But not tonight. Not when so much hangs in the balance.
I dig my hands into her long dark hair and tug her up to my mouth. She tastes of me and need. It’s too good; I keep expecting it to dispel the way a dream does. I moan against her lips. “We don’t have much time.”
“Fuck them.”
Gods, but I’m falling in love with this woman. It doesn’t matter that it’s happening far too fast and far too intensely. There’s no room for how things should be, only how they are. I can’t see a way through, no matter which angle I look at the problem from. That knowledge scares me more than I want to admit. If there’s no path through, then this ends in tragedy.
I’ve never been a fan of tragedies. I prefer romances with their guaranteed happily-ever-afters.
Desperation gives me the strength to flip us, to press Eris back to the couch and kiss her hard enough to make my head spin. She smells expensive, some perfume I could never afford. Not that I’d wear it. I prefer to trail my nose across her collarbone and inhale it right off her skin. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She doesn’t waste her time with meaningless words of comfort that we both know would be a lie. Instead, she kisses me hard and delves her hand between my thighs. This time, I don’t stop her as she strums my pleasure higher and higher. I tell myself she needs this as much as I do, but the truth is always the same.
I am greedy when it comes to pleasure.
There is so little happiness in this world. Can I really be blamed for grasping the threads of what comes my way and clinging to it with all my strength? It never lasts, but there’s sweetness even in the loss. Or at least that’s what I tell myself when it happens again and again.
I don’t want to lose Eris, though. The thought of her being yet another casualty in the ambitious games of Minos and people like him makes me sick to my stomach. I pull her closer, kissing her as if my mouth can keep her with me, can ensure her safety.
A lie. All of it is a fucking lie.
That doesn’t stop me from coming against her fingers, my body shivering and shaking. I barely wait for the aftereffects to ease before I slide down her body and set my mouth to her pussy. She tastes better than I could have dreamed.
I’m starting to discover that’s just Eris… Better than I could have dreamed.
She sifts her fingers through my hair and lifts her hips. “Yes, right there.” Her low voice is breathy with need.
Knowing I brought her to this point makes me downright giddy. I follow her low urging, using the flat of my tongue to rub back and forth on her clit. Her breathing goes choppy and every muscle in her body tightens. “Don’t stop.”
Another night, I’d leave her on edge. Would see just how far I can push her before her patience runs out and she turns the tables on me. Not tonight. Tonight, I need her orgasm more than I need my next breath.
She cries out my name as she comes, the sound as sweet as the taste of her on my tongue. I give her one last long lick and then lift my head. Desire thrums in my blood, but we don’t have time to indulge. Still, I can’t stop myself from pressing a quick kiss to her thigh as I sit up.
Eris catches my wrist and pulls me down on top of her. She wraps her arms around me and inhales deeply. “I’m not ready to be done yet.”
“I know.” I settle against her, letting her hold me as our tensions ease. For how fierce and downright vicious this woman can be at times, she’s sweet right now. With me.
She sighs. “Things are going to get ugly tonight. Everyone is so damn stubborn.”
“I know that, too.” I smile even though it feels bitter. “Though I hope you’re including yourself in that list. You’re no wilting flower in danger of being steamrolled.”
Eris laughs a little. “No, I’m many things, but not that.” She sifts her fingers through my hair. “Things might be easier if I was. Let others take the lead and be content with following.”
I know she’s not intending it as criticism of me, but it’s hard not to take it as such. I tense. “Sometimes that’s the only way to live. Emphasis on live.”
“I will never fault a person for doing what it takes to survive,” she says quietly. “I’ve done a lot of things I’m not particularly proud of in the pursuit of surviving… But I always craved more. As soon as I was able to move out of my father’s house, I wanted enough power to ensure no one would make me feel helpless again.”
I understand that on a foundational level, even if I’ve gone about things differently. “Was it bad? With your father?”