Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
I open my mouth to ask a follow-up question, curiosity sinking its teeth deep within me, but he’s already on the move. He stalks to the doorway, his words trailing behind him. “This game is over. Go back to the guesthouse and don’t leave. I can’t guarantee your protection if you do.” Then he’s gone, the door slamming behind him. I swear the actual walls rattle with the force of it, but for all that, I don’t even flinch.
Did Poseidon just flee? From me?
12
Poseidon
My skin is so overheated, it’s a wonder I don’t burst into flames. I asked my question of Icarus on instinct alone, sure I was overstating things and that he would deny the accusation immediately. I wouldn’t have believed his denial, but to hear him baldly state his intention to seduce me? I should be disgusted. I should be furious. I should be putting as much distance between us as possible. I’m doing the latter…but it feels like running away.
Because I am tempted.
He’s nothing like my previous partners. That should mean it’s easy to put him from my mind, but the truth is the exact opposite. I can’t stop thinking about him. He’s irreverent and uses charm to lie as easily as breathing, and yet…
What kind of strength must it take to survive someone like Minos? To snatch up a gun and hold it to my head, to sacrifice himself so his sister could escape? It’s one of the bravest things I’ve ever witnessed. I may not have said it quite that way to him, but it’s the truth. Most people wouldn’t have done that.
Not to mention…he’s incredibly attractive. Almost upsettingly so. Icarus is lean in an almost delicate way, his light-brown skin smooth and unblemished, his wavy, dark hair perfectly styled at all times—somehow even now, while existing in my household without so much as a spare set of clothes.
On that note…
I pull out my phone and call Orion. It takes only a few minutes to get them on the task of acquiring clothes for Icarus. At least enough to get him by until I can… Wait, what am I thinking? It’s the height of impropriety for me to take him shopping for clothing. We’re on the brink of a fucking war and I’m worried about doing things that might put a little bit of light back into his dark-brown eyes. Icarus only kissed me once, and yet I’m seduced in exactly the way he intended me to be. What a fool.
My reprieve comes later that evening in the form of Hera arriving to be ferried out to her ill-fated meeting. At least she’s dressed appropriately to be on the water. She has fitted dark jeans tucked into tall boots and a thick, deep-blue coat that covers a good portion of her body. Her long hair is tucked back into a stylized design that looks almost like a crown. No doubt that’s intentional.
Her brows wing up when she catches sight of me. “A little eager, even for you, to be waiting outside for me.” Her gaze flicks over my shoulder to the house behind me. “Unless your darling little captive is giving you more trouble than you’ve admitted?”
“Let’s go.” I’m a smart man, but I know better than to get into a war of words with someone like Hera. She’ll have me admitting things I have no intention of speaking aloud. If she thinks my priorities are suspect when it comes to Icarus, she may pause in her attempt to murder her husband and try to take Icarus from me.
That, I won’t allow. Which is probably just further confirmation that he should be taken from me because I’m not thinking clearly. I don’t care. I’m not ready to let him go.
Fuck.
I lead the way to my SUV and open the door for Hera. She settles in the front seat as I round the vehicle and climb behind the wheel. Thankfully, Hera doesn’t bother to make small talk as I head down the long drive to turn toward the shipyard.
I haven’t been there in days, and the absence is an ache of loss in the pit of my stomach. Not just for the familiar space but for what it represents. I miss my normal days; I miss knowing exactly what will happen at any given hour. There’s been far too much excitement for my liking, and it won’t slow down anytime soon.
Polyphemus waits by the small boat that we’ll take out to meet Circe. His lone eye is lowered, intentionally not meeting my gaze. I’ll have to talk to him tomorrow. It doesn’t matter that I’m still furious at him for hurting Icarus. I’m not sending him away, which means I have to settle this so he can move on. So we all can. In the morning, I’ll take him aside and reassure him that he still has a home here.