“Oh.” I cleared my throat.
“Indeed,” he said. “That was nectar. Would you care to see a sample of ambrosia?”
After how the nectar had made me feel, I wasn’t certain, but the temptation to see it had me shaking my head.
“Do you eat animals?” I asked.
“No. Our sustenance are the trees and fields of Olympus. Fruit and grains. Our land provides everything we need.”
“We? You mean immortals?”
He paused. “Yes.”
I nibbled bread that I’d dipped in salted olive oil. “If I guess what sort of creature you are, can you tell me if I’m correct?”
“No. But I would very much be interested in your guesses.” His voice held a hint of amusement.
“All right.” Mino whimpered, and I placed the last bite of fish in his mouth. “Echidna. Half-serpent, half—”
“Half woman. Many of the best hybrids are female.”
I tapped the table. I knew echidnas were female, but perhaps some of what humans believed was not true? Or there were creatures we hadn’t heard of. The oracle said my husband was a winged serpent. That might be so, but I’d felt his hands and his mouth. They were decidedly not the hands and mouth of a serpent. Now I had to wade through what I knew of the legends to try and narrow this down.
“A satyr?” They were known for their sensuality, and my husband definitely gave off that aura.
He laughed. “Satyrs have no wings.”
A light of hope flared inside of me. He was not saying yes or no, but he was giving hints.
I swallowed a drink of water, my heart pounding. “Are you Typhon?” Typhon was one of the deadliest creatures of legend, even an enemy of the god Jupiter. He was, indeed, a winged serpent with snakes for feet. Some say he had multiple heads. But were they human heads or serpents as well?
“Interesting choice.” His voice sounded dry. “Tall as a mountain, or long as a giant whale. Upper body of a man, indeed, lower body made up of hundreds of snakes. Fiery eyes. Dragon heads for fingers.”
I went very still, trying to imagine that creature in my midst. Now my throat was dry. “What can you tell me about his personality?”
“He is a comic genius.”
I let out an accidental snort and covered my mouth. “Be serious.”
“I am. Impressive sarcastic wit for one who can scarcely talk.”
Laughter bubbled out of me, though my hand still cupped my mouth. I had no idea if he was being serious or attempting to joke.
“What other theories have you got?” he asked.
I chewed my lip. “Manticore?”
“Mm. Cousin to the chimera. Head of a human with sharp teeth. Body of a lion. Bat-like wings. Impressive creatures in combat.”
I stared at the space where he sat, my insides roiling. Could he be a manticore? Perhaps the serpent part of him consisted of those sharp teeth? I thought I had felt his teeth against my legs that night, but now I wasn’t so sure. I tried to relax my face, but my eyebrows were furrowed tight.
“Psyche. Hold out your arm.”
“No.” My arms went stiff, hands clasped tightly in my lap.
“Your arm.” His voice was so firm that Mino flopped to his back on the floor beside us.
My abdomen clenched. “Please. Can you just say whatever it is? Do you really need—” I screamed as a firm force outstretched my arm onto the table where it lay flat, palm down.
“Keep your other hand in your lap,” he told me.
I locked my jaw, too terrified to move. Then I felt the heat of breath above my forearm, and the press of teeth. My throat seized up. He had his mouth around my arm, just as Mino had clamped his mouth around Sphinx’s throat earlier. And like the puppy’s bite, my husband’s was not deadly. I tried to catch my breath and take in the sensation of a full set of teeth, top and bottom, holding firmly to my skin. I even stared in wonder at the sight of those teeth pressing down. I could see the imprint. None of them were particularly sharp. No “fangs.” And his lips, surrounding the teeth, were incredibly soft and tender. A heated flush suddenly swept over me, making me glad I was seated.
“All right then,” I breathed.
He released me, and I yanked my arm back, closing my hand over the damp spot where his mouth had been. I stood and moved away from the table, pacing to the far side away from him, trying to calm my body. I didn’t think I would ever become accustomed to his ways of proving points.
“Maybe,” I said, swallowing. “You can retract your fangs.”
“No creature can retract their fangs. Either you have them or you do not.”
“Well, then, perhaps you filed yours down to appear less dangerous.”
“No creature of Olympus would willingly destroy the weapons they were born with.”
“Then what are you?”
His chair shifted back, and I heard him move toward me. I froze in place.
When he spoke, his voice was near and low. “I know it bothers you not to know who and what I am. I know it worries you that I cannot say the things that would ease your mind. I know my excuses seem without worth or substance. If you would only—” His voice cut off with a guttural sound, like his tongue had been grasped.
“Only what?” I waited, listening, shaking.
“Turn around and put your palms against the wall.”
“What?” I breathed, the familiar terror rising again. “Why?”
“For once, can you do as I ask without questioning?”
“No!”
“So be it.”
The air spun me like a whirlwind, pressing me into the wall until I was forced to push back with my palms. Try as I might, and I tried, I could not turn or move. I grunted and gritted my teeth with effort.
“There. Now stay still.”
Weak. That was how I felt at that moment, and I hated it. I didn’t know what he planned to do, but I was tired of letting him control me. When I felt the air release me, I spun back around and kicked out a foot as hard as I could, raising my fists to fight, but my foot was caught, seemingly by the air, and I was shoved back around by the whirlwind again, my fingers splayed against the wall, feet flat on the floor.
“I applaud your efforts,” he said flatly. “Now this time. Do. Not. Move.”
I let out a scream loud enough to shake the room. And though I remained exactly where I was, I stomped my foot down with all my might, stomping until it hurt, jarring my bones.
My husband’s arms went around me from behind, wrapping securely around my stomach, his chest to my back, and his face pressed into my neck. He was strong. It was the most I’d ever felt of his body. I froze, taking in the sensation of every place where our bodies touched, from the backs of my calves and legs, my bottom, my back and shoulders, to my stomach and neck. Then quiet fell, and I knew his wings had encircled us. A cloud of warm, peppery honeysuckle, like a summer breeze, filled the small space, its loveliness making me whimper.
“Shh,” he whispered into my skin.
“What do you want?” I cried, feeling compressed and overwhelmed.
“This,” he whispered. “Only this.”
He was holding me. Gods, it felt…good. It felt real. I hated how he could cloud my judgement like this. I thought about what he had told me last time. “Do yourself a favor. Imagine I am Leodes.”
So, I did. I closed my eyes and imagined his dark hair and lashes. His handsome face buried in my neck. His strong, sun-golden arms wrapped around me. I imagined he cared. I imagined he loved me as he held me up, murmuring soothing sounds against my skin, and I wept.
NOT PROPER
Leodes smelled of honey. I woke in the dimness of dawn, my body damp, my most intimate parts aching. The remnants of my dream fluttered at the edge of my consciousness, the way our bodies had intertwined, never fully coupling. The body of Leodes with the voice and scent of my husband. Why had I woken? I recalled Mino’s barking from far away. I groaned, pulling my knees up under the covers. I wanted to go back to my dream.
“I can help if you’ll let me.”
I jolted with surprise, my entire body shuddering at the erotic undertones of my husband’s voice at the side of the bed. Too near. I rolled to face his invisible form and a blast of honey hit me, causing an upwelling of heat to jostle through my body, rattling downward until it settled at my core, purring. A deep blush filled my face, neck, and chest. I had been so overwhelmed with my dream that I hadn’t sensed him there.
“N-no,” I stuttered, clutching the blankets. “I’m…trying to sleep.”
“By denying me,” he said huskily. “You deny yourself.”
“I deny myself nothing,” I lied, ashamed that he could read my need so easily. Damn him. Damn the humiliation.
I sat up, raking my fingers through my hair, trying to get ahold of myself. I schooled my face and pressed my thighs together tightly, but that did not help my circumstances.
“Don’t you have to work?” I asked. “It’s daylight.”
“Tell me your dream.” His voice had moved. He was stalking around the bed again.
“I don’t recall it.”
“Is that so? Something to do with Leodes, I believe. Seeing as how you moaned his name.”
“I did not!” Why was I arguing? I clamped my mouth shut, and he chuckled, making his way round to the other side of the bed. “Where is Mino?” I asked.
“Outside with Sphinx.” His voice lowered, and I spied an indentation at the edge of the bed. He was sitting very near me. I couldn’t understand why my body hadn’t cooled and settled yet. The fear coursing through me should have been enough to chase it away. But his nearness was only making things worse, proof that he was capable of enchantment.
“Stop that,” I breathed. “Whatever you’re doing.”
“I am merely sitting and speaking.”
“No.” I shook my head, a hum singing through my thighs and upward. “You’re doing something. Some sort of mysticism.”
“I am being myself. Your soul feels me, the real me, and it speaks to your body.”
I let out a dry laugh and pulled the covers higher over my breasts, which were feeling more firm and taut than normal. My whole body trembled with fear and desire.
“Trust yourself, Psyche. Trust your soul.”
My head shook back and forth. I refused to fall for this. He scooted closer, and I held my breath.
“Do you think I prefer to force you to accept my affections?”
“No,” I answered. “I’m certain you would prefer if I’d mindlessly gave myself over and had my mind wiped of my own thoughts and choices.”
“You are wrong.” Anger edged his voice. “But if this is how you insist it must be, I will keep doing what I must.”
Just as they had the other night, the covers flew off me, making me scramble and scream, but there was no escaping. Hot hands grabbed my ankles, yanking me down, and then he was on top of me, pinning my arms over my head. I thrashed and yelled, but it only helped him to nestle his strong body between my legs. When I felt an unmistakable male bulge pressed hard against the softness of my own wet, sensitive core, I sucked in a gulp of air and became as still as stone.
We both breathed heavily, his natural scent intoxicating.
“All I want is a kiss,” he said, though his body was asking for far more.
My voice shook. “I will never kiss you.” But I wanted to. Gods, how could a monster tempt me so? We were both quiet for a long, tense moment.
“Take your feet and run them along my legs.”
“What?” Was he mad? Well, yes, probably.
“You cannot touch me with your hands, but your feet are allowed.”
He was giving me the opportunity to explore him. A way around the “no touching” rule. I remained still except for the rapid rising and falling of my chest. Did I want to know how his legs felt? It was a moment of truth. Would I feel scales? I closed my eyes, terrified, but steeled myself. I had to take the opportunity.
I tentatively brought my feet inward until my toes touched the bare, heated skin of his lower legs. My breath caught. He was so warm. I ran my toes up and down what felt like a strong, human calf with normal hair. My whole foot pressed against him now, then the other, running down to ankles, long feet, and toes. He felt…nice.
“All right,” I whispered, dropping my feet back to the bed. “I am satisfied.”
“Are you, though?”
I nodded, feeling inarticulate. I couldn’t bring myself to thank him, though I felt immensely relieved. “But I don’t understand. Why did the oracle lie?”
“Lie?”
“It said you were a winged serpent.”
He chuckled, and the movement in his lower abdomen made him rub against me, causing my entire core to clench and throb. Damn him again!
“Perhaps metaphorical.”
“Well, that’s unfair,” I said. I gave my arms a gentle tug, but he pressed them down harder into the mattress over my head.
“It is time for our kiss.” I felt his words against my lips, and my body buzzed.
Terrified, I turned my head aside. “No. No kissing.”
“Very well, no kissing.” He arched his hips into mine and my head flew back.
“Gods!” I panted, fighting every urge to rub wildly against him in return. “Don’t do that!”
“What? This?” His hips circled, grinding our bodies together, the friction coiling my insides in a way I had never experienced.
“Please…please don’t.”
He sighed against my mouth. “In all of history I cannot recall a time a woman has asked not to be pleasured when her body so clearly begs otherwise. Tell me why, Psyche.”
My eyes burned with frustration. “I don’t trust you.”
“You do not have to trust me to use me.”
“It would be wrong.”
“Wrong how?”
“I c-can’t explain it.” Oh, hot Hades, the weight of him on top of me was more delicious than any nectar. My head turned back to face him, and to my absolute shock, I felt his forehead lower to mine, then the tip of his nose touched mine. Our breaths mingled, and my heart skipped at the surprising sweetness.
“You have no idea what I would give to see you take your pleasure, Psyche.”
I wrenched my head to the side, away from him, my heart pounding now. “Don’t say things like that.”
Again, he chuckled. “It is perfectly proper for a husband to tell his wife exactly how he feels and what he wants. Leodes would have spoken to you no less intimately.”
Leodes. Gods…just the thought of that man’s sexy mouth saying such words to me had me sighing and softening.
“Let it all go.” His breath was against my neck now, and his hips pressed into mine, sending stars into my sight. “Think of nothing.”
“I…” Words failed me when he moved his body in a way that made the length of him slide fully up the slant of my womanhood, igniting every unfamiliar sensation. I had never felt a man against me, even through clothing. I never imagined it would feel like this. My whole body was piqued. Could I do what he said, use him, and not let it affect my mind? What would it hurt? I wasn’t giving him anything, despite what he might think. It would be for me. I could remain strong. I could do this. Right?
Without another moment’s hesitation, I rounded my back to lift my hips tentatively. My husband hissed under his breath and said nothing, but his body took control. Whatever type of hybrid creature he was, if the expertise of his movements were any indication, he had definitely been with women. I would explore my feelings about that later. Right now, we moved together in a dazzling dance, and somehow, we both knew the choreography. I kept my head to the side with my eyes closed. My lips parted as I breathed heavily while he moved on top of me. My body squirmed and arched, my knees up, pressing and feeling his muscled thighs, his strong hips, his flat stomach, his thick manhood.
The buildup tightened in my lower abdomen, my nightgown damp between us. Every bit of my flesh was on the edge of
igniting, and then he picked up the pace, rubbing up and down, hard and fast, lighting a spark in my core that burst into flames. I shouted, my body bucking, but he stayed with me, pressing the full force of himself into my release as it came in waves. It was a whole-body experience, my skin tingling from head to toe in the most gratifying way. So, this was what all the fuss was about among chattering ladies.
His cheek was against mine as I came down from my high, my body quivering, and then his lips were hovering over my own.
“And now for that kiss,” he whispered.
I was too blissed to think straight. When his lips touched mine, painfully soft and tender and warm, I moaned. It was the cream on top of an unexpectedly rich dessert. He melted into me, and I let him. Gods help me. I let him. And his mouth was extraordinary. Full lips. A soft, velvety tongue that reached expertly into my mouth to meet my own. I had received one kiss when I was sixteen—one of Papa’s young soldiers on his way to war—but it had been rushed and overly-exploratory. How had my husband, a dark creature of Olympus, learned to kiss and move his body in a way that would please a human woman so extraordinarily?
When the kiss ended, I felt him watching me. My body was already cooling, and to feel his eyes on me made me aware of the wetness between us, my nightgown saturated where our bodies had touched, and the wanton way I’d given over to my basest instincts…with a monster.
“Fear again,” he whispered. “It was lovely not to smell it for a few moments.”
“Get off me. Please,” I begged.
He did as I asked, releasing my wrists and climbing off me with a deep sigh. I heard the whoosh of his wings opening and closing in rapid succession and felt the air move. I yanked up the covers and pulled up my knees, wrapping my arms around them. I’d just…he…oh, depths of the underworld! I’d been under a trance. It was the only way to explain it. My face heated red.
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