by Lazu, Sotia
Well, why the hell not? “Put some shoes on, and we can go.”
“Go where?”
“Home.”
She scrunched her nose. “Mount Othrys?”
He let his amusement show. “Your home. I want to meet the parents.”
“You know, I’m not that hungry after all.” She sat on the arm of the couch and raised her shirt, exposing her perfect, creamy breasts to him. The reasons behind her reluctance to take him home were easy to read—she didn’t want her family to mess up what she and Atlas had, and she hated having to lie to her folks about how the two of them hooked up.
Both issues were easily fixable, but there was no rush for him to meet her folks, so he didn’t push for now. “Hold that thought,” he said. “Actually, don’t. Think of your ex’s place.”
“Pavlos? Why?” She didn’t cover herself, but she might as well have, the way her posture hardened and closed up. It was an almost imperceptible change in how she held her shoulders, the tilt of her chin, the unyielding corners of her lips...
“Trust me.”
He was surprised by how easily she gave in, and not a little annoyed by how detailed her memory of the spacious, well-lit apartment was. He focused on the black leather couch and dark wooden floor, and found himself leaning against Pavlos’ armchair.
The place was empty, no sign of a dog in sight. Atlas frowned. What happened to the golden haired mutt Iphigenia loved?
A whining from outside reached his ears. The evening was warm, but it must have been scorching hot here earlier in the day. The bastard left his animal on the balcony in these temperatures?
Logic suggested the dog might not have been outside till mere moments ago, but Atlas was determined to hate this Pavlos guy, who wanted to shackle Iphigenia to a life that would break her beautiful, free spirit.
He only winced a little at the shrieking sound of a siren that tore through the apartment when he let himself outside.
The poor dog howled, not as capable of ignoring the sound. He twirled around himself, barking and whining, a blond blur of fluff.
Atlas had always been good with animals. He circled the dog to meet his gaze, and when the dog stopped moving, knelt in front of him. “Don’t be afraid”—what was his name?—“Ares. Come. I’ll take you to Iphigenia.”
The dog bared his teeth but looked scared, not aggressive.
Atlas sent a soothing mental image of himself petting him and scratching his belly.
Ares quieted. He studied Atlas, swerving his head from left to right, then padded to him, ears and tail lowered in submission.
Atlas held out his hand for the dog to sniff. When the warm, wet tongue lapped at his palm, he closed his other fist around the dog’s collar.
The shrill sound ceased, and a male voice asked. “What are you doing with Ares?”
Ah. The ex. Atlas gazed at the man behind him over his shoulder. He was tall, for a human. Classically handsome, though his eyes were too close together and his chin a little weak.
“Let go of the dog. You’re scaring him.” Pavlos patted his leg, and in an exaggeratedly upbeat tone said, “Here, boy. Come here.”
Ares ignored him and licked Atlas’ arm. He didn’t seem to like his master much.
Atlas projected Iphigenia’s image to the dog, who wagged his tail and yipped. Yeah, no contest there. “I’m taking Iphigenia her dog,” he told Pavlos, using only the slightest hint of compulsion.
“Did she send you?” Pavlos scowled. “If she wanted to talk, she could have called me. You didn’t have to break in.”
The thought of her calling the guy had Atlas’ hackles rising. “She lost her phone.” He kept his tone conversational, as if that made absolute sense. He stood, lifting the mutt in his arms. “Do you even love this dog, or did you keep him out of spite?”
Pavlos didn’t have to answer. Atlas picked up his thoughts about how he hated the dog’s shedding and waking up early to walk him.
“That’s what I thought,” Atlas said.
“What...?” Pavlos shook his head and squared his shoulders, blocking the way back inside. “Let go of my dog and don’t do anything stupid. The police are on the way. There’s nowhere for you to go.”
That was what he thought. “Try to stop me.” It wasn’t Atlas’ proudest moment, but he focused on growing his body to double his human size—still a fraction of his true height and bulk.
Pavlos stepped back, but to his credit didn’t shriek. “Who... What are you?” His calm took the fun out of intimidating him.
Atlas poured more compulsion into his voice, as he said, “It doesn’t matter. You are going to forget you ever saw me, and not come after Iphigenia or Ares. He’s her dog now.”
Iphigenia’s scowl when Atlas appeared in front of her in his five-meter glory melted into a beaming smile when she saw the dog he was cradling.
She held up her arms and snatched the animal as soon as Atlas shrunk back to a human-ish height. “Ares.” She kissed the dog’s nose and laughed when he licked hers. “Oh my God. How...? Pavlos will be livid.” She fell back on the couch, squealing with delight as Ares went on full-on attack mode with his doggy kisses and sniffs.
“Nah. He’s okay with it.” Damn, he’d forgotten the dog’s leash.
Iphigenia held the dog aside with both hands and pursed her lips. “What did you do?”
“We’ll need a leash for Ares.” He backed toward the front door. “Maybe I could call Eros and ask him to drop one off.”
She stood, and the dog hopped to the floor, where he proceeded to rise on two legs and paw at her. “What did you do?” she asked Atlas again.
“Shouldn’t you be getting dressed? I thought you wanted to go for dinner.”
“Atlas.”
He gave her puppy eyes. “I just wanted to make you happy.”
She bit her lip but couldn’t hide her grin. “I love you.” Through their mental link, she added, “And after you feed me, I’ll show you how much.”
Rhea
Rhea chewed on the inside of her cheek. She’d known the Titans could only be awakened by their soulmates—she was there when Zeus created the curse. She hadn’t realized the souls calling to the Titans were those of their Titaness mates, reincarnated, though. Atlas said his human female had Pleione’s soul. It made sense that would be the case for the rest of them.
If Zeus had included the same caveat in Kronos’ curse, she’d only need to find him, but he was cloaked from her. The earth would have to shudder, to reveal and awaken him, and she couldn’t cause a potent enough earthquake without knowing where its epicenter should be. Besides, her powers had weakened through the centuries of disuse; she hadn’t been allowed to use them while the Olympians had ruled the world.
It wasn’t a natural deterioration.
Nonsense. Her golden boy wouldn’t do that to her, and Hera had gotten what she deserved for even implying it.
Rhea bit on a ragged nail and rummaged through her crystals. She had one that would do.
Find the Titaness, raise the Titan, solve your problem. If Atlas wouldn’t help her, she’d have one of his brothers end existence as they knew it. She would survive, and she had ways of making sure Kronos did too. And then, they could start over. They’d bring her boy back to life and recreate the world.
She spotted the black crystal, colored with Pandora’s life blood. The same crystal Zeus had used to imbue her with the curiosity that would be humanity’s downfall. Pandora hadn’t been a Titaness, but she was the one who’d held Epimetheus’ heart. And if she’d been reborn and Rhea found her...
A lot of ifs, but her gut told her she was right. “It’s all in place, my love,” she murmured to the empty room, strewn with the dead bodies of her soldiers. They weren’t the ones who disappointed her, but they’d been annoying with their questions about her failure and their fallen comrades. And maybe she’d been in a bit of a mood.
Find me.
She sighed. Her moods were getting worse. Her heart stammered a
t the memory of blinking from one man to the other with the speed of light and snapping their necks. She didn’t have to do that. They’d been loyal.
She harrumphed. They were human. Of no consequence. They’d outlived their usefulness, and she’d taken care of them like any king of gods would.
Her moods scared her some times.
She blew on the crystal and ordered the air to find the soul that vibrated at the same frequency as the blood in its molecules.
Not long now...
Epilogue
“Do you realize what you’ve done?” Circe glared at Eros, not for the first or even the tenth time since they returned to her palace.
He pulled at the ropes binding his wrists to the bed. “I said I’m sorry. I even let you tie me down.” Pfft, as if he didn’t like this. “You have to forgive me.”
She slapped at his long, thick cock and watched it bounce, a drop of precum glistening on the tip. “I don’t have to do anything. You had to keep your mouth shut. Do you know what will happen now?”
“Do you?” he asked in an unrepentant, challenging tone.
No. That was what irked her the most. He’d muddied the waters of her visions, by throwing in an extra factor. Rhea wasn’t supposed to know who the Titans’ soulmates were. Epimetheus wasn’t supposed to be awakening. Areti was supposed to die in a car crash. “You’ve made a big mess.” She let her irises darken, to show him she was seriously pissed off. Part of her was tempted to assume her façade, the appearance of the ancient crone, and kill the stupid god’s libido once and for all.
But she couldn’t. Because she—
“I just hate secrets,” he whispered. He sounded so sincere and hurt, his gorgeous pale-blue eyes pleading with her to understand.
She sighed, her mind as far from sex as possible when he was around. Which wasn’t all that far. “Breaking the rules has consequences.”
Eros snapped his fingers, and the ropes around his wrists turned to seaweed ribbons which he broke free off with a tug. Before Circe could react, he was on top of her, her skirt lifted to her waist and his agile, long fingers tracing her slit. “Then punish me.” He used his teeth to move aside the fabric covering her breast and wrapped his lips around her nipple. His erection nudged her thigh.
If she tilted her hips, he’d slide inside her with his fingers or his cock and they could put this behind them, but his telling Atlas about the Titanesses wasn’t all that held her back. She pulled him to her by the hair and slanted her mouth against his, breathing in his power and the scent of rich, dark, delicious chocolate that was so exclusively his.
When he broke the kiss, he looked as dazed as she felt. So easy to say nothing. But he hated secrets, and if she held on to this one much longer, he’d end up hating her.
Not that she cared. Men—even supernatural, gorgeous, funny ones who could make her come like a rocket—weren’t to be trusted. Definitely not to be loved. She and Eros were just having fun till they settled this thing with the Titans. So what if he hated her?
He positioned himself at her entrance, and she couldn’t believe she was doing this, but she scooted back. “Not now.” She tried to ignore his forlorn expression. “We have to talk.”
Eros blew a long, blond curl out of his face. “I said I’m sorry. I vow never to betray your confidence again, and you know my promises are unbreakable.”
“It’s not that.” Ugh. “It’s your mother. She’s back, in a mortal body.” When he stared at her, she raised her gaze to the ceiling. “Remember the realtor who sold Prometheus his villa? Magda?”
The End
(But keep reading for a taste of A Seer for the Titan)
Elpida rubbed her cheek against the warm male chest. Muscle stretched and bunched, hard and utterly lickable.
Huh? She didn’t remember sleeping with someone. Didn’t remember meeting someone to sleep with. When could she have? She was driving to pick up Daphne—
Fuck.
She opened her eyes and rolled away from the hard planes, only to drop indignantly into the cold, wet earth. Looking up gave her a too detailed view of the crazy—and crazy-hot—stranger’s scrotum and fully-erect penis, so she dropped her gaze to his huge feet. And come on, the situation allowed for her to think of his... things as balls and dick.
“What—? What—?” What to ask first? A naked guy had literally crawled out of a hole in front of her, and if she wasn’t mistaken, told her in Ancient Greek that he was Prometheus’ brother, Epimetheus.
And that was all she understood, because high school was a dozen years ago, and her knowledge of Ancient Greek came from a couple books she half-heartedly skimmed through, to pass the class. Also, brother to sounded almost identical in the ancient and modern version of the language.
Maybe he said he was named Epimetheus, like Prometheus’ brother?
Whatever his name, he knelt in front of her, and she tried not to watch the bobbing member between his thick, muscular thighs, but it was remarkably proportional to his enormous body. Remarkably clean, too, as was the rest of him, considering he’d been under the earth minutes ago.
He said something and smiled. It softened the angles of his face and made his eyes shine gold. Nah. That was her headlights, reflecting off his irises.
“I don’t understand you,” she said again, though she might have caught the word name. Maybe he was a tourist. “Do you speak English?” she asked in English. When he didn’t react, she asked the same in German. “Sprechen Sie Deutch?”
Nada—and that was the only word she knew in Spanish, so she couldn’t try that.
Epimetheus gently took her hand and helped her to her feet. Her ass hurt where it had made contact with the ground. She was lucky she hadn’t bumped her head. Or she had, in the car, and was still there, having a lovely hallucination.
Need more? Epimetheus and Elpida’s story will be out June 15.
WANT MORE TITANS? Get the FREE prequel, Under, HERE and make sure you’ve read Book 1, A Nereid for the Titan and Book 2, A Maid for the Titan.
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Curious about Nerites’ mom? My newsletter subscribers will be getting the FREE novella with her and Nerites’ story in May!
And of course, don’t forget to get Book 4, A Seer for the Titan, on June 15!
INTO VAMPIRE URBAN Fantasy? Read the Vampire Cherry series!
#0 Cherry Pop – FREEBIE, #1 Cherry Stem, #2 Cherry Blossom, #3 Cherry Pie, #3.5 Cherry Christmas - FREEBIE (a Vampire Cherry/Paranormal Vampire Investigator crossover)
And continue with Paranormal Vampire Investigator #1 Cherry Stem and the Pissed-off Ghost
IN THE MOOD FOR CONTEMPORARY Ménage? Threefold is what you need!
#1 Colin – FREEBIE, #2 Brad, #3 Becca
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sotia shares her life and living quarters with her husband, their son, and two rescue dogs, one of which may be part-pony. Sappy movies make her cry, and she wishes she could take in all the stray dogs in the world.
Sotia spent her formative years reading anything she could get her hands on, including steamy romances her grandma would frown upon—nah, Grandma would totally approve.
Hailing from the land of Olympians and Titans, Sotia could only resist writing about mythical immortals for so long. Her mythology romance boasts hot, powerful Alphas, who can handle sassy ladies and will stop at nothing to make them happy.
True love exists, and Sotia is determined to give her fated couples a happy ending!
To know more about Sotia, get your hands on freebies, and be the first to hear about new releases, click HERE.
www.sotialazu.com
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