Adonis crosses his arms over his chest and glares. “You’re trying to manipulate me and you’re not even doing a good job at it.”
“Why bother being good at it?” He moves his arm by my waist, hooking the edge of my shirt and lifting it a few inches. Not enough to flash anyone, but it’s close enough that Adonis’s gaze sharpens on my newly exposed thighs. “You want it. She wants it. What’s the point in playing games?”
“Because you’re fucking with my heart.”
Hephaestus hesitates. It’s only because I’m pressed so tightly to him that I feel his breath hitch. “You aren’t the only one with a fool heart tangled up in this. Stop playing the martyr and get on your knees.”
I draw a shocked breath, but it’s lost in Adonis’s obedience. He curses and sinks to his knees slowly before us. “I won’t get out of this unscathed, and I resent you using me like a pawn between you.”
I need to say something, to stop this or reassure him or…something. This night has taken a twist for the unexpected and Adonis is right. We need to stop. This wasn’t simple from the beginning, and it feels like every step we take only makes it more complicated, entangles us further.
But I can’t quite manage to speak as Hephaestus lifts my shirt, baring me from the waist down. He’s still stroking my throat with his thumb, a possessive and strangely gentling movement. When he speaks to Adonis, he sounds almost tender. “You may have started out like a pawn, but you didn’t stay that way for long.”
“Don’t.”
He ignores Adonis’s protest. “Last night meant something to me, no matter how messy it is. Now, you know what she needs. Give it to her.”
“What she needs is a good night’s rest and an increased security force.”
I can’t let that stand. “I know what I need. I don’t need the two of you to decide it for me.”
Hephaestus gives a rough chuckle. “By all means, Wife, use your big-girl words and tell us.”
I need to be safe. I need to have one corner of this godsforsaken city where I’m able to rest and not have to worry about a knife in my back, literal or otherwise. I need to stop hurting the people I most care about with every move I make.
I don’t say the words. I can’t. Not now. Not ever. They might honestly be here to make me feel better, but that doesn’t change the fact that both have worked against me in the last few days. I can’t trust them.
Gods, I’m so tired.
I close my eyes. For once, the truth works better than any lie could. “I need to come so hard I forget everything that happened today.”
Adonis exhales harshly. For a moment, I think he’ll start arguing again, but he just runs his hands up my legs, careful to avoid the scattering of bandages. They’re both touching me so gently. Adonis and I were together long enough that we tried every flavor of sex we were interested in, so gentle isn’t out of the realm of normal for him.
But my husband?
There’s no time to spiral into worry about what this might do to the power games between us. Not with Adonis pressing my thighs wide and wedging his broad shoulders between them. I go up onto my toes, but he anticipates me, draping one leg over his shoulder.
Then his mouth is on my pussy and I can’t think of anything at all.
Giving up control feels a bit like jumping out of a plane. The ground approaches with each slow drag of Adonis’s tongue against my clit, but I don’t care, because in this moment I feel weightless and free. I close my eyes and give myself over to this experience. Gods, I missed you.
The consequences can wait until morning.
“That’s right, Wife. Relax against me.” Hephaestus’s low voice in my ear makes me shiver. “Doesn’t his mouth feel good? Hard to worry about anything with him sucking on your clit.”
Adonis responds by doing exactly that. He sucks hard on my clit. We’ve been lovers for a third of my life. He knows my body as well as I do, and he proves it by pressing two fingers into me and zeroing in on my G-spot in exactly the motion I like best.
I moan. I don’t even have time to consider keeping the sound internal. Hephaestus inhales sharply. For a moment I think—I fear—that he’ll do something to stop the orgasm rising in gentle waves, urged on by Adonis’s tongue against my clit and his fingers inside me. He doesn’t. He just tightens his grip around my hips, helping Adonis keep me off the ground. I’m held suspended between them, and another time that would freak me the fuck out, but right now I just want someone else to take control.
“Let Adonis make you feel good.” A pause. “He needs it as much as you do.”
I tense, my mind trying to fight through the haze of pending orgasm to worry about what Hephaestus is talking about. It’s too late. My body has the wheel, and it’s intent on its pleasure. The wave crests between one breath and the next, sending me shuddering into an orgasm.
Too good. It’s too fucking good.
“Up, Adonis. Let’s move this to the bedroom.”
I can’t think clearly enough to decide whether that is the best idea or the worst. Especially when Adonis scoops me into his arms and it feels like coming home. If I was a little stronger, a little less rattled, a little steadier, I would hold myself apart as much as possible. It’s the smart thing to do. Adonis might have come riding to my rescue tonight, but that doesn’t change what I’ve done to him in the name of duty. What’s no longer between us because of the choices I’ve made.
But I’m not stronger, or less rattled, or steady. I’m scared out of my mind and doing my best to keep it locked down. It’s the only excuse I have for laying my head against his shoulder and admitting, “I miss you.”
He tightens his arms around me. “I miss you, too.”
It strikes me, as Adonis walks into my bedroom and Hephaestus follows us in and shuts the door, that I might be playing right into my husband’s hands. If he intends to rip my heart out, putting Adonis back in my bed is a good plan.
I don’t care. I might never get this again. I’ll deal with the inevitable pain in order to have this right now.
Hephaestus’s hands fall to the front of his pants. “That was a good start, but you’re still thinking too hard. Take off your clothes, Wife. Tonight, the only fight is seeing who can make you come the most.”
24
HEPHAESTUS
I should leave. There’s nothing for me in this room. My wife might have leaned back against me so sweetly while she came, but this strange peace between us won’t last. We’re on the opposite sides of a conflict. That’s not going to change, and if I keep fucking her, it makes things…complicated.
Adonis slips his hand into mine. It’s a brief contact, there and gone in a moment. Is he looking for reassurance? Confusion alights in my chest. It only gets worse when he stops and looks back at me. Gods, he’s beautiful. The kind of beautiful that takes my breath away every time I look at him too long. I know I keep thinking that, but I suspect I could spend the rest of my life with this man and still not get used to it.
He’s not who I’m here for, though.
Or, at least…not the only one I’m here for.
Aphrodite has followed my command and pulled off that oversized shirt—I have a feeling it belongs to Adonis. It’s obviously well loved, the fabric worn thin from years of use and the print on the front faded until it’s unrecognizable. That shirt is a clear representation of their history. They’ve known each other so fucking long.
Have loved each other for so fucking long.
I don’t get that. Or I do, but only in theory. I love Pandora, but romantic relationships are a totally different animal. And now I’m standing here, feeling like an intruder.
“Theseus.” Adonis’s brows draw together. “Are you okay?”
I could ask him the same thing. There’s a tightness to his shoulders that looks like he’s about to spring into motion. Like he might run the fuck out of this room. I don’t know why that calms me down, makes my thoughts stop spinning.
Maybe they do need me here, after all.