Fluffing her hair out from beneath her collar, she rolled her eyes at me. “Oh, come, brother. We both know how you get. You might have the rest of the pantheon fooled, but you know that I know you far too well to fall for your games.”
Curling my hands into fists on my knees, I stared at her. She would accuse me of playing games, and yet that was exactly what she did with me now. This was all one big game for her. My emotions. My love of her. My need to prove myself worthy to her. She’d always manipulated my feelings. And while I was wise to the ruse, I was the biggest fool of all because the knowledge hadn’t ever prevented her from playing me over and over and over again.
“And Ares. I saw them with my own eyes, Hera. Your son will never forgive such treason. You know how he is. Is it worth losing his devotion and love of you forever, for you and I both know that is what will happen with him. Give her a wasting disease. An illness. Then it will merely be a tragedy, and he need never know your—”
She shot to her feet and paced like a restless lioness before me. Her firm, tight body was practically bristling with pent-up rage. My hunger for her began its awakening.
I’d always considered myself one of the best in the pantheon when it came to manipulating others, but there’d always been one better at it than even me.
Suddenly she stopped before me, dropped to her knees, and forced me to spread my thighs. Her hands landed on my knees, and the opening to her robe parted just slightly, giving me a nice glimpse of her perfectly shaped breasts. My mouth flooded with need at the sight of such a desirable female on her knees.
“Please, brother. Hear me out. For I am as equal to the task of devising a perfect plan as you are.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, hanging on by a mere thread. Damn her to the lowest pits of the Underworld for doing this to me. If I could just be rid of my need of her, I would rule this damned place.
If I could just shove her back. Tell her that I would never want her touch, her nearness, her scent in me again. That I was through with her forever. Damn her!
I wasn’t even sure how, but somehow my hands were gripping her wrists, and I was the one pinning her in place. She wore a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin, and triumph burned through her eyes.
“What is it that you’ve devised, sister?” I growled angrily, even as desire continued to rage and simmer like a boiling pot of water within me.
She wet her mauve-colored lips, and it was like getting a kick in the gut. My cock rose to half-mast, and a Cheshire cat smirk stole over her handsome features. She’d wiggled out of my grip, and her hands were on my hips, undoing the buttons and zipper of my trousers. In seconds, my cock that was so damned hard it could cut through steel was in her hands, and she was humming beneath her breath as though in anticipation of what came next.
I squeezed my eyes shut even as my hips rose up against my will.
“The sooner that bitch is out of his life, the sooner he can fix this mess that bitch Aphrodite has caused. They will reunite, permanently this time. I shall see to it.” She sweetly kissed the weeping tip of me, and I nearly came undone. A grunt spilled off my lips and I grimaced, but it was not pain that gripped me tight.
“Then I will kill her, for you, sister.” I placed my hand on the back of her head, trying to guide her hot, perfect mouth down over me. But she gave a slight shake and stared at me from beneath her long lashes.
“Oh no, Poseidon. Killing her will not do. You must not sully your hands in that way, my love. Ares’s unyielding temperament is legendary, and above all, he must never hate his uncle.”
She patted my naked thigh, and I had to bite down with my front teeth to keep from ramming my hard cock down her soft throat.
Dizziness swept through me as I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. “Then what the bloody hell are you ask—”
“She must be awakened, Poseidon. Isn’t it obvious? He must see her for the monster she truly is.”
My cock went almost flaccid in her grip as a cold chill swept through me. “She is the one prophesied to destroy us all, and you would see her monstrous form awakened? Hera, have you lost your damned mind!”
She thinned her lips and narrowed her eyes, but they sparkled and not with rage. “Oh no, darling. Never that. Ares, as you know, has a rigid sense of right and wrong. Once he sees the monster, he will know that she must be put down, and he will willingly walk away. He would never wish to place Olympus in any danger. He is too good.”
“You stupid bitch,” I snapped. “Do you honestly imagine that your son, Ares, could watch the woman he loves be brutally murdered and simply walk away?” I was ashamed of my love of this woman. I’d always thought Hera far superior in all things, but even I could see the flaw in her half-cocked plan. “There is nothing in this world that I love, Hera. Kill my familiars, hell… kill my family and I will walk away and likely have a good laugh. But if anyone should ever dare take you from me…” I reached out and gripped her chin roughly, causing her to wince, but I did not relent. “I would gladly watch Olympus burn.”
Her eyes flashed with fire. But then she smirked as she dug her long, now claw-like nails into my thigh. I hissed as the coiling of need and fire began to writhe within me.
“Then as a fail-safe, I will bring Hypnos. Should Ares’s heart begin to fill with hate, we will twist that hate into something else. The more hate, the less he will feel, and the less he will remember of this mortal. If he truly loves her, he will forget her entirely.”
I finally began to smile, recognizing the genius in this plan. “So we wait for them to sleep together and then we—”
“Oh no, my love. No. No.” She shook her head. “Ares will never know her. He will not be responsible for creating the monster.”
“Then who will?” But no sooner had I asked it than I knew. Cold like I’d never known skated down my spine, and I gasped. “Me. You would have me rape her.”
She scoffed. “Oh, please. Don’t act so moralistic now. You’ve done worse.”
My brows lowered. “No, in fact, I haven’t. I’ve never lain with anyone who did not already wish my advances.”
Laughing like a playful schoolgirl, she leaned forward and stole my lips for her own, whispering between kisses, “She is a monster, my love. You would be doing us all a favor by exposing her to the world. Especially to my son. He is blinded by lust, nothing more. It shall pass, as these things always do. For you know we cannot truly love.”
Her words were a dagger to my heart, and I wanted to hate her. Wanted to fling her off of me and toss her violently to the ground. I wanted to stomp her, end her, hate her, and hurt her as she’d just hurt me.
For if what I felt for Hera was not love, then what the fuck was I doing here? But if she could say such, then it meant that she did not love me and never had.
I should leave her to it. Make her clean up this mess herself. But she was my one desire and always had been. And damn her to the eternal flame for it.
Furious with her, but even more furious with myself for even now being unable to tell her no, to anything, I took her head and guided her almost forcefully to my now slack cock.
“Suck me, you filthy bitch. And then yes, I’ll give you her damned head on a platter!”
With a throaty laugh, she took me in deep, and before long, I’d forgotten all about my rage or even the threads of pain only she’d ever pulled out of me.
I would not enjoy what I did to that poor mortal, but if it meant that Hera’s mouth would bring me an eternity of pleasure, I would do almost anything. Even, apparently, sell my soul.
Chapter 61
Ares
I was practically crawling out of my skin with excitement to see her, and I’d only just left her less than two hours ago. Last night had been more wonderful than anything I’d ever known. To hold her as I’d had the privilege of doing, to have her sweet trust and loving smiles, was worth more than anything I’d ever known in the entirety of my life.
But more than all of that was the enjoyment I took from her
mind, listening to her speak about the things she enjoyed, learning the big picture of who she was. I sighed as I rubbed my chest. I could only imagine the ridiculous sight I must make. Me, the god of war, sighing like a lovestruck idiot.
I needed Medusa as I needed breath. She was in me. Burned in me like an eternal flame. When I was not with her, I ached fiercely for her, and even when I was with her, it was never enough. There was always this sense of abject doom on the horizon, and not just from the fact that I left her every morning. But mostly it stemmed from her very fragile mortality.
I could not imagine a world in which she did not exist, and there were ways to change that, but the cost would be high. She could no longer remain on Earth. She would need to come with me to the land of the gods, which would mean moving away from the only home she’d ever known.
But it wasn’t as though her family couldn’t follow. They were all immortal, the rest of them. And of god blood. My soul yearned for her to say yes to this, but I knew this was fast, all too sudden, and it might terrify her. Hell, even I was surprised by the depths of my emotions and how much I needed her in my life.
Truth was, I felt centered when I was with Medusa, and I didn’t believe it was just me either. She understood me and I her in a way I was sure no one else could ever know either of us.
I was utterly defenseless against her, and while it terrified me, it also made me feel as though I soared on eagle’s wings. I loved that female, with every pure fiber within me, and there weren’t many, but she owned every last one of them.
But before I could go to her, there was one thing I had to do. Sailing through time and space, I arrived at Father’s private manor. It was where he resided a good ninety percent of his life.
Immediately sensing his presence within his golden orchard, I veered course and went there, shocked to note he was alone the moment I stepped out. The skies were thick with the gliding elegance of powerful war dragons sworn to always guard his precious apples.
Should any but he or those he allowed within stumble through this sacred land, they would be instantly turned to dust, no questions asked. Ever. Amongst us, Father was king, and as he’d said a time or two in his day, it was good to be king.
He stood amongst his trees and was rooting around the branches of one in particular. The next moment, he pulled his hand back and had one of his fabled golden apples in his hand. After taking a large bite, he began to chew before his gaze turned my way.
Grandmother Gaia had gifted the seeds to him as a wedding present when he’d wed Mother. The orchard was to remain solely in Mother’s private gardens. But Father had clearly taken a few seeds for himself. I didn’t imagine Grandmother would be happy should she ever learn of this, and yet I doubted she would be too upset by something so minor either.
“Son?” he asked, his deep voice full of curiosity at my unplanned arrival.
I tipped my head in acknowledgment. “Father. Have I interrupted any—”
Waving off my words with a dismissive gesture, he took another large bite of his apple before saying, “Absolutely not. I am grateful for the company. I find myself feeling… things.” He blinked then looked startled that he would be so honest with himself but especially with me. Tossing the rest of the uneaten apple, a fruit that humans would literally kill to take just one bite of, he inhaled deeply. “What brings you here?”
Father had a terrible reputation amongst the pantheon and even sometimes amongst the mortals, especially the men. But he was a multifaceted being, one with many parts, and only a rare few were privileged enough to see them all. I was one of the rare few.
He did not glow with god light. Today he was simply a man in a toga, bare of foot and looking weary. Dark circles sat beneath his eyes and the way his mouth was set let me know he struggled internally.
But Father was nothing if not private. He rarely even told Mother when he had troubles, and I could count on one hand when he’d ever actually opened himself up to me. If he wanted me to know something, he would tell me.
Clearing my throat, I removed my helmet and tucked it beneath my arm, strangely nervous over coming here. What if he didn’t want to help me? He was within his right. And I didn’t want to call in favors due, not for this. I never wanted what Medusa and I had to be tainted by deceit in any form.
Steeling my nerves and finding that reserve of strength that had gotten me through worse times than these, I simply spoke the truth. “I am here on behalf of a mortal woman who has come to mean quite a… a lot to me in recent—”
“A woman?” There was an obvious question in his tone. “What woman is this? I thought you and Aphrodite would recon—”
“Mother, no doubt.”
The lifting of his brows was as good as an affirmation. With a grunt, I sat down on the stone bench and sniffed, staring out at the tranquil setting and understanding why Father should seek out such a place for refuge. This was as close to heaven as one could find. The sky was azure, the clouds white and fluffy, the grass as green as emerald dust, and the smell of apples was everywhere.
“She is happy with Hephaestus, father. Surely you know this already.”
Sighing heavily, he came to sit beside me. His body was nearly equal to my own. Though I was broader in the shoulders than he, he was more barrel-chested than I was. The bench wasn’t actually large enough to hold us both, and our thighs were pressed tight, but I wasn’t inclined to move either. Something inside of me felt strangely off.
I wasn’t used to feeling such softness and worried that it might weaken my position amongst my fellow gods. I was War. I should not feel as I did, surely.
I felt his eyes upon me. Finally, after several moments of easy but weighted silence, he said in his deep voice, “You love this mortal, son.”
This was not a question, and I didn’t treat it as one. I shrugged, because the full scope of what he said was bigger than I could put into words. How could I even begin to explain to him that what I felt went deeper than mere words of love? That I wasn’t promising Medusa my body or even just my heart for as long as she lived but for as long as I did—and then maybe even beyond it. That I’d never had such a bond with any living thing before, not ever. Not to my parents, my siblings, or even Aphrodite, whom I could honestly say I had loved and, in fact, did still love.
“And I suppose,” he continued, “that you’ve come to me wishing to extend immortality to her?”
I stared silently at the golden apple that could gift said immortality. One bite of the fruit would give a mortal immortality, just that simple. But immortality could be a curse to some. I’d lived so long that there were great chunks of my life that I no longer remembered. They’d happened so long ago. What if Medusa ate of the fruit and one day no longer wanted me or this life I’d cursed her with?
Cracking my knuckles, I shook my head. “I did come here, Father, for an apple. But the truth is I worry about what is right. What if she doesn’t share my desire for her? Or if a mortal’s fleeting feelings will carry over into immortality and one day she might discover I am as boring as everyone accuses me of being?”
He was so silent, I turned to look at him, and I was surprised by the intensity of his stare. He was looking at me, but he was also looking right through me.
“The world would have you believe, Ares, that I never loved your mother. The truth is, I have had but one great love.”
I frowned, my heart beating fast because I’d never expected to hear Father speak so candidly with me. “What?”
He sighed then blinked, and I knew he was back in the present when he next looked at me. “She and I, we are not perfect. And in fact, I do not think that we can ever recapture the magick of what we’d first shared together. There is too much pain, too many lies and betrayals on both sides. At some point, I grew cold and callused, as did she. It was easier to hurt each other than to try and humble ourselves and admit that we could have been the very reason we no longer function.”
“Father, I did not know.”
&n
bsp; He grinned, but it was tired looking. “How could you, son? I know your mother lies with my brother. They have had an affair that’s lasted nearly as long as hers and mine before we married.”
I clenched my jaw. I hated hearing the gory details of what went on in secret between my family. I knew we were colossally screwed up, I just liked feigning ignorance on the matter.
“And while I should be furious, it would be wrong of me. After all, everyone knows I’ve not been faithful to her.” His mouth turned down. “I am only happy that she is happy again.”
He would not meet my gaze but stared at the ground. His thick brows furrowed with his many problems.
“Father, why have you told me these things?”
His large hand was on my shoulder, and he squeezed gently. “I am a royal fuck-up, Ares. I don’t often admit it. Hubris is a dangerous thing.”
I thinned my lips, because he wasn’t lying.
“I have been a bastard to many, but when you came, I told myself I would do better. Try harder. Sadly, that is a promise I’ve not often been able to keep. It’s a sickness in me, I fear, this inability to stop hurting those I love the most. I told you all that because I want you to be infinitely better than I ever was. You say you love her, then do right by her. I will gift you an apple, son. But promise me that you will not deceive her in any way. If she chooses to be with you and accepts immortality, then it would go all the better for you both. But if she rejects you, promise me that you will lick your wounds on Olympus and that this will not turn into the disaster it so often does with us prideful gods.”
This conversation was so much deeper and reflective than I’d imagined at the onset. I’d never had any intentions of deceiving Medusa. I was transparent in all things. Always had been. Always would be, I hoped. But it brought me a measure of peace, and even some hope, that a man such as Zeus could have moments of such startling clarity and goodness.
The Greek Gods of Romance Collection Page 75
