He grins against my lips. “Maybe I just like touching you.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I don’t say anything at all. I press him back a little and hook my fingers into the waistband of his pants. His cock is a hard imprint against the fabric, but I purposefully avoid it for now. One tug brings him between my thighs. Close enough that I give in to the urge to drag an open-mouthed kiss over his abs. “Spend a lot of time in the gym?”
“You would know,” he rasps. He grips my shoulders and kneads lightly. “You have more than enough muscle to spare.”
Because I thought I’d be a warrior. Not a hero—never that, not with the skeletons rattling around in my closet—but someone who commanded respect and fear in those around him.
Instead, I’m a failure. I failed to take the Ares title and bring Helen Kasios under our thumb. I failed to kill one of the other titles that would have been a good fit for me. I failed to avoid a marriage to a damned witch who comes far too sweetly for my peace of mind.
I’m failing at being Hephaestus.
Adonis sifts his fingers through my hair and tugs gently. “That feels good.”
I exhale slowly. I might have failed at everything else, but I’m succeeding at seducing this man. I’m going to make him feel good, make him come so hard he won’t be thinking of anyone but me.
That, I can do.
“I’m not done yet.” I lick my way down his stomach, but stop short of his pants. I want his cock in my mouth, but even more than that, I want to see him without a single thing hiding his body from my sight. A few tugs on the pants and they slide off his narrow hips, pooling around his ankles.
My mouth literally waters at the sight of a naked Adonis. I don’t know if I believe in perfection, but it’s hard to argue against its existence with this man standing before me. His brown skin is smooth and unblemished by the scars that pepper my body. Even his cock is perfect, long and broad with a wicked curve.
I draw a single finger down his length. “You’re like a fucking piece of art. Are you sure you’re real?”
“Real enough.” His hands spasm in my hair. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that…”
It’s only sex. A release for both of us. Or that’s what I tell myself as I dip down and take his cock into my mouth.
I ignore the fact that those reassurances have the flavor of lies.
17
ADONIS
There is no scenario where fucking Theseus is a good idea. I should have turned him away when my doorman called up. I certainly shouldn’t have answered the door without a shirt just to see if he’s as affected by me as I am by him.
Even then, I’d half convinced myself that it would end with a conversation…then with the kiss.
Until that look in his eyes when I wouldn’t let him hurt himself to bring me pleasure. That shocked and almost awed expression. As if no one has ever stepped in for his benefit before. It doesn’t make sense. Surely he has people who care about him.
I can’t afford to be one of them, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to guard this soft part of him I’ve been shown unexpectedly.
Now, standing before him while he sucks down my cock, I’m lost. I half expected him to go about this the same way he seems to go about everything—quick and efficient. Instead, he teases me as he explores my length with his mouth. Sucking me down one moment, easing to achingly light movements around the head of my cock, then licking down to my base and back up again. The pleasure leaves me helpless to do anything but dig my hands into his hair and hang on. “Fuck.”
Hephaestus—Theseus, whoever the fuck he is right now—eases back the tiniest bit. I don’t have a chance to protest. He catches my chin and drags me down until our faces are almost even. “I like you. I have no fucking business liking you.”
Before I can respond, he shoves two fingers into my mouth. Theseus holds my gaze as he fucks my mouth with his fingers, pressing deep enough to have me gagging around him. My grip spasms in his hair. Gods, why is this so sexy?
Just when I think I can’t handle it another moment, he eases his fingers out of my mouth. “Say my name when you come. My real name.” He descends on my cock again and, this time, he’s not playing around. He presses his fingers, wet from my mouth, into my ass.
My brain shorts out. All intentions to be careful disappear. My body takes over, my hips rolling to fuck his mouth, to fuck myself on his fingers. “Oh gods.” I can’t catch my breath, can’t slow down, can’t stop. My orgasm is coming too quickly, but there’s not a single thing I can do about it. “Theseus.”
He growls around my cock, the vibrations only making me come harder. My knees buckle, but I manage to keep my feet through sheer desperation. If I fall now, I lose the feeling of him drinking me down.
Theseus lifts his head slowly and presses a kiss to my stomach. “Good boy.”
The praise spoken so gruffly by this scarred warrior buoys me in a way I’m not prepared to deal with. He eases his fingers out of me and leans back. “That was a good start.”
“I…” There’s nothing to say, is there? “Bedroom.”
“Yeah.” He nudges me back and rises. “Let’s go.”
We take a quick detour to the bathroom for him to wash his hands, and then I lead him down the hall toward my bedroom. I pause long enough to wonder what he thinks of it. My apartment isn’t particularly large. There’s only me here, and I don’t care to keep up with cleaning a bunch of rooms I don’t spend time in.
I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to my bedroom, though. My mattress is top of the line and my sheets have the kind of thread count that used to make Eris tease me with a wicked look in her eyes.
No.
I’m not thinking about Eris right now.
I ignore the ache in my chest and start for the window to close the curtains. Theseus’s hand closes over my shoulder. “Wait.” His free hand skates down my spine, stopping at the small of my back. “I want to fuck you, Adonis.”
“I want it, too.”
“Do you need to prep?”
I flush when I realize what he’s asking. Part of me wants to pretend I don’t understand, to deny that I even considered it a possibility we might get to this place tonight. I swallow my pride and rasp, “We’re good.”
Theseus gives a low laugh that makes my skin tighten. He steps closer, pressing against my back, his cock a hard length against my ass. “You really are a good boy, aren’t you?” He kisses the back of my neck. “Got yourself all ready for me.”
The contrast between his mouth soft on my skin and his fingers digging into my shoulder makes me moan. “Yes.”
He coasts his hand from the small of my back to my hip and jerks me closer. “Tell me what you like.”
I don’t exactly mean to lean back against him, but it’s like he’s got a gravitational pull of his own and I’m helpless to resist it. He drags his hand from my shoulder and down around to my stomach, splaying his fingers out and holding me in place as he keeps kissing my neck. I’m hardly in my early twenties, recovering in the space of seconds, but my cock twitches all the same.
“Adonis,” he murmurs against my skin. “Tell me.”
The truth is that I’m not entirely certain I’d dislike anything he does to me. I don’t know how I got to this place, but it feels so good to let my brain click off and my body take over. To submit, just a little, and let someone else shoulder the worries that have plagued me for weeks.
Even if they’re still there, lingering at the edges of my mind, along with my broken heart and far too much anger.
I will not think about her. Not now. Not in the midst of this.
He nips the spot where my shoulder meets my neck and the words spill out. “I want it slow.”
Theseus’s hand on my stomach shakes, just a little. “You really are the little romantic, aren’t you?” I can’t help tensing, waiting for derision or mocking, but he just sounds as faintly wondering as he looked earlier. He sets his teeth against my skin. Not quite a bite, but it makes me jump all the same. “You want me to fuck you like I love you.”