Medusa's Desire (The Fate of Eros #1) (The Fate of Eros Series)

by E. B. Black

  Her heart clenched as Andromeda and Perseus touched noses and gazed into each other's eyes. They looked so happy as they crossed the threshold. Maybe it wasn't Andromeda ruining everything-maybe it was Medusa. He'd be so happy and in a normal relationship if it wasn't for her. A less selfish person would have run away by now.

  She dug her claws into the palm of her hand until she was bleeding. She didn't want to think about how the two of them deserved happiness and how she stood in the way of everything. She had to hurt someone, even if it was herself, to make the pain go away.

  She looked at the ground where the red liquid dripped down. Bugs and grass grew around her feet; roses, tulips, and daffodils sprung up.

  She walked as close to the couple as she dared. They crossed the threshold and pressed their lips together. Blood spurted from her and vines grew up the walls and bloomed. Everyone thought the colorful flowers were some kind of party trick. It made the whole scene glow, as if their love had the power to color the world.

  Medusa's heart felt as if it was exploding from her chest.

  Chapter 21

  That night, after the last guest left, Andromeda grasped Perseus' hand and steered him in the direction of her room. Medusa closed her eyes sadly and leaned her head back against the wall. This was it, the moment she lost Perseus completely. The servants watched, nudging one another and thrusting their hips as they joked about what would happen behind those closed doors. Medusa considered knocking several of them over the head. If there were fewer witnesses, maybe she would have.

  Perseus shoved Andromeda when they reached her bedroom door. Her arms wiggled helplessly in his direction. The laughter silenced. Perseus turned and walked towards his old bed. Stares followed him.

  Hurt passed over Andromeda's face. "Where are you going? Did I do something wrong?"

  His response was slamming the door behind him.

  Medusa had followed him. She stood next to him when he stopped moving. She didn't know what to say.

  She didn't have to speak. He reached for her, sensing where she stood and pressing his lips passionately against hers. She responded in kind, heat flooding the air between them.

  If there was ever a time for Perseus to make an excuse to leave her, it had been that moment. He was married to someone else and it was expected of him, but he had stubbornly stuck by her side.

  Perseus pulled away and stroked her shoulder. "I was thinking about you the whole day. I hated it all."

  Medusa pecked him on the lips. "If that line had come from anyone else, I wouldn't have believed it."

  He picked her up and carried her to the bed. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

  Medusa shuddered in anticipation of what they would do next.

  *** *** ***

  The following day, after Medusa was ravished by Perseus several times on the night of his and Andromeda's wedding, they awoke to Andromeda staring down at her breakfast and frowning. She brightened a bit when Perseus sat next to her. She leaned in to peck him on the lips, but he turned his head. Her lips landed on his cheek.

  She frowned. "You're my husband. It's your duty to consummate our marriage, so I can produce an heir for you."

  Perseus' face was hard. "I'm also your king and it's your duty to respect and obey my wishes."

  Andromeda burst into tears. Her sobs were so loud that they traveled down the hallway. "Am I really that repulsive to you? You can't even touch me for one night?"

  Perseus met her eyes. "Why are you ungrateful? Your reputation was ruined because of your travels with me. You would have lived on the streets, working as a prostitute or beggar without this marriage."

  Her slap across his face echoed in the room. "Money was never what mattered to me. I wouldn't have left my family if that was all I cared about. I wanted a husband, someone to love me, but you're just as cold as my parents always were." She got up and stormed out of the room.

  Medusa should have felt sorry for her, but she didn't. It was Andromeda's fault for trying to force Perseus into a relationship that he didn't want. She should have pursued other men.

  Separate bedrooms and loud arguments kept the servants gossiping for the next week. Because Medusa was invisible, she heard it all, but repeated nothing to Perseus. She didn't want him to regret choosing her.

  Eventually, the rumors reached Danae's ears. Perseus' mother grew concerned and asked to speak to him privately.

  "First of all, I want you to know that I love you no matter what," Danae said.

  His eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead. "I love you, too. What is this about?"

  "It's about your wife," Danae said. "And the fact that you refuse to have sex with her."

  Perseus rolled his eyes. "I don't love her. She'll make a great queen, but she means little more to me."

  "I've seen successful marriages based on less." Danae crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "She's a beautiful woman. Every man in Greece would be thrilled to be with her. The only conclusion I've been able to come to about why you won't touch her is that you must prefer the company of men rather than that of women."

  Perseus' mouth dropped open. "What?"

  Danae shrugged. "If this is the case, I couldn't care less about it. You're welcome to pursue who you truly desire at your own discretion, but it's your duty as king to produce an heir. Close your eyes and pretend she's a handsome man. Once it's over, you never have to sleep with her again.

  "She'll cry less if you give her a baby. All I had for a long time when I was locked in that tower was you and although my father betrayed me, one look into your wide eyes was enough to comfort me. She needs that, too."

  Perseus lowered his gaze. Medusa grabbed his hand in an attempt to comfort him, but his grip was limp.

  That night, while Perseus held Medusa, a serious look crossed his face. Her heart pounded. This wasn't going to be good.

  Perseus sighed. "I know you're going to hate me because I made a promise to you, but I think I'm going to have to sleep with Andromeda."

  Medusa jumped up. She wanted to punch him, so he would hurt the same way he was hurting her. "Why?"

  He looked at the ground and shook his head. "My mother is right. I need to produce an heir."

  Medusa almost foamed at the mouth. "Are you really expecting me to sit idly by and watch you sleep with another woman? How would you like it if I took another lover?"

  Perseus frowned. "I'd hate it, but this situation is complicated."

  Medusa wanted to shout, but knew if she got too loud, Perseus would have to explain the presence of a strange woman's voice in his room to all who overheard it. "And you'll never have to feel that pain because unlike you, I'd never cheat, no matter how dire the situation was."

  Perseus' face contorted. "Do you think I enjoy this? I hurt someone no matter what I do. I'm doing the best I can to make everyone happy."

  "Yeah, I'm sure fucking a beautiful woman is torture." She rolled her eyes.

  Perseus reached for her waist, but she avoided his grasp.

  Maybe it was time for her to reveal her big secret. She caressed her expanding belly. Gorgons had a much longer gestation period than humans did, but Perseus would find out the truth eventually. This could be the solution to all their problems.

  Medusa's back straightened. "You don't have to get an heir from Andromeda. Wouldn't it be better to have a child with me?"

  Perseus pulled away. His eyes turned cold. This wasn't the response she had hoped for.

  She rubbed her belly anxiously. The baby, sensing her feelings, kicked her hard in the ribs.

  Perseus' eyes were dead. "That would be a horrible idea."

  Medusa tried to keep the tremor out of her voice. "Why?"

  "Our children would be monsters," Perseus said. "They couldn't be kings. No one would even be able to look them directly in the face."

  Medusa hugged herself. Why was the idea of having children that resembled her so repulsive to him? "Where are all these assumptions coming from? The childre
n I had with Poseidon were beautiful. You saw them."

  "They were also a product of your human form and Poseidon. Children resemble their most powerful parent. I love my mother, but I look like Zeus more than I look like her."

  Medusa stayed silent. His strong chin certainly hadn't come from his mother.

  "Your children looked like Poseidon," Perseus continued. "He has turned into a horse and a boar on many occasions to interact with humans. Your children could do the same."

  Medusa's lips thinned. "Where are you going with this?"

  "Our children would be more Gorgon than human."

  When Medusa was honest with herself, she knew that Perseus had a point, but she didn't want to believe it. A love as pure as theirs could only produce beautiful children. It was her one chance at having a family of her own.

  She closed her eyes. The pretty children of her imagination turned the world around them into stone. They grew monstrous hands and feet and killed villages when they were just babies. Their scaly skin chapped in the sun.

  At first, she was repulsed by the idea of having children forced to carry the same burden as she was, but then her shoulders lightened at the thought of it. They sounded cute. They'd have a mother who would be able to relate to them and help them integrate with the world. She would love her children regardless of how they turned out. Too bad their father didn't feel the same.

  Perseus' voice interrupted her thoughts. "So you understand why I must sleep with Andromeda, right?"

  "No," Medusa said. "If you wanted a normal life, then you shouldn't have chosen to be with me."

  "That isn't true." Perseus' eyes sparkled with tears. "You said it yourself-we can't let the gods dictate what happens to us. We can have whatever life we want to. We just have to make a few sacrifices."

  Medusa couldn't help but wonder why Andromeda couldn't be one of those sacrifices.

  He stood.

  Medusa could no longer keep the tears out of her voice. "Are you going to her now? I thought you'd at least give me some time to get used to the idea."

  "It's better to get it over with," he said.

  Medusa knew she wasn't going to stop him. She should have left, right at that moment, but she followed him instead. She must have been a masochist, wanting to watch as her lover gave his body to another woman.

  He walked down the hallway towards her room, taking several deep breaths and mumbling a pep talk to himself. Danae saw where he was going and smiled her approval. The servants watched as well. She knew they would give a silent cheer once he entered her room. She wouldn't have been surprised if at least one of them listened at their door to make sure he finished the task.

  Andromeda lay in her bed in a see-through gown-she had expected Perseus to come in the entire time. Her eyes widened at his presence. "What are you doing here?" She hardly dared to move or breathe. She must have thought she was hallucinating.

  Perseus cleared his throat and blushed. The awkward excitement on his face twisted Medusa's intestines into a tight knot. He smiled at her.

  Andromeda leaped from her bed. Her body parts moved along with her under her loose nightgown. Medusa hoped she wouldn't start jumping up and down. "Are you here to sleep with me?"

  Perseus unfastened the knot of cloth at each of his shoulders and let his chiton fall to his waist, revealing his muscular chest. Medusa swallowed, wishing to cover Andromeda's eyes as she looked on eagerly. He nodded his head.

  Andromeda ran to him and they wrapped their arms around each other. Their mouths met and fought for control as desire increased in the room. Andromeda ripped off her clothes and rubbed her bare breasts against his chest. She wasted no time undressing the two of them. She was a very frustrated, horny wife.

  Medusa turned for a moment as they fell onto her bed. They were too beautiful; it hurt to watch. If Medusa hadn't been so jealous, she could have imagined this scene becoming a mosaic. People would decorate their floors and admire it for generations to come, but it was crushing her heart.

  Andromeda's naked body was better than Medusa remembered. Her dark skin was glowing. Her full lips were luscious. Perseus' body had never looked more like it belonged to a deity as it did next to hers. Their bodies were made for each other.

  Perseus continued to kiss Andromeda as he massaged her breasts. Medusa bit her fingernails so hard that she tore into the skin. She bled on the floor and mice sprouted from it and ran into the corners of the room.

  Andromeda reached down to stroke his erection, but as her fingertips brushed him, he went limp. She continued to rub, hoping to stimulate him as she kissed harder, but he remained the same.

  Finally, Perseus pulled away. "I can't do this."

  Hurt unlike Medusa had ever seen etched itself across Andromeda's face. She covered herself because of her sudden vulnerability. She burst into tears as Perseus pulled on his clothing and exited the room.

  Medusa and Perseus slept together on their own bed that night. Neither of them spoke as they fell asleep. Medusa reveled in her accidental victory.

  Chapter 22

  Medusa and Perseus never spoke about that night. They pretended the fight never happened. She didn't know whether Perseus realized that she had followed him and witnessed the whole thing, but she didn't dare ask him. She was hoping that if she never brought the topic up, he'd never try to sleep with another woman again.

  The way Perseus made love to her the next day, hardly leaving the room even to eat, made her think he was insecure about the fact that he hadn't been able to keep an erection with Andromeda. He wanted to prove he still had his masculinity.

  When their bodies were spent and sweaty, he held her. "We can leave this place if you want to." He kissed her on the forehead.

  Medusa pulled away and looked up at him. Was he serious? "You'd leave all this for me?"

  Perseus' arms tightened around her. "We still have a war with the gods to recruit for. We could travel to some of the larger cities, get to know the kings, and recruit some of their soldiers. People like me.

  "Besides, it would be nice to get away from this place for a little while and finally fight the people who cursed you. It's their fault that I'm not allowed to show you off like I'd like to."

  "We'll do lots of good." Medusa pecked kisses across his cheeks, nose, and lips. He tasted good.

  "I have a few things to finish up before we go and then I'm all yours."

  They grinned at each other. Medusa's hard, emotional insides melted for this man. The threat of Andromeda stealing her lover was over. She'd won.

  That night, she decided it was time. He said he wanted to see her real body before, so he could know fully who he was making love to. The thought of revealing herself from the neck down to him left her stomach twisting and her heart pounding. She wanted to feel beautiful and sometimes when he stared at her, she could pretend, but most of the time, she could feel her scales and her snakes. She was the invisible monster hiding in children's rooms, giving them nightmares. She never thought she'd let herself be that vulnerable for anyone again.

  She lifted the full-length mirror as if it were light as a feather. She placed it on the side of the bed opposite the door and positioned herself on her hands and knees in front of it. She took off her helmet, afraid she'd see the monster staring back at her, but the bright-eyed, blonde-haired Medy was there instead. She might have accidentally turned herself into stone if she hadn't been, but she noticed the human emerged more clearly in the mirror when she was feeling happy. Probably because she was less violent during those times.

  Her stomach wasn't that obvious either. It protruded a little, but Perseus probably wouldn't notice the pregnancy.

  She put her helmet back on and waited on the bed.

  Perseus smiled when he entered the room. "What are you up to?"

  She wiggled her bottom, even though he couldn't see her. "Get behind me and I'll show you." Her voice was hoarse. She knew by now that he could sense where she was.

  He got on his knees behind her
and grabbed her by the waist. She reached for the helmet, but hesitated before taking it off. If her true form flashed in the mirror at any given moment, Perseus could be turned into stone. Had the fact that she had committed murder made her reflection less stable? She realized that she felt no guilt for killing anyone; she was only afraid of being forced to face the consequences.

  She pulled the helmet off. The risk was worth it. This might be the last chance they had to be together this way. Her blue eyes relaxed when she looked in the mirror and saw her old self inside it. Her blonde hair looked like it was blowing in the wind around her head as the snakes squirmed on her scalp. She smiled, knowing that if someone looked at her directly, she'd probably looked fanged and hungry, but in the mirror, her teeth looked straight, white, and kind.

  Perseus stroked her face-his feathery caress so gentle on her skin. "It's been so long since I last saw you. I knew you were beautiful, but I forgot that you could take my breath away." He kissed gently down her neck.

  He closed his eyes as he wrapped his hand in her snakes to pull her mouth towards him. He sensed her next movements and was in no danger of becoming stone as they boldly turned to each other. Their lips met hungrily. She shivered as she realized that they were face to face for the first time and she wasn't invisible. It was almost as if she was a real human.

  Shivers ran down her body as they tasted each other–every caress of the tongue more excited than the last. They stripped off their clothes. Perseus' warm, bare skin tickled hers. She felt free in a way she had never felt before. When Andromeda and Perseus' bodies touched, there was beauty, but in the caresses of Medusa and her lover, there was power and it made both of them shudder under the strength of their lust.

  She got back on her hands and knees, her butt pointed towards Perseus. She felt as if she could conquer the world. Perseus met her gaze in the mirror and she giggled as his erection poked her from behind.

  "I want you to look down at me when we make love." Medusa parted her legs.

  Perseus' eyes closed for a moment as he pressed against her entrance. "I see you already in the mirror."