His skin grew warmer, as if her touch alone could bring the dead back to life. His thumb moved, tracing circles over her palm, sparking a tickling shiver deep inside. Then his thumbs trailed upward to do the same with her wrists.
A soft sound escaped her lips. She didn’t mean for it to happen, she’d barely known what she was up against, but Cerberus’s touch was like rich chocolate or a rollercoaster ride.That made no sense. His thumbs continued to move in circles, oh so lightly, over the sensitive veins of her wrist and doing terrible things to her insides.
“I hunger, Cyane,” he said, his voice even lower and darker than before. He reached down and gripped her other hand, bringing it between them. “I don’t know why you make me so hungry.”
Her half-mast eyelids flared at his words. His thumbs slowly moved up the insides of her forearms, heading straight for the weak, sensitive spot of her inner elbow. Before he reached that glorious ticklish spot, he clasped his fingers around her arms, raised them up, and held them away from her body.
“Let me touch you,” he demanded. “I’ve never had flesh as warm as yours, that turns pink like a rose with a single touch. Are all mortals so warm?”
He watched her, his eyes blazing dangerously and…familiar?
Why were they familiar?
She blushed. “Will you hurt me?”
“I don’t know.”
His fingers started up their circles again, making her skin prickle with goosebumps. Cyane swallowed.
Give in. Give in and fall to your knees. Give in and worship him like the god he is.What was wrong with her?
“Then, I...don't know.”
His eyes darkened.
His petting resumed, this time within the crux of her elbows—as if he wouldn’t take no for an answer—and her mind blanked. Her eyelids lowered, her heartbeat hastened. His hands didn’t stay there long, making her shudder, lulling her to give in to the caress he bestowed upon her.
She’d never been touched like this before. His long fingers and wide palms slid up her arms and over her shoulders, clasping her under the flimsy material of her dress.
“Now?” he asked.
Cyane shook her head weakly, a little dizzy, a little tired, and moved forward to rest her brow on his chest.
He raised his hands to cup her neck, his thumbs back in action, slipping softly over her throat, fingers brushing the sides of her neck. She swallowed, testing the pressure he exerted. His grip tightened...a little. This was wrong.
“Worship me, Cyane.” His voice burning a hole through her pleasure before becoming apart of it, stirring her. Even if this was cruelty on his part, as he played with her excitement filled her anyway.
“Yes.” It came out breathy and weak.
His hands moved down her neck, his fingers slipped back under the sleeves of her dress. He pushed the sleeves off her shoulders, and the dress fell to a soft pool at her feet.
His hands returned to her throat. Cerberus didn’t push her back to indulge in her nudity, and because of that, she didn’t feel the need to cover herself. His fingers fanned out to thread through her hair, eventually moving away from her neck entirely to comb her hair.
Another sound escaped her. He did it again, and when she held in the feel of pleasure, he seemed bothered by it. It didn’t last. He pulled his hands from her hair and cupped her cheeks, rubbed her lips, even her teeth, with his thumbs. Then he went on to pet the shells of her ears, her hairline.
Heat built up inside her, making her core knot. Cerberus asked her to worship him, and yet she was the one being worshiped.
Or maybe he really is playing with me.
But he studied everywhere he touched as if each caress was new to him.
Her chest tightened.
He wasn’t playing. Awe filled her. Was he...a virgin? She almost couldn’t believe it. The thought alone was unbelievable. But...was he?
She stepped back and watched his reaction as his eyes dipped to her body. They moved upon her, and she fought the urge to shield her breasts, her sex, to turn away and hide.
She’d barely been good enough for a quick tumble with her one of the other foster kids, who’d snuck into her bed one night when their foster parents were drunk and asleep. How would she fare with a powerful deity?
