“So,” Rose said with a playful grin. “Tell us more about this contest of yours.”
Tina raised a curious eyebrow, half-wondering if Flynn had put them up to this, but she’d read in one of her books that a demigod was always loyal first to the god or goddess from which they descended. “These are dangerous times,” Tina finally said. “I want a champion, someone to ensure my magic isn’t abused. In exchange, I’ll use my powers for them when I see fit to do so.”
“That’s so badass,” Rose said with a chuckle.
“It’s so Damara!” Lillian added.
“And now you have five sexy princes vying for your hand.” Rose fanned her face. “I’m so envious!”
“It’s been amazing, I won’t lie.” Tina laughed, a bit of a blush creeping up her cheeks. “I’ve had so much fun.”
Lillian lowered her voice, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. “Well, have you taken any of your suitors to bed yet?”
Tina shot her a wry smile over the lip of her glass but didn’t answer.
“She has!” Rose gasped. “You sly thing. Who?”
“Anthony, Draven, and Zane.”
“Just three of them?” Lillian asked, mouth gaping with surprise. “You have more restraint than me, then.”
“Most of the world has more restraint than you,” Rose said, blowing a raspberry at the other demigod.
Lillian poked Tina’s abdomen. “You know the birth control trick, right?”
“Yeah, got that covered.”
“Good.” Lillian examined an empty bottle of wine and opened another. “This early in the game, you don’t need any babies quite yet.”
“You can’t catch any sexually transmitted diseases either, by the way.” Rose winked over her half-filled glass. “In case you were worried.”
“Not that the princes have any, of course,” Lillian said with a jealous little pout. “What I wouldn’t give for a taste of one of them …”
“Hey, now,” Tina said, shooting a playful glare at the demigod. “They’re mine.”
“Oh, how feisty,” Rose said, giggling. “All of them are yours, huh?”
“I, well, uh,” Tina stuttered for a moment, silently debating the question.
“They should be,” Lillian interjected. “Damara never had to pick just one man. Why should you?”
Tina tilted her head slightly, debating the question. The circumstances of her and Damara’s new life together were unique, and she doubted Damara had ever had the option of choosing between five crown princes.
Could she have them all?
“Regardless,” Rose said with a shrug, interrupting Tina’s thoughts. “You’d better get to work on those heirs.” Rose waggled a finger at Tina. “Nothing stirs up a nation’s pride like a royal baby.”
Tina rolled her eyes. “Let me pick a man first. Jesus.”
The three of them spent the afternoon chuckling and making jokes at each other’s expense, and Tina felt more and more at home with each passing moment. Within her, Damara swelled with pride and happiness as her descendants spoke, boosting Tina’s own joy.
Tina felt deeply and truly relaxed. If she did end up choosing Flynn as her Prince, she knew she would be completely at home in Olympus.
The longer Tina spent there, the more she tapped into the island’s innate power. Every step through the grass made her feel stronger. Every second made her feel safer. And every breeze that slithered up her skirts made her feel more in tune with her body.
As night fell across her first day in the beautiful city, Flynn walked her back to her room.
The now deep connection with her goddess made every sensation more pronounced. His hand on her back shot overwhelming ripples of pleasure through her body. Her body hummed with need and hunger. When his bare skin brushed hers, sparks erupted through her veins.
As they walked down the hall to her bedroom, Tina reached into her core and accessed her magic, curious to see what it would tell her about the demigod at her side.
As the overpowering sensations erupted within her, cluing her into every breath, every heartbeat, she could feel something unique in him, something she hadn’t felt during their practice sessions in the gardens of Epara: his magic. It thrummed within him like a second pulse, crackling with energy and fire. His magic was so beautiful, so captivating, that she lost herself in it.
His hand reached for her jaw and lifted her chin until she met his gaze, and when their eyes met, she realized he was totally enraptured. Just as she had enthralled King James and the other royals in her throne room, her magic had ensnared his attention and filled him with insatiable desire for her. She had spent so much time focusing on her connection to others’ bodies, her ability to control their pulse, that she sometimes forgot her powers also ensnared those around her, drawing them to her, making them want her more than anything else in the world.
“Sorry,” she said, kissing him gently on the cheek. She reined in her power and disconnected from his beautiful magic, feeling a little guilty that she had all but forced him to want her sexually.
Flynn, however, didn’t move away. He took a step closer, pressing her against the wall as his eyes scanned her face. “It’s not your magic that makes me want you, Tina,” he said softly. His lips brushed hers, tender and sweet, and she leaned into his kiss. He paused, his mouth barely an inch from hers as his warm breath rolled over her. “It’s you, everything you are, everything you’re capable of. You’re magical all on your own.”
She smiled and pulled him close, her lips crashing into his as she silently agreed. The beautiful pulse of her demigod’s magic returned, brimming beneath his skin as she pulled him close, connected to him by so much more than touch.
Flynn lifted her into his arms, and she giggled with surprise as her feet left the floor. He carried her into her bedroom and kicked the door shut behind him, their eyes locked, as lost in her as she was in him.
Fueled by her desire and her goddess’s innate need, Tina grabbed his collar and pulled him to her. She kissed him deeply, exploring his mouth with her tongue as he cradled the back of her head with his hand. He gently set her on her feet, his other hand reached around her waist, squeezing gently as he pulled her closer.
Tina yanked his shirt out of his pants and reached her hands up his torso, savoring every dip of the hard muscles in his abdomen. He moaned into her mouth, his kisses more intense the longer her fingers roamed over his warm skin.
His touch always surprisingly gentle for a man with as much muscle as Flynn had, he pressed his hips against hers. Abandoning her waist, he grabbed her skirts with both hands and tugged upward. The fabric caressed her skin as he hiked up the soft cotton. With one deft motion, he lifted her onto the nearby vanity and spread her legs apart with his strong hands. Her thighs exposed, Tina gasped and arched her back as he pressed his hips against the space between her legs. Only her underwear and his pants separated them. The thick bulge beneath his slacks teased her.
“Are you sure?” His voice rumbled like thunder in her ear.
She nibbled his earlobe. “I care so much about you, Flynn. I’m very sure.”
A happy growl escaped him as he yanked the dress over her head. He unfastened the bra effortlessly and slid his fingers between the thin fabric of her underwear, his thick fingers teasing her inner thighs as he slowly slid them off.
In seconds, she wore nothing at all. His powerful hands grabbed her knees, his thumbs pressing into her skin as he spread her legs apart. With her completely at his mercy, Flynn paused to examine her curves. His eyes roamed her body with a feral hunger, as though choosing which part to explore first.
“You’re beautiful,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her lips once more.