Sweet mother…
The muscles on this man's body were like the statue of David. I wanted to reach out and touch him, rip off my underwear and sit on him, but I remembered my promise.Hewould beg for it. Not me.
I took one last look at the Promised Land and then turned around and jumped in.
Warm water crashed around my body and it felt so refreshing. A second later, Cronus jumped in next to me.
He hadn’t said a word, he was just watching me, like an animal watches its prey.
“Have you ever been in love? I saw briefly in your memories but couldn’t get a good feeling for how serious it was.” His question shocked me; I hadn’t expected that.
This mofo knew every man I’d ever been with! I wanted to hide. Then I remembered he was a bajillion years old and had definitely slept with more people than me.
I shrugged. “I thought so, but once it was over, I think not.” Jonathon Waters was kind of just a douchebag who took my virginity.
“Love can be destructive. I’ve seen it ruin many humans,” he mused. “Gods and Titans too.”
I whistled low. “Rhea really did a number on you.”
He shook his head. “Maybe at the start, but really Rhea was a marriage born of duty. My duty to bear gods. I simply don’t like sharing, but I never truly loved her.”
That declaration shocked me a little. He seemed to care for her even now, but … I guess it was clear that he cared about everyone in his inner circle. It wasn’t the same as loving someone like that though, and I was strangely happy knowing she hadn’t been the love of his life.
That meant it was time for the “make him beg” plan to commence.
I unclipped my bra and let it float to the top of the water.
“Ahhh,” I exclaimed, glad to have my breasts free from that sweaty thing.
Cronus looked like he’d swallowed a bug.
“Maisey. What are you doing?”
I shrugged, knowing full well this water was crystal clear and that I was trying to kill him.
“Bras are torture. Besides, I’m sure you’ve seen enough of these in your day.” I pushed my shoulder blades together to make my cleavage pop.
His gaze sharpened. His lips tilted up into a smile. I had expected more of growly Cronus, so this shocked the hell out of me as I blinked stupidly at him.
“What are you doing?” I murmured, not covering myself but more wary. Maybe my teasing had finally cracked him. Men had fragile minds.
His smile grew larger, and I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him. “I don’t like this, Cronus. You need to shut that shit down immediately. Since when do you smile? Are you sick?”
He threw his head back and laughed, and despite my confusion and concern about what he was scheming, I had to admire how beautiful he looked, head back, water dripping along that strong throat and across broad muscles. When he straightened, his dark hair slicked back from that perfect face, I wondered if it was possible to die from wanting someone so much and not having them. Was that actually a thing?
Because I was about ten minutes from combusting and it was only pure pride that stopped me from throwing myself at Cronus.
“I have never spent a lot of time around humans,” he finally said, softly. “Your spark for life … your stubbornness and free-willed nature … it’s intoxicating. I never expected…”
He paused and I leaned forward, desperate to hear the next words.
“You. I never expected you.”
Fuck.I was in so much trouble. It hit me then like a ton of bricks: I was falling for him. Hard. I couldn’t be falling in love with this big brute. He wasn’t human! We weren’t even the same species. And when we got this sins thing under control, he’d go back to whatever gods did, and I’d go back to waiting tables and hoping for my big break.
Still, my damn heart beat so hard, and if I hadn’t known for certain it was Cronus causing that, I’d be worried the sin in my necklace was giving me a heart attack.
While I was having my existential crisis of the heart, Cronus swam forward and I jumped when his thigh brushed against mine.
