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As soon as those giant wooden doors slammed shut behind Nicholas' back she let out a long and deflating exhale, nervously running a hand through her damp and tangled tresses.
"Where the heck did you bring me?" She shouted out loud with nothing but frustration and angst, watching him stride further into the room. His quarters. Just another large and mostly empty temple-like area, save for that giant rounded lounge bed sitting right in the middle and an equally large pool taking up the adjacent space. But at least this place had a nice set of actual doors instead of just gauzy sheets for privacy against the outside world. Thank God for that.
"Who even was that?" Her arms raised at her sides into a sign of agitation before she slapped her palms against her thighs, referring to that weird gamer guy that they had just visited. The "god on duty".
Nicholas turned around to face her, pensively regarding her for a moment before answering.
"Ares. He's the god of-"
"I know who Ares is, I've studied greek mythology," she rudely retorted before he could even finish that sentence. His brow raised.
She would've normally apologized, even felt embarrassed for talking like that. But not now. Not when she was tethering on the bridge of insanity. Why had she agreed to come here? What was she even thinking? Why did she let him bring her here? Here, into an unknown and equally crazy world, as it turned out.
"What the hell was that all about? Recreational purposes, what does that even mean? And why would he even require an audience with me, what could he even want from me?" She cried with incredulity and anxiety, eyes so wide as she desperately peered at Nicholas. Pointlessly searching for an answer. What did that god want from her? And why?
Nicholas' brows drew together, a conflicted look appearing on his handsome face.
"I have no idea, honestly. His behavior surprised me as much as it did you," he admitted, intently peering back at her.
Her lips parted, staring back at him. What?
"I thought that he wouldn't even bat an eye in your direction. He usually doesn't. He doesn't even care about mortals in general. The others take mortal lovers from time to time because they enjoy the company of creatures like you but he..." he paused to let out a long exhale through his nostrils, his dark eyes roaming over her face again. Searching. Befuddled.
"He doesn't do that. He never did before. That's why we found him holed up in there, all alone and playing on his stupid games. He's very much of a loner and he despises everyone. He doesn't take part in those social gatherings that you've just witnessed,"
She watched him approach a small gold-crafted serving table, his hand simply lingering over it before a crystal glass suddenly appeared between his fingers, with a purplish liquid mildly sloshing inside. So similar to the one that naked god had been drinking from. Helion.
She stupidly blinked a few times, dumbstruck by that small act of magic.
This is a magical realm, princess. We can have anything we desire... Wolf's words from earlier casually rung into her mind. She made a mental note to try it too later. Who knew, maybe it worked for anyone, regardless of one's race or status.
She lightly shook her head, willing herself to focus. She then crossed the room and took a seat on the edge of that plushy rounded lounge bed, mentally sighing with contentment. Finally. She was sitting down. Resting her poor legs.
"Speaking of, what the hell even was that?" She then asked, her gaze darting back to Nicholas. Watching him take a sip from his drink.
He rose a brow, making her blush a little.
"They were..." she blinked as the memory of what she'd witnessed back at that party came back to her full-force. Making her feel so embarrassed and uneasy, the slightest pinch of heat however licking at her. Going straight into her virgin kitty. She would never admit it but it kind of turned her on. The witnessing of those lewd acts. The way that those women were moaning and screaming. It made her feel so curious about what it would feel like. To have Nicholas slipping into her like that...
She forcibly swallowed that moan that threatened to expose her current train of thoughts. Her thighs immediately pressed together on their own accord, remembering that he could actually smell her whenever she was feeling like that.
She awkwardly cleared out her throat. Pretending not to be so affected. But her cheeks were burning so profusely now, her nipples so hard and sensitive underneath her silken camisole.
She quickly wrapped her arms over her chest. Watching Nicholas let out a mild chuckle. But his eyes had changed colour now. No longer they were dark brown. They were a pretty shade of ruby. The colour that they changed into whenever he craved for her blood. She thickly swallowed.
He remained standing exactly where he was though. Watching her so intently now.
"Gods are not like humans. We..." he abruptly stopped, his jaw working. She blinked with confusion.
"They," he put an emphasis on the word, "tend to live for a very long time before moving on to their celestial cycle. Some never do. They remain in their corporeal form forever. It's easy to get bored when you actually get to live for eons. So they usually tend to lose all their inhibitions after a while," he calmly explained.
Diana stared up at him. At his youthful and handsome face.
"And how old are you?"
He smirked, "In god years or human years?"
She shrugged, not really knowing how to respond to that. She didn't even know what difference there was between the two.
So he proceeded to explain,
"Well, in god years I've barely gotten to exist, I'm actually one of the youngest gods that there are. But in human years, you could say that I've been living for quite a while. Three thousand and twenty-seven years, to be more specific,"
Her jaw fell to the floor. Three-
Thousands???
Holy mother of Christ!!
She staggered from the shock, her poor mind struggling to digest that information. He was...older than the freaking Christian calendar??
"Wh...where are your parents? I mean, are gods even born or...?" She nimbly blurted out, her mind however still stuck on that earlier information. Slowly processing it.
He smiled. The action making her stare at him and lose focus for a moment. Why did he have to be so insanely handsome?
"Some are. Some were created. There is actually a grain of truth in those greek tales you've read. I am one of the birthed ones. My parents were Janus and Mera. The god of portals and beginnings and the black hound goddess, also known as the goddess of darkness and terror," he said with a calm and unbothered tone, taking another sip from his glass.
"They've both moved on to their celestial cycles," he added with a shrug and her brows furrowed, remembering what miss Nancy had told her about them. Their so-called deaths, along with his wife's.
"So everything that Nancy told me..."
"Was utter bullcrap, yeah," he finished that sentence for her, offering her an apologetic smile.
She found herself kinda wanting to ask about his wife too, about what really happened to her, but she didn't want to pry. Plus that she secretly felt a little jealous of her, of the love that he seemed to have had for her. She didn't like the thought of him caring for someone else, of him yearning for another woman. It was dumb, and equally selfish of her. She was pretty much aware of that. But she just couldn't stop herself from thinking like that. From feeling that pang of hurt and betrayal whenever she thought about that. About Adelaide. What she must've meant to him.
The mistress' soul was so dark...she killed so many of us...she was too thirsty... that ghost's words that had visited her that night suddenly echoed into her mind. Bringing even more questions to light. What could she have meant by that? Did that mean that Adelaide was a vampire too, and that she had killed her staff by draining them of their blood?
She stole the god's heart...it wasn't hers to take... her gaze lifted to regard Nicholas upon reminiscing that, only now realizing what those words actually meant. The ghost was talking about him. About Nicholas. He was the god whose heart had been stolen. By the mistress herself. But what she couldn't understand though, was why they kept repeating that it wasn't hers to take, and that she was suffering because of that. Could it be that his wife had somehow wronged him? And that she was trapped within that demon's clutches now because of that?
All those thoughts suddenly flew away as soon as he crossed the room and took a seat right next to her on the plushy lounge bed. Holding that crystal glass before his long and elegant fingers.
He audibly sighed and she dug her fingers into the bed's soft edge, feeling a little nervous.
"What are we even going to do now? Should I worry about Ares?" She quietly asked. Voicing out those thoughts that had been plaguing her ever since she'd stepped into his quarters.
"He's not going to force himself on you, if that's what you're worried about," he calmly said. Keeping his gaze trained ahead. She turned her head to stare at him.
"Gods have a code of honour. A moral conduct that they abide by. Everything that you saw back there was consensual. We..." he abruptly paused again, licking his lips. She followed the action.
"They're against harming mortals. Although he could charm you into giving in to him," he turned his head to meet her gaze. Pensively staring at her.
"Like, bewitch me or something?" She immediately asked. God, she hoped not!
"No," he quickly answered. "Well, more like seducing you," he then corrected himself with a tilt of his head. Still continuing to watch her like that. So conflicted.
She lightly chuckled at the sound of that. "Good luck with that. I'm already..." she abruptly stopped herself upon realizing what she was just about to say, eyes widening a little. Cheeks flushing so hard.
She couldn't help but notice the way that his lips curled up just a little. Fighting a smirk. Neither of them moved for a while. Gazing into each other's eyes. Until she finally blinked again, breaking that trance.
She awkwardly cleared out her throat, standing up to her feet.
"Uhm, can I take a shower? Do you have a bathroom somewhere in here that I can use?" She casually looked around the spacious room, pointlessly searching for any adjacent doors, save for those double ones serving as an entrance.
"You can bathe in there," Her gaze snapped back to him, noticing that he was actually pointing to that large pool that was taking up most of the adjoining room.
She blinked with perplexity. Her gaze returning to him.
"B-but...there's no wall! You can see everything from here!"
He shrugged, offering her one of those bastardly smirks of his.
"Unless you wish to reside in another god's quarters, you will have to get used to this,"
Her lips parted into an outraged gasp, just about to give him a piece of her mind when an array of burning candles suddenly appeared out of nowhere with the sweep of a current of air, taking every single corner of his rooms. She blinked, taking a bewildered look around. Rose petals then rained from the ceiling, gingerly falling everywhere like delicate snowflakes. On the bed. Into the pool. All over the floor.
She tilted her chin to look up at the ceiling, brows furrowing with confusion. What...was even happening right now?
"Seems like the palace likes you," she heard Nicholas say, a slight hint of delight lacing his tone.
She swiftly lowered her gaze back to him. Giving him a weird look.
"What? H-how could a building like me?"
"The palace is enchanted, Diana. It was specially designed to cater to its inhabitants' every whim and need," he simply said.
"But like a being with its own personality, sometimes if it doesn't like the people inside...well let's just say that it doesn't end up too well for them," he expressed a mischievous grin.
She tiredly sighed,
"Well if it likes me that much can't it just, like, build a wall and a door here?" She complained, waving towards that very wide open space separating one room from the other.
Nicholas chuckled, lightly shaking his head.
"Just bathe, Diana. I will not bother you. Plus I've already seen all that there was to see, remember?" His brow rose as he said that, giving her a cheeky grin. She could feel her cheeks heating up again upon reminiscing that morning.
He suddenly rose up to his feet and she followed him with her gaze, staggering back a step.
"I will fetch you something to wear in the meantime," was the only thing that he said before emptying that crystal glass with one big gulp. And with a few quick strides he was already past those double doors, softly closing them behind him.
She practically raced straight towards the pool, so desperate to undress and dive right in before he returned. At least like that she would be covered by the water by the time he'd came back.
So she did just that. Quickly ridding herself of everything. His shirt. Her camisole. Her panties. She simply threw them all on the floor and walked closer to the edge, taking those stone steps that led inside one by one.
She was so surprised to notice that the water was perfectly warm. Not too hot and not too cold either. Just...perfect. And it smelled so incredibly inviting, of soaps and oils. Sweet and delicately fragrant.
She sighed with contentment as soon as her body was completely underwater, so pleased to realize that it wasn't too deep either. Her feet could already touch the bottom, even though the water was barely reaching to her throat. At least she wouldn't drown in here too. She comically snorted at the thought, a mild and bashful smile lingering on her lips upon reminiscing that look in Nicholas' eyes as she came back to life. He looked so...genuinely worried.
She hadn't meant to do that. To perform such a reckless gesture. She was only trying to escape. She was still feeling so guilty and stupid for it. But she couldn't deny that it did something to her. The sight of him like that. It made her feel so warm and fuzzy inside.
She startled as she suddenly heard those double doors slam again, letting her know that he had returned.
Her cheeks immediately pinched up with heat again. Feeling a little bit self-conscious. Thank whoever created this palace that there were so many rose petals now covering the surface of the water. Floating all around her. There were white, pink and blood-red rose petals, glinting with droplets of water in that soft light provided by the burning candles scattered all around. Giving the whole space such a relaxing and romantic ambient.
She blinked. Was the palace...actually...??
No. It couldn't be. She was just so very tired. Imagining things. It was just a palace. Not a sentient being after all. Surely it couldn't be trying to actually set them up, could it?
She lightly shook her head, ridding herself of those stupid thoughts. Her gaze trailing forwards, just in time to notice Nicholas place a few pieces of white fabric on the edge of the bed before seating himself right next to them.
He audibly sighed, letting his body fall backwards and hit that plushy mattress, simply lying there like that for a few moments. Arm slinging to rest over his eyes.
She continued to watch him. Quietly observing him. The entirety of his muscled and large body. His length. Those beautiful red roses inked on his arms. His shoulders. The sides of his neck. The backs of his hands.
"Why do they keep calling you like that?" She quietly uttered. Plagued by that name that kept whispering itself into her mind now. Over and over again.
He rose at the sound of that, leaning onto his elbow as he stared at her from his spot on the bed. Brows mildly furrowed.
"Like what?"
"Nyktos..." she softly uttered out loud. The name rolling off of her tongue like a praise to him. To what he truly was. His true nature.
He couldn't control that shiver that went through him. His very essence pulsing once as if responding to her call. Reaching out back to her.
He swallowed.
"That's my real name. My god-given name," even his voice was trembling a little now. Sacred gods. What was this little mortal doing to him?
"Oh..." those rosy lips of hers parted. Forming the sexiest circle that he had ever witnessed in his long and damned life.
"Should I be calling you like that then?" She meekly questioned. Those sparkly green eyes of hers partially hidden by long and curving lashes. Fuck. How could a creature like her bewitch him so? Entice him so blazingly hot? She had barely opened her mouth and he was already hard as a rock. Yearning for her. Dying for another taste of her.
"You can, if you want to," he absently answered, his mind plagued by a single thought now. To touch her. In any way that he could. Her skin. Her body. Anything. And before he could even realize what was happening, he was already standing on his own two feet. With that clear intention glinting in his eyes.