by Tina Folsom
Chapter Seventeen
Sophia leaned back. She needed to learn to relax. The confrontation with Charlie had gotten her dander up, and had Triton not interfered and sorted it out for her, she would have probably blown up. And the reason wasn’t that she was upset at having been slipped the wrong tiles, but rather that she’d started doubting her own sanity.
She remembered clearly what the tiles had felt like when she’d selected them in the store. Their very smoothness had been the reason she’d liked them in the first place. When first Charlie and then Triton had doubted her recollection, she’d started to panic. What if it was just another sign of what she had tried so hard to push away, mental illness? After Michael’s visit she hadn’t been able to get the thought out of her mind.
Sophia pushed the ugly memory away. No, she wasn’t crazy. And Triton had proven it in the end. Sensing she wasn’t alone anymore, she looked up. At the door, she could make out Triton. His tall frame and his blonde hair made him stand out, and there was something about his scent that made her recognize him instantly without seeing his face.
When he came closer and placed a tray on the coffee table, she smiled at him. “Thank you. I’m going to be totally spoiled once I can see again. I’m not used to anybody serving me.”
He chuckled. “I guess we all sometimes do things we’re not used to. And it turns out they aren’t always as bad as we imagine them to be. Some surprises can be good.”
Triton was right as it turned out. Sophia liked being pampered.
“Okay, now we’re going to figure out what you really like,” Triton announced. “It’s a little game I used to play as a kid.”
Sophia’s breath hitched. What she liked? What did he have in mind? There were a lot of things she liked, but they were either fattening, to be performed naked, or both. She had to shut her mind off from inappropriate thoughts like these, otherwise she’d break out in a hot flush.
When Triton sat down next to her and accidentally brushed her thigh with his, her previous thought went right out the window. In exchange, more inappropriate thoughts—all involving various states of nakedness—invaded her mind.
She had to say something before the silence became uncomfortable. “What game?”
“It’s a food game. It’s normally done blindfolded, but …” He paused. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“No, that’s—” She reached for his arm, but realized instantly that she touched his thigh instead. Before she could pull her hand away, he covered it with his. “—okay.” His muscles bunched under her touch.
“This is how it works,” he explained and released her hand. She instantly pulled it off his thigh, hoping he didn’t look at her and realize how embarrassed she was. How could she have just touched him like that?
“I’ll give you a piece of food and you’ll tell me what it is.”
“That’s easy.” She laughed.
“Not as easy as you think. We rely way too much on our sight to tell us what we’re eating and forget to let our taste buds speak for themselves.”
Sophia knew her food. This wouldn’t be any challenge at all, even though she figured it would be fun to play anyway. “Okay, I’m ready.” For an instant she wondered whether this was some game nurses played to teach their patients that being blind wasn’t all bad, and that a blind person could learn to sharpen her other senses to compensate.
“Open your mouth,” Triton instructed a few seconds later.
Sophia felt his fingers lead a morsel of food to her lips. She pulled the round object into her mouth and chewed on it. A hint of nutty flavor spread in her mouth as she crushed the juicy item between her teeth. “Olive.”
“Good. But is it green or black?”
Sophia decided to cheat. She knew Francesca had bought a few necessities for her, and since her friend knew that she preferred black to green olives, she took an educated guess. “Black.”
“That’s pretty good,” he praised. “Now let’s see whether you can guess this.”
A small cube of food nudged at her lips. She opened and drew the item into her mouth, unintentionally grazing his finger with her teeth. She felt him suck in his breath.
“Sorry.” Sophia cringed.
“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
The item in her mouth crumbled into small pieces and spread its flavors: pungent, yet creamy. “Cheese.”
“What kind of cheese?” he asked, and she could hear the smile in his voice.
She shook her head. “Some sort of soft cheese. Not sure.”
“Good Greek feta cheese,” Triton announced.
“I should have guessed.”
He laughed. “Guessing is allowed, but I’m not going to make it too easy from now on.”
“Do you do this with all your patients?”
“Do what?” Triton asked.
“Play games.”
“Only when I know they’re up for playing.”
Oh, she was game. Whatever he wanted to play with her, she’d be playing along. “Do you know a lot of games like this?”
She felt a shadow cross her face and knew he’d pulled his head closer to hers.
“You have no idea.” Triton’s ocean scent engulfed her as his breath ghosted over her face.
If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he was flirting with her. Ridiculous. Why would he flirt with her? She was just one of his patients. Sophia shifted nervously, and a moment later he pulled his face away again. But his thigh kept on rubbing against her every time he leaned forward to pick up another piece of food, and then back again when he put it into her mouth. It was driving her crazy. Her skin sizzled with every move he made, and she desperately needed something to cool her down.
“Here, something to drink.” Triton held a glass to her lips while his other hand held her jaw still. She opened her lips and sipped. Red wine—she recognized it immediately. Even after he removed the glass from her lips, his hand was still on her jaw. Then his thumb swept over her bottom lip. Sophia felt a bolt of heat shoot through her and jerked involuntarily.
“Sorry, drop of wine. I didn’t want you to stain your t-shirt,” he explained.
It was very considerate of him. And perfectly professional. Definitely part of his job description, right? There was no reason why she should feel this aroused by a simple touch like that.
“Oh, thanks,” she stammered.
And then Triton continued torturing her by feeding her, morsel-by-morsel. Every so often, his fingers grazed her lips when she took the food from him. After trying cherry tomatoes, more olives, crackers with pate, other cheeses, and more wine, Sophia was in a state close to combustion.
“I think I’m pretty full,” she finally said, unable to take any more of his sensual torture. If he went on, she would most likely jump his bones and maul him before he even knew what was happening to him. And then where would she be? He’d resign, and if he reported this to the agency, they would probably never send her anybody else. No, she had to restrain her inappropriate thoughts.
“Okay, a little dessert before we finish here,” Triton suggested.
“But just a bite or two. I can’t have too many sweets, otherwise …” Sophia put her hand on her stomach, indicating that she was in no need to gain any more weight.
“I doubt that a few more pounds on your lovely body would make you any less attractive.”
Sophia almost choked. Now he was definitely flirting with her. She felt heat rise into her cheeks.
“Here, watch out, it’s on a spoon, so don’t bite down too hard.”
She took the spoon which was loaded with a creamy substance, and was about to close her mouth when a loud bang from above made her jerk. Triton must have gotten jolted too, because the spoon moved and part of the creamy food dropped along her chin.
“What was that?” she asked.
“No idea.”
Sophia wanted to jump up to investigate, but he held her back. “Wait, you have yogurt all over your chin.”<
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Before she could use her own fingers to wipe it off, she felt his finger swipe over it and wipe it clean. “Open,” he ordered as he nudged his yogurt-covered finger at her lips. She automatically complied and drew his finger into her mouth, licking it clean, before she realized what she was doing.
Triton did nothing to stop her, instead he swirled his finger in her mouth playing with her tongue. His head came closer, and she released his finger. His hands went to her shoulders, and in that moment she knew he would kiss her.
Sophia’s heart rate raced like that of a sprinter, and her hands trembled from anticipation. With her next breath, she sucked in his scent and closed her eyes. His scent, and the way those hands felt on her body, reminded her of something. Her mind conjured up images of music, dancing, a hard body pressed against hers. So familiar, yet so exciting.
His lips hovered over hers, his breath mingling with hers.
“Miss Baker! Miss Baker!”
The rude interruption came from Greg, one of the workers. Triton pulled back and released her instantly.
“We have a problem upstairs,” Greg insisted.
Triton shifted next to her and got up. “What’s wrong? What was that noise?”
“We had a bit of a collapse. The flue of the fireplace was unstable. You’d better have a look. I mean … come upstairs.”
“Is anybody hurt?” she asked.
“No, no. Everybody’s fine. It’s just a real mess.”
Sophia breathed a sigh of relief. At least nobody was injured. Not that she was in any mood to deal with a collapsed fireplace right now. She was reluctant to get up, but she had responsibilities. She shouldn’t be sitting around allowing herself to be romanced by Triton when she knew nothing would come of it, and work was piling up.
“We’ll be up there in a minute,” Triton told the worker.
She heard Greg stomp back up the stairs.
“About what happened—”
Sophia interrupted him. “I’m sorry. We got carried away. It won’t happen again.” She couldn’t allow it. She relied on him, and losing his help now would make things even worse.
Chapter Eighteen
Triton stepped into the shower and let out a frustrated sigh. He let the warm water spray over his skin and reached for the soap. The entire day, Sophia had given him the cold shoulder. If they hadn’t gotten interrupted by that damn fireplace fiasco, she would have been panting in his arms tonight. But no, the interruption had killed her mood and obviously changed her mind. And he’d been so close.
Of course he’d played the perfect gentleman, pretending nothing had happened, and that it didn’t bother him in the slightest that she was evading his touch, when in reality he wanted to press her against the nearest flat surface and fuck the living daylights out of her.
Ah, shit! He looked down at himself. His hard-on had grown to the size of a club, hard and thick enough to knock out a charging bull. And it wouldn’t go down, not if he didn’t stop thinking of Sophia. Sophia, who was sleeping in the room next to his, mere steps away.
He would have to take care of this himself, otherwise, who knew what would come over him in the middle of the night. He felt like a loaded gun, liable to go off at the slightest provocation.
With his soapy hands, Triton gripped his erection and his balls and pumped his hips. Helped by the lubrication, his shaft glided smoothly in his palm, which he kept tightly clamped around it, mimicking the sensation Sophia’s tight pussy would give him.
He closed his eyes, and in a steady rhythm he thrust back and forth, fondling his balls the way he wanted her to do it. He squeezed tighter, imagining her wet sheath clenching around him as she came. And he kept going, through her orgasm, through the juices she released, until she would be ready again, until he’d bring her to another shattering release before he allowed himself to—
“By the gods, Triton, has it come to that?”
Triton spun around and immediately snatched up the towel, which hung over the glass enclosure of the shower. While he swiftly wrapped it around his waist to hide his still rock hard shaft, he glared at Hermes.
“Your timing sucks.”
Hermes grinned. “I can see that.”
Triton ignored his friend’s comment. “And besides, I don’t recall calling for you.”
Hermes leaned nonchalantly against the door frame as Triton stepped out of the shower, water dripping onto the tile floor.
“Can’t a friend just drop by to say hello?”
“Something tells me you’re not here to chat.”
“If you don’t want to hear what I’ve got to say, then maybe I should leave.” Hermes made a half-hearted attempt at turning to leave.
“Let me get dressed. Wait for me in the bedroom.”
Hermes turned.
“And close the bathroom door,” Triton ordered.
The moment the door shut, Triton exhaled. It was bad enough to get caught masturbating like a loser, who couldn’t get a woman, it was worse to be interrupted just seconds before climaxing. He pressed his hand onto the bulge under the towel to will his hard-on to go down, but the damn thing ached for release. There was nothing worse than a cock ready to explode and no time to ignite the explosives.
He promised himself to get back to the matter after Hermes was gone, and got dressed in a hurry. The faster he got rid of his friend, the faster he could get back to slaking his unquenchable lust. Because that was all it was. This feeling inside him that told him that he actually liked Sophia, it had to be a side effect of his desire for her. And once he’d taken care of satisfying that particular need, he would feel all right again. No doubt. He was certain of it.
When Triton entered his bedroom, he found Hermes stretched out on the bed, hands crossed behind his head and staring at the ceiling. He didn’t make any attempt at leaving his comfortable position even as Triton cleared his throat.
“You came here to talk, so talk,” Triton said.
“I take it things with her—” Hermes tilted his head toward the wall on the other side of which Sophia’s bedroom was located. “—aren’t moving along as swiftly as desired?”
“Excuse me, but I only hooked up with her this morning.” Sarcasm dripped off Triton in spades. “And no thanks to you.”
“You know as well as I do that I’m not allowed to help you.”
“It hasn’t stopped my other friends from—”
Hermes interrupted, “Other friends? Since Eros is working against you, I assume Dionysus has—”
“What?”
Hermes smirked and sat up. “Figured that would get your attention.”
“What in Hades is Eros doing?” Triton felt fury rage in him.
“I saw him with Orion today.”
“He was with my brother?”
Hermes nodded. “Standing on a cloud chatting.”
“What did they say?” Triton would wring the love god’s neck if he was sabotaging his mission.
“They were talking about you, but I couldn’t hear all of it. I had to stay back and make sure they didn’t see me.”
Triton ran his hand through his wet hair. “Why would Eros talk to Orion? They can’t stand each other.”
Hermes shrugged. “Maybe they have a common goal.”
“Like what?”
“Like screwing you over. We know that’s what Orion wants and—”
“But not Eros. He’s my friend, or at least he was.” Triton didn’t want to believe it, even though Eros’ advice had landed him here in Charleston. “He must have a reason—”
“You mean the same way he must have had a reason to advise you to take option one instead of two?” Hermes’s snide remark cut right through to Triton’s gut. Betrayal always hurt, especially when it came from a friend. Betrayal by a family member was expected on Olympus—but by a friend?
“I haven’t done anything to him that would warrant such a turnabout by him,” Triton mused.
“Not lately maybe,” Hermes agreed. “Who knows, he mig
ht be harboring some old grudge.”
Triton shook his head. “I can’t think of anything that would piss him off so much that he’d team up with Orion to get back at me. And besides, why would Orion even talk to him? He knows how close we are. He would only be suspecting that Eros was trying to trick him instead.”
“You mean like a double-cross?”
“Exactly.”
“But to do what?” Hermes asked.
Triton paced the full width of the bedroom. His mind was working overtime. Eros had no reason to be angry with him, so why would he turn against Triton? What was his motivation?
“Have you seen any changes in Eros lately?” Triton asked.
“Other than the fact that he’s been hopping from one bed to the next as if Hades were chasing him?”
Triton grinned at the image. “Can’t blame the fellow. After his last disastrous relationship he has to reintroduce himself into bachelorhood.”
Hermes suddenly jumped up from the bed. “That’s it! He’s soured on love, and now he wants nobody else to be in love either.”
Triton turned to his friend, thought about it for a moment, then dismissed the notion. “Eros giving up on love? That’ll happen right after Hades freezes over.”
“Hmm,” Hermes grumbled in agreement.
“Also, if that’s the case, he wouldn’t have had to do anything where it concerns me, since I’m the least likely guy of the four of us to fall in love.”
Triton’s mind instantly wandered to Sophia. Was she already asleep? Did she wear anything in bed, or was she naked? Was she thinking of him the way he’d been thinking of her in the shower? Or maybe she was dreaming of him, of being in his arms, of being made love to.
Damn, that woman got him hot.
“Don’t worry, it’ll broadside you one day, and you won’t even know what hit you,” Hermes prophesized.
Triton waved him off, uncomfortable with the fact that whenever the word love entered the conversation, a picture of Sophia appeared in his mind. It was stupid. All he wanted was to fuck her and make her fall in love with him, not the other way around.