“You’ve seen people I’d incapacitated on purpose with my powers. It doesn’t have to be like that, though. I can touch Hera and it quiets her mind, just takes herpowers while she’s in contact, but she doesn’t get harmed. You could have her the way you want, without worrying about your powers.”
He continued to tap as he stared at me. “And in exchange, you’d have some help during, so you wouldn’t feel so much pressure?”
“Hey, even if I can’t figure out where her clit is, you can, right? Between the two of us, maybe we could make one decent partner.” My words were self-deprecating, but it helped with my nerves.
“And you think she’d agree to that? She hardly seems like that sort of woman.”
“I think that she wants to be closer to both of us, and if this is what we can offer, I think she’ll take what she can get.”
“It sounds horrible when you put it that way.”
I nodded. “Yeah, probably, but it’s still true. She’s sweet, and she’s honest, and she shows exactly how she feels in her face. I think she’ll take us up on it if we explain.”
Knox pressed his lips together and stared off to the side, no doubt thinking. Maybe it wasn’t as good a deal for him. Maybe he didn’t care for being used in that way, for me leaning on him like that.
Or maybe the idea of having Hera with him was too far.
Still, I said nothing else, just let him have the time to figure out how he felt about it. It might not be what he wanted, but if he was serious about craving Hera but not touching her like that due to his incubus, then it might be his only option.
And I had to admit, Knox’s self-restraint impressed me. Given his hunger, and how he’d resisted Hera and his own desires forced me to admit I respected him. Ittook some massive self-control to resist something so instinctual.
Plus, Hera was damn hard to resist on her own.
“Okay,” Knox said.
“Wait, really?” I cursed myself when I said that. I was getting what I wanted—arguing was stupid.
“Yes. As long as Hera agrees, maybe it’s for the best…” Even as he spoke, he seemed unsure.
I didn’t think it was that he didn’t want to, so much as him having to come to terms with a situation that wasn’t ideal. No doubt he’d have preferred to have her to herself, but if it was between not having her or having to share, it seemed he’d rather share.
And boy did I understand that.
“Does this make us, like, brothers of some sort?”
“What?” He furrowed his eyebrows.
“I feel like sleeping with the same woman together creates some sort of bond. Spelunking buddies? Cave-diving cousins?”
Knox just stared at me as if he couldn’t quite get a grip of the stupidity I was saying, but I couldn’t help it. The more nervous I was, the worse my jokes got.
“Vagina twinsies?”
Knox rubbed his hand over his face as if this entire thing had been a bad idea and he’d only just realized it. “You’re right. You do need my help—badly. Let me start your first lesson by telling you to remove all of what you just said from your vocabulary. If you say that to Hera, she’ll kick us both out, and I don’t want my chances harmed because of you.”
I grinned at his annoyed response, because it meant he’d fully accepted my plan.
It meant I’d finally get to be with Hera, to taste her, to feel her, to have what I’d imagined since meeting her.
And, if nothing else, I knew she’d enjoy it because Knox would be there. I didn’t have to worry about not pleasing her, at least at first.
I’d not only get to have her but I’d also get to learn from Knox, and I was a hell of a good student when I wanted to be.
I might skip out on the politics classes, but this was one subject I planned to give my full attention to.
Hera was worth it.
* * * *