A Taste of Greek (Out of Olympus #3)

by Folsom, Tina

  “Oh, baby!” He slowed his thrusts marginally, wanting to prolong their passionate coupling, and brought his lips over hers. “My wife.” He slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her, his tongue licking over her parted lips, savoring her taste.

  She moaned underneath him, her hands suddenly leaving his backside and sliding up to his shoulders to press him closer to her, while she flicked her tongue against his. The contact sent a bolt of fire straight into his balls. He felt the approach of his orgasm, but couldn’t hold it back. Instead, he captured her mouth, kissing her as if to brand her as his, diving deep into her. His tongue mimicked the thrusts of his cock as he shot hot, fertile semen into her.

  He continued thrusting in and out of her, the added lubrication making each stroke a descent into pure silk. Then he brought his hand between their bodies and stroked his fingers over her mound, diving through the damp nest of curls. When he found her clit, her body jolted. He rubbed over it in a circular motion, and already he could feel her interior muscles spasm around his cock and the waves of her orgasm slam against him, before he collapsed over her, bracing his weight on his knees and elbows.

  “Oh, baby,” he groaned. “That was . . . ” Words failed him. His brain was the consistency of porridge, and utterly useless.

  “Wow,” she whispered breathlessly.

  He smiled at her, looking into the face of a satisfied woman. Relief filled him. “I’m glad you liked it.” He pressed a tender kiss on her lips. “I’m sorry I was so rough, but I couldn’t . . . just thinking of what we did in the sitting room made me so hard.” He sucked in a few breaths. “By the gods, Penny, you drive me insane with desire.”

  It was the truth, and that same desire now caused his cock to harden again, even though his orgasm had been a powerful one.

  “I want more,” she admitted, her gaze drifting away.

  “More?” He grinned. Who would have thought that his wife was so insatiable? “I’ll give you more. Lots more.”

  He pulled his hips back, only to drive his cock deeper into her again.

  “Oh,” she said on a moan. “You’re still hard.”

  “Yes,” he answered, nibbling on her lower lip. “And this time, I’m going to have more stamina. And I’m going to take my time to truly satisfy my wife.” He slowly moved his hips back and forth, sliding his body against hers, his chest slowly rubbing over her breasts.

  Penny’s eyelids fluttered.

  “Yes, you like it slow too, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is there anything you don’t like?”

  Her eyes flew open, pinning him. “I don’t like it when you stop.”

  “Then I won’t,” he promised, and captured her lips for a long and tender kiss. “I’ll never stop.”

  Because she was his now. His for eternity.

  34

  Zeus was enjoying a fine, crisp, white wine and some Greek olive antipasti when Hera breezed through the door. Slowly, but surely, he was getting sick of her coming and going as she pleased.

  “Zeus, darling, I’m so thrilled by the good news, but a little put out that we weren’t invited.”

  “Invited?”

  “Yes, I suppose Hermes didn’t want you there, knowing that you’re still angry with him.”

  “Angry? Why wouldn’t I be? The boy needs to grow up. I’m tired of his games.” He speared another olive and popped it into his mouth.

  “Still, I love weddings, and it isn’t every day that one of your spawn gets married, taking himself off the market to the heartbreak of nymphs everywhere.”

  Zeus almost choked, jumping up from his chair. “What?”

  “Really, Zeus? When are you going to get with it?” She snapped her fingers and an iPad appeared in her hand. She swiped her fingers over it, navigated through an app, then handed it to Zeus.

  A video played on the screen. In full-colored splendor, Hermes stood in Hades’ living room, the thief Penny next to him, while Hades officiated the wedding ceremony. Zeus blinked, but no, he wasn’t dreaming. His no-good son was getting hitched to the woman who’d stolen his sandals!

  “By the gods!” he thundered and threw the tablet across the room where it shattered against the wall. “I can’t believe he’s marrying that she-devil! That conniving bastard son of mine! He’s doing this to trick me! He knows I can’t touch her now!”

  Hera looked at him, a triumphant smile on her face. “I think she looks absolutely stunning.”

  “Who cares what she looks like? That woman has brought nothing but chaos and havoc to two worlds. If Hermes hadn’t interfered, she would be dead now, crushed under the limb of one of Sophia’s trees. Now Sophia, that woman is a sweetheart. She would never behave in such a manner.”

  “She is also your nephew’s wife! Not that you’ve ever stopped at sleeping with family before.”

  “Now, Hera, don’t get petty with me,” he said, utterly annoyed. He hated it when she started harping.

  “Who’s getting petty? At least I know you won’t try and bed this one.”

  “Bed her? I’d rather behead her. Or pin her to the nearest tree for the vultures to peck at for the next century.”

  “But you can’t.” Hera chuckled. “She’s your daughter-in-law. Family. And she’ll bear your grandchildren. She could have one growing inside her right now.”

  “Bite your tongue.”

  “My point is, my dear, you can’t touch her.”

  “You’re enjoying this too much, my pet.”

  “I guess I am,” she admitted. “One more of your philandering offspring is off the market.”

  “You really tweak my gourd,” he muttered.

  “Oh, that’s not all I tweak, my dear.”

  “Why don’t you get over here and put that sassy mouth of yours to better use than annoying me with it.”

  “And if I do, what will you do for me?” she asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.

  “Are you implying that I won’t take care of you?”

  “Never,” she said and smiled, then dropped down to her knees in front of him. As she went to work on him, settling his nerves, an idea began to grow in his mind. He pushed her back away from him and stood up.

  “Hey!” she protested, then smiled as he led her to the chaise longue.

  “I might still be able to get the wench back for her blasphemy.”

  “Are we still on that tired subject? I thought we’d moved on to more pleasurable pursuits.”

  “We have.” He pushed her down on the chaise longue, hiked her dress up over her hips and drove his cock into her.

  “Oh my, I love it when you’re angry. You’re so much harder and bigger,” she praised him, her eyelids fluttering.

  He pounded into her, his plan becoming clearer with every thrust. “I might not be able to go after Penny, but I know just how to get back at the wench.”

  “What?” Hera threw her head back, moaning, her hips bucking against him, her heels digging into his backside.

  “She has family, doesn’t she?”

  “Oh, Zeus,” she cried out on his next thrust. “You’re terrible.”

  He grinned. “Yes. I know.”

  35

  Penny wrapped herself in the robe she’d found upon waking, when she heard a door open behind her. She turned to see Hermes stepping out of the bathroom, dressed only in a towel wrapped around his lower half. Her womb instantly clenched, desire twisting her stomach into a tight knot. If only she could throw herself into his arms and confess that she loved him. But she couldn’t do that. He’d not married her for love; he’d married her to save her from Zeus’s wrath, and soon he’d cast her aside. Maybe even today.

  “Hey, baby. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  When he dropped the towel, she looked away, not wanting to be caught staring at his beautiful body, with which he’d given her so much pleasure only hours earlier.

  “You didn’t wake me. It’s time to get ready anyway, I guess.”

  “Get ready?” />
  “Yeah, to go back home, right?”

  Hermes pulled his pants up and zipped up. “You can’t go back yet. You’re not out of danger yet. If Zeus found you now, before he’s aware that we’re married, he will hurt you. I can’t risk that. We need to be certain first that Zeus is apprised of the news. I’m going to speak to him later today, but first I need to get down to the ferry.”

  “So we’ll leave tonight then?”

  He shook his head. “Once I’ve given Zeus the news about us, he’ll need a few days to calm down. In the meantime, I’m afraid you’re stuck down here with me.”

  “Oh.” She couldn’t help but notice the flutter in her stomach. There would be more nights like the previous one, more lovemaking, more time with Hermes.

  “I hope that’s okay with you,” he said softly, stepping closer as he buttoned his shirt.

  “Oh, yes, that’s fine.”

  “Besides, I promised to help Hades out with the ferry service until a more permanent solution can be found.” He looked up and smiled at her. “I’m sorry to leave you alone all day, but I promise I’ll be back tonight.”

  “You know I’m surprised you guys never built a bridge over the Styx. You wouldn’t need a ferry then.”

  Hermes gazed at her in astonishment. “A bridge. By the gods! That’s it!” He pulled her into his arms. “My wife is a genius.”

  “And you’ve certainly got plenty of laborers to put to work.”

  He grinned. “I think you just singlehandedly solved all my problems.” The gaze he raked over her made heat shoot through her core, liquidizing everything in its path. “And tonight I’ll thank you for it properly.” He tossed a meaningful look at the bed with its tangled sheets.

  Before she could reply, his mouth was on hers, searing it with a scorching kiss. A few seconds later, he was gone, leaving her with a throbbing ache between her legs that only he could soothe.

  She sighed. How would she ever live without him? With every hour she spent with him, she was getting even more addicted to him, his touch, and his lips.

  A ringing sound tore through the silence in the room, and it took her several seconds to realize it was her cell phone, and that the ringtone was her grandmother’s. She found her handbag on the dresser and pulled her phone from it.

  “Grams?”

  “Oh Penny, thank God you’re answering!”

  The panic in her grandmother’s voice made her heart stop for a moment. “What’s wrong?”

  “Your father! He’s been hurt. He’s in the hospital. I have to get to him right away. I can’t lose him, Penny. I just got him back in my life.”

  Penny’s gut clenched. “Hurt? How?”

  “He got hit by a bus. A bus!” Grams started to cry. “The hospital didn’t want to tell me much, but they said to hurry. I’m so scared, Penny. Rose is driving me to the hospital. Please, you need to come.”

  “Which hospital?”

  “Memorial.”

  “I’ll meet you there!”

  “Hurry, Penny, hurry.” Then the line went dead.

  In a daze, she dressed and rushed to the door. She had to get back to the mortal world no matter what. Hermes had to bring her back to Charleston.

  In the hallway, she froze. Hermes’ warning rang in her ears: Zeus will hurt you.

  Her mouth opened for a silent cry of desperation. Hermes would never allow her to go to the mortal world, knowing that Zeus could still harm her if he didn’t know yet they were married. And even then, Hermes had claimed his father would need a few more days to calm down. No, Hermes wouldn’t allow her to rush to her father’s sickbed. She had to get out some other way.

  As she ran along the dark corridor, she knew there was only one person who could help her now. She found Hades in the dining room, sitting at the long dining table, which was laden with delicacies from around the world. He looked up when she entered.

  “Ah, Penny, I didn’t expect you to rise so early. Judging by the grin on my nephew’s face when he left a few minutes ago, he must have exhausted you last night.”

  Penny felt heat rise into her cheeks, but didn’t let this distract her from her purpose. “I need to leave. Now. I need to get back to Charleston.”

  Hades raised an eyebrow, setting his fork aside. “I had no idea that Hermes was so hapless in bed that you want to leave the minute he’s turned his back.”

  “He’s not hapless in bed!” Penny protested before she could make her mouth stop.

  The god of the underworld grinned. “Ah! Well, didn’t think so. Then please do explain why you’re wanting to leave when we’ve got no word from Zeus yet that he’s gotten the message.”

  “Well, then call him. Doesn’t he have a cell phone?”

  Hades rose. “But that would defeat the purpose. It’s going to be much more fun if he stumbles over the truth by himself. No need for me to rub it in. Don’t worry, he’ll find out soon enough. He monitors everything that’s going on.”

  “I can’t wait that long! I have to get back now. Please!” Penny shot him a pleading look and wrung her hands. “Please, you’re the only one who can help me. Hermes wouldn’t let me go. Not now. Not while Zeus is still angry. But my father. I have to leave.”

  “What about your father?”

  “He’s hurt. I have to get to him.”

  “Isn’t that the same father who stole the sandal from you, the same who made your entire life a misery?” Hades came closer, clearly intrigued.

  Penny cast her eyes to the floor. “Yes. But he’s still my father. I can’t just abandon him. And my grandmother is counting on me. She needs me more than ever now.”

  Hades’ hand on her chin made her look up at him. “Then why not tell Hermes and ask him to take you back?”

  She shook her head. “He wouldn’t want to risk my safety, not for my father’s sake anyway.” She could imagine how he would react if she asked him. He would be furious about her wanting to risk her life for the very man who’d destroyed her family, who was the reason why her mother had left. He would refuse to lift a finger for her father.

  “Well, well. I assume this means you won’t want Hermes to know why you left,” Hades probed.

  She looked into his eyes, trying to hold back the tears. “Please help me.”

  “We won’t be able to take the ferry across Styx, since Hermes would see us. But there’s a tunnel I use—one that, unfortunately, my dear Persephone has discovered, which is the very reason she can sneak in here unannounced whenever she pleases. But, well, that’s another matter.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  He looked her up and down. “Well, now that you mention it. There is one thing you could do for me.”

  Penny’s breath hitched.

  36

  Penny charged through the double doors of the hospital’s main entrance and headed right for the information desk. “I’m looking for my father, Bart Galloway, he’s a patient.”

  The woman typed something on her keyboard, then stared at the monitor. “Ah, here. He’s in the ICU, ma’am. Third floor.”

  Without another word, she hurried to the elevators and impatiently waited until one arrived to take her to the third floor. She hoped she wasn’t too late. The walk through the tunnel had taken a good twenty minutes, and after they had emerged on the other side of Styx, Hades had teleported her to the parking lot of the hospital before giving her his cell phone number and leaving again. He’d urged her to call him as soon as she was ready to come back.

  Penny exited the elevator and followed the signs toward the ICU. As she turned toward the nurses’ station outside the alarmed doors of the Intensive Care Unit, she was surprised to see her boss Michelle standing there.

  “Michelle?”

  “Oh, Penny! You’re here. It’s so awful.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “The same thing you are. Waiting to hear news about Kenton.”

  “Kenton? What happened to Kenton?”

  “What
do you mean, what happened? He was in a terrible accident on the way to work this morning. Isn’t that why you’re here?”

  “No. I’m here for my father. He was hit by a bus this morning.”

  “So was Kenton! What are the odds of that?”

  At her words, Penny felt a chill seep through her bones.

  “I’m sorry to hear about your dad.”

  “Thank you, Michelle. I need to go check on him.”

  Penny turned and identified herself to the nurse, trying to process what she’d just heard. Her father and Kenton both hit by a bus? There was no way this was a coincidence.

  “Who are you here to see?”

  “Bart Galloway.”

  “Go right in, third bed,” the nurse instructed, and pointed to the double doors. A buzzer sounded and the doors opened.

  Penny found her grandmother sitting by her son’s bedside, Rose standing behind her wheelchair, having rolled her as close as possible.

  “Grams!”

  Her grandmother whirled her head to her, tears shining in her eyes. With two steps, Penny was by her side, hugging her close.

  “How is he?” Penny asked.

  “Oh Penny!” her grandmother wailed.

  Penny stroked over her grandmother’s hair, then looked up at Rose.

  “He’s in critical condition,” Rose said, her eyes confirmation of just how bad she thought it was. “They had to put him in a coma. There’s no telling yet what will happen.”

  Shell-shocked, Penny nodded. A coma—she knew that doctors did this only in extreme cases to help stabilize the patient, particularly when there was injury to the brain. “We’ll wait.” She grasped her grandmother’s hand and squeezed it. “He’ll pull through.” But she knew her words were a lie. She knew that this was all her doing. Her fault. Her father was paying for her sins.

  Penny pulled a chair closer and joined her grandmother by her father’s bedside, watching him breathe through a tube, half his head covered in a bandage. He looked so small. So vulnerable. Tears filled her eyes.

  “He will be okay, Penny,” her grandmother said. “He has to be.”