Nine
Emmy
For the first time in my life, logic failed me. Because being with Cyrus was probably the worst decision I could make. On paper. If I was making a checklist about the pros and cons, the top of that list would be that he was not the sort of being—god—that one settled into a relationship with. And I was the relationship type. He was also controlling, powerful, domineering, and argumentative.
On the other hand, he was kind and smart and caring. He’d shown that … in his own way, more than once. I did trust him, as much as anyone can trust a god.
And, all logic aside, Cyrus made me burn. He made my body come to life in a way that probably should have been illegal, because when he touched me, there was literally nothing he could ask that I wouldn’t give him.
And I was about to give him exactly what he wanted: everything.
My robes fluttered almost silently to the floor; my breath caught in my throat because it was a vulnerable position to be in with someone like Cyrus. It was hard to truly let all of my guard down.
The silver of his eyes almost looked to be swirling as they ran across me. He took his time, starting at the top of my tousled blond hair and ending at the slippers I still wore. By the time he was done with that perusal, I was on fire. My skin was so sensitive that even the slide of my fingertips across my side as I moved was enough to send tingles through my body. Was this part of his power? Could he seduce me with one look? Sounded more like something that Aros would do, but whatever Cyrus was up to, he almost had me to the point of begging.
Swallowing against the dryness in my throat, I tried to keep my breathing steady. He reached out a hand and everything inside of me tensed in anticipation of the first touch. His palm pressed against the bare skin on my chest, just above the swell of my breasts. The heat was intense, branding. I swallowed again, closing my eyes and allowing myself to not think. To just feel.
“Cyrus,” I breathed.
I had no idea what I was asking him, I just needed him to do something.
His hand started to move down, slowly stroking, gently caressing my skin. It slid lightly across my bra, and then firmer over my stomach. He traced my curves like he was memorising them, and I started to panic that my legs were no longer going to hold me up.
“Do you want this?” he asked in a low rumble, leaning even closer to me.
My head was nodding before he even finished his question. “Yes, but no more teasing.”
Cyrus’s laugh was deep, and I lost the battle with my weak knees. One of his arms wrapped around me before I could stumble, pulling me tighter into his chest. I sucked in deeply, breathing him in. His scent was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. It was like the crisp morning air right before a snow storm. It was so rare in Minatsol now to have rain and snow, but I remembered it from when we were kids. Once or twice a life-cycle, the snow would fall, and the rotations before that I always knew it was coming.
Snow was a lot like Cyrus, actually. White. Clean. Cold. Beautiful. So beautiful that it felt like the world turned into fantasy land when it fell, hiding the ugliness below. But it could also be deadly if you were caught out without proper protection.
Cyrus swung around suddenly, his arm still banded behind my back, lifting me as he walked toward the bed. He had used his power just before to repair his room, and the bed was now an impressive four-posted wood number. Carved. Ornate. I really didn’t care, as long as we had a soft surface. Or any surface.
Nerves made themselves known in my gut as he laid me back, but the desire was so much stronger that I simply reached up and pulled his head down to mine. My body moved against his because there was no way I could stay still. Not anymore. I had to feel every part of Cyrus against me. I needed it. When he pulled back, lifting his head so that our eyes could meet, I almost groaned. His hair was tousled, his eyes wild, and he was glowing.
“You’re glowing too,” he murmured, and I wondered if I’d somehow mentioned his glow out loud. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get enough of seeing your skin like this.”
He was touching me again, holding himself up with one hand, while his other traced my body. My underwear—which was green and blue like my robes—dissolved at his touch. Literally. It was definitely a cool trick to have in these situations. Suddenly, I was completely bare before him.
“Why do you have so much robe on?” I complained, wiggling under him.
He groaned. “Please stop doing that. I’ve imagined stripping you naked for a long time—I’d like to enjoy the moment. If you don’t stop moving, it’s going to be over too quickly.”
Ignoring him, I reached up and tugged at his white robes, needing them gone.
He was a control freak, so I expected him to stop me so that he could remove them himself, but he didn’t. He let me go, allowing me to be the one to slide them across his body and kick them off the bed.
He wore nothing underneath and I blinked a few times, my mouth back to being drier than the outer areas of Minatsol. Cyrus exuded so much power even against the other gods, so I had no idea why I was surprised to see how big and muscled his body was. His pale skin draped over long lines of heavy muscle. His body just went on and on.How freaking tall was he?
“I like the way you stare,” he said, watching me while I watched him.
My hands lifted before I could stop them, planting against his firm chest. His skin felt soft and hard at the same time, my fingertips sliding across the smooth surface, tracing the valleys and peaks of his muscles. “You’re … not what I expected,” I finally said, not sure if there were better words I could have used. It felt next to impossible to put my true emotions into anything quantitative right then.
“For all of my power,” Cyrus said after a click, “I never saw you coming. Even if I had, there is no way I could have prepared myself for you.”
His lips slammed closed and I wondered if he regretted that honest statement. I, personally, was very happy to see a softer emotion in him. Even if it had been confusing at the same time. Our moment for exploration came to a close as the need for each other took over. I arched up against Cyrus’s hardness and he lowered his chest back down so that his weight was pressed into me.
“Do we need to worry about birth control?” I asked, my mind briefly touching on our previous conversation about the god-children. There was no way I’d let Staviti take my child from me, so I needed to know for certain that it wasn’t a possibility.
