For The Love Of A God (23 page)

It occurred to Maia while Eryx was kissing her that she was really warm. Burning up, actually.

But it wasn't the same heat he'd created in her before. As he was touching her now, he wasn't giving her the same zinging electrical shock he always used to. It still felt good, more delicious than her favorite blackberry cheesecake ice cream, but it was different. She lay back and received his kisses, trying to determine what had changed.

His eager lips traced a path from her mouth to her ear to her neck, nuzzling in her cleavage, and starting a significant bonfire there. Just no otherworldly zaps of godlike energy.

Then it hit her. He was still human. How could he have escaped without his powers?

"Eryx,” she uttered, feeling drunk on his kisses as much as the realization. “Eryx, wait."

"I can't wait. Oh gods, I've waited so long!” He buried his face in her chest again, shoving Wonder Woman aside with his fingers.

"But I need to know,” she said, sitting up. “What happened to you? Are you...?"

He sat up, breathing hard to steady himself. “A god? No. I can't go back, Maia. There's really no procedure for, uh, reinstating my powers. The myths don't tell you every god has the ability to forsake immortality, but it's a one-way ticket. You can't ever reverse such a monumental decision.” He reached for her hand and kissed her palm.

As crushing guilt stamped out the fire in her sex, Maia took a good look at him. He was beautiful, more beautiful than anyone she'd ever known. It was only when she looked closely she noticed some new, slight imperfections which hadn't been there before.

He was pale, at least paler than she'd ever seen him, and not quite so Mediterraneanly golden. There were dark circles under his eyes, circles matching her own. And faded scars. Long ones running down his forearms. Little ones cross-hatching his cheeks. He had bruises on his knuckles and a cut healing at the corner of his lip. All in all, Eryx looked like a handsome human man who'd been in one too many bar fights. Feeling anguish slice through her core, Maia voiced the thought which had been plaguing her for months. “She hurt you."

Realizing her questions needed answering just as much as his cock needed to be buried deep inside her, he put her hand down and smiled at her. He couldn't make this conversation topic light and breezy. It was better just to come out with it. “Yes. She did."

She didn't say a word, but he noticed the little twitch of her eye and the way her lip trembled.

He frowned, seeing her stricken face, and decided she didn't need the full, vivid description of his punishment now. He'd put it off as long as he could. If, when she wasn't so fragile, she wanted all the gory details, he'd give them to her then.

"Did you escape?” she asked. “Is she looking for you?"

"We're safe, trust me."

"But how...?"

"I may not be a god anymore,” he answered. “But I still have friends in high places."

Her eyes widened, and he watched as a tear spilled from one of them. Unable to help himself, he leaned forward and kissed it away. Loving the feel of her against his lips, but hating the tiny, salty drop for being a vessel for her pain. As he leaned against her, she rubbed her cheek against his, like a lonely cat seeking comfort. Gods, they still couldn't keep their hands off each other, try as they might!

"The others helped you?” she whispered against his neck.

"Yes.” Steeling himself against the overpowering need to take her, he put his hands on her shoulders and set her a little away from him. If he didn't, he wouldn't even be able to finish a sentence. He breathed in deeply. “I should start at the beginning. Nemesis kept me captive for the better part of several months. She did,” he swallowed, “unspeakable things to me. How I didn't die, I'll never know. Something kept me going, and that something was you. My need to see you again gave me strength I never even possessed as a god."

When her face crumpled, he permitted himself a small touch. A light brush of his fingers along her cheekbone. And even such a tiny touch inflamed him to a violent degree. He took another bracing breath and continued. “Luckily, during that time, Dionysus and the twins were trying to help. They called for a council of the gods. They knew the only person who could help me was Zeus, and that he might listen if the other gods got riled up too. But first they had to find them, which took some time. We've been a scattered bunch for so long now, you see. Why, finding Poseidon alone, digging him out from the ocean depths, was a daunting task. I think Dionysus is still water-logged over that one."

Maia blinked a few times as if to clear her head.

"Anyway, they finally got them all together and pleaded my case. Apparently, the debate raged for days on end. Dionysus finally won them over by convincing them if Nemesis could get to me, she could get to any of them.” He chuckled, still incredulous himself. “I'd never have believed it, but they began to side with me. And when the others heard I'd sacrificed my immortality for love, they were enraged. They couldn't believe I'd be driven to such lengths.” He made a face. “We tend to be a cavalier lot, but most gods appreciate a love story. And the mere thought of relinquishing immortality is enough to scare the pants off any of them. My mom and dad were particularly angered, and demanded justice from Zeus."

Maia tried to envision Ares and Aphrodite fighting for their son, but the image only made her head hurt even more.

He continued. “Thankfully, Zeus became pissed at Nemesis. I don't know what did it. Maybe he finally realized he should take some responsibility for his crazy daughter. Whatever it was, it made him mad enough to summon us. Right there, in the middle of the council. I don't know how, but he dragged us up from the hole she'd been hiding me in. And along with us, he summoned Nyx, the mother of Nemesis."

"I thought you said he was afraid of angering Nyx."

"I always thought so, but something changed that day. Whatever it was, Nemesis's parents obviously decided my punishment didn't fit the crime. They figured I'd suffered enough. And somehow, using magic I'll never understand, Zeus and Nyx released me, and decreed their punishment for Nemesis."

She waited.

"A thousand years as the object of someone else's unrequited love.” He paused, grinning. “Have you heard of Pan, Maia?"

"Of course. One of the gods. Part man, part goat. Plays the pipes."

"And he's a randy son of a bitch. Always a little unlucky in love, poor guy. Well, Zeus basically told him he could have at it, as far as Nemesis was concerned. He bound them, man and wife. And she's a beautiful woman, so Pan was more than happy to oblige. The last I saw of them, he was chasing her out of the council chamber, sporting a rather large hard-on.” He laughed. “I think he'll keep her running for some time."

"Oh, dear."

"Indeed.” He watched her begin to laugh quietly, and dared to touch her still-wet cheek. “I missed you so much, Maia. You have no idea how your memory tortured me."

"I missed you too. I've never felt so empty. I wanted to die.” She fell into his arms. “And all I could think was I didn't tell you how much I loved you before you were taken from me."

"I'll never leave you again,” he promised, kissing her lips.

She dragged her face away from his and stared down at her lap through eyes so sad and heavy with unspoken regret. “You gave up everything. For me."

He gathered her to him in a fierce embrace. “I could be stronger than all the gods in the pantheon, Maia, but without you it means nothing.
Nothing
.” He tipped her chin up to make her look at him. “I knew exactly what I was doing when I made my choice. I'd rather live a human lifetime with you, than live forever without you."

As if unable to hold back any longer, she slid her small hands under his T-shirt and eased it up over his head. And then Maia began to kiss his chest. Eryx closed his eyes as he felt her lips and tongue trace a path over his pecs and stomach. He knew what she was doing. She was kissing his scars. There were a great many of them, but she caressed each one. And with the sweet attention she was lavishing on them, Eryx would not have traded his battered skin for his former unblemished skin. Not for the world.

And as he looked down at her head, bobbing across his belly, he knew he needed her naked.

Eryx reached for her and turned his attention to her clothes. He made Wonder Woman disappear, as well as the scotch-soaked skirt and panties underneath. The rest of his clothing was torn from him as quickly as Maia could manage it. Only as their naked bodies touched, as his weight pressed her into the mattress, did they both heave a mighty sigh of relief tinged with lust. Her body was an inferno, stoked with each of his touches, with every pass of his lips and tongue.

He dug his hands into her hair, watching as the brown strands fell through his fingers. Angling her head, he kissed her with all the savagery he'd felt for six months. His desolation at losing Maia, his anger at Nemesis, the pain and humiliation of enduring his strange imprisonment. All his emotion went into his kiss. And was returned to him with a love so fierce it would nourish him for the rest of his human life.

As much as it pained him, he pulled away from her lips. “You were in hospital."

She looked up, awed. “How do you know?"

"Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus,” he said, smoothing his hand down her hip. “They kept an eye on you, just as they've been keeping an eye on me."

"But they weren't there. I never saw them."

He gave her hip a squeeze and then moved his hand around to cup her bottom. “They stayed hidden, for fear of frightening you. Once they could talk to me, they told me how you were doing.” His eyes burned with untold grief. “I'll see to it you never hurt again, Maia."

"As long as you're with me, I'll never hurt again.” Aching with want, she pressed her hip up against his in invitation.

It was all the invitation he needed.

Eryx sank deep inside her, feeding the ravenous desire which threatened to consume them both. A hunger which grew, and yet was also appeased, with each of his fervent thrusts.

Maia clung to him, her body humming with more sensation than she'd ever felt in her life. This, too, was different now. Making love with Eryx the god had literally brought her to heavenly heights of rapture. But when he'd told her he was mortal, she'd expected his lovemaking abilities would also feel distinctly mortal.

And yet he was filling her as he'd never filled her before. While he was the god of love, she'd thought his cock could never satisfy the hunger in her pussy more. And yet it was happening now. He felt larger somehow, fuller. Luxurious. Voluptuous. So carnally luscious she wanted to explode with happy laughter. And he seemed to be growing thicker with each heavenly slide into her body.

For a heady moment, Maia thought he might break her. But then he drove back into her and her pussy gobbled him up again, taking him so deep she thought she'd feel it in her throat.

He sensed her awe and grinned down at her. “The gods were kind to me when they released me. They couldn't make me immortal again, but they let me keep one of my powers."

He lifted her hips and thrust harder and deeper than before, crying out in triumph. Maia let her head fall back with a shattered groan. She felt like a glutton, wanting all of him, and still wanting more. Wishing she could keep him inside her always.

Always with Eryx. Always.

They came together, in a crashing, spinning, hurricane of passion. Mouths open on flesh. Hands skimming over fraught nerves. Tugging fingers. Sweat-drenched skin. Greedy. Grasping. Insatiable.

In love.

And as their bodies calmed, and their heartbeats steadied, whispered words were spoken. Promises were uttered. Vows were pronounced and taken to heart, as if etched into their skin.

And Maia knew, more than ever, that although having a statue for company could be fun, being loved by the real deal was a piece of heaven.

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Rosanna Leo has her degree in history and literature, as well as in classical singing. She currently resides in Toronto, Canada. Her favorite things are her family, libraries, and her mother's gnocchi. Rosanna loves it when the geeky, awkward girl gets the hot guy, and has made it her mission to see this happen in her books as much as possible.

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