by Lazu, Sotia
She shook her head. “Not when he has Rhea and the Hecatoncheires with him.”
The Hecatoncheires were three giants with a hundred hands and fifty heads each. They’d fought on Zeus’ side, until he betrayed them and threw them in Tartarus. Or put them into stasis, like he had with the Titans. Had they awakened too? How?
“Kronos has the power to release them,” Circe said, as if she read his mind.
“But why would they join him? They fought against him.” And Coeus, like most of his kind, had fought on Kronos’ side, because back then, it was a matter of survival. Alliances changed. Still, he couldn’t accept that he’d finally been restored and reunited with his soulmate, only to endure a repeat of the Titanomachy.
Eros cleared his throat, but Nereus spoke over him. “Kronos means to take over the world, and he’ll promise those nightmares anything, to ensure their support. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have strategy to work out, and you”—he arched an eyebrow at Coeus—“have your destiny to fulfill.” With a curt nod, he strode out of the room, his witch and the rest of his entourage following him.
Coeus glared at Eros. “Aren’t you going with them?”
“Not till I get you somewhere nice and cozy.”
Chapter Five
AS SOON AS EROS CLASPED her arm, Nikoleta knew what was coming. Not that she could do anything more than squeeze her eyes shut when everything around her melted into pure white light.
Her stomach flipped on itself, as the light faded. She chanced cracking her eyelids open. Her legs wobbled, and Coeus was at her side, holding her upright. Even in his human size, he felt enormous enough to fill the room—the bedroom Eros had blinked them to. She took in the oversize bed, framed by the same driftwood that formed the bedpost and sparse furniture around them.
“Are you all right?” Coeus asked.
“I’m fine.” No she wasn’t. She’d been dragged into a larger scheme she had no control over, in a world she no longer belonged in. Which wasn’t his fault, but he was here, and she needed to vent. Plus, he’d pried into something very personal, which totally was his fault. “How did you know I’m a virgin?” she asked again.
“I read your thoughts. I apologize.” He didn’t sound apologetic.
“How?” They used to have a mental link, ages ago. Was that still in place? But she wasn’t Phoebe any more, and she hadn’t agreed to this. “Why?”
Coeus pursed his lips. “It was instinctive. We were kissing, and your mind opened up to me. I saw your memories of us. And I saw what is stopping you from accepting a claim from me now.”
Her cheeks burned. He’d seen all of it?
She approached one of the large windows and rested her hands on the glass, willing the cold to soothe her nerves. The deep blue outside stretched as far as the eye could see, interrupted by the occasional weirdly round building. A school of fish she couldn’t name passed by, and three mermaids—the existence of freaking mermaids should surprise her more than it did—hovered by a nearby cave. Everything seemed so calm, unlike the turmoil roiling inside her.
“Can you see what I’m thinking now?” she asked.
“No, but I can guess.”
Startled by the proximity of his voice, she looked up and saw his reflection looming over hers. She hadn’t heard him approach, but she felt his presence as vividly as if he were touching her.
She spun around, and he was centimeters away, his chest heaving. Was he hyperventilating?
Was she?
She was. And still felt so very hot. She pressed her back against the window, enjoying the coolness against her skin, even through her top. “What is it? What is on my mind?”
“You’re thinking you want me, and you’re thinking it’s wrong.” His nostrils flared.
He looked fierce and primal and as sexy as ever. As sexy as when he smirked at her before tackling her to the ground and ravaging her again and again, the sun above witnessing their mating. As sexy as when he strutted for her, naked. As sexy as when he lay on his back, watching her ride him.
Her heart stammered.
As sexy as when he fed her cherries he’d picked himself, or sat around, laughing, while she chatted with animals. As sexy as when he listened intently to her talking about what she wanted from her life—from their life together.
His life with Phoebe. As vivid as the memories were, they felt stolen, and that hurt like a stab through the ribs, making it painful to draw breath.
“Am I close?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“Did I guess right? You want me. I see it in your eyes—the pupils are dilated, and your lids are lowered. Your heart is beating so fast, it’s about to jump out of your chest. And I can smell your arousal. You want me. Yet instead of leaning into me, you lean away. Your mind is telling you this is wrong.”
She nodded, licking lips that had gone dry. She should be scared that he knew her so well. Maybe furious that he might have read her mind again. But all she felt was relief that he made sense of so much she couldn’t put into words.
“How can fate be wrong? It brought you back to me, to restore me. We can be together again. Forever.”
So much was problematic about that. “Fate didn’t bring me to you; Eros did. Specifically so that I’d awaken you. Not so we could be together, but so you could join their fight.” It was her fight too, with what was in the balance, but she wouldn’t let semantics stop a rant. “And I’m not Phoebe. I mean, I am, but I’m not. Phoebe had this... life with you, and all I have is her memories.”
“You remember loving me.” He planted one hand above her shoulder, trapping her. “You remember this.” He ducked down and pressed his lips to hers.
She should push him back. Run. Where? Away from this madness. Passion overrode common sense, and she parted her lips with a moan. When he pushed his tongue in her mouth, she sucked on it hungrily.
Coeus shifted his hand to bury it in her hair and cup the back of her head, holding her in place so he could map her mouth. God, the man could kiss.
Her fingers twisted in his long tresses of their own accord.
His body crushed her to the window, his hand skating down her side and sliding over the curve of her hip, to knead one buttock. She shifted her hips, mindlessly seeking contact, and he wedged one thigh between her legs.
She was humping a Titan’s leg, pressing her center to his bare thigh. Moaning.
Embarrassment sent heat rising on her cheeks. It took all her willpower to avert her face, ignoring the sting on her scalp where he gripped her hair. “Stop.”
“You don’t want me to stop,” he purred in her ear. “You want me to have you, right here, where the sea world can look in on our rutting.”
True, but his cockiness solidified her resolve. She’d loved his self-assurance, but it always irked her when he crossed the line to smugness. “I’m not Phoebe,” she whispered.
“Then tell me who you are.” He took a step back, but Nikoleta didn’t miss his frustrated sigh.
“I’m me, I guess. Nikoleta, after my mom’s mom. I’m twenty nine, with a degree in Math that I have no use for, and after years of working retail, I spent the summer tending bar in Mykonos, because I finally decided to earn a master’s degree, and the only interesting thing costs an arm and a leg.”
He nodded slowly, as if she’d shared something profound, but the words sounded hollow to her ears. Was this all she was? “I live with my mom, and I have three cats, Perseus, Andromeda, and Snarf.”
She expected him to laugh, but he said, “You always liked animals.”
His comment grated. She was talking about this life, and he was stuck in the past. Shoving aside her irritation, she said, “What else?”
Maybe while he spoke, she’d think of what she was, other than a cat lover who took seven years to decide what to do with her life after university.
He furrowed his brow. “What else?”
“Yes. What else did I love? What was I like, when you knew me?”
The lin
e between his eyebrows deepened. “You said you remembered.”
“I did. I do. But I see things from Phoebe’s point of view. I want to know who she was to you.”
He crossed his arms, closing off his posture, but his smile was soft. “She was my everything. I was created at the same time as her. We didn’t exactly have childhoods, but we grew together. She loved talking to animals.”
Nikoleta let out a startled laugh at the memory that hit the forefront of her thoughts. “And they answered.”
Coeus nodded. “Titans can read all mortal creatures’ minds, but most of us never bothered to find out what a”—he pursed his lips—“dinosaur was thinking. She did. She cared about soothing others’ pain. Seeing her nurse a helpless creature back to full health was... I couldn’t help falling in love with her.”
His voice was soft, filled with adoration. It twisted painfully in her gut. She couldn’t blame him; Phoebe sounded incredible. And what had Nikoleta done with her life?
“I feel that way about you,” Coeus said.
The words were no doubt meant to soothe, but made her feel worse. She turned away with a snort. “You just met me, and I’m nothing like her.”
“You’re beautiful. And you’re obviously brave, walking around with that hair.”
“Hey.”
He chuckled. “You are brave. Your world turned upside down, and you’ve kept your calm. There’s been no fainting or crying.”
“Yeah, well, I do my best crying on the inside.” But she felt tension seep out of her at his praise. Or was it at the ease with which they fell into comfortable banter?
“See this? This is what I loved the most about Phoebe—her sense of humor. She never lost her spirit. You’re snarky and witty and beautiful. Even with the hair.”
“You said beautiful twice.” But her cheeks were burning, and the heat spread to her chest, to cradle her heart. Her body reacted to him, no doubt, but it was so much more. Her very soul cried out for his touch.
Tracing her bottom lip with his thumb, he said, “You’re two times beautiful.”
Was she sucking on his thumb? She was. Did Titan powers include causing uncontrollable sexual urges? A quick scan of Phoebe’s memories said they didn’t, so this was all her, enjoying something she shouldn’t.
Did she care?
Coeus groaned. “You are mine. You may not accept it yet, but you are, and I will bond with you. Not for this war we must fight, but because I must have you.”
That sounded entitled and macho and so very wrong. And why was she caressing his pecs again?
Chapter Six
NIKOLETA’S FINGERS burned his skin, but that was nothing compared to what her warm, wet mouth around his thumb did to his cock. Was this an invitation? Was she yielding to his claim? To him?
Was she acting as Nikoleta, or allowing her memories of Phoebe to surface? With every word that fell from her beautiful lips, every gesture of her elegant fingers, every piercing glance, she reminded him more of his Titaness.
He tried to access her mind, but it was impenetrable. No matter. He’d take a risk. “Let me pleasure you.”
Sharp teeth grazed the pad of his thumb as she pulled back but not away, allowing him to glide his hand down her neck. Her skin was smooth like satin and broke in goose flesh under his touch. He moved lower, to cup one perfect breast. He tweaked the nipple through the fabric of her top, and felt it harden as she arched into his hand. “Tell me you want me to,” he ordered.
She moaned and arched her back. It would do.
He might not be able to read her thoughts, but could she hear his when he projected them? Calling to mind the mental image of himself sucking her other nipple in his mouth, he sent it to her and reveled at her hissed breath. It worked. He envisioned his fingers trailing down her spine, and she shivered. Kneading her breast, he dropped to his knees in front of her and nuzzled her mons.
He yearned to be buried here, but it had nothing to do with pleasure. He hungered for the connection they’d shared, that was always strongest when their bodies were intertwined. Touching her again after all the time stolen from them made a dull ache blossom in his chest. This was more than being freed from Zeus’ curse. More than having his senses back. He could feel the woman he loved, even if she struggled with who she was.
Nikoleta stiffened.
“I won’t do anything you don’t want,” he said, sliding his free hand to the waist of her denim shorts. When she tilted her hips, he popped the button open with a snap of his fingers, lowered the zipper, and let the shorts fall down her shapely legs, before huffing a breath across the flimsy piece of lace covering the triangle of flesh he wanted to reacquaint himself with.
“That tickles.” She giggled.
That wasn’t the reaction he was going for, but he always loved making her laugh. He closed his teeth on the lace and tugged, tearing it off her. Oceanus, she was hairless but for a thin strip of downy hair. He glided his fingertips along her slit, and she parted her legs, allowing him better access. He dipped a finger between her nether lips, coating it in her juices. She was wet and ready for him. His body tensed with the need to take her. Take her now.
No. This wasn’t about him. It was about pleasing her, and he’d love every moment of it.
He brought his finger to his mouth and tasted her essence. “Ambrosia.”
“What—” She moaned when he buried his tongue between her labia and swiped it over her clitoris.
“You taste as sweet as ambrosia.” But the angle was wrong. He couldn’t see her like this.
Clasping her hips, he blinked them to the edge of the bed, and she fell back with an oof.
“Lift your legs,” he ordered, still kneeling before her. “Feet on the mattress. Hold your ankles.”
She obeyed, as he knew she would, and he gazed at her lovely, dripping pussy. He couldn’t wait to be buried inside it, balls slapping the creamy flesh of her ass, where the sun hadn’t turned her skin the same lovely golden color as her belly and long limbs.
“I’m going to eat this pussy, and you’re not going to move,” he thought at her.
Her hissed inhale said she heard him.
He nuzzled the apex of her thighs, breathing in her intoxicating scent. He swiped his tongue along her slit again, tuned into her every minuscule reaction—the hitching of her breath, the trembling of her muscles, the clenching of her pussy.
It was all so familiar. His heart expanded with love and joy at how her body welcomed him. Would she open up her heart—her soul—to him too?
He closed his lips around her hidden pearl and sucked, thinking of kneading her breasts and pinching her nipples. He wanted to push his fingers inside her channel, break her inner barrier, and then plunge inside her. Instead, he thought of laying kisses up her sides, as he flattened his tongue on her clit.
Nikoleta squirmed, and he sat back on his heels.
She lifted her head to glare at him. It wasn’t very convincing, with her eyes hooded and her teeth clamped on her bottom lip. “Why did you stop?” she asked in his head.
Surprised, he took a second to reply. “You moved.”
He felt her hands on his shoulders, pulling him to her, though her white-knuckled grip stayed firm around her ankles.
Huh.
As his mouth found her pussy again, her invisible touch slid lower, to cup his length.
“Naughty,” he sent her.
“Wha..?” She looked at him, dazed. Was it possible she didn’t realize she was projecting her thoughts?
He sucked and licked at her sleekness, lapping at her juices, and occasionally slipping the tip of his tongue where he craved to be buried to the hilt.
Nikoleta moaned and panted, but didn’t move except for her mental grasp, tugging on his cock. Chaos, she was making it hard to hold back.
“I’m... I’m...” The whispered words faded off, but she finished her sentence in his head. “Gonna come.” Her invisible grip around him faltered, then disappeared.
Repl
acing his tongue on her clit with his index and middle fingers, Coeus stood, ripped off his loincloth, and draped his body over hers. His cock nudged at her entrance, as he drew tight, quick circles over the sensitive button. He claimed her lips again, letting her taste herself on him.
“I want you,” he thought at her, as her body convulsed beneath him in the throes of orgasm.
Yes. Her first thought had him angling his hips, but what followed stopped him on his tracks. “No. Not yet. Please. I can’t— Can I stop him? Should I? Maybe it’ll be okay.” The thought wasn’t meant for him, but it slipped through his skull to wrap around his mind and squeeze with her panic.
Coeus rolled off her and sat up, her sweet tangy flavor on his tongue quickly replaced by the acidic sourness of bile. She thought he might force himself on her?
“I won’t force you, but neither will I beg for what’s rightfully mine.” It was hard to keep his tone calm when she shifted back on the bed and drew the sheets over her bottom half. Did she expect him to change his mind and attack her? He reached for her mind, but it was once more closed to him.
He could try coaxing her, and he knew she’d love every minute of their joining, but sex wasn’t what he was after. It wasn’t them. Their bonding had been a melding of bodies, hearts, and souls, and nothing less would do.
His hand trembled. Her rejection and fear pushed him to his limits, his emotions spinning out of control. He needed space. Some time to cool down, before he returned for her.
He would be her first. Her last. Her only. But for now, he had some extra energy to work out of his system.
Chapter Seven
“COEUS? WHERE ARE YOU going?” She watched his back ripple and his incredible ass clench as he stood. His hands, fisted at his sides, trembled. Had he read her thoughts again? Was her fear what stopped him?
“Out,” he barked.
Something slammed against the window. It sounded like a wave, but waves didn’t form below the surface. Did they?
