by Lynn Tyler
Talia pulled back and narrowed her eyes at him. “Voodoo is not Greek.”
“Really? That’s all you have to say?”
She shrugged her shoulders and freed herself from his grasp. “What else do you want me to say?”
Shit. He wanted her to say that she loved him. He wanted her to tell him to pick up the cell phone and call Eros to come back.
He wanted to curl up in Eros’s huge bed with them and hold Eros on one side and Talia on the other.
“I don’t know. I just feel a little lost, that’s all,” he said around the sudden lump in his throat.
“Yeah, me, too. Listen, I should get home. I have a lot of work to do on my thesis before I present it next week.”
She stumbled over to the door and found the keys that had appeared on the hook.
“You sure you’re okay to drive?” Neil asked.
She nodded and turned to face him. She wasn’t crying anymore, and he suspected that the tears had been more of a reaction to the shock than anything else. “I’ll be fine.”
Neil’s fingers itched to stroke her face, but he kept his arms by his sides. “Will you have time for dinner tomorrow night?”
The smile she gave him lit up the whole hall. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
Hope, affection, and anticipation welled in him and he chuckled. Maybe the emotions he’d been feeling for the past few weeks weren’t at all fake. “That I am.”
“It just so happens that I’ve taken the next week off to prepare for my thesis presentation. And I took the week after my presentation off, too, just to unwind.”
He ambled closer until they were close enough to share body heat. “Do you think you can spare some time for me tomorrow?”
She looped her arms around his neck and tugged him down until their mouths were just a scant distance apart. “You don’t even have to ask. Name the time and the place, and I’m there.”
Relief flowed through him. “I’ll pick you up at six, and we’ll make an early night of it. Sound like a plan?”
Gentle fingers wound their way through Neil’s hair and tugged just slightly, just enough to send shivers down his spine. “As long as it doesn’t end too early. We may need to explore our…chemistry again. If you know what I mean.”
Oh, he knew what she meant. Neil’s cock twitched, and he let a groan slip out from between his lips. “Whatever the lady wants, the lady gets.”
“Good,” she whispered against his lips. “Because I want you.”
Chapter 16
True to his word, Neil buzzed her apartment at exactly six o’clock. She’d gotten caught up in her work and had lost track of time, so she was still frantically drying her hair when her roommate let Neil in.
She stuck her head out of the bathroom door. “I’ll just be a minute.”
Neil smiled and saluted her with the glass of water her roommate must have given him. “Take your time, Tal.”
Wrapping the towel around her securely, Talia made a dash for her room and slid to a stop in front of her closet. She stared at the contents of the black hole she called a closet and wondered what to wear. Taking her cue from Neil’s casual outfit, she threw on a pair of skinny jeans and an oversized striped shirt that hung provocatively off one shoulder. She tried not to think about what Eros might think of the outfit.
She grabbed her boots, sliding them on and zipping them up before examining her image in the mirror. Deciding she looked presentable, she left her room and promptly ran smack into Neil. “Trying to steal a peek?” she teased.
He didn’t answer. Instead, his large hands cupped her bottom and pulled her forward until their pelvises were even. He lifted her right leg until it was wrapped around his hip and ground himself into the cradle of her thighs. She moaned when the ridge of his already-hard cock rubbed against her pussy through their pants. “Neil,” she said on a sigh.
He kissed her passionately and shifted around until he had her pressed against a wall, still thrusting his hips against her. “My roommate,” she moaned, not really caring that someone could walk in on them any time.
“She left a few minutes ago,” Neil muttered and began attacking her neck.
Oh, thank god, because she didn’t think she could stop now.
Neil grabbed her other leg and urged it up as well, until she had both of her legs wrapped around his waist. He supported her with his hands under her ass as they humped frantically.
Oh, fuck, just a little more and she’d come without even taking her pants off.
As if he could read her mind, Neil scraped his teeth along the thundering pulse in her neck. That small edge of pain heightened the pleasure, and she screamed as every nerve in her body detonated in a line of cartoon explosions.
Her sex pulsed, clit throbbing and jerking as she came.
Before the orgasm was fully over, she unwrapped her legs from Neil’s waist and slid down the wall so that she was eye level with the huge tent in his pants. Unbuttoning something had never been so hard, but she managed to get the jeans unfastened and unzipped without doing any damage to either of them.
She yanked down his pants and boxers in one tug, sending them to pool around his ankles, cupped his already tight balls with one hand, grabbed his straining cock with the other, and closed her mouth over the bright-red tip of his dick.
Holy Hannah, he tasted good. Not sweet exactly, but definitely not bitter. More earthy than anything else.
He was huge and hard and there was no way she’d be able to swallow even half of him, so she concentrated on the flared head, using both her hands on his shaft to jack him off at the same time.
Stiffening her tongue, she concentrated on that little spot just underneath the edge and sucked hard enough that her cheeks hollowed.
Something thumped against the wall, and she looked up the length of Neil’s body to see his head tossing restlessly against the wall.
She cupped his balls and tugged slightly. That seemed to be what put Neil over the edge, and he shouted as he came in her mouth. She swallowed as much as she could but felt a drop ease out of the corner of her mouth.
She kept Neil’s dick in her mouth until it started to soften. Reluctantly, she let it slip out from between her lips and rested her cheek against the inside of his thigh.
Neil’s legs buckled, and Talia moved just in time for him to collapse on the floor next to her. She had to giggle at them. She’d come without even getting her pants down, and Neil was still wearing his shirt, pants still tangled around his feet. “I don’t think I can move.”
“Yeah, me, neither,” Neil agreed. His voice was hoarse, and Talia didn’t even bother to hide her triumphant smile. She’d done that to him.
They sat quietly, leaning on each other for support. But something was missing. “I miss Eros.”
Neil sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I do, too, but let’s just have dinner and see where it goes before we call Eros back, okay?”
It made sense, but she didn’t have to like it. Still, Talia could understand why Neil was being extra cautious. “Can we just order in? I don’t think I’m up to moving any farther than the couch right now.”
Neil chuckled and kissed her temple. “Is Chinese good?”
The loud grumbling of her stomach broke the quiet of the apartment, and Talia blushed. “I love Chinese, and I sort of forgot to eat lunch. I’m starving.”
Neil shook his head and stood up, pausing to pull up his underwear and pants. “I see I’m going to have to keep tabs on you. Eros forgets to eat, too, sometimes.”
It warmed her heart to hear Neil speaking fondly of their other lover, the Greek god. She didn’t mention it, though, since she didn’t want Neil thinking too hard about what had transpired.
He reached down and hauled her to her feet. They staggered over to the couch and plopped down. Neil fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number, placing a delivery order from a local Chinese place. “Order out often?”
The grin he gifted
her with filled her with warmth. “I can cook, but it’s a chore to cook for only myself.”
Her textbooks were scattered all over the place, papers and files piled in one corner of the coffee table. “How did your presentation prep go?”
“Okay. I need to find a willing ear to listen to it before I present it though.” Something was poking her in the ass, and not in a good way. She reached under her butt and withdrew the new hardback of her favorite author, placing it on the table next to her civilizations textbook.
“I’ll listen to it,” Neil offered. “I may not understand it, but I’ll listen to it.”
He leaned forward and grabbed her book off the table. “Have you read this yet?”
“Sort of. I’m about halfway through. I have to be careful because I can get lost in a book and read the day away. So, unfortunately, I can’t finish it until this presentation is over.”
“I’ve been waiting for mine to come in from Amazon. Is it worth the wait?”
“Oh, definitely. I can’t wait to get back to it. If your copy comes in soon, maybe you can catch up and we can finish the rest at the same time.”
“Like a book club?” Neil asked with a smile.
She blushed but nodded enthusiastically.
“I think we can work something out,” he said. “Now, are you up for some TV, or do you want to run your presentation by me?”
“God, TV. Please.”
They spent the rest of the evening gorging themselves on Chinese food, talking about movies and books, and watching really bad reality television.
Everything was perfect. Almost. Finally Neil cradled her close. “Should we go fetch our errant lover?”
“You took the words right out of my mouth.”
She got up and retrieved the cell phone that Eros had given her and made her way back to Neil. “You want to do it?”
Neil shook his head and jerked his chin toward her. “You can do it. You’ve got a nicer voice than me.”
She smiled and dialed the cell phone as Eros had instructed. It rang. And rang. And rang. Her heart sank. “He’s not answering.”
Neil frowned. “He didn’t come into work again this morning. Apparently he handed in his resignation. I didn’t think much about it since I didn’t figure he could do his programming job and do his Cupid thing at the same time.”
“Well, what do we do now?” Talia’s stomach was a mass of knots. She was suddenly terrified that Eros had changed his mind.
Neil’s expression became determined. “Aphrodite,” he hollered. “Aphrodite, the goddess of love, I’m summoning you!”
“I don’t think you can summon a Greek goddess, Neil…” The rest of Talia’s sentence trailed off when the beautiful goddess appeared before them.
“Don’t you know how dangerous it is for a mortal to call a goddess, especially when said goddess is in the middle of a romantic picnic with her husband? I mean, really…oh. It’s you.” Aphrodite ceased her complaining when she saw them.
Talia smiled at the goddess apologetically. “We’re very sorry to interrupt your picnic, but we’re afraid we can’t get a hold of Eros. Would you happen to know where he is?”
Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at them. “What do you want with him? He said that he broke his power over you.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Talia saw Neil shrug. “He did. But our feelings for each other or for him failed to change, which logically means that they were genuine. We want him back.”
Aphrodite pursed her lips and glared at them. “After all this time? You’ve left him to wonder and stew and suffer, and now you want him back?” Her voice rose, and the lights in the apartment started to flicker. A slight breeze picked up in the room despite the fact that none of the windows were open. Talia’s papers, still spread out on the table, ruffled. The goddess appeared at once beautiful and terrifying. “I will not let you break my baby’s heart again.”
Crap. This was bad. Well, maybe bad wasn’t the right word. An angry goddess could only equal destruction, especially when every lightbulb in the place began exploding.
Talia stepped forward, ignoring Neil’s grip on her wrist as he tried to pull her back. “It’s only been a day since Eros released us. He told us that time moves differently on Mount Olympus than it does here.”
Immediately, the mini tornado that had formed in the middle of the room, scooping up the papers of her thesis and tossing them every which way, dissipated. “Oh. I sort of forgot about that.”
Talia frowned. “How long has it been on Mount Olympus?”
Aphrodite waved her hand, and the apartment put itself back to rights. “It’s been two weeks. My poor baby has been drowning his sorrows at Dionysus’s place every night.”
Neil blinked. “As in, getting drunk?”
If it had been any other time, Talia would have smiled at the confusion on Neil’s face. He was simply adorable. “Dionysus is the god of wine,” she whispered.
“Is it possible for a god to get drunk?” Neil whispered back.
How was she supposed to know? It wasn’t like she’d known she was dating by a Greek god before yesterday. But that seemed a little harsh to say, given that Neil had even less knowledge of gods than she did. “I expect they can, if Aphrodite is concerned about Eros.”
“I’m still here, you know,” Aphrodite drawled, twirling a lock off blonde hair around her index finger. “And, yes, gods can get drunk off Dion’s wine.”
Apparently satisfied with the explanation, Neil looked at Aphrodite, a pleading expression plastered across his face. “Will you take us to him?”
The goddess simply beamed at them. “Of course, darlings. You know, I told Artemis that the two of you would come around. She has absolutely no sense of romance, that girl. Well, what can you expect from a three–thousand-year-old virgin?”
The look of confusion was back on Neil’s face, but before Talia could say a word, they were standing in a tropical-themed bar.
Aphrodite sucked on her tongue at the sight. “Dion’s going through a phase, darlings. We all keep telling him he should turn his place back into a proper temple, but he insists on this rather strange decor. He recently discovered a whole host of new drinks. Pina coladas, rum punch, and something called a sex on the beach, and he redesigned the entire space to match the drinks. Silly, if you ask me. Although, I do quite like the mojitos. Maybe I’ll get a couple to go and take them back with me to our picnic.”
She wandered off to the bar, calling out as she went. “Yoo-hoo, Dion? Can you whip me up some of those lovely mojitos?”
A tall man appeared, his brown curly hair falling down charmingly over his forehead. “Of course, Aphy.”
Two tall glasses instantly appeared in front of her, and she scooped them up, cooing with pleasure. “I have to get back to Hephy. Be a dear, Dion, and help these two out.”
The god, Dionysus apparently, smiled at them and beckoned them closer. His expression changed to one of dismay as they got closer. “Mortals? I don’t know what Aphrodite was thinking, bringing mortals here. Zeus will have a fit. Of course, now that he has that Zen garden, he’d rather do yoga than throw some lightning bolts, but still.”
What was with all these gods and their rambling? Maybe being so old meant the filter between their brains and mouths had deteriorated.
Talia looked at Neil, who was staring around the bar with his mouth hanging open. “We’re here to see Eros,” Talia said to the god.
Understanding dawned on Dion’s face. He pointed toward a heavily shadowed corner. “He’s over there, working on depleting the last of my wine supply. Fair warning, he’s a miserable drunk. Go and drag him back to the land of the living, will ya? I already have to make more wine. For some reason, Athena refuses to drink any of my cocktails. I think she’s a snob, but you can’t say anything to her without hearing a lecture.”
Talia edged her way back from the bar, relieved to see Neil doing the same thing. The table Dionysus had pointed out was in the far back left, and when
the god of wine didn’t stop them, they rushed over.
Eros didn’t even look up when they approached. His hair was sticking up every which way, and his back was hunched. He looked like a lost little boy. “Take a hike, Hermes,” he muttered into his glass.
Talia ran her hand across the god’s shoulder while Neil sifted his fingers through Eros’s blond hair. “Eros? It’s us.”
“Tal? Neil? What are you doing here?” Eros asked, looking up at them blearily.
Oh, her poor, sweet Eros. Talia plopped into his lap and cradled him close to her breasts. “We’ve come to take you back home with us.”
Chapter 17
Eros blinked his eyes and attempted to focus his gaze. What in Tartarus were his two lovers doing here? He looked around, making sure that he was still at Dion’s place. He was just drunk enough that he could have inadvertently flashed himself into the midst of a mortal bar.
But nope. He could still see the plastic palm trees and stuffed parrots Dionysus had scattered randomly about his temple.
Besides, Talia was saying something about taking him home and Neil was doing something very distracting with his fingers. “Home?”
Talia stretched her arms around his shoulders and tugged until his cheek was resting against her chest. It was a particularly nice place to be, especially when Neil leaned down and began mouthing his ear. “You may have removed your influence, Eros, but our feelings haven’t changed.”
Oh, holy Zeus, they loved him.
“Are you sure?”
Why the fuck was he giving them a choice?
Maybe it was because he was too damn drunk to figure out something deep and meaningful and romantic to say.
Talia slid off his lap and glared down at him, fisted hands propped on her hips. “Of course we’re sure. We’ve known from practically the second you walked out and left us with those cell phones. Which you didn’t bother to answer, by the way.”
He blinked again. It seemed to be the only thing he could do without feeling like he was going to fall over. “I’d kinda given up hope of hearing from you. Two weeks is a long time, even if time is moving slower on Earth.”
