“We’ll figure this out. For now, let’s go get drunk. We can worry about gods, prophecies, and wars tomorrow.” Ilta popped up, laying a hand on both of our shoulders.
Asteria laughed, her head falling forward before she looked up at me. I couldn’t help the smile that crept up my face just seeing the one on hers. She reached for my hand, lacing our fingers together as hope lit my heart in turn.
“Come on. You heard Ilta.” She teased, pulling me along.
“Of course. Nox forbid we don’t listen to Ilta.” I agreed sarcastically. Asteria’s laugh was worth the slap to the head Ilta delivered on her way by.
Walking into The Otherworld Bar, right after the message about our necessary journey into the Otherworld itself, had me looking around the bar in a more serious light.
Tartarus was filled with all sorts of horrors by every account. The deepest pits of despair and the most deranged tortures imaginable. My own power could recreate that pain and turn it on others, something I always tried to avoid using. Unless those I loved were at stake.
But the thought of walking into Tartarus, ofAsteriawalking into Tartarus…
By Nox, I was sure the gods had a good reason for this, they’d never steered me wrong before. Butfuck.
Asteria seemed to have easily blown off the news just dropped on us, already downing a shot at Ilta’s urging. I noticed Callisto and Priscilla were already here, having chosen to have dinner together instead of with the group. I was happy to see they’d joined us. Priscilla was Asteria’s best friend, and she’d need her support in the midst of all the changes in her life.
“Stop brooding,” Baach complained, his arm landing around my shoulder.
I snorted. “I’m not brooding, you ass.”
“Then let’s drink!” Baach declared as he steered me to the bar, grabbing two shots off the tray Ilta had ordered. I grabbed one and shot it back immediately. Feeling the alcohol burn pleasantly down my throat. From the way Asteria was moaning at her next shot, she’d discovered the joys of drinking alcohol as a dragon.
I let a smirk cross my face as I watched her wide-eyed reaction. I leaned down to whisper in her ear, “It’s the dragon in you. We burn our throats all the time, if it didn’t feel good, it would be miserable. You’re meant to spitfire, my réalta.”
A sly smile rose on her face as she tilted her head to me. “Then maybe it’s time to enjoy the burn.”
With that, she tossed another shot back, and I joined her, grabbing a double shot for myself to catch up to her before she dragged me out to the dance floor.
I relished the feel of her body as she pressed against me. A part of me feared I’d never feel it again after everything that had happened. The way she’d pulled away from me.
I knew she wasn’t ready for everything a mate bond encompassed, but I would take whatever she was willing to give.
My hands found her hips, while her own snaked around my neck and into my hair, earning a small growl as she tugged on it. Her giggle was entirely worth it. It was adorable, frankly, and something she should be doing way more often.
I was determined to make that happen.
Dancing with her proved as dangerous as always. Her hips and ass swaying against me to the beat quickly drove me to distraction, and I buried my face in her neck to try to gain some control over myself. But my cock refused to listen to reason.
Knowing this was mymatein my arms was overwhelming enough, but that it wasAsteria…
It was almost too good to be true.
Her body had to have been crafted by the gods themselves. My hands roamed over her sides, the hourglass shape leading to her hips and an ass I wanted to sink my teeth into. I trailed them back up and skimmed the sides of her breasts, which brought me right back to the Festival of Faunus and watching them bounce as she rode me wildly. The memory of getting to explore all of her as she laid underneath me. Nox, I was fucking wrecked just fromdancingwith her.
That adorable little giggle returned as she ground that ass I was salivating over against my cock. Her all-too-brief dress was just too inviting, and I retaliated by running my fingers up her thighs, her dress riding up as I teased her in turn.
I could just make out the sound of her breath catching over the music, attuned to everything Asteria as I was now.
She spun around to the music before plastering herself against me. She hitched a leg up my thigh, and I couldn’t stop myself from grinding into her. Her moan, as my covered cock hit her at just the right angle, was absolute torture.
I knew what she was wearing under that dress had to be nothing more than a tiny bit of lace, easily torn away. By the smell of her, she’d be soaking through them in minutes. A growl left my throat at the thought, and I grabbed her ass, palming both cheeks before pushing her solidly against me.
But my Asteria was a dragon, and she retaliated by biting my throat. I moaned, running my teeth down her neck before sucking and nipping along the slender column. Her panting breaths in my ear surely matched my own, but I was too lost in her to hear.
We kept up the dance, moving back and forth as we grinded into each other, my cock twitching and begging to be released.
I’d found Elysium inside Asteria, and I would do anything to return to it.
