Realizing quickly, I was going to be left behind if I didn’t suck up my pride and follow him, I wasted no time in catching up.
“Atlas is probably messing with you, trying to make you think I’m Hera. But trust me, I have nothing in common with her. I’ve never even had a monogamous relationship in my life and she’s supposed to be the Goddess of marriage.”
He laughed and shook his head simply saying: “whatever you say Queenie.” I frowned at his back but still followed him, the idea rolling around in my head.
Chapter 5
Aidan and I didn’t talk much as we made our way down to the penthouse. I still didn’t have any idea how to get down there much less find my way anywhere else. I don’t know how anyone else figured out this maze because there wasn’t a map in a welcome program that Atlas had handed out. At least, I hadn’t gotten one, everyone else might’ve; that would figure.
I said goodnight to Aidan and retreated into my room. Much to my surprise when I looked at the clock it was far later than I had thought it was, almost close to four in the morning surprisingly. I wondered if time passed faster or something in Olympus but didn’t dwell on it much as I turned my attention to the kettle starting to prepare a cup of tea.
While the water boiled, I turned to the TV to see what sort of reception Olympus got. While I knew I probably shouldn’t have been, I was surprised to find myself subscribed to every channel in the world. Whatever it was that interested me I would be able to watch. Either Atlas was a rich psychopath or I had to start believing that maybe this was all real.
I flipped through various late night programs until I settled on a rerun of a cheesy wedding show. I watched as one girl threw a fit at her florist who hadn’t been made aware of the last-minute changes to the bouquet as I undid my dress and slipped it off. Laying it on the arm of the couch I made my way over to the whistling kettle and took it off the burner, pouring the hot contents out into my cup.
“Queenie, you got any sugar?” Aidan’s voice echoed through my apartment. The shock of his appearance jolted me into dropping the hot cup and letting it smash all over the ground.
“What the hell!” I spun around to see Aidan assessing my scantily clad form from around a door that I hadn’t noticed until now. Or maybe I had, and had written it off as being an extra closet or something.
“How did you get in here?” I shouted at him, grabbing a tea towel from the bar of the oven to try and maintain some dignity. He smirked at me, that, now, annoyingly cocky smirk and wagged an empty cup measure at me. I scowled at him,
“Get out! You’re not baking, you’re being a pervert!” He laughed and stepped into the room, further infuriating me, and set the measuring cup down on the TV stand.
“I like that outfit a lot better than the one before.”
“Aidan. Get. Out.” I was trying to grasp at the last few strands of control I had, all the while a bright red hue crawled up my chest to my face. He seemed to enjoy placing me in such a vulnerable position because he moved forward toward me, making me back away like a cornered deer.
“You’re adorable when you blush, did you know that?” I realized he was making small talk to further his power trip but there must have been a reason why he had burst in suddenly, unannounced, other than to be an ass.
“What do you want?” I snapped, moving sideways to where Atlas had decorated a reading chair with a chenille throw.
“I was in my room unwinding when I realized I might have been a bit… Well, I wasn’t myself when you ran into me and I wanted to apologize. As King of the Gods I should be welcoming to all newcomers even if they are supposed to be my wife.”
“I’m not your wife.”
“Yet.” He grinned at me and I felt a chill down my spine, he was like a hunter before the hunt I realized. “Anyways, I was a bit thrown off by your arrival because I had been hoping for some more time for me before you came but that was no reason to be unhostly.”
“That’s not a word.”
He waved a hand at me and continued, “, I wanted to extend my deepest apologies and offer you a gift for my discourteous manner. You may, if you wish, sleep with me tonight.” My jaw dropped and I stared at him, no doubt like he had grown two heads.
Did he think that offering me sex, as if I couldn’t get some if I wanted it, would make him a good host? I huffed in indignation and threw aside the tea towel to move to the blanket and cover myself completely.
“You have some nerve you pompous, self-obsessed ass! One, I am not your wife, nor will I ever be. And two, I would rather shoot myself in the face before sleeping with you.” Not exactly true but he certainly had lost some of his appeal with this ‘gracious gesture.’
“But you are my wife.” He conceded with a sullen nod before smirking again, I wanted to scratch it right off his face. “How else do you think I got into this apartment specifically charmed to only open to you and your consort?”
“I don’t know how you did it but it’s not because you’re my damn consort! Now if you don’t get out of here I’m going to make you leave!” I stalked over to him, hands on my blanket clad waist and stood as tall as I could to meet his eyes. “Get. Out.”
He chuckled; maybe to infuriate me more because it worked, he turned back to the entrance he’d come through.
“You believe what you want Queenie. But you’ll come around to the truth soon enough and when you do, you’ll wish you took me up on my offer.”
I seethed, “I said, don’t call me that!” Out of nowhere a gush of wind came up in the room and threw Aidan back toward the door. He slammed into the TV stand knocking everything over and collapsed in a pile on the ground. If he was hurt I couldn’t tell because he continued to laugh as I stood there, staring at my hands and wondering if I had done that or if it had been a freak accident.
Aidan rose slowly, rubbing the back of his head and shaking it before reaching for the door, “Keep telling yourself you’re not Hera, Queenie. You can deny it all
you want but you can’t deny her.” I didn’t need to tell him again because he opened the door and slipped through it closing it with a click. I inhaled once or twice more before I felt calmness begin to rush through my body as though someone had boxed up the anger once again. I sat shakily down on the nearest kitchen chair, staring down at my hands in shock.
Who did he think he was barging into my private space like that and propositioning me for sex? Was he trying to piss me off? It had worked. I probably hated him now and all those earlier feelings that had risen in me had been utterly smothered by his brazenness. He was right though, if this was the kind of guy he was then, how he had been on the way to the apartments certainly ‘wasn’t him.’ But if this was also how he was, I wanted nothing to do with him – hot or not.
I resolved then, in that moment, to ignore Aidan to my utmost ability. Even if I was supposedly his Greek consort, I wanted nothing to do with him at all.
The next morning, I woke to have mostly forgotten the night before. It wasn’t until I made my way out into the living room to see the disarray of my TV cabinet and the broken mug because I remembered everything. I scowled to myself and shook my head refusing to even consider dealing with it right away. Besides, I’d need help to right the TV cabinet; it was much too large for me. I’d have to get Atlas to come, him or maybe one of the other guys…
I certainly wasn’t going to lower myself and ask Aidan to come and help. For all I know he’d demand payment for services rendered and that would happen the day pigs flew. I frowned at my reflection in the mirror for a moment as I mulled over that. If Greek Gods exist did that mean things like pigs flying and hell freezing over were possibilities too?
I shook my head and spat out the toothpaste before rinsing. No, that was ludicrous. I had about an hour, I figured, until I needed to head out to wander around until I found where I was going. I decided that today, on top of finding an able man to help fix the knocked down TV stand, I needed to figure out a way of finding my way around this place a
nd find out what else was around here if I was going to be forced to stay here.
I found it hard to believe that Atlas wanted us to hang in our apartments. Even though I had brought clothes with me what if I wanted to go shopping too? Were there stores? Charlotte mentioned a swimming pool, okay ‘Jacuzzi’ like hot spring, but was there a gym or a fitness studio of some kind to work out in? There were a lot of questions I needed answered and no Atlas in sight. Maybe I had to amend my second goal into ‘find Atlas.’ At the least, that guy owed me a few answers.
I was slicing up some strawberries to put on my cereal when there was a knock at the door. I turned in partial surprise to it and picked up a bit of strawberry before heading over. Licking my fingers, I muttered a “one sec” before grabbing the door and pulling it open. I didn’t recognize the girl in front of me but she seemed to know me somehow.
“Savannah?” She asked brightly, her smile lighting up her entire face.
I nodded dumbly before smiling back, “uh, yup. And you are?”
“Dana.” She held out her hand allowing me to shake it before I stepped back and held the door open for her to come in.
“Oh no, it’s alright. Charlotte sent me to get you, she figured you wouldn’t know how to get to the pool.”
I smiled and nodded in agreement, “Charlotte was right about that… I’m not even entirely sure how you guys know where everything is.” Dana laughed, a cute tinkle as she shook her head. “It’s easy. Concentrate on where you want to go and the mountain takes you there. After some walking, of course.”
“Oh.” Now that she said it I felt stupid for not having thought of that myself. Everything else seemed to be done by thoughts and desires of course, why wouldn’t the mountain work like that too?
“Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.” She said cutely and smiled at me. I couldn’t help but smile back before casting a longing glance at my cereal. “Did I catch you at a bad time?” She said a bit worriedly.
“Oh, no. I wanted to eat something before heading out to the party.”
“Well, Charlotte has lots of food there.” I bet she did. She seemed like the type who needed to cover all her bases at social gatherings, leaving no stone unturned.
“I’m not even dressed.” I offered as a second argument to which Dana did a quick, not subtle once over and nodded in agreement which only made me blush more. I doubted she had deliberately meant to make me feel bad but I still felt like a wreck compared to the other prim and proper girl in my entranceway.
“Well, give me a minute to go put something on for the party. I only got up I’m afraid. It was a long night.” Dana cast a sideways glance at the broken TV stand and mumbled under her breath, “I bet.”
I shook my head slightly and smiled at her before heading over to the counter to grab the bowl. I quickly swept in the strawberries I’d cut up on top of the granola and headed off to my room to change. I took a few massive bites on the way there, hoping to put some fuel in my system before heading out to go around with the sharks.
I set the bowl down on top of the desk and moved over to the closet, trying to remember if I had brought a swimsuit with me. Opening the closet doors, I drew open the top drawer and sifted through the various undergarments and bras inside before finding a one-piece white and gold cutout I didn’t recall even owning.
I frowned at it for a minute before turning to the long mirror on the wall. I quickly put it down to shed off my pajamas and tugged the suit on to check myself out. It certainly showed off more skin than my normal one piece would, practically bordering on being a bikini but it most certainly was swimsuit fit for the Queen of the Gods – not that I was she, of course.
It was haltered, each strap wrapped in chunky gold rings for decoration, with a plunging neckline. The back was drawn together with a simple mid-back strap and piece on the side that attached the typical bikini bottom. I had to say, despite how much skin it showed, I thought I looked good.
I’d have to wear something over it though, I couldn’t imagine being this naked in front of a bunch of perfect looking girls. Especially Charlotte and Nicola, Aphrodite, if she came.
I returned to the closet looking for a sundress or something that could match and as I was standing there, before my eyes a golden weave sarong appeared. It was a perfect match for the bikini. Excitement bubbled up in me when I realized what the closet was doing – it was helping me look perfect.
Grinning to myself I tried it with the swimsuit and sure enough I was fit to be Queen. Turning to the jewelry box I dug through for some costume pieces to accent the whole look. When I was finished accessorizing I had to admit… I looked the part. I could pull off being a Greek Goddess with the help of some magic.
Elated and delighted with how I was dressed I scooped a couple more mouthfuls of cereal into my mouth before rushing into the bathroom to quickly plait my hair. It was going to get wet anyway there was no point in curling it. I tangled it into a loose messy braid over one shoulder and grabbed waterproof mascara to open my eyes before hurrying out of my room and back to the waiting Dana. She hadn’t appeared to move from her spot where I left her but she didn’t seem anxious about it at all.
She simply smiled broadly and exclaimed, “Oh, you look good!” I flushed with pride, a foreign feeling to me and smiled bashfully.
“Thanks. Does your closet spew out clothes you need?”
“Oh yes, but I never get anything nice as that.”
I blushed more and shook my head, mumbling a pitiful, “I think you look amazing” before following her out of the door and into the hallway. I turned in habit to lock the door but it clicked on its own.
We were about to head out when a voice interrupted us, “hey Queenie – looking good. Want to throw me up against the wall again?” My head snapped to the side to see Aidan coming out of his own apartment at the same time as us. He had that hungry predator look in his eyes again as he took in the sight of both of us in our bathing suits. I crossed my arms protectively and turned to Dana.
“C’mon. What an ass,” I muttered under my breath; unaware of how bright red he’d made me, and how Dana had seen my reaction.
“Where are you two going?” From the sound of his voice I could tell he was getting closer as though he were following us and I released my arms long enough to grip Dana and steer her in the other direction, thinking hard about having a shortcut to the pool.
“Did you and him…” She didn’t have to finish the question for me to know exactly what she was getting at.
I shook my head furiously, “no. Not at all. Not even close.” I blushed more, mostly out of the fact that I was recalling what he had said to me the night before and how awful it had felt knowing he thought I needed him to ‘gift’ me with a one night stand.
We rounded the next corner and I hoped that would be enough to make him go away, allowing Dana to take the lead once more.
“Oh. I forgot…” She stopped short and turned back to the direction we had come from. Please don’t turn back, he’ll still be there waiting to annoy me or flirt with me and I want to put as much distance between us, I thought. Dana seemed to read my mind as she smiled and nodded to our previous direction.
“I meant to grab something out of my apartment before going but you go on now that you know how this place works and I’ll meet you there.”
She smiled kindly and I nodded in thanks, “alright, I’ll see you there.”
Turning back in the direction we had been heading I started forward and focused on the pool as Dana had suggested. I hoped it wouldn’t be too far along because I didn’t want to risk running into Aidan accidentally again or vice versa. It was as though when I thought I was in the clear that the fates had a different idea.
“You’re in a hurry.” He was leaning against the wall ahead of me, smirking with his arms crossed over his chest, causing anger to course through me. How he had managed to get ahead of me I’d never know but now I knew he was distinctly getting pleasure from my misery.
Setting
my jaw, I moved past him deliberately resisting the urge to reply and remained intent on heading to the pool party before he absolutely spoiled my mood.
“Are you ignoring me because of last night?” He pushed himself off the wall with his shoulders and moved after me, smart enough to keep a two second distance between us considering my inability to control whatever it was that had made him fly across the room last night.
“C’mon Queenie, don’t be like this. I was extending a hand of generosity.” He was still sticking to that philosophy; I couldn’t believe it.
Spinning on him I turned, raging slightly, “Generosity? What do you think I am... a charity case that needs your help to get laid? Do you think I have problems with that?”
His eyes slipped down my physique and assessed me once more. It was an unnecessary gesture because we both knew he’d looked me over not once, not even twice but nearly every single time we were in the same space as each other.
This didn’t stop him from taking his sweet time in answering my otherwise rhetorical question.
“No. But you’re not my usual type and I could tell you want me, I wanted to be fair.” He finally said slowly, taking his time to assess my reaction.
But his answer still took me off guard as much as Atlas’ had when he said the same thing. I frowned, the disappointment no doubt visible on my face as I faced him, “what do you mean?”
He shrugged, “You’re not my usual type.”
My eyes narrowed in suspicion as I pressed for more details, “how then, am I not your type?” He cleared his throat and pretended to look thoughtful about the conversation before he leaned in close, his breath warm on my ear that sent a jerk of shivers down my spine.
For a moment, I lost myself once more in the uninhibited fantasy but his words ripped me back to reality:
“I don’t typically go for the high maintenance types.” As my eyes opened again his face was there, clouding my entire vision with his infuriating smirk. Reaching up I shoved him hard away from me.
Grace of Gods Boxset: Reincarnated Greek Gods YA/NA Series Page 5
