Still motionless, I marveled at my creation, not entirely sure how I had done it. Then I figuratively crushed the precious blood gem into priceless powder and fixed my gaze upon the Olympian goddess of love and sex. A hurricane of power roared through every fiber of my being, almost taking my breath away. I focused my entire self on Aphrodite. The moment my eyes met hers, she visibly flinched, as if I’d struck her cheek with my palm.
I didn’t react. Instead, I let unseen ribbons of my own power slither over her body as I swept my gaze over her nudity, starting at her feet and absorbing every single inch of her, permitting myself to openly appreciate every facet of her form. I didn’t hold back, and I didn’t allow guilt or shame to touch my face or my soul. This wasn’t of the heart—that belonged to Victoria and Natalie and…my castle, strangely enough.
This act was of the mind and the body. My weapon was blood—my specialty.
This was an attack, even if Aphrodite didn’t quite realize it yet. But she had asked for it. I was about to give her a dose of her own medicine and beat her upside the head with her own hypocrisy.
I saw her body as an exquisite, priceless statue designed by a master sculptor; she was infinitely more than a vessel to be used and then discarded once I achieved the pinnacles of my wildest carnal pleasures.
Aphrodite was genuinely the most beautiful human body I had ever—and would ever—see. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Nosh saw her in a slightly different way, her form somehow molding to his own interests. Maybe taller or plumper, if that was his thing. If I had the necessary skills to mold the absolute perfect companion that would conform to every inch of my own body, I could not have done a better job than Aphrodite as she appeared to me now. Her every curve screamed to be lightly caressed with a feather and raked with my teeth. Even her veins were perfectly placed for me to sink my fangs into when I would grow thirsty. Physically, she was everything I ever could have wanted. I could define her in one word, but even that would seem incomplete: perfection.
Everywhere I looked was a perfect handhold of pliant flesh designed to fill my palms like a succulent fruit. Every crevice was perfectly sized to invite my tongue or finger.
Even using only my eyes, I knew other parts of her would fit me just as snugly.
If I was blind, I would have still known every line of her body—down to the individual strands of her goldish brown hair. I would have even known the color of that hair despite not being able to see. I would have drowned in delirious happiness at the faintest whiff of her every scent. I could not find one single aspect, curve, contour or measurement that was wrong. Not even that, but I couldn’t find a single aspect that I could improve.
But…she was too perfect. Like she should sit on a shelf for fear of breaking her.
She was visibly panting, and her skin was now inflamed, her nipples hard and her lips plump as they became engorged with blood. She trembled beneath my gaze like a glass vase attempting to withstand the dangerous vibrations of that single sound that was enough to shatter it. I’d seen someone do that at a party once, using their voice to shatter a wineglass once they reached a certain pitch.
I watched as Aphrodite’s hips began to rock, her shifting ribbons converging between her thighs in a slithering tangle of rapidly quivering silk.
“No,” I commanded in a calm, gentle, authoritative tone.
The ribbons dropped to the ground in a pile, utterly motionless.
She gasped at the sudden loss of control and the physical source of her pleasure. Her eyes widened as they flicked towards the lifeless pile of traitorous ribbons—how they had obeyed my single word command rather than her own rampant desire. Her attention latched back onto me as I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. I stared deep into her eyes, using the pulverized blood ruby’s power to enthrall her. Not yet, I thought to myself, relaying the silent command to the goddess of sex. She had threatened to kill Nosh with sex, and she needed to understand that I didn’t tolerate such things.
That it would never happen again.
She nodded—more of a spastic twitch than anything. Her lips parted as she struggled desperately to breathe, unable to even blink without my express permission.
You will sit on the cusp until I permit otherwise. This ends here, sister. You will never again use your powers against me or those I care about.
She croaked out a desperate, forlorn whimper, unable to speak through her mad lust, and unable to deny my silent commands. I was preventing her from fully enjoying her own pleasure, and her body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat as a result.
She panted harder, her eyes rolling back into her skull as her body went to war with itself. She whimpered, her hands gripping the armrests of the chair like they were the only thing tethering her soul and body together. The wood groaned as she bit her lower lip, her nostrils flaring.
Do. You. Understand?
She nodded frantically, her toes curling loud enough for the bones to pop.
I waited three more seconds before leaning back into my chair to watch the effects of her pent-up lust hitting her all at once. I nodded one time.
She instantly cried out, her thighs clenching tight as she snapped both armrests off the chair and flung her head back. She quivered and rocked the chair back on its rear legs, her toes curling as she gasped and moaned. Moments later, her body slowly melted into the chair as if her bones had liquified.
I turned to Nosh. “Aphrodite wishes to wear one of my robes. She’s feeling a chill, the poor dear.” Nosh stared from me to Aphrodite with a stunned look on his face. “Now, Nosh. They’re just tits. You’ve seen enough of them.”
7
He stiffened and then rushed over to scoop up a robe that had been tossed onto a couch—the same robe I’d tried to give her earlier. He approached and politely extended the robe to the still-recovering Aphrodite. She took it and awkwardly covered herself. Then she slowly looked up at me, her mouth opening wordlessly as she tried to regain control of her breathing. She looked…alarmed, yet aroused by that alarm. “How…” she whispered, licking her lips. “What…was…that?” she whispered shakily.
“A lesson and a warning. The only one you will receive from me.”
She stared at me, still trembling at random intervals as echoes of bliss hit her. “I’ve never felt anything like it,” she breathed. “Perhaps because you were in control. But…how? No one should be able to do that to me, of all people.”
“It only worked because you actually wanted it,” I explained. “I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. You said it yourself. Consent matters.” She nodded dazedly. “In fact, that is why I did it. If I hadn’t, you would have done something fatally stupid to press the issue.” I studied her face. “Right?”
She nodded. “Y-yes. Even with the likely risks, yes,” she admitted in a whisper.
I nodded. “I could sense it on you. I figured it was the best solution to our problem. I flex, and you get enough of a taste to satisfy your desire. No one dies. We get back to what actually matters.”
She stared at me with an awed look on her face. “If I had any doubt about you being an Olympian before, you just dispelled it.”
“Did you?” I asked softly. “Have any doubts, I mean.”
She shook her head. “No. But the question would have always lingered in the back of my mind until I saw proof. Until I saw you in action.”
I nodded. “That was another reason I did it. Not for you, but for myself. I am not fully sold on Zeus’ claim. I assume that no one but a fellow Olympian could have done such a thing?”
She stared at me in complete silence, the fire crackling between us. “Sorin…” she finally murmured. “No Olympian could have done that to me. Not with a look and no physical contact. Sweet fucking gods!” she hissed, raking a hand through her sweaty hair. “No wonder everyone is so terrified of you. I thought they were just being dramatic.”
I masked my surprise upon hearing that not even a fellow Olympian could have played her like a
fiddle with only a look. I’d been curious about how potent the powers Artemis, Apollo, and Hades had given me were. Their curses, as they had been sold to me. Not only was I a blooded Olympian in my own right, but I now had the added curses of three Olympians. So why were those curses making me more powerful?
Was it their curses or the strange blood crystal I’d formed from my castle, Victoria, and Natalie? Then again, I could only use blood as power thanks to Artemis. I didn’t let any of that touch my features because I still had no solid understanding of Aphrodite’s true intentions.
“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, you are going to tell me—in no uncertain or ambiguous terms—why you came here tonight. What you meant about Hades and the Underworld. And you will do so quickly,” I said, suddenly remembering that Izzy and the Sisters of Mercy were waiting for me up above. “I have people waiting for me upstairs.”
Aphrodite nodded patiently. “Why do you think I froze time for you two, brother? To everyone within a mile, only seconds have passed since you entered this floor. Even to those outside.”
Inwardly, I let out a breath of relief to hear concrete confirmation about the passing of time being frozen. She’d already said as much, but to hear specifics was greatly reassuring to me.
Nosh cleared his throat. “That…is incredible. How did you manage that?”
Aphrodite studied me, picking up on my thoughts, and gave me a subtle nod. “It is night, and my powers are closely tied to nocturnal pastimes.” She glanced over at Nosh who had an aloof look on his face. She sighed. “Sex. We’re talking about sex. When a daddy loves a mommy very, very much, a little Noshy is made.”
He narrowed his eyes angrily. “Really?” he said in a dry, unimpressed tone. He shot me a frustrated look. I gave him nothing, curious how the two would get along now. I’d already interfered once. He needed to take care of himself from here on out or forever be labeled weak. “I get it, Aunt Ho Dye-tee,” he said, making the moniker rhyme with her real name.
I grinned, clapping my hands in approval.
Her eyes widened and she suddenly burst out laughing. “Okay. That was good. I’ll give you that. But you are too damned innocent for me to help myself, and my brother doesn’t approve of my distractions. The adults are talking now, so you can pretend to be a little human again and go play outside the bedchambers.” She stood and tossed him the pile of ribbons that had briefly decorated her naked body—which I hadn’t actually seen her grab. “A memento. Twirl them around or something. Whatever little humans do,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. “Be careful what you say around them, nephew,” she added with a playful wink. “Or don’t. Bye.”
“Kids,” Nosh said slowly, as if wanting to verify he had understood her words correctly because they made no sense to him. “Not little humans.” He set the ribbons down on a side table, looking uncomfortable about handling them after the section of Aphrodite’s body they’d just been working on. His aunt’s undergarments, to be literal. Also, they’d strung him up without effort earlier, so he was obviously embarrassed.
“Yes, those creatures,” she snapped impatiently, narrowing her eyes and folding her arms at his act of setting down her insulting gift. “Goodbye.”
Nosh shot me an incredulous look. “How can the goddess of sex and love be so ignorant about children?”
I slowly stood, frowning thoughtfully at Aphrodite. She had shifted her attention to stare at me intently, looking on the edge of her patience. Almost as if…she was bullshitting her way into getting Nosh out of the room. I met her stare directly as I slowly answered Nosh. “Maybe she’s just not a kid person.”
She nodded stiffly, but I could sense a deeper pain on her face at the topic. “That.”
“Can you give us some privacy, Nosh? Go check outside and make sure everything is okay. Keep an eye on Izzy and check on the Nephilim.”
The room was silent as Aphrodite and I continued to stare at each other. I could almost make out features that reminded me of myself. Almost.
“I am a grown ass man,” Nosh argued.
“I took you for a tits man,” Aphrodite said absently, not breaking eye contact with me.
“That’s not what I meant—” He cut off, letting out a frustrated breath. “You know what? I am going to go outside and make sure everyone is okay. Because I’m an adult.” He spun on his heel in my peripheral vision.
“Pick up your toys before you leave, young man,” Aphrodite snapped, blindly pointing at the ribbons he had set down on the side table.
I finally broke eye contact to see him turn back to us, staring down at the ribbons before shooting each of us a withering look. “How do I do the serpentine lingerie thing? I’m feeling frisky and I’m being sent to my room. Who knows what I’ll get up to,” he said dryly.
Aphrodite burst out laughing, finally turning to face him. “No words are necessary if you want it to do something—anything—to your own body. Just think it.” She winked darkly. “You’re welcome.”
He nodded curiously, staring down at the ribbons. They suddenly lashed out, each of them wrapping around a different wrist like bracelets. He grunted in surprise, lifting them for a closer inspection. Thankfully, he left it at that. He shot her a curious look, lowering his arms. “Thank you, Aphrodite. I think.”
She nodded with an amused smirk. “You’re welcome, sweet boy.”
Nosh turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.
“Kids,” Aphrodite said, her shoulders relaxing ever so slightly.
I nodded thoughtfully. Because Nosh had brought up an interesting point. Aphrodite had conceived children from quite a few Olympians: Ares, Hermes, Poseidon, and Dionysus. Maybe more. So…why was she acting as if she didn’t know a thing about children?
“It is a sore subject, brother. I ask that you leave it alone,” she said softly, turning to stare into the fire. “I cannot read your mind, but I can feel your eyes. I just needed him gone.”
“Okay,” I said neutrally, studying her and wondering what trouble she was about to lay upon my shoulders that she didn’t even want Nosh knowing about.
8
I waited in silence for about a minute before my curiosity and impatience got the best of me. “What was that really about? Do you not trust him?”
My words snapped her out of her thoughts, and she let out a small sigh. “Why would I not trust him?” she asked, cocking her head curiously.
I shrugged. “He is a skinwalker. Maybe that concerns you.”
She stared at me for about three seconds, and then her attention shifted towards the door as if she could still see him. “Is he now?” she asked, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Is that a Native American thing?”
I frowned uneasily. “You didn’t sense it? You felt that he was a shaman, though.”
She nodded thoughtfully, still staring towards the door. ““I take it that his mother was a shaman? Or shared that bloodline?”
I nodded. “Second generation shaman, but she didn’t have any powers. Trust me on that. Her father was quite frustrated over it,” I sighed. “She’s long dead anyway. She was mortal.”
Aphrodite cast me a sympathetic frown. “I’m sorry. That was your second lost love, yes?”
I nodded, not liking the sudden wave of emotions that welled up within me. “How did you not sense him being a skinwalker?” I repeated.
She glanced back at the door again, pursing her lips uneasily. “Many Olympians can change form, Sorin…” she suggested with extreme caution, as if fearing my reaction.
“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath. Did she have a point or was it just a strange coincidence? He had the skinwalker blades—his tomahawks. Was he under the impression that he was a skinwalker simply because he had no other explanation? Like me learning that some of the gifts I’d been given by the Olympians may have simply been birthrights—that I had been played, granting Artemis, Apollo, and Hades more credit than they were actually due. It was a great control tactic to make someone think
they owed you everything. I’d used it often in my past life.
Dracula was a prime example of how poorly that could work out, even when the gifts were truly given.
Aphrodite slowly sat down on the bear-skin rug at my feet, not looking at me. She somehow made even that look deliciously seductive. She crossed her legs and carefully adjusted the robe so that it covered her tanned skin. “Sit,” she said, gesturing at my chair. Her voice had taken on an undertone of sincerity rather than coy playfulness.
I joined her on the rug instead, mirroring her position so that our knees touched. She smiled warmly, obviously having expected me to take the higher ground and sit in the chair looking down upon her as a power play. Had it been a test? Or was I looking too deeply into it? I was fairly certain that it was impossible to look too deeply into anything related to the Olympians.
“Nosh didn’t need to hear your personal matters—and your privacy matters to me,” she said, smirking proudly at her dual use for the word. “You don’t need an audience when enjoying the company of two beautiful women in your bedchambers.”
I listened to her words and I knew that she was not just talking about Natalie and Victoria, or about my bedchambers. “Or when talking to my sister,” I said, watching her closely.
She smiled and gave me a slow nod. “One never knows who is listening. I’m sure you’ve learned that lesson in your years. How even bedrooms are not as private as we hope. The most terrific and terrible things often take place during the night.”
My fingers clenched tightly into a fist. Was…she speaking about Selene? How she had feared that our conversation had been watched, forcing her to put on a show and harm Natalie? Was that why she kept referencing my bedroom? I kept my face composed. Were they allies? Was that why she wasn’t outright saying it?
Devil’s Blood: Shade of Devil Book 3 Page 5
