Chapter 73

I sank into the mattress with Dion kissing me. He slid one of his hands to the base of my neck and his fingers twined into my hair as though to hold me in place. But I wasn’t going anywhere.

Dion’s other hand skimmed down my side before grazing across the juncture of my thighs in soft loops. Tingles spread through me along with the hint of ecstasy.

“Is that you—your magic?” I grasped his shoulders as I fought to hold on. The climax came on as though he’d kissed and touched me for a lot longer than a few seconds. His fingers stroked me, building up my need.

“I wish I could take my time with you. Make you come a dozen times.”

Half-sighing, I wrapped my legs around his hips. “We can go slow next time. Right now, I want to feel you inside me.”

Dion cupped my breast, rubbing his thumb across the nipple and I squirmed to get closer to him. His cock dug into the side of my hip, and I shifted until he pressed into my entrance. I was already wet and ready for him.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” he asked, his voice sounding strained like he was holding himself back.

My body shivered in anticipation, wanting, needing him.

“Hell yes.” I lifted my hips and he slid inside a fraction. My body trembled; a climax surged forward.

He let out a groan that made me even more turned on and plunged deep inside me. “Fuck, you’re so tight.”

Over and over he pumped in and out of me. He stroked my clit with one hand while the other flicked across my nipple. My back bowed as an orgasm rushed forward. All my muscles tightened, and Dion thrust into me harder and faster, bringing me to the edge again.

Sweat glistened across his forehead and kissed his neck and collarbone. His thrusts became frantic. My body tingled where he was deep inside me like there was another erroneous spot he had found. The friction drove me to raise my hips so he could go deeper.

Stars burst behind my eyelids.

His cock felt like it swelled inside of me. My body tensed again as another climax rode me before I went boneless. Dion pumped into me a dozen more times before he found his release.

He laid his forehead against the hollow of my neck, breathing me in as we both panted, catching our breath.

The sweaty, musky scent of our lovemaking lingered in the air. I was content and sated. All the tension from the day had broken. For a few precious seconds, I lay in Dion’s arms, forgetting my troubles. Salvaging in the afterglow of our lovemaking.

“I want to do this again,” I said, my voice soft.

Dion nodded. “My pleasure.”

My whole body flushed, but we couldn’t give in to our desires again. This was to rejuvenate my magic for Hermes. And for Poseidon too if I could ever get him free of whatever mind control Zeus had used.

I wiggled and Dion rolled to his side, looking at me like he wanted nothing more than to make love to me again and again. Desire spiked low in my belly, but I couldn’t give in this time. I propped myself up on my elbow and enjoyed the view of Dion’s naked body. His sculpted abs and chest. And his thick cock stirred from my attention, and I snapped my gaze back up to his face.

Didn’t help that he was wearing a smirk.

I needed to focus on Hermes and Poseidon, not on how much I wanted Dion to bang me. “Do you know how Zeus is controlling Poseidon or how to stop it?”

“No.” Dion let out a frustrated growl. “But I wish I knew. I would do anything to have my friend back.”

“And Hermes wouldn’t be trapped under the sea either.” I pushed into a sitting position. As wonderful as this was to stay in bed with Dion, we couldn’t do that. “Could you do that magical shower you did on me? I’d like to get back to working on a plan for Hermes and Poseidon as soon as we can.”

“Done.” Dion leaned forward, planting a teasing kiss on my knee.

A second later my whole body broke out in goosebumps, and I was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt with the words Bite Me across the front. I lifted my hand to my nose and inhaled. I even smelled clean.

“Yeah,” I said with a grin, “Later you’ll need to teach me that trick along with how to get you naked in a flash.”

“You only need to ask, and I’ll strip down for you.” His wicked smile sent my pulse racing.

I scrambled off the bed with a laugh before he could grab me. Thinking Daniel and Emily would return any moment, I took off the Do Not Disturb sign from the doorknob and sat on the edge of the bed.

“All right. Can you call Heph and find out about his conversation with Hera?” Gods didn’t have cell phones that I’d noticed.

“Sure.” Dion closed his eyes.

“Oh and get dressed too,” I added quickly with a squeak. Even though I wasn’t keeping my desire for Dion and the others from Heph, it didn’t feel right to rub it in his face either.

Leather pants and a black silk shirt formed over Dion’s skin. He looked like a sexy pirate rather than the god of wine.

“Thanks,” I breathed out and the next second, Heph popped into the hotel room. “Hey, I missed you. How did it go?” I hugged him.

For a moment, he held me and didn’t say anything which had a hard lump pressing into the back of my throat.

Heph placed his fingers under my chin lifting my head until his lips touched mine. His kiss was both soft and scorching at the same time. If I didn’t stop, I was going to end up back in the bed and naked.

Reluctantly, I eased back, my breath shaky.

“I missed you too.” A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “But my mother has refused to aid us.”

“Why?” I blurted out.

“She doesn’t want to make a further enemy of Zeus.” Heph shook his head, his bronze eyes saddened, pinching at the corners. “Her devotion to a god who treats her like garbage makes me want to strangle him. I hate that she is at his mercy and tiptoes around him, waiting for his damn lightning to strike her dead.”

I couldn’t keep the disappointment out of my face and sank onto the bed. “What do we do now? Hecate is missing along with Helios and Selene and now Hera isn’t going to do anything.”

“What do you mean?” Heph sat on the bed next to me and Dion sat on the other.

Both of them reminded me of when I was in this same position with Hermes and Poseidon on either side of me before I knew Heph and when Dion was in Tartarus.

I explained everything to Heph including the summoning circle and demons in the back of Selene’s bookstore. “And I hope the seal we created over it holds.”

An open demonic hole was the last thing we needed for the rip into hell to open up and demons and who knew what else would erupt into our world. I had enough to worry about without adding that to my list.

“So we’re back to square one,” I said. “How do we rescue Hermes when we have no idea where he is except that it’s not on land?”

“I might have an idea.” Dion stood, raking his hand through his hair.

“Let me guess,” I said, my stomach tightened. “It’s dangerous.”

Dion stopped in front of me and took my hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing my knuckles. “I will be careful.”

“Do I even want to know what you plan to do?”

“I’m not called the god of debauchery for nothing. But I plan on getting some gods very drunk and finding out what they know about Hermes or Poseidon.”

“Or both if we’re lucky,” Heph said. “If Zeus catches wind of what you’re doing, my friend—”

“He won’t,” Dion interrupted.

“No,” I shook my head, wrapping my arms around myself. “Last time one of my gods went to Olympus to find out about Zeus, he never came back. And when I did see Poseidon again, he was brainwashed and tried to kill me. I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you too.”

“Hey,” Dion pulled me upright and into his arms, “we don’t have any other choice. You said it yourself, we’ve run into nothing but dead ends. This might open up something that can help us rescue them both.”

He was right, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.

“The sooner I go, the sooner I can get back.”

I had an uneasy feeling in my gut about this and I gripped his silk shirt. “Please, don’t do this. We’ll figure something else out. It’s way too dangerous.”

“Give me a reason why not, aside from your feelings.” He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me, before leaning back and examining my eyes.

“Because Zeus will be expecting you to do something like this. He knows you’re with me and that with time fading away, we’re going to get desperate.”

“She’s right.” Heph stood with us. “Hera had to sneak me out of Olympus. Zeus isn’t done, he’s going to have more terrible things planned. I wouldn’t be surprised if he locked Hecate, Helios, and Selene away. As well as planting that demon-summoning circle. Who knows what else he has planned.”

“What else can we do?” Dion frowned. “We can’t just sit here and allow Hermes to drown.”

“No,” Heph grunted. “But if you go to Olympus and Zeus does something to you, it will divide our efforts in saving Hermes and Poseidon.”

God, I couldn’t bear that. To have three of my men out of my reach and in danger? I’d go crazy. I needed my men with me, and I needed all four of them.

“Please, promise me you won’t go to Olympus,” I said, desperate to keep Dion and Heph with me.

“All right.” Dion brushed his lips over mine, then let me go.

Emily would be worried about me. I wrote her a text that I was awake and feeling better. After I tapped send, I put my cell phone in my back pocket.

Heph took my hand in his and led me to the door. “Let’s go get some fresh air. Sometimes a change in scenery can help the brain think in a new way.”

We left the hotel and walked down the sidewalk to a nearby park. A few people gave us double-takes and I couldn’t blame them. I had handsome, suave Dion on one side and rugged, moody Heph on the other.

The park had a winding trail that followed alongside a lake. For a long while, we walked on the path, not saying anything. We were all trying to think of another way. Something. Anything.

A flock of ducks waddled up to us, seeking food.

“Here,” Dion’s magic tingled across my palm and when he pulled his hand back, there was a bag of duck food.

I tossed out the food a bit at a time. The ducks were plump; probably from all the people feeding them all the time. Yet, they quacked and waddled like they were starving.

Dion stood next to me, pointing out a green-feathered one who kept guzzling down the food then prodding others out of his way. Heph had his arms crossed but chuckled a few times at the ducks’ antics. He eyed the lake as though it would get him wet. Which I guessed made sense as the god of fire wouldn’t want to have much to do with water.

“What is the strongest element?” I asked. Before all of this, I would have said fire. Now I wasn’t so sure.

“Mine,” Dion said, his chest puffing out.

Heph snorted. “You wish. Everyone knows it's fire.”

I wasn’t so sure. Hadn’t Poseidon told me that water was the strongest element? “But water can put out a fire.”

At my words, Heph paled slightly and took a step back from the lake’s edge.

“And fire can burn earth,” I added. The after-effects of the forest fire Heph had shown me, and our first kiss made me warm all over again.

“Fire needs air to burn. And earth can smother fire as well.” Dion tossed out some of the duck food.

“True.” I nodded. “But water can drown earth or carve into rock like the Grand Canyon.”

“What are you getting at?” Dion asked like he was excited I was starting to figure something out.

“And what happens when air and water mix?”

“Steam?” Heph shrugged.

“Yes, but also bigger things...like a hurricane.”

“You think Hermes is making a hurricane with Poseidon?” Dion asked as though he wanted it to be true as much as I did.

“Then we look for some kind of tropical disturbances in the oceans.” Finished with the duck food, I dusted off my hands on my shorts.

“Worth a try.” Heph grinned.

And for the first time since I found out Hermes was missing, I was hopeful. Now, all we had to do was test my theory and find Hermes. Then we’d have the next hurdle of how to free him and face Poseidon.