“What I desire is for you to take off your shirt.”
I tug at the third button…and then stop.
She huffs out a breath. “Okay, fine. The last time was after that meeting about Aphrodite—the previous Aphrodite.”
I remember exactly what she’s talking about. The last Aphrodite was exiled from Olympus some months ago, but she’s not the type to disappear quietly and leave everyone in peace. In the time she’s been gone, she’s attempted to launch no less than three smear campaigns against Psyche Dimitriou. At Zeus’s instruction, I’ve managed to catch all of them early and dispel them; he doesn’t want a whisper of scandal to touch his new wife’s family.
That particular meeting had gone long while we sat in on a video call with the team tasked to take down all the posts she’d managed to publish, along with a particularly damning interview scheduled to go live the next morning. Afterward, I was furious enough to have gone through the same song and dance three times that I ordered my team to find a way to plant a virus in her computer and erase everything, with a threat that her finances would be next if she continued on this route. “What was it about that mess that got to you?”
“You were so mad.” She shivers and my mouth starts watering. Cassandra watches closely as I unbutton my third button before she continues. “You never yell when you’re mad. You just get sterner and it made me so hot to imagine you talking to me like that.”
“I’ve never had to talk to you like that.”
“You did last night.” She laughs a little. “You’re doing it right now.”
I pause on the fourth button. “Keep going, Cassandra. You went home quickly after the meeting.”
“Of course I did. My panties were soaked and I was halfway there before I even walked out the door.” She clenches her thighs together. “I pictured you telling me to strip the moment I walked through the door, kind of like you just did earlier. And then I touched myself.”
“Show me.”
Her hand immediately shifts down to her pussy. She creates a V with her fingers and presses hard to either side of her clit. “I was so close, I knew I’d finish too quickly, so I teased myself.” She pulses her fingers, parting her pussy a little. “I wanted your mouth on me.” She sucked in a breath. “I want your mouth on me right now.”
I fumble my way through unbuttoning the rest of my shirt and shrug it off. My hands are shaking. I need to touch her, taste her, make her feel good. I take one step before I catch myself and manage to exert some control. “When I fuck you in your fantasies, how do I do it?”
Her fingers pause and she blinks up at me. “You hold me down, but I feel so damn cared for even as you restrain me. You…” Her blush deepens. “You go slow and torment me until you lose control and then it’s a little rough and hits exactly where I need.”
“Like I did last night.”
She gives a jerky nod. “Yes. Like that.”
“It won’t be hard tonight, Cassandra. It’s not what you need.”
Her brows draw together and she opens her mouth like she wants to argue with me. I wait. She finally gives a cute little growl. “Fine. You’re right. It’s not what I need tonight.”
I consider her. “Spread your legs for me. Let me see all of you.”
She eases her thighs farther apart. As she does, Cassandra become bolder with how she touches herself. She presses a single finger into her pussy and then brings her wetness up to circle her clit. My cock goes so hard, I get a little dizzy from the blood rushing south.
“Better hurry.” Her voice has gone breathy and low. “Otherwise I’ll finish before you ever reach the bed.”
“No, Cassandra.” When her hand pauses, I shake my head sharply. “Keep going.” I circle the bed and hesitate when I catch a glimpse of something golden and shining in my suitcase that most certainly wasn’t there when we left the room earlier. I bend down and pick it up, disbelief making me laugh. “Godsdamn it, Hermes.”
“What is it?”
I turn to her with the golden bondage rope draped between my hands. “Your ex left us a little gift.”
“She’s real thoughtful like that.” Cassandra hasn’t stopped working herself. “Probably did it to fuck with you.”
“Undoubtedly.” But for the first time since I realized Cassandra and Hermes have a history, that prickly jagged feeling inside me has been washed away. It might be only for a short time, but Cassandra is naked and writhing in my bed. She’s allowing me to take care of her, to see to her needs.
I test the length of rope. It’s different from what I’ve used in the past, silky instead of sturdy. “Cassandra—”
“Yes, you can tie me up.” She says the sentence so fast, the words are all mashed together. “I would like that very much, and yes I trust you, and yes I promise to use my safe word if something’s wrong and communicate if anything feels like it’s cutting off circulation. Please, Apollo.”
I like that she’s already anticipating the things that would make me pause, that she’s communicating with me without hesitation. She’s right here with me. “Sit up and put your hands in front of you in a prayer position.”
Cassandra obeys immediately. She’s breathing hard, but she manages to raise a brow at me. “Am I going to be worshipping tonight?”
“No, love. You’re going to be the one worshipped.”
26
Cassandra
Maybe, given enough time, I’d eventually become used to the way Apollo’s voice goes deep and stern when he’s turned on and looking at me like I’m a buffet laid out for his personal enjoyment. Maybe.
No matter what else is true, I’m not thinking of anything but him and what he’ll do next. It’s a reprieve I desperately need, and he’s giving me exactly what I asked for.
He circles back to the dresser and grabs a random hair tie I’d left there. It gives me the chance to take another moment to appreciate how fucking gorgeous he is. He has the kind of body that’s seen on classical statues, muscled without being over the top about it. He obviously works out—something I was well aware of before, since he does it on his lunch breaks—but seeing his smooth skin on display makes me weak. I want to taste him and touch him and just press as much of myself against as much of him as possible.
He makes me feel safe, as if when he’s in the room with me, nothing else can touch me. If I’m honest, he’s been making me feel safe for a very long time.
He turns and his cock is a painful-looking imprint on the front of his slacks. I swallow hard. “You should take your pants off.”
“When I’m ready.”
I shake my head. “I want you to have a good time, too, Apollo. This can’t all be about me.”
His eyes go wide and then narrow. “Cassandra.” Gods, I love that firm tone he takes when I’ve done something to test him. “Tonight I’ll have my hands on your naked body. No matter what else happens, I’m having the time of my life.” He’s smiling as he climbs onto the bed, and my brain does not have capacity to process Apollo crawling toward me with that look on his handsome face.