Cruel Seduction (Dark Olympus, #5) (46)

I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to my bedroom, though. My mattress is top of the line and my sheets have the kind of thread count that used to make Eris tease me with a wicked look in her eyes.

No.

I’m not thinking about Eris right now.

I ignore the ache in my chest and start for the window to close the curtains. Theseus’s hand closes over my shoulder. “Wait.” His free hand skates down my spine, stopping at the small of my back. “I want to fuck you, Adonis.”

“I want it, too.”

“Do you need to prep?”

I flush when I realize what he’s asking. Part of me wants to pretend I don’t understand, to deny that I even considered it a possibility we might get to this place tonight. I swallow my pride and rasp, “We’re good.”

Theseus gives a low laugh that makes my skin tighten. He steps closer, pressing against my back, his cock a hard length against my ass. “You really are a good boy, aren’t you?” He kisses the back of my neck. “Got yourself all ready for me.”

The contrast between his mouth soft on my skin and his fingers digging into my shoulder makes me moan. “Yes.”

He coasts his hand from the small of my back to my hip and jerks me closer. “Tell me what you like.”

I don’t exactly mean to lean back against him, but it’s like he’s got a gravitational pull of his own and I’m helpless to resist it. He drags his hand from my shoulder and down around to my stomach, splaying his fingers out and holding me in place as he keeps kissing my neck. I’m hardly in my early twenties, recovering in the space of seconds, but my cock twitches all the same.

“Adonis,” he murmurs against my skin. “Tell me.”

The truth is that I’m not entirely certain I’d dislike anything he does to me. I don’t know how I got to this place, but it feels so good to let my brain click off and my body take over. To submit, just a little, and let someone else shoulder the worries that have plagued me for weeks.

Even if they’re still there, lingering at the edges of my mind, along with my broken heart and far too much anger.

I will not think about her. Not now. Not in the midst of this.

He nips the spot where my shoulder meets my neck and the words spill out. “I want it slow.”

Theseus’s hand on my stomach shakes, just a little. “You really are the little romantic, aren’t you?” I can’t help tensing, waiting for derision or mocking, but he just sounds as faintly wondering as he looked earlier. He sets his teeth against my skin. Not quite a bite, but it makes me jump all the same. “You want me to fuck you like I love you.”

“I didn’t say—”

He spins me around and then his mouth is on mine. Gods, but I could get addicted to the way this man kisses me. This time it’s soft and slow and, yes, like he loves me. I know it’s a lie, but I can’t stop myself from sinking into it. Theseus will never be mine, not in reality, but I’m so damn tired of reeling after Eris’s moves that I’ll take the illusion of it.

Even if it’s only for tonight.

Theseus backs me toward the bed, keeping us tightly pressed together. It’s a little awkward, but that only heightens the way he takes my mouth like he owns me. My legs bump the mattress and he presses me down. “Lube?”

“Nightstand.”

The weight of him is gone in an instant. He moves to where I indicate and pulls out the bottle of lube and a handful of condoms. When I raise my brows, he shakes his head slowly. “This might not be true any other time, but tonight you’re safe with me.”

A lie.

He’s just playing into the fuck me like you love me thing. That’s all. But that doesn’t stop my chest from going soft in a truly worrisome way. “Okay.”

He pushes me back onto the bed, flips me onto my stomach, and settles on top of me. The weight of him does funny things to my head. Theseus, in general, does funny things to my head. I know he’s not for me, could never be for me, but he’s so refreshing in a way I never expected. Blunt and harsh and, strangely enough, awkward and kind.

“You’re thinking too hard.” He presses an open-mouth kiss to the back of my neck. The scrape of his beard against my skin makes me shiver. “Second thoughts?”

“No, nothing like that.” I reach back to where he has one hand braced on the bed beside me and lace my fingers through his. “Don’t stop.”

“Okay.” He trails kisses down my spine. I know this isn’t real—or at least isn’t anything realer than lust—but Theseus’s touch feels downright worshipful.

This is what I asked for.

I know. I know. But that doesn’t change the fact that it feels real.

“You really are perfection, aren’t you?” He blows lightly on the skin damp from his mouth. It’s such a light touch, a direct counterpoint to his weight pinning my lower body to the mattress, that I have to bite back a moan. Theseus skims his fingers over my side. “Gorgeous and strong and loyal. Enough ambition not to be boring, but not so much that you’re trampling over the people around you.”

Each word feels like he’s reaching into the direct heart of me. “Theseus—”

“Too much?” There’s a smile in his voice, and I suddenly want to see it on his face.