Avena Affini: The eldest daughter of Roman and Camilla. Calliope’s half-sister. She is a fashion designer.
Bellarose Affini: The second daughter of Roman and Camilla. Calliope’s half-sister. She is a supermodel.
1
I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.
~ Pablo Neruda
ETHAN
TWO MONTHS AGO
“Dolos,” she whispered as she ran her hands gently through my hair. I lay upon her naked chest, her breast beside my lips, saying nothing. She’d explain whatever craziness brought forth that word in her mind. “He is the ancient Greek god of deception, the spirit of trickery and guile. He is the master of treachery, and all things underhanded. Do you know who his soulmate is?”
“Greek gods have soulmates?” I muttered, not bothering to open my eyes.
“Of course they do. Why else do you think Hera keeps going back to Zeus?”
“He’s the king of the gods, and you know how women like men with power.” The corner of my mouth twisted up as she became quiet. She was annoyed at me. I’d sidetracked her story. And so, she was no longer going to share. When her hand moved to withdraw from my hair, I grabbed her wrist. Slowly, I lifted my head from her chest, glancing up at her innocent sweet face. Her gray eyes glaring down at me only made her look more like the goddess she talked about. Her long brown hair was a wavy mess, sticking to the sheen of sweat that coated her body. Her pink lips were now red from our kisses and the wine she’d been drinking.
I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it. “Who is Dolos’ soulmate?”
“Apate. She is the goddess of fraud, treachery, and deception.”
“Isn’t she just a counterpart? A female version of things?” I asked as I kissed the top of her right breast.
“Aren’t that what true soulmates are?” she asked, wrapping her arms my neck. “The same but slightly different? A male and female lion are counterparts, both lions, just slightly different. Prefect for each other. Whole in each other…”
Her lips were on mine and I did not know if I kissed her or if she kissed me first. But we were kissing, or battling each other with our tongues. Her body pressed up against mine, her nipples hard against my chest. That familiar desire that made me drop everything to come here, that burning need within my soul, to lose myself in her, to fall blindly into her was all that was on my mind. I reached for her hands but she would not have it.
Before I even had a chance to react, she pushed me back and pinned me down in the center of the bed. Her hands were heavy on my chest as she held me down, her breast now above me, her legs on either side of my waist, her pussy directly on my cock. She stared at me, all but daring me to try and oppose her now. And since I wasn’t a stupid man, I did not dare.
“You annoy me, Boss,” she said.
“What is my sin?” I asked.
“Breathing,” she answered. “Existing for me to love you.”
“Then for that reason…you annoy me too.”
She grinned, and that smile, the true one she rarely ever brought out, made her glisten, made me stupid and left me no other choice but to act. I grabbed her waist, flipping us both over and pinning her underneath me. Before she could utter another word, I spread her thighs and buried myself so hard inside of her that her back rose off the bed. I shuddered at how good it felt to be in her, how no one else felt as she did. No one else had me grasping for my breath and sanity as she did. I wanted to be slow and gentle…but her body made me greedy. Everything about her was like finally being able to breathe.
So, I could