“Oh Aros, yes.”
With inhuman control which I was supremely thankful for, I held off my release as I brought her closer to her inevitable explosion. Faster and harder, I fucked her like the world was ending tomorrow.
At the first flutter of her inner walls, I braced myself. She whimpered and clawed at my back as each plunge of my cock brought her closer to falling apart. Finally, she stiffened and her back arched. The first pulse hit me, and I was a goner. Any supernatural power I had to control myself went out the window.
As she shattered in my arms, I came so hard I saw stars.
Slowly, we drifted back to earth, and the sounds around me began to register again. Her soft body against mine was akin to heaven. The aromatic scents of the garden teased at my senses, ensuring I’d forever associate it with her.
“Oh, Aros, that was incredible.”
“It was perfect.”
That first time was the beginning of the end for me, yet I had no idea. We couldn’t tell anyone about us because she was nobility, and as far as she knew, I was a lowborn gardener. Yet we met in secret as often as I could. We had to find a way to tell her father about us—I knew it was likely impossible, but I wasn’t willing to give her up.
She became my obsession. I let myself get careless, and it caught up to me in the worst way.
During one of our trysts, her brother was killed.
I had failed and there would be consequences—I just didn’t realize the severity of them.
As the gods observed me, I stood before them non-repentant and proud. My mount, Tarek, stood at my side, head bowed—guilty for his part in helping me get to my assignations with Soleil. Aphrodite’s eyes flashed fury, which I expected. Ares glared because I fell under his supervision and my transgression made him look bad. Yet, the worst was Zeus. I had been one of his favorites—the disappointment in his gaze was the heaviest burden to bear.
“I didn’t want to believe it,” he said with regret. “We have rules for those of you in your position. I counted on you to follow them.”
Wisely, I remained mute. In all honestly, I believed he would’ve let it slide if it hadn’t been brought to the attention of the entire assembly. Instead, I stood in the courtyard of his palace awaiting my punishment.
“Aros, for intentionally disobeying the explicit rules set forth for you, I sentence you to eternity on Earth. For your digressions, you shall forever walk alone.” The pain in his words at the sentence he delivered was evident and witnessed by all. No one wanted to incur the wrath of the council, so the courtyard that held thousands of gods and demigods was eerily silent. I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. The loss of my position hurt less than the agony of losing Soleil.
The crackle of Zeus’s lightning bolt caught my attention right before it hit me square in the chest.
I landed on the ground so hard, it knocked the wind from me. It took me a moment before I could suck in a wheezing breath. With a gasping groan, I rolled my aching body over onto my hands and knees. My head hung as I fought to fill my lungs.
That in itself should’ve been a warning.
Explosions thundered around me and reverberated through my limbs as they shook the ground. Confusion had my gaze flying up as I found myself surrounded by thick trees instead of Zeus’s palace. The sounds of artillery were close by, but I couldn’t tell what or exactly where they were.
“What the—” I mumbled as I tried to make sense of where I was. Cautiously, I rose to my knees. My back was on fire, and I reached back to see what was going on. Eyes wide, I patted around and flinched when my fingertips hit the raw areas. That’s when I realized something was very wrong.
A glance down showed me I was wearing a navy blue jacket and pants. They itched my limbs and rubbed on my shoulders. There was a sabre on the ground next to me. Frowning, I tried to make sense of my situation.
Suddenly, I realized I was alone.
“Soleil!” I yelled. Denial rising thick in my throat, I searched the area for her. Ignoring the agony in my back, I called her name until I was hoarse, but there was no sign of her.
At the sound of shouting, I returned to where I’d landed and grabbed the blade before I stumbled through the trees. When I broke into a clearing, I came to an abrupt stop and nearly hyperventilated. Oh, sweet heavens, no.
“Move, soldier! Where is your mount?” a voice shouted at me. I swiveled my head and saw a man garbed as I was, mounted on a horse. I looked around for the horse I was supposed to have. Men ran past and occasionally dropped to a knee to fire rifles into the smoke that filled the field.
“Holy shit! What happened? Are you okay?” He quickly dismounted and spun me around to face him. Struck mute by the realization of where I was, I could only stare at him. “Son, your back is covered in blood,” he continued slowly as if I was dumb. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” I replied as the screams of men in agony shot through my head. I clutched it to still the awful piercing noise. If I couldn’t find Soleil, I’d never be okay again.
“Did you hit your head? Look at me,” he instructed. Wild-eyed and trying not to panic, I gave my attention to him. I studied him as he looked me over. With my height, it didn’t take much, but he was shorter than I was. He had a slight paunch, a gray beard, and a kind expression. He startled when he checked my pupils. “Goddamn, son. I’ve never seen eyes like yours in my damn life.”
I paused in confusion at his observation, then it dawned on me that my eyes were probably still bright silver. My mouth opened, but I had no explanation. At least nothing that he would believe. There was a rustling sound to the left of me and we both spun, sabres at the ready. Except we needn’t have worried. It was only a tan horse with a black mane and tail that ran up next to me and nudged me, drawing a hissed gasp from me.
“Looks like he found you. Damn well-trained. Think you can ride?”