Page 36 of The Gods Forbid

Sebastian’s arms were crossed, his thick biceps stretching the fabric of his long-sleeved shirt. He must have been working out when I wasn’t home, because no one just looked like that. “What else is on the list?”

“Hmm?” I hummed in confusion, trying to figure out what he was referring to.

Sebastian shifted on his feet, pulling away from me then drawing closer again. “This reconnecting with my power thing.”

“Oh,” I breathed, resetting my thoughts. “I’m open to suggestions. But I figured arts, medicine, music, and prophecy to start. We got light out of the way today.”

There were other, smaller aspects of his power—archery, poetry, dance, truth, among others—that we could certainly hit.

We really did need Apollo. We needed a good Apollo. He had such capacity to make our world a brighter, more beautiful place.

Sebastian looked down at me, his eyes doing that familiar pass over every inch of my face. “Fine.”

I brightened immediately, unable to stop the physical manifestation of my relief. There was gratitude all over my face, which was normally followed by a thank you. Sebastian had told me he hated when I said that, but he was looking at me like this was exactly the reaction he was expecting.

Maybe even … wanted?

It was fragile and so, so new. I forced myself to settle, to act like his agreement hadn’t made my day.

I didn’t quite want to leave yet, I’d prefer to watch the sunset. Especially knowing that while this part of our world had at least another hour of sunlight left, and surely a spectacular sunset to accompany it, Prometheus was already dark and full of stars.

But I also didn’t want to hold Sebastian hostage.

“Unless you have pressing plans, take pity on a poor god of light and stay until the sun sets,” Sebastian drawled from next to me.

I couldn’t stop the bubble of excitement then, my body bouncing up on my toes. “Yes, that would be lovely.”

Sebastian’s hand moved in front of my stomach, hovering just an inch off my skin. “Don’t go tumbling off the cliff, love.”

See? Safe.

I shook off the voice, focusing in on Sebastian. The wind was starting to pick up, blowing a stray, dark brown curl onto his forehead. My fingers itched with the urge to push it back for him.

My body was clearly keeping an eye out for me, because having to watch him do it himself, having to watch his bicep flex as he raked his hands through his hair was … disconcerting.

“Should we go sit back down? Save us both the risk of me ending up in the ocean.”

I’d said it with a light, even joking tone, but Sebastian’s expression only darkened further. “After you,” he said, clearly wanting me to turn so the hand hovering over my stomach could move to my back.

“I’m quite steady on my feet, you know,” I said as I walked back to the bench.

Sebastian didn’t respond until I was seated. “I know you are. Doesn’t hurt to have someone to help.”

My eyes narrowed even though my lips were pulling into a smile. “Is that supposed to be a comment about me asking for…” My words trailed off as Sebastian took a seat next to me.

His thigh couldn’t have been more than an inch away from mine.

That somehow made the sensation of him sitting there ten times worse. I was going to go crazy if I had to just sit there, feeling him just a hair’s breadth away. I’d rather he just touch me and get it over with.

But he was sitting perfectly still, poised like a statute.

“Asking for help,” I finished through a hoarse throat.

Sebastian smiled, his tan skin glowing in the golden hue of the light. He really was meant to be seen like this. “Think what you will.”

A small laugh jumped out of me, barely caught by my hand reaching up to cover my mouth.

Sebastian’s smile dropped the barest inch before curling back up again.