fuck drawn all over her face. “It was supposed to be sex,” she says, “but now I guess it’s more talking?”
“Moments ago, you were running away from me, and now you’re all over me. What changed your mind?”
The hands that were going for my dick moments ago form tight little fists, as Moira puts more distance between us. Sometimes, I want to kick myself for analyzing everything.
Chapter Nineteen – Moira
Why does he have to be smart, on top of everything else? And how can I put my thoughts and feelings into words, when I can’t put them in order in my own head?
“You freaked me out,” I say. “Everything... It’s all too much. But if the bond has formed—I don’t know how to finish this sentence.” I’m leaning against his kitchen counter, in my bra and jeans, trying to explain why I’ve accepted that we’re now both immortal and meant to be together forever.
I purse my lips and take my time twisting water off my hair into his sink. I can’t meet his gaze, as he comes to stand in front of me. “Everything you said, everything you are, scares me, but you don’t scare me. This feels right. And if I focus on this, I don’t have to think of the big picture. I don’t have to remember that Olympians fucked around in mythology—”
“Not all of them.”
His tone brooks no argument, but I continue as if he didn’t speak. “—and I don’t have to wonder how much of these... feelings I have are reciprocated. I can live this for however long it lasts.”
Dionysos scowls, and I scowl back.
“Woman, didn’t you hear the part about the bond entailing my loving you for the rest of my life?” He shrugs, like it’s no biggie. “I love you. It blindsided me, but it’s true.” He holds his hand out, and I take it and let him intertwine our fingers.
His voice is a caress in my head. “Let go.”
And I do.
The sun shines bright above us, as Dionysos slants his mouth over mine. I squeeze my eyes shut against the glare, but his smile is burned on the back of my eyelids. It’s the smile of a man in love. A happy man. The man who cleared away the clouds fogging my mind, took me by the hand, and led me into the light.
A god.
Birds chirp on the trees surrounding our clearing. They sound as happy and free as I feel. The grass tickles my bottom when he helps me lie back. I spread my legs, and Dionysos kneels between my thighs.
“You’re more intoxicating than wine.” He kisses a path from the valley between my breasts to my navel. “Sweeter than nectar.” His stubble scratches the tender flesh of my inner thigh in the most delicious way, before he gives it a playful bite. “Divine.”
“I love you.” I mouth the words, because I’m afraid of saying them aloud. They may shatter this bubble he’s created around us the days we’ve been alone on this island.
He says big words all the time, and I let him. I smile when he says I’m the only woman he’s ever loved, and I believe him in that moment, but when he sleeps at night, I crawl on top of his body and press my ear to his chest, and pray that he really is different and he won’t leave me here alone and lost, like...
I shoo away thoughts of that bastard who passes himself off as a hero, and tangle my fingers in the silken curls of the Olympian teasing my pussy with his tongue.
This is where I belong. Dionysos is my home.
I blink, and the island is gone, but the bubble is still here.
So is Dionysos.
I pull him to me, and when our bodies press together, wrap my arms and legs around him and kiss him like it’s the only thing keeping me alive.
“I love you,” I scream in my head. “Can you hear me?”
He chuckles into my mouth and thinks back, “Loud and clear.” He closes his hands over my ass and twirls, and we’re in his bed. “Never had another woman up here,” he mumbles against my belly, as he pops the fly of my jeans.
The denim won’t slide off as easily as my t
op did, and he lets out a frustrated sigh. “Why won’t the fucking thing just get out of the way?” he asks the ceiling.
When he looks at me again, the jeans are gone. He woots, and tears off my boyshorts with his hands.
“That was my move,” I say, lowering his zipper.
“Hold on. I got this.” He squeezes his eyes shut, and his jeans disappear too.
We need to figure out where our clothes went, but it can wait, because the most gorgeous male in existence is naked above me, and about to eat me out.
But that’s not what I need right now. “I want you inside me.”
“Don’t you want to fool around a little first?” He licks along my hipbone. Grazes it with his teeth.
I shake my head. “The past two days—Hell, the past few lifetimes—have been foreplay enough. “Please tell me you have condoms. Please?” I mean, Olympians were very fertile the first time around, better not risk it.
He nods and blinks out of sight, only to half land on top of me a few moments later with an oof.
“Careful, you’ll crack my ribs.” But he won’t, because I’m freaking immortal now.
“Sorry. You okay?”
I take a page out of his book and think my bra off. It takes three tries, and I’m about to unclasp it manually, when it disappears. I fold my arms behind my head and ask, “Do I look okay?”
Dionysos takes me in from the top of my head, to my unpainted toenails. “You look perfect.”
His cock digs into my belly. He rolls to the side, and I see the precum leaking from the tip. I gather the pearly drop with my fingertip and bring it to my mouth, and his eyes burn into me while I lick the digit clean.
Under my watchful gaze, Dionysos sleeks his fist along his shaft a couple times, before fitting the rubber over the tip and rolling it down.
I lick my lips and sway my hips as he crawls between them. Why do I want him so much?
“Because we’re meant for each other.” ” His answer fills my head, resonating with its truth.
He holds his shaft to my entrance, and I instinctively squeeze my thighs around his hips. “Please be gentle.” Shit, I sound pathetic. “It’s been a while, and—”