Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
She pauses. “It’s really cute that you think you scare me.”
“Don’t I? We’re alone. No big brother to protect you.” I don’t know why I say it. Minos gave me clear orders, and those orders don’t include making waves with my new wife. I’m supposed to settle into Hephaestus and secure this power base.
Aphrodite watches me in the mirror, her gaze mocking. “Aw, you think I need protection. Cute.” She turns, and I’m only human. My attention drops to where the top dips until I can almost see her dusky-rose nipples. She snaps her fingers by her face to drag my eyes up. “If you planned on murdering me, you would have done it before the wedding and that lackluster sex.”
Lackluster—
She tugs on the hem of her dress, and I’m distracted by the possibility of her breasts popping free. She smooths her hands over the slick-looking fabric. “There.”
“You can’t go out like that.”
I realize my mistake the moment she smiles. “On the contrary, I can do whatever I damn well please.” She flicks a glance at my hips. At my cock. “Or did you think that sad little performance was enough to leave me comatose? Sorry, darling, but I have entirely too much energy to stay cooped up here with you.”
She blows past me again, leaving me to hurry after her, feeling like a fool. “Stop.”
“I don’t think I will.” She pauses at the door and blows me a kiss. “Have a good night, Husband. I certainly plan to.”
4
PANDORA
The reception continues after Theseus—Hephaestus, I have to remember that—and his new bride go upstairs. I’m worried about him. He’s always been too locked down, and Minos fostering him hasn’t done anything but make that worse. Not that he listens to me when it comes to his fucked-up little family.
I’m sure I’m supposed to be somewhere, but like every other time Theseus is occupied with Minos’s tasks, I’m immediately ignored. Normally, I appreciate the reprieve. Minos doesn’t like me and he’s not very good at hiding that fact, for all that he’s an excellent liar.
I’ve never felt so adrift before this moment, though.
I drain my champagne glass. Too much alcohol, but I think I can be excused. It’s a party, after all.
“Pandora?”
I turn, tipping a little, to find a pretty Black woman standing a few feet away. She’s wearing a deep-purple dress that flatters her light-brown skin. It takes my brain a second to place her familiar face. “Eurydice.” She was one of Minos’s guests at that ill-fated house party. At least she survived it. I look around. “Where’s your handsome shadow?”
“Ah.” She tucks a loose curl behind her ear. “Charon is around here somewhere. He’s my ride back to the lower city when this is over.”
“Your ride,” I repeat slowly. I could have sworn they were dating, but apparently I was wrong. “Right.”
She stalls for a moment, but gives herself a shake. “Actually, that’s why I came over. I know you’re relatively new in town. I thought you might want to see the lower city.”
Well, if that’s not a trap, then I don’t know what is. I snag another glass of champagne. I know I should stop, but the last two weeks have been a special kind of torture. Theseus barely has time to talk to me, and while I don’t have a problem with his new wife in theory, the reality is that she didn’t agree to marry him because she’s madly in love with my best friend. She did it because he’s made himself Olympian Enemy Number One. Theseus is going to get himself killed and he doesn’t seem to care.
If I go back to Minos’s home—not my home, it will never be that—all I’ll do is pace my room and worry. There are far too many hours until dawn, and each promises to be filled with fears about everything that could go wrong on this wedding night.
I try to sip this glass slowly, but give up before it touches my lips. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Instead of leaving in a huff, she smiles. “I’m not talking about the tourist route, Pandora. I’m talking about the kind of stuff only locals know about.” She steps closer. She’s wearing a light floral perfume that is just as lovely as she is. “I’m talking about a very special kind of club that caters to people with very special tastes.”
I blink. Of all the pitches I expected to hear, this didn’t make the list. “You’re talking about a kink club.”
“Well…” She looks around, but there’s no one paying us the least bit of attention. That, in and of itself, is suspicious. During the last two weeks of whirlwind wedding planning, I have existed under a microscope. I could have told them it’s a lost cause; I don’t know anything useful about Minos’s plans, let alone have an acting role in them. Instead, I endured the stares and just smiled harder.