by Tina Folsom
“Sophia, I’m sure there’s a simple explanation for that.”
“I’m not making this up.” She noticed how her voice was getting shriller.
“Shh,” he whispered and caressed her face. “I know you’re not making it up. The door was a little sticky when I tried to open it, and I admit that it was hard to turn off the taps. Let me talk to the plumber tomorrow and see that he adjusts those things. All right?”
“Okay.”
He kissed her on the forehead. “And until he’s fixed it, I think I’ll help you shower.”
A smile stole onto her lips. He wanted to help her shower? “But your clothes will get wet if you help me shower,” she teased him.
His soft chuckle rumbled through his chest and reached her palms, which were still pressed against him.
“I was planning on performing that task without any clothes. Unless you don’t want me to—”
She put a finger onto his lips to stop him. “No. I want.”
Triton snatched her finger and pulled it into his mouth. “Mmm, dessert,” he commented. In the same instant, he shifted her on his lap so she straddled him. The belt of her bathrobe suddenly loosened, and Sophia realized he was the one untying it. “I love dessert.”
He pulled his t-shirt over his head and threw it onto the floor before his hands slid inside her robe and wrapped around her as he pulled her closer. Instantly she could feel the hard muscle pulsating beneath her, where their bodies connected. As if to make it even clearer what he wanted, he pressed her down onto him.
“This time I want to be inside you,” he said in husky tones.
Sophia reached for the button of his shorts and eased it open, then pulled the zipper down. He hadn’t bothered with underwear. Just as well, for she suddenly felt impatient to feel him intimately.
Her hand wrapped around his erection, and she felt his impressive size. His moan told her how much he liked her touch. She lifted herself up onto her knees and he took the occasion to push his shorts further down, giving her better access to his cock.
She found the condom she’d put into the pocket of her robe earlier and sheathed him with it. Then she guided him to her moist folds and slowly lowered herself onto him, taking him inside inch by glorious inch. It was the most perfect thing she’d ever done. The slide of flesh on flesh was smooth and sent shockwaves through her body.
Triton’s hands came to her hips, steadying her, rather than hastening her descent. His breathing was heavy, and she sensed what it cost him to not simply thrust his hips up to submerge himself in her.
“You’re killing me,” he claimed through clenched teeth, “and I love every second of it.”
He let her set her own pace, and for the first time during sex, Sophia felt powerful and confident. To know that he wanted her pleasure—a fact he’d already proven earlier—was a bigger turn-on than anything else she’d ever experienced.
She continued descending onto the hard flesh of Triton’s cock which was halfway inside her, filling her, stretching her. Sophia found his lips and kissed him, then drove down on him, taking him into her to the hilt. Triton released a moan into her mouth and took charge of the kiss.
Sophia found her rhythm, and he matched her easily. She took him deep, then withdrew, then drove down onto him, again and again. His hips arched upwards, meeting her thrust for thrust. His tongue mimicked the actions of his cock, plunging, then withdrawing, coaxing her to come back for him.
Triton tasted of salt and ocean, and his skin smelled of the beach and the sun. He combined all her favorite smells and tastes, and she couldn’t get enough of him. Never had she felt this wild and reckless, throwing all caution to the wind for a chance at ultimate pleasure in the arms of a virtual stranger. Pleasure he’d already shown he could give her. Now she wanted to share that same pleasure with him.
Intimacy had always been difficult for her, but with Triton it seemed natural. Being almost blind had opened her up to her other senses, particularly her sense of touch. And in the end, it was all that mattered, not what somebody looked like, but what he felt like and how he made her feel.
And Triton made her feel wanted, cherished, desired.
“You feel so good,” he mumbled against her lips before he trailed kisses down her neck. “Can’t get enough of you.”
The words struck her deep in her core and spread an unknown warmth within her. His voice was clouded with passion, yet so sincere, her heart cracked open but a splinter. Could he really be the man, who could be right for her? Was it possible that in her darkest hour she’d met someone who was meant for her?
She didn’t get a chance to answer the question for herself, because Triton now captured all her attention. His hand had dropped between their bodies and settled on her clit. He gently rubbed his thumb over it in small circles.
“Come with me,” he urged her, and there was nothing she wanted more.
She let him carry her away, touch her, caress her, coax pleasure from her body. Every stroke of his thumb and every slide of his cock heated her body more. Her skin was moist with perspiration, her body temperature threatening to explode every thermometer, while her hands were busy touching him, wanting more and more of him, a closer connection, a deeper joining.
Her breathing was erratic, her heartbeat uneven, yet nothing mattered but the knowledge that he was driving her higher and higher. In a frantic rhythm, their bodies mated, joined by his cock in her tight sheath, their tongues intertwined, their arms in embrace.
“Oh, God, yes!” The words burst out of her when her orgasm broke and washed over her. A second later, he surged up into her with a final hard thrust, and she felt his cock spasm again and again as he exploded. His deep grunts filled the living room as he continued to rock inside her.
When she collapsed onto him, his arms imprisoned her instantly, and instead of sliding out of her, his cock remained deeply lodged inside her.
He blew out a breath near her ear. “Give me a few minutes, and we’ll try that again.”
She gave a half chuckle, too exhausted for more than that. “Again?”
Triton didn’t move. “If I wasn’t too exhausted right now, I’d spank your pretty little ass for that doubting tone in your comment. Of course, again.” He nudged her nose with his finger. “I’m no fool—I know when I’ve found a good thing. And besides, I’m only just getting started.”
Twenty-Six
Triton let his head rest on the pillow in Sophia’s bed, the sleeping Sophia in his arms. Her head lay on his bicep as he spooned her. Something was seriously wrong with this picture. He wasn’t the kind of man who kept a woman wrapped in his arms all night after he’d gotten what he wanted: sex. If Sophia were any other woman, he would have hightailed it out of her bed hours ago. Yet he was still here.
Triton waited for the feeling of claustrophobia to hit him, surprising himself when no such thing happened. Instead, he nudged her closer to him, leaving no space between their bodies. Sophia gave a little sigh, but didn’t wake.
Maybe the fact that he was currently without his godly powers had effected a change within him which made him vulnerable to the charms of a mortal woman. There was no other explanation for it. He would simply have to accept this fact for now, and hope this feeling went away once he had his powers back. Because clearly, he couldn’t live like this: he cared about her. He cared whether she was comfortable, whether she was happy and satisfied, when he’d only ever cared about his own self.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized that this new sentiment spreading in his chest would make it easier for him to fulfill his mission. By robbing him of his powers, Zeus had turned him into a caring man.
Take that, Zeus!
Obviously, the king of gods hadn’t considered that fact when he’d sent Triton down to earth. Things would be easy from now on. Being a kind and considerate person would come naturally to him, and hence making Sophia fall in love with him would be a foregone conclusion. In the meantime, he would enjoy being the n
ew man he was turning into. It wasn’t all that bad. He particularly liked this warm feeling that spread in his chest whenever he thought of Sophia. Could it be that those unknown sensations had something to do with love? He would have to talk to Eros about it. Purely to study the phenomenon, of course.
Triton brushed Sophia’s hair from her neck and placed a soft kiss on her skin. He felt her heartbeat under it. There was a tenderness in his kiss he hadn’t experienced before, but wanted to explore further. When Sophia stirred, he rolled her onto her back and captured her mouth with his. Her lips parted under light pressure, and he gave a tentative stroke with his tongue.
“Mmm,” he heard her hum.
“You don’t have to wake up,” he whispered against her lips, “I’ll take care of you.” His hand trailed down to her pussy and his fingers combed through her nest of curls, then slid down to her warm flesh. She was still wet—or maybe again—and without hesitation he slipped a finger into her tight sheath.
“You don’t honestly think I could sleep through this, do you?” she asked without opening her eyes.
“But you need your sleep.” And he could go without sleep for a while. Making love to her would be much more rewarding and rejuvenating than any amount of sleep could ever be. Triton silenced her with a kiss and continued his ministrations to her pussy, withdrawing his finger from her and sliding it further up. His dew-covered fingertip stroked over her clit and made her jerk against him.
Vaguely he realized that his heated body suddenly started cooling. Was he losing interest? He released her lips for a moment, wondering what had suddenly changed when he noticed a breeze on his back. Then his senses picked up the sound of the ceiling fan. No wonder he was cooling down—the ceiling fan had switched on and provided some much-needed relief for the warm summer night.
Sophia responded to his kiss with the same passion and abandon as before. She definitely wasn’t sleepy any longer, he could tell from the way she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him onto her. As she spread her thighs, he moved himself between them, positioning his rampant cock at her center.
Remembering he needed a condom, he stretched toward the nightstand. While he quickly opened the foil pack, he glanced back at her. In a second, he would breach this heavenly portal again and submerge himself in her heat, driving them both to another mind-blowing orgasm. As he savored the anticipation of possessing her once again, the grating noise of the ceiling fan reached his senses. It was more pronounced than before, and with every second the sound spiraled louder.
Then something snapped.
Out of pure reflex, Triton grabbed Sophia and rolled them both off the bed, landing hard on his back on the wooden floor, Sophia’s startled form braced on top of him. Simultaneously, the bed took the impact of the falling ceiling fan.
Triton breathed heavily. Unconcerned how his own body felt, his hands frantically roamed Sophia’s body. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
He felt her shake her head, but she didn’t speak.
“Say something, Sophia. You’re scaring me.”
“Triton.” Just one word, that’s all she said, her body shaking.
Triton pulled her head to him and kissed her, not a passionate or even tender kiss, but a desperate one. A kiss to make sure she was all right, unhurt, unharmed. Then he pressed her against his chest where his heart beat a frantic tattoo against his ribcage.
What in Hades had happened?
He brought them both to a sitting position, keeping her close, and looked at the bed. The rays from a streetlamp filtering through the window provided just enough light for him to see the damage.
“Tell me what happened,” her shaky voice demanded.
“The ceiling fan came down. It crashed onto the bed.”
She shivered in his arms. “Oh, God, if you hadn’t reacted so fast, it would have fallen on you.”
“And on you,” Triton corrected. “Looks like it shredded the sheets.”
“Shredded? Did the wooden blades splinter?”
He reached out toward the bed and touched the fan. The material didn’t feel like wood. It was too smooth. “No splinters. They are intact.”
He lifted Sophia out of his arms and stood. A moment later, he switched on the bedside lamp which gave him sufficient light to survey the scene better. The fan was smack-bang in the middle of the bed, exactly where he and Sophia had been about to make love. Except for a torn cable on top of it, it appeared to be intact. None of the wooden blades had broken off, even though the damn thing had fallen down a good seven feet.
“Sophia, did you say the blades were wooden?”
She nodded. “Yes, it’s an old fan. We’ve had it for years.”
“It doesn’t look old. Are you sure?”
“Yes, because before I went to the hospital I asked Charlie to have it fixed. I didn’t want him to replace it.”
Triton touched the blades, running his palm over the smooth surface. Then he scratched against it with his fingernail. The sound confirmed what he’d already suspected. “This is metal. It’s just painted to look like wood.”
“But why? I told Charlie that I wanted to keep the old fan.”
He took Sophia by her shoulders and looked straight at her. “Sophia, the problem isn’t that he installed a brand new fan, the problem is, the fan came on in the middle of the night and then crashed onto the bed. And since you were asleep and I didn’t even know which switch operates that fan, I’d like to know who switched it on. Because it looks like by putting the thing in motion, something loosened its hold and dumped it onto the bed.”
Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open, a surprised gasp escaping her. “You think this wasn’t an accident?”
***
Orion cursed.
That mortal Michael was an idiot and utterly useless for the task he’d given him. Instead of causing strife between Triton and Sophia by planting suspicion about Triton in Sophia’s mind, he was driving them right into each other’s arms. Did the man have no idea that by initiating stupid accidents, he would awaken Triton’s protector instinct and turn him into a hero Sophia would easily fall for?
He’d given Michael enough suggestions, such as contacting the healthcare agency and finding out more about Triton’s background—which Orion knew would be sufficient for Sophia to wipe out any trust she had in Triton. But Michael hadn’t even bothered to follow this hint. What was he paying the idiot for?
Orion huffed angrily as he peeked into the bedroom from a safe distance on a small cloud. Leave it up to some idiot mortal like Michael, and his entire plan would go up in smoke. He realized now that if he needed something done properly, he’d have to do it himself. And in addition, he’d now have to clean up after Michael to make sure nobody got suspicious of what was really going on.
Forming a plan, he teleported onto the street below. He would have to undermine Sophia’s trust in Triton and expose him for what he was—a liar and a cheat—without revealing his status as a god, for if he did, Zeus would come down on him. No, exposing Triton as a god would only draw Zeus’ wrath onto himself. He had a much better idea.
And a much simpler one at that. Who was the smarter brother now?
Twenty-Seven
Sophia had awakened in Triton’s bed. He’d cradled her in his arms the entire night as if he’d feared something bad would happen to her if he let go. Had she not been so shaken by the events of the night, she would have been on cloud nine at having met a man who cared like he did.
But as it was, she was still in shock. First the incident in the shower, then the accident with the ceiling fan. No, not an accident. Triton didn’t believe it was an accident, and once he’d planted that suspicion in her mind, she couldn’t shake it off. Did somebody truly want her harmed, or was this just another one of Charlie’s failures to do his work properly? Could it be that the contractor’s shortcuts were to blame, or was something more sinister behind these issues?
Sophia stood in the kitchen, bracing herself agai
nst the center island. Even though Triton had asked her to sit in the garden and rest, she couldn’t be idle right now. She needed something to occupy her mind with while he was upstairs with two of his friends to look at the shower and the ceiling fan.
If only she could busy herself with something while she waited. But Triton had insisted she let him handle this. From the tone in his voice, she’d deducted that he found it better if she wasn’t there during the investigation of why the ceiling fan had come down and why the water hadn’t shut off.
“Miss Baker?” She swiveled at hearing a female voice behind her. “I’m Alice, Greg’s wife.”
“Alice?” Sophia rummaged through her mind about why Greg’s wife would visit her. She knew there was something she’d talked to him about only yesterday. But for a moment, her mind was blank.
“Greg’s home sick today, but he told me you wanted to see me.” The woman paused. “About the position.”
“Oh, of course. Please, do come in.” Now she remembered. Despite what had happened last night—both the good and the bad—life went on. She still had responsibilities, and one of them was to make this business work. And without staff, she wouldn’t be able to get it off the ground.
Sophia stretched her hand in Alice’s general direction. The woman shook her hand.
“I typed up my resume last night.” Alice shoved a sheet of paper in her direction.
“You shouldn’t have bothered.”
“Oh, you mean, you already hired for the position?” Her voice was laced with the kind of panic only a desperate person could conjure up.
Sophia instantly regretted her tactless remark and explained, “No, no. I haven’t. I can’t read it. Didn’t your husband mention that I’m almost blind?”
There was a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank the Lord.” Then Alice appeared to have realized what she’d said. “I mean, not about you being blind, but about the job. I’m sorry. I mean, I’m sorry to hear you’re blind. I mean …” Her stammers attested to her nervousness.
