“This isn’t what you want.” She’d give him just one chance to take it back.
“Oh, yes it is.” He looked up, and the intensity in his eyes was brighter than the armor. It seared her to the very marrow of her bones. “Remember when I asked you to use me, Morgan? Use me until we’d left nothing undone? There’s still much yet for us to explore.”
“I don’t understand.” But her mouth had gone dry at the mention of everything they’d left unexplored, undone. She was reminded of heat, the way his flesh burned into hers and the way his every touch ignited something dangerous inside of her.
“I didn’t understand at first either. You’re so strong, Morgan. You don’t need anyone. I wasn’t man enough to accept your strength, to not be needed.”
The numbness fled and Morgan melted. “Oh, Lance. I need you. How could you ever think I didn’t?”
“Vivienne said you don’t.” He paused. “But she said you wanted me and that was so much better.”
“And is it better?” She bit her lip. “Because once I accept your service, Lance, I will never release you. So you better be sure. I’m not like Gwen. She just wants you to be happy and I just want you to be mine.”
“Still wicked witching?” The corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk. “I already agreed to that kind of magick. How many ways do I have to say it? I love you, Morgan.”
Another punch in the face, but in a good way. “I love you, too.” She held her breath for just a second to keep that moment in time from moving forward. She wanted to savor it for as long as she could. “This is your last chance to change your mind.” She closed her eyes because she didn’t want to see any doubt cross his face.
Instead, his lips crashed into hers, hot and demanding. In this case, Morgan Le Fey had no problem with surrender.
29
APHRODITE
“I want to go home,” Artemis said in a rush when she bolted through the door of Aphrodite’s room.
Aphrodite was glad to hear it. “I’m ready to go too. This vacation wasn’t anything like what I’d expected or hoped for.”
“Me either.”
“I’m sorry, I feel like it’s my fault.” Aphrodite pulled Artemis in for a hug.
Only, when she hugged her, Aphrodite sensed the blooming of new love.
And she knew that they couldn’t leave. Not yet.
She owed it to Artemis to let her—make her—realize that the bad boy would make a good ma
n. Aphrodite could feel it in the air.
A sort of electric buzz vibrated around them and Aphrodite sighed. “I think we’re going to have wait a few minutes.”
“Why? Let’s go now. Right now.”
“Your dark horse is coming. And you need to listen to what he has to say.”
“I—” Artemis looked like a centaur caught in a pair of bright headlights. “No.”
“Yes,” Aphrodite said gently. “For me.”
“For you, or for Love?”
“Same thing.”
Artemis huffed. “Fine.” She flopped on the bed. “But I don’t know what else there is to say.”
“Less talking, Artemis, and more listening. Really listen to him. Not only his words, but what’s beneath them.” When it came to matters of the heart, Aphrodite felt like all of the people of the world were her children and she was the wise mama. Which meant it was probably pretty pathetic that she couldn’t handle her own business.
Or maybe she had after all. This thing with Aeron was lust, not love. He was the one who was in danger of falling. Not her. And while she could tweak lust, it was love that was really her realm. So, she actually had nothing to be embarrassed about.
She’d even broken it off with Ares and meant it, so maybe things weren’t so bleak after all.
“Are we there yet?” Artemis huffed.
“Do you see tall, pale and broody anywhere? No? Then obviously we’re not there yet.”
“I don’t know why I let you talk me into this.” Artemis started pacing. “This was all such a bad idea. All I wanted to do was have someone completely unsuitable relieve me of the V-Card. I didn’t want to fall in love.”
“Okay, let’s think about this for a minute. Did you really think, no really, that you could come to a beach resort with the Goddess of Love and not have some mad, passionate affair?” Aphrodite eyed her as if she were dumber than a goat.
“I should have known when you took me out for pizza and baked a cake. I should have known.” Artemis crossed her arms over her chest.
“I just want you to be happy, Artie.”
Artemis rewarded her with a tiny smile. “Mordred said that Artie is a fat garbage man from Omaha, not the Goddess of the Hunt.”
“I don’t care what he’s sticking where, I’ll call you whatever I like. You were my friend before you were his girl.”
Artemis laughed. “You’re assuming quite a bit.”
“Yeah, after millennia, you should know Love is like that.”
“Can’t you go pester Demeter?”
“She and Eros are still on vacation. And you know, he’s never taken one. Ever. So I’m not going to disturb them.”
“Confess. Once you found out he loved her, did you work your gris-gris on her?”
“Of course not. It happened all on its own.”
“If it hadn’t, would you have?”
Aphrodite flashed a sly smile. “He’s my son. I’d do anything to make him happy. But I’ll tell you a secret. I knew when Hades begged me to pull his heart out of his chest that it would weave a new tapestry, one where everyone, including Hades got their happily ever after. I had a little help from Fate, but I did actually know what I was doing.”
Artemis exhaled heavily and started drumming her fingers on the table. “If he’s not here in five minutes, I’m leaving. The prey doesn’t wait for the predator. That’s just stupid.”
“So that means you’d rather scurry back to Olympus like a scared rabbit? That’s not like you, Artie.”
“Artie is a fat garbage man in Omaha, I already told you.” Mordred stood in the door, carrying a small cage that had been packed full of what looked like a baby dragon. “Sorry it took me a minute. I had to stop and pick this up for you, Aphrodite.”
“I don’t understand.” Aphrodite accepted the cage.
“I’m not without my talents.” Mordred winked at her and led Artemis outside.
Aphrodite set the cage up on the table and eyed the creature. “Aren’t you just adorable?”
“No, I’m not adorable. I’m trapped. And I’m going to smite the shit out of Mordred when I get out of here,” Aeron’s voice echoed from the cage.
Aphrodite couldn’t fight the smirk on her face. She kind of didn’t want to. “How did he get you in there?”
“Magick, obviously.” Her snorted again. “A little help, here?”
“Only if you promise to wait to smite Mordred until after he’s had his say with Artemis.”
“Not a chance.”
“I guess that’s my answer too.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“As the Kraken.” No way was she letting handsome here ruin Artemis’s moment.
“Damn it. Fine.”
“Fine, what? I need to hear it. Specifics.” She knew better than to leave any ambiguities when dealing with gods.
“I will wait to smite Mordred until he’s had his say with Artemis.” He huffed and snorted, little puffs of smoke still billowing out of his snout. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
“It’s just, you’re so cute.”
“I didn’t do this to you when you were pink and face down in the sand.”
“No, but maybe you’re nicer than I am?” Aphrodite grinned, but she reached out and opened the cage. When she did, Aeron took his humanoid shape.
And he was naked.
“You need to put a leash on that thing.”
“You said you wanted the dragon. Here he is.”
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “Do you
know how many times I’ve heard something similar from Ares? Do you guys get together and write down stuff like this to whip it out later, because if so, you should scrap everything and start over with new material.”
“That’s not what you were saying earlier.”
She rolled her eyes again. “Earlier you hadn’t accused me of trying to take over your island for my own nefarious ends.”
Aeron manifested his yummy gladiator costume and Aphrodite tried really hard not to look, but really, one could only expect so much from a girl. Even a goddess.
“I’ll admit, I may owe you an apology. Speaking strategically—”
Aphrodite make mock-talking motions with her hands. “I’ll tell you what you can do with your strategically.”
“If it involves any orifices, I think you can keep it to yourself.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I don’t want to hear your excuses.”
“Oh. I see what you did there.”
“Good. Because if it was lost on you, you’d be slower than a box of turtles.”
“Are you still pissed I wouldn’t sleep with you?”
“No, and I was never pissed. Just thwarted. Surprised.” She shrugged. “Definitely surprised, but I saw where you were coming from. It’s not a big deal. You were right.” She turned away from him and fiddled with her suitcase.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yeah. Vacation didn’t turn out to be very relaxing for either one of us, so we’re going home.”
“It would be a shame that you came all this way and didn’t have a good time.”
“All this way? We travel at the speed of thought.”
“Yes, but we have an image to maintain. Is there anything I can do to change your mind about leaving?” His expression was earnest.
“No. Not so much. But I won’t tell anyone I had a horrible time. It wasn’t Avalon’s fault. It was my own.”
“Do you think they’re done yet?” His nodded toward the door.
“No. Most assuredly not. Maybe you could just go on and do whatever it is you do and leave them alone. You can smite Mordred tomorrow. It’s not like he’s going anywhere.”
Aeron smiled at her. “I really do like you, Aphrodite.”
“I liked you more than I should.”
“Liked? As in, past tense?” He arched a brow.
“Well, you know. It’d never work out, anyway.”
“You don’t have to throw the battle ax out with the warlord. I’d hoped we could just slow down and start with dinner.”
“I don’t know. You might get all tactical on me and then where would we be?” she teased.
“You’re right.” He shrugged. “But it could be fun.”
“So, let me get this straight. Are we friendzoning or is this a date?”
“Can we figure that out later?” He shrugged.
“I think we need to make another deal.” He was so mellow and laid back, she almost didn’t know what to do with herself.
“You’re as bad as I am with the treaties and tactics. Don’t even act like you’re not.”
“No, I wouldn’t lie.” It was Aphrodite’s turn to smirk. “I think you should promise me that you’re never going to smite Mordred for today. Without him, we wouldn’t have spoken again.”
“I’m sure in all of eternity we might have run into each other.”
“I don’t think so. It took this long for a first sighting.”
“I’m only agreeing because you agreed to dinner.”
She technically hadn’t, but that was okay. Aphrodite could give him this one. “I’ll probably need a date for the wedding.”
“Who’s getting married?”
“It’ll probably be more like a handfasting. Morgan and Lance, Gwen and Arthur, Vivienne and Hector, it’ll be a free for all. A job well done, I say.”
“Are we still negotiating? Because I’m not wearing a suit.”
“No one asked you to. In fact, that little number you have on right now will be fine.” Her gaze traveled down his body and back up again.
“I think that’s my line.”
“Toh-may-to, toh-mah-to.” She grinned.
Things really had turned out for the best. If she’d shagged Aeron, it would’ve been fun for all of—she eyed him again—however long he could keep up with her, but it wouldn’t have fixed her heart. She was still healing from Ares and she didn’t know how long that was going to take.
But she had eternity and Aeron was willing to take it slow. She liked that about him. Well, not initially, she’d never had a man say no before, but after she’d thought about it, she liked that there were things more important to him than poon and war hammers.
This wasn’t how she expected her vacation to end, but it might’ve been the best one yet.
30
ARTEMIS
She didn’t want to look at him.
Mordred being there, it was everything she wanted and everything she feared. She should’ve known Aphrodite would do her damnest to make sure Artemis got True Love, with the capital letters, for her birthday rather than just a shag.
With Mordred Le Fey, no less.
Of course, he couldn’t be gallant and let her get away with it.
“You won’t even look at me?” he said.
“It hurts to look at you. No man should be as beautiful as you are.”
“Thank you.” She could hear the smirk in his voice. “You can tell me that whenever you like.”
“I’m sure you’ve had plenty of women tell you that.”
“I have,” he agreed easily. “But they weren’t you.”
“What are you doing?” Artemis cried.
“Trying to get you to at least look at me when I make my grand confession. It’s rather insulting that you won’t.”
“That’s not—you know what I mean. Didn’t we beat this to death already?”
“Not quite.”
“Fine. We’ll do this like a Band-Aid. Just rip it off so it can start healing.” She looked up at him and she was struck again by the sheer beauty of him.
Which made it worse. Artemis had seen all of the wrong done by beautiful men. It was rare that they gave anyone a Happily Ever After but themselves. Women like her ended up alone and brokenhearted after falling for their stupid lines. Artemis knew she was just a conquest. How could she not be? It was because she’d said no, which presented a challenge. He’d tire of her all too quickly after the curse was broken.
She loved the chase more than anyone, after all. Artemis knew its allure.
“Artemis, don’t you know your own appeal?”
She shrugged. “I’ve been told I’m beautiful. But it’s not about what I look like. Or even what you look like.” Even though it kind of was, but she wasn’t going to say that. The curse part was still the biggest problem. “It’s about what I know you don’t really feel.”
“Are you me? Have you walked in my skin? Have you had my heart in your chest that you know what it feels and what it doesn’t?”
“We both know you’re cursed. Let it go, Mordred. This hurts.”
“Artemis,” he whispered, dipping his head close to her lips. “What hurts is the thought of you leaving. Of never holding you in my arms again, never hearing your laugh. I love you. And not because of some stupid curse. Morgan became Lady of Lake after the first day. The curse was broken then. This is me.”
Artemis was almost afraid to believe it. “What about what you said about pain?”
“Apparently, that’s just how love feels. It’s a strange kind of ache that burns and yearns. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. And I still don’t want it to stop.” He suddenly released her.
She felt the loss of his arms, his heat and his strength acutely. Artemis didn’t like it.
“But because it’s real, part of me wants to remind you of all the reasons you don’t or shouldn’t want me. Because I know I’m not good enough for you. I know my own failings and I am bad. I destroy, I corrupt.”
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Artemis’s fingers and toes tingled as the bloom inside of her chest spread through her whole body. The curse had been broken and he still loved her.
Aphrodite wouldn’t have made her wait if this wasn’t real.
And really, it came down to trusting him. Not what Aphrodite said, not the curse, not anything but what was between the two of them.
Artemis didn’t know if he was going to hurt her or if she was going to hurt him. She had no idea what the future held and for the most part, she didn’t want to know. She wanted to live in the moment.
And in this moment, she was filled with an overwhelming love for the man in front of her. A man who dared to bare all his weaknesses, all his flaws, and asked her to love him anyway.
When she still hadn’t said anything, he continued. “I wish I could change. But I can’t.”
“I don’t want you to change,” she blurted.
“No?”
“No.” She shook her head and with her next words, leapt off the proverbial cliff. “I love you just the way you are.”
“Thank the Goddess.” He dragged her against him.
“Which one?” she teased.
“Aphrodite, I think. I’ll have to sacrifice chocolate on her altar later.”
“You’re my birthday present.” Artemis grinned against his chest.
“You’re my everything.”
And when he kissed her, she knew that he spoke the truth.
31
THE FIRST HANDFASTING
A phrodite was wrong in her assumption the happy couples would all handfast together. Morgan and Vivienne decided that Gwen and Arthur should be first without sharing the spotlight.
Mostly it was a financial decision. With two of their three main tourist attractions out of order, they’d use the weddings to boost Avalon’s economy until they decided what else they could do to draw supernatural vacationers.
The three of them, Gwen, Morgan and Vivienne, decided to draw out each affair. A handfasting, then re-crowning Gwen as queen, lots of pomp, circumstances, and catering. Gwen was more than happy to do her part because it meant Arthur was hers, and hers alone.
Ambrosia Lane 1-3: Saranna DeWylde Page 47