by Folsom, Tina
“Excuse Hermes’ bad manners for not introducing me,” he heard Zeus say, just as he turned back to him and Penny. “I’m his father, and trust me, I raised him better than that. Call me Z.” He reached for Penny’s proffered hand, but instead of shaking it, he pressed a kiss on the back of it. Without releasing it, he gave her one of his most charming smiles. “And what may I call you?”
Hermes’ blood started to boil. This was exactly how Zeus started when flirting with women. A quick introduction, a kiss on the hand, a charming smile, a touch that lasted longer than it should. If Hermes didn’t stop this right now, Zeus would snatch Penny away from right under his nose.
“Uh, I . . . ” Penny stammered, her cheeks suddenly looking heated, attesting to the fact that Zeus’s tactic was already having an effect on her.
Putting an arm around her waist, Hermes pulled her to him, then gave his father an innocent smile. “But that’s Penny, father, I told you about her the other day. I’m afraid you must have forgotten it again. I’m sorry, I should have probably written it down to help you with your failing memory. I apologize.”
Hermes could almost see the smoke coming out of Zeus’s ears when he dropped Penny’s hand and glared at him. That would teach the fucker not to make a pass at his woman.
“So nice to meet you, Z,” Penny replied hesitantly.
“Well, I’d better show Penny where the food is. Triton and Sophia have outdone themselves again with the catering. Will you excuse us, Father?”
Not waiting for a reply from Zeus, Hermes turned, indicating to Penny to do the same, and almost bumped into a guest. Or should he call her an interloper? Hera looked up at him and forced a sweet smile.
She was a tall woman, beautiful, but with an icy kind of charm, her long dark curls piled on top of her head in a sophisticated hairdo. Her figure-hugging dress accentuated her ample curves and her wasp-like waist. Mortal women would kill for a figure like hers. But to Hermes, Hera represented everything he despised: deviousness, coldness, and heartlessness.
“Hermes, my dear. Aren’t you gonna say hello to your stepmother?”
He cringed. “Hello, . . . Mom?” For Penny’s sake, he had to keep up appearances, and under no circumstances could he call her by her name. After all, it was bad enough that he’d introduced Triton and himself by their real names. Throwing out any more Greek gods’ names would surely make the Greek studies professor on his arm suspicious.
Hera raised a surprised eyebrow at his greeting, then turned her gaze to Penny, studying her. “Hello, dear.”
Penny smiled shyly. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
“Feeling better?” Hera asked, her face riddled with confusion.
Innocently, Penny continued, “Yes, your husband mentioned you had a bad cold and couldn’t—”
“Wish we could stay to chat—” Hermes interrupted her, but didn’t get far.
Hera cut him off. “Did he indeed?” She looked past them to where Zeus still stood, a thunderous look on his face. “He’s such a kidder, my husband. He loves to pull people’s legs. Don’t you, darling?”
Hermes stepped aside, pulling Penny with him, giving Hera space as she approached her husband. When she put her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss, Hermes couldn’t suppress the amusement that filled him. Zeus’s pained look was a joyful sight. Served the bugger right!
“Guilty as charged, my love.”
“Well, we’ll leave you two lovebirds then,” Hermes said, relieved that he could finally whisk Penny away.
Hera turned on her heels. “Where do you think you’re going? You haven’t introduced your date to me yet.”
Hermes forced a smile onto his lips. “This is Penny.”
“Very nice to meet you, Penny.” She offered her hand, and Penny shook it.
“Mom, you must be hungry, having come this far all by yourself. Why don’t I bring you some food?”
Before either Hera or Zeus could protest, he made his exit, Penny in tow. He knew it was only a matter of seconds before Zeus unloaded on him about the voicemail he’d left him, and he wasn’t going to stick around for that.
“Into the kitchen,” Hermes whispered to Penny and ushered her through the crowd in the dining room, which had been cleared of most of the furniture.
A few seconds later, they finally reached the relatively quiet kitchen. One of the catering staff Triton had hired for the event was busily arranging finger food on a platter.
Hermes let out a sigh of relief.
“What was all that about?” Penny asked.
He shrugged. “My stepmother and I don’t get along. I try to avoid her whenever I can. She’s a very headstrong woman.”
“She’s beautiful. And so . . . young.”
“Yep, my father robbed the cradle.”
“Your father seems very nice. But . . . ”
Instantly alert, Hermes ran his eyes over her. Had his father done anything while he had looked away for a moment? “What? What did he do?”
Penny gave him a surprised look. “Nothing. I was just saying that he looks very . . . very young, too. He must have had you when he was ten years old.”
He exhaled. “Facelift. Not just one, several. It’s total vanity on his part. But the younger his wives get, the younger he wants to look,” he lied.
“Really? I always thought you could tell when somebody had a facelift. I mean, look at Joan Rivers: her face is pulled so tight that I’m sure she would pop like a balloon if you stuck a needle into her cheek.”
Hermes laughed. “Oh, he’s older than he looks. Way older.”
“Who’re you talking about?” came a voice from the door.
Dionysus, carrying his baby son in his arms entered, Ari on his heels.
“Gee, it’s hot in there, I need some cold water,” Ari complained.
“Z. I was just telling Penny here that Z had facelifts, because he’s so vain.”
Dio tossed a quick glance to the door. “Is he here? Is that why you’re hiding in the kitchen?”
Hermes nodded.
“Well, then you’d better make sure our dear father doesn’t hear you give away all his secrets.”
“He’s your father too?” Penny asked, looking back and forth between him and Hermes.
Dio grinned and reached his hand out to her, cradling his son with the other. “I’m Dio. And the guy next to you, the one who’s devouring you with his eyes, is my half-brother.”
Hermes groaned. Leave it to Dio to make him look like a lovesick idiot! He’d planned on playing it cool, not looking like he was drooling all over her!
“So that was your mother then that I just met?” Penny continued.
“Huh?” Dio shot him an inquisitive look.
“Father’s current wife just arrived,” Hermes said cryptically, again avoiding mentioning Hera’s name.
“Oh!” Ari exclaimed from the fridge, where she poured herself a glass of cold water. “Maybe we should stay in the kitchen for a while too.” Then she smiled and walked to Penny. “Hi, I’m Ari, Dio’s wife.”
“Penny, nice to meet you, Ari.”
Ari waved to the catering staff. “Why don’t you leave that platter in here. We’ll need it if we’re holed up here for a while.”
The woman nodded and placed the platter on the kitchen island before leaving the kitchen with a jug of punch.
10
“Holed up?” Penny echoed. “What’s going on?”
Penny looked from one to the other. Everybody seemed to want to avoid Z’s wife, who, by the looks of it, wasn’t Dio’s mother either. Hermes had called her Father’s current wife. What an odd way to put it.
When Dio ignored her question by making cooing sounds at the baby, and Hermes stared at his shoes, Ari took pity on her.
“Don’t concern yourself with it. It’s just the usual family squabbles. Dio and Hermes’ stepmother can cause a lot of trouble. As can their father. And when the two show up at the same event, it gets downright explosiv
e. That’s why we generally never invite them to the same parties.”
“Well, looks like somebody screwed that up,” Dio commented with a sideways glance at Hermes.
Hermes huffed. “Wasn’t me! Triton was handling the invitations for the party.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now,” Ari said smoothly. “We have all we need in the kitchen: food, wine. Oh, Dio, how about you find us a bottle of the good stuff?”
He winked at her. “Great idea.” Then he handed the baby to her. “Here, Thoas, take care of your mother for a moment, while I’ll get us something to drink.”
“Thomas? What a cute baby.”
Ari smiled and walked closer. “His name is Thoas, actually, not Thomas.”
Penny stroked her knuckle over the baby’s cheek. “Oh, he’s so cute.”
Dio’s laugh came from the wine fridge. “You won’t say that when you have to change his diapers! The word that comes to mind then would be gross.”
Hermes burst out in laughter. “Yeah, never thought I’d see you do that, but hey, even I can be wrong occasionally.”
“Occasionally?” Dio chuckled and pulled a bottle from the wine fridge. “Gotcha!”
As he proceeded to open it, Penny looked back at Ari and pointed to the baby. “May I?”
“Oh, please! He’s getting heavier and heavier every day. And he sleeps so little. I barely have time to breathe.”
Penny lifted the tiny baby into her arms. He couldn’t be more than two or three months old. His dark eyes looked at her with interest, and his mouth widened to a toothless smile. She smiled back at him, then lifted her head and found Hermes looking at her.
He grinned. “Guys, Penny is a professor, and not even you two can afford her hourly rate for babysitting, so don’t get used to it.”
Penny’s gaze drifted to Ari, who had joined her husband and was now tasting the wine he poured. She swirled it in her glass, then looked at it, before taking a sip.
“You look like a professional, doing that,” Penny commented.
“I should hope so,” Ari replied. “I own a wine shop.”
“And Dio has a large vineyard in Napa and makes great wine himself,” Hermes added.
“Really?” Penny asked with interest. She’d always considered the notion of owning a vineyard very romantic.
Dio poured himself a glass and nodded. “In fact, we’re going there tomorrow. It’s time for the harvest, and I’m needed to oversee things.”
“How about a glass of wine, Penny?” Hermes interrupted and motioned Dio to pour one. “And for me too.”
She watched as Hermes walked to his stepbrother to retrieve the glasses, her eyes dropping to his butt, where his muscles flexed with every step. Darn, she shouldn’t be doing this, shouldn’t ogle him like that as if he were a piece of meat. Her cheeks flamed, and suddenly the heat felt stifling.
When Hermes turned around, the wine glasses in his hands, she quickly lifted her head, but his smile told her that he’d noticed what she’d been looking at. His eyes locking with hers, he handed her one glass.
“Penny, Penny,” he whispered. “What am I going to do with you?”
She swallowed to moisten her parched throat. His dark eyes sank deep into hers. His lips opened, but before he could say anything else, he sniffed.
Then he turned around. “Looks like your son needs a diaper change.”
“Oh, dear!” Ari exclaimed and rushed to them, snatching the baby from Penny’s arms, as she looked at her apologetically. “I’m so sorry to subject you to that.”
Penny smiled back, relieved that this interruption had broken the spell between her and Hermes. “That’s okay.”
“Dio, will you help me please? I think I left the diaper bag upstairs in Triton and Sophia’s apartment.”
“Of course, baby.” As he followed Ari out of the kitchen, he tossed a last look over his shoulder, mouthing ‘gross’ before he disappeared.
Penny chuckled. She liked Dio and his wife. They seemed so easygoing and relaxed. “It’s great that you get on so well with your half-brother. Many half-siblings don’t.”
When her gaze collided with Hermes’ again, it was still as heated as before. “Yes.” Then he moved closer.
Panicked, she searched for something to say. “Do you want to rejoin the party?”
“No.”
Oh, God, she couldn’t do this, couldn’t just make out with him here in the kitchen. What if somebody came in and saw them? And besides, this wasn’t the plan. She’d promised herself to keep him at arm’s length. She couldn’t allow him to turn her brain to mush and her knees to jelly.
Her eyes darted around to find an excuse or an escape route, anything to escape the heat of Hermes’ body.
“How about I show you the garden? It’s lovely out there—and quiet,” he whispered seductively, his voice a soft rumble that reverberated in her belly and made her ache for his touch.
He took her hand, and she followed him outside.
The garden was beautiful, just as he’d claimed. In the middle stood an enormous fountain, complete with a statue of a dolphin with water streaming from its snout. She walked toward it, an idea forming in her head. Maybe there was a way she could achieve her goal after all.
She took a peek at Hermes’ feet. He was wearing the same sandals again. Perhaps if she could convince him to take them off, she’d be able to get a closer look at them. For some unknown reason, she felt awkward at the thought of asking him directly about them.
Stripping off her own high heels, she climbed up on the ledge of the fountain, then dipped her toe inside. The water felt wonderfully invigorating and refreshingly cool. She stepped into the fountain, letting the water cool her down.
“This is fabulous. Join me, Hermes,” she said, flicking her fingers through the water and spraying him.
“No.” He laughed. “You look like you’re having way too much fun on your own.”
“I would have even more fun if you joined me,” she coaxed him.
But he simply shook his head, his eyes turning darker. “I can think of other fun things.”
She walked closer to him. “What kind of fun things?” she asked, tilting her head in a way she hoped was coquettish.
He grabbed her and pulled her out of the fountain and onto the ledge.
“What did you do that for? I was having fun!”
“If you slip and fall on all this marble, Triton will have my head.” He paused. “Besides—” His mouth came closer and his gaze locked with hers. “The fun things I was talking about . . . ” He let his eyes complete his sentence.
“Oh,” she said, realizing what he was planning. Her chest pressed against his, her arms clinging to his shoulders as she stood with him on the ledge.
“Let me show you what I mean,” he murmured, and stepped down onto the grass, pulling her with him. His arms drew her in tight. Then his mouth slanted over hers. A tiny moan escaped her as her lips parted.
His shoes were suddenly forgotten, and all she felt was his hard body pressed against her, his lips urging her to surrender. When his tongue slipped into her mouth, she tasted him: a mixture of wine and man. So masculine. So utterly intoxicating. A slight moan sounded in her throat as he deepened the kiss. She grasped his shoulders, seeking support as her knees weakened.
She wanted to pull away, but couldn’t. His kiss was too drugging, too demanding to resist. Her head began to spin, and her eyes had long dropped shut. Shocked, she recognized that she was rubbing herself against him, her hips gyrating to feel the ever-growing hardness in his pants press against her soft core.
When he groaned and slipped his hands to her backside to intensify her actions, she ripped her mouth from his. She had to stop this while she still could and return to her original plan.
“It’s late, I should probably get—”
Hermes’ head bobbed slowly. “Yes, it’s late. I’d better show you the rest.”
“What?” Her head was spinning. She tried to gather her
senses, which she’d lost when she’d given in to his passionate kiss.
“The rest of the house, you know.” He released her, taking her hand. “The guest rooms upstairs. Let me show you the work Sophia had to do to restore this old place.” His fingers fanned across her back, up to the nape of her neck for a slow caress as he led her through the French doors.
She let it happen, because she had no more strength to resist the erotic pull he had on her. She could only hope that she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life.
11
Hermes shut the door behind them with his foot and locked it. His lips were already on Penny’s luscious mouth, devouring her as if he were starving. Maybe he was. It sure had been too damn long since he’d kissed her out by the fountain. And all that polite chatting at the party had made him hungry. Hungry for a taste of her.
He didn’t care that the party was still in full swing downstairs. He’d put in an appearance, and that was all anybody could expect from him. Nobody would miss him.
A soft mewl from Penny made him release her lips for a brief moment. “By the gods, you’re beautiful.”
Her cheeks colored in an even deeper red. Sure, the night was humid, and her red cheeks could be caused by the hot temperature, but he rather liked to think that his kiss had done that. And the fact that she knew what would come next.
“Hermes, we shouldn’t,” she whispered even while her hands clung to his back to hold him close.
He brushed his lips over her cheek, pressing soft kisses on her skin, before nuzzling at her ear. “Baby, you want this just as much as I do. Admit it.”
He pressed his hard-on against her center, making her aware of his need. An involuntary moan and a lowering of her lids was the answer.
Encouraged, he continued. “Yes, you want to feel my cock, don’t you? You want me to take you, to ride you.”
He stroked his hand up her torso toward the swell of her breast. When he reached the underside of it, he cupped it, feeling the weight in his palm. Heat shot through him. In a few minutes, his cock would be buried deep inside her and his mouth would be licking those breasts, teasing her nipples, while she would moan underneath him, begging him to make her come.