Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
I stare down at my come lashing her light-brown skin. Another time, the sight might fill me with satisfaction, a temporary marking of ownership. Right now, it feels like a lie. She’s still fighting the truth of us, and I’m a fucking fool, because I keep giving her exactly what she wants even though she plans to get out of this bed and leave me. Again.
I squeeze her thigh, right over the scar of my bite mark, as much to comfort myself as a reminder that it’s still there. “I’m going to come to you today.”
She blinks those big eyes up at me. “What?”
She won’t believe me if I tell her that I’m worried about her. That I’m not sure all the power players actually have her best interests in mind. Right now, she’s leading with lust, so lust is where I’ll meet her. “Tomorrow night isn’t soon enough, sweetheart. I need this pussy again.”
“Asterion, you can’t say things like that.”
That I need her? Or that I called her sweetheart? I swallow down the questions, deciding it’s better if I don’t know. “What are your plans for the day?”
She worries her bottom lip and then looks down to where my orgasm marks her. Her thighs shake a little on either side of me. “Um… I think there’s a dinner or something. Dionysus and I are supposed to be seen as a couple desperately in love, but it’s really for the Thirteen to be seen as a united front.”
The thought of her playing loving fiancée makes me see red. I release her thigh and move back. “No panties, Ariadne. I want you ready for me.” If fucking her rough and dirty is the only way she’ll have me, then I’ll damn well do it.
“I can’t. We almost got caught yesterday. There will be press there. If I’m photographed with you…”
“Then I guess you better be careful. Do you remember what I said in the dressing room?”
“That you would fuck me at a party in front of all of Olympus.” Her voice wavers a little bit, as if she can’t decide if she likes it or not. “But, Asterion—”
“Be ready for me, Ariadne. Or I’ll bend you over the table right in front of your fiancé and all those cameras.”
She squeezes her thick thighs together in response to my words. Yeah, she likes the thought of that a lot. She might not trust me entirely, but she eats up the fact that I want to claim her in front of everyone.
It pisses me off that the only thing she’ll take from me is sex, but at least she’s not running screaming into the early morning darkness. I’m trying to see that shit as an improvement. More, she came to me when she was upset. Just like she used to. Maybe she doesn’t understand the significance of that, but I do.
I really want to believe it is significant and I’m not looking into things that aren’t real.
I watch her walk toward the door, moving slow enough that it’s obvious she’s not eager to leave. “Ariadne.” I wait for her to turn and meet my eyes before I continue. “Don’t trust Hera. Or Dionysus. Or any of them. They’re playing benevolent captor now, while you’re doing what they want. The second you push back, that will change.”
She smiles, but her dark eyes are sad. “I know.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask her to stay. To say, Fuck everyone, we’ll figure this out on our own. She’s gone before I have a chance.
I sit there for a long time. I’m not one to doubt. At thirteen, I set my eyes on the girl and knew she would be mine. Knew that, in a way, she already was. As soon as I realized whose daughter she was, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. But this? This feels like standing in a pit of vipers. I haven’t been bitten yet, but it’s only a matter of time.
There’s no way forward but through. The steps of the plan haven’t changed. The tower comes down; the barrier quickly follows. I take Ariadne and get the fuck out of here. We can figure out the rest once we’re free of this place and her family. She’s not going to be content to leave her brother behind, so I guess he’s coming, too. I don’t exactly relish the thought of spending more time in close quarters with Icarus, but Ariadne will never forgive me if something happens to him.
It’s a lot easier to kill people than it is to keep them alive.
I spend the day going through the motions. I meet with Aeacus, but his plan is heavily dependent on the blueprints that we don’t have yet. I check in with Minos and sit on the phone with him for ten minutes while he rants and raves. Theseus has cut him out completely, to the point where he won’t even entertain a visit. I’m proud of the fucker despite myself. He might be wearing Eris’s collar now, but it seems like he welcomes it. With him gone, Minos has lost what little leverage he had with the Thirteen. They’ve cut him off completely. I’m pretty sure continuing to get close to them isn’t part of the plan; he just doesn’t like to be told no.