I try to hold out. I truly do. I won’t want this to end, don’t want this perfect moment to fade back into reality and all the problems waiting for us.
My body has other ideas.
I cry out as I come hard, clamping around him. Eros curses as if I’ve surprised him and picks up his pace, driving into me until his strokes become uneven and he follows me over the edge.
He slumps down half on top of me. He’s heavy, but I like it. It feels like he’s continuing to anchor me to the here and now even as we relearn how to breathe.
Eros brushes my hair off my face. “Did I hurt you?”
My knees already ache in time with my racing heart. It’s perfect. I leverage myself up enough to kiss him. “Thank you.”
Something in him relaxes, and my pleasure-drugged brain realizes that he was actually worried this had somehow been too much. I reach up before I can find a reason not to. My fingers find his hair, and the little smile he gives me makes my heart lurch. I lick my lips. “I meant it about the mirrors. You’ve convinced me that they’re an asset.”
“I knew you’d come around.” He turns his head and kisses my wrist. We lie like that for a long moment before he finally looks at his watch and grimaces. “Can you feel your legs yet? We need to get moving if we’re not going to be late.”
That pulls a laugh from me. “So arrogant.”
“Is it arrogance if it’s the truth?”
I’m still grinning as he climbs to his feet and pulls me up with him. “Yes. But don’t stop. I like it.”
27
Eros
We meet Zeus in Dodona Tower.
It’s a bit of a head trip. The last time I was here for a meeting, it was with the last Zeus. I’ve been around long enough to see several of the Thirteen switch people behind the titles, but part of me believed that old fucker would live forever. I know Perseus felt the same way; he was sure he’d have at least another decade before Zeus finally did us all a favor and kicked the bucket.
No one expected him to take a header out of his office window a few months ago.
Thankfully, the office where we meet Perseus—Zeus—isn’t that same office. It’s the one he’s been working from for years now, ever since he took over most of the day-to-day tasks of running his father’s company. His company now.
I glance at Psyche. No matter how unconventional, having sex in front of all those mirrors seems to have steadied the ground beneath her feet. She’s lost the wild look in her eyes and has her public persona firmly in place. Calm, cool, and collected. The only evidence of her nerves is her white-knuckled grip on my hand.
I’m not like her. I’m shit at comforting. I’ve never had to do it before, never had to search for the right words to say. Fuck, I’ve never wanted to. She gave me such a gift earlier that I can do nothing but try. “It will be okay.”
“That remains to be seen.”
“Perseus isn’t Zeus.”
She looks at me. “That’s the thing, Eros. Perseus is Zeus. He might have been your friend up to this point, but now he’s essentially the king of Olympus. That changes a person.”
I know that. Of course I know that. But part of me rebels at it all the same. I was never as close to Perseus as I am to Helen or even Eris. I still know him.
“Let’s go in.” I open the door for her and hold it while she precedes me into the office. It looks nearly identical to every other office in this building. Steel, marble, glass, and little else. Perseus sits behind his massive desk, his fingers steepled in front of his mouth. He’s always been a handsome fucker, and he won’t thank me for saying it, but he really does have the look of his father. Athletic body, strong square jaw, golden-blond hair, the same cold blue eyes.
He motions to the chairs in front of the desk, and I wait for Psyche to sit before I take the empty one. Perseus looks between us before finally settling on me. “It’s been two months since my father died. You couldn’t have resisted started starting shit for longer?”
“You know me. I like to stir the pot.” I relax back into the chair and give him an arrogant grin. “But in this case, if you want to start pointing fingers, you can take it up with Aphrodite.”
“And yet I’m here, taking it up with you.” He shoots a look at Psyche. “I don’t suppose you were aware that your mother and I were negotiating for a marriage between you and me?”
Shock surges through me, quickly followed by a rage strong enough to burn this entire fucking skyscraper to the ground. Psyche had mentioned it during an early conversation, but I hadn’t taken it seriously. With all the candidates throwing themselves at Perseus, he’d meant to go with the controversial choice of one of Demeter’s daughters? “You’ve got to be joking me.”