The floor was hard, and the wrinkled chiton dress bunched up around her. Cyane rested her hands on her knees and waited for direction. She stared fixedly.
Part of it reminded her of her childhood, of praying against punishment, forced to kneel for hours. But also, this was nothing like that. Cerberus confused her, certainly, but—
Would he hurt her?
The room, the oath, the world itself fell away. The canines, the teeth, the bodies swimming below the water’s surface, and even rationality she once held close...gone.
She’d never been powerful, never been anything more than small, and she’d never really cared. It wasn’t power she was after—she never wanted it. She left that to the whims of others.
“Lord Hades will be pleased,” he rasped, his voice so low she barely heard it.
Cyane’s eyes snapped up.
He was gone.
And in his place was a white dress draped over a solitary chair.
Disturbed with herself, she licked her dry lips and stared at it.
The Greatest Gift, Stolen
Cyane madeher way towards the ballroom much like the day before. She played with the edge of the note she tucked deep in the folds of her dress.
The white dress Cerberus gave her flowed around her legs like water, and like water, one could see her legs through it. It was extraordinarily sheer, showing off the shadows of her curves beneath. It was as lovely as it was uncomfortable to wear. In a public setting, at least.
Like a damned sacrifice…
But it was either wear what Cerberus had given her in hopes of pleasing Hades or continue to wear the wrinkled and ruined dress from before. In the end, she didn’t have a choice. She wasn’t about to go before Hades in rags.
On either side of her was one of Cerberus’s hounds, herding her to their destination. They had appeared after she’d bathed and washed her hair. Their huge, black bodies were a hard contrast to the way she was dressed today. Saliva dripped from their maws, smoke rose with their breaths, and when they showed their teeth…serpentine tongues emerged.
Cyane shivered.
She thought of Cerberus and his hidden face. She’d knelt before him. Had shirked her pride and submitted. She realized with a little bit of horror, she would’ve done so much more if he had asked it of her.
I really am disturbed.
Like I’m some doll to play around with.It made her angry. It worried her.
Cyane sighed.
She’d secretly hoped Cerberus would return while she bathed...if only so she could gauge his reaction.
Heat blossomed on her cheeks. Curiosity threatened to drive her to tear off his helmet. She needed to see him.My body responds to him.She wasn’t exactly in love with her reaction, but it happened nevertheless. The quivers, the annoying constrictions in her sex, the subtly growing need, and worse of all, the stupid flutters in her stomach.
If he tried to kiss her…
What would a kiss from a god be like? Would there be power behind it? Would it destroy her mind and make her a thrall to his desires?
Whether she was attracted to him or attracted to the fantasy of him she conjured, she was bothered either way.
She tried hard to push the thoughts from her mind. They didn’t do her any good.
There’s nothing about me that would make one such as him want me.Not with the beautiful, ethereal, godly women all around. Her heart fell a little.
I wouldn’t survive anyway...
“There you are, sweet Cyane, I have searched the castle high and low for you!” Melinoe appeared out of the passageway’s shadows in front of Cyane as if to solidify her thoughts on the subject.
