“Special circumstance,” she says breezily. “As I was saying, you can observe the other people in attendance, but you can’t participate with anyone outside your party.” She gives a sharp smile the same cherry red as her dress. “If you’re a good girl, then you’ll likely be invited back with more freedom.”
Good girl.
The two words go through me like a gunshot. I press my lips together and fight not to shake. What is wrong with me? I won’t pretend I haven’t lost myself to lust more times than I care to count—I love life too much to turn down either fun or pleasure—but this is different.
This feels weighted in a way I’m not prepared to deal with.
I think I made a mistake agreeing to this.
10
APHRODITE
I’ve always been one to mix business and pleasure. Life’s too short to deny yourself, and if it has the added bonus of sending the men of my family spinning out? Well, I’m an overachiever like that.
This feels different.
Pandora is practically vibrating with tension by the time we pull up outside the club, and while part of me enjoys the fact that she’s obviously so deeply affected by me, the rest of me has the strangest urge to comfort her.
I don’t like it.
Sex is simple. It goes into a neat little box and stays there. Relationships are in a different box. With Pandora, there’s room in one box but not the other. I can’t afford to care. She came to the city with Minos and the rest of his fucked-up little family. If she’s not an active part of their plan to harm Olympus, she’s also not speaking up against them. She’s a passive enemy, but an enemy nonetheless.
I take down my enemies with a single-minded focus that they never see coming.
Except how am I supposed to focus when she’s climbing out of the car in that dress? We really do match. Hers is a fitted black creation that covers her from wrists to throat, but the fabric is sheer under its geometric pattern, giving tantalizing glimpses of a black bra and panty set beneath. It leaves her curvy body on full display and I fucking love it.
But the real kicker is the zipper. It runs from hem to neckline and she’s unzipped it enough to leave one soft, round thigh exposed. My fingers tingle with the desire to touch her there, to follow the line of that dress and undo the zipper with my teeth.
I take a shaky breath and follow her out onto the sidewalk. My body takes over, slipping my hand into hers. Pandora gives me a surprised look, but doesn’t snatch her hand back.
No reason to look into that, but my determination to seduce her is only rising with each charged moment that passes between us. I would do it even without the added bonus of it pissing off my dear husband.
She’s too sweet a fruit not to be plucked.
Tonight isn’t about pressing her for information; she’s far too smart to give away the goods so quickly. I have to seduce the information out of her, and I am only too happy to rise to the cause.
I tug her along with me to the entrance and then out of the night’s chill and into the club. It’s still relatively early as such things go, which was intentional on my part. I want time to get Pandora settled into a booth before the atmosphere of the place takes over.
Truly, I can’t believe Hades was hiding out here in the lower city and keeping this little gem tucked away from everyone on the other side of the river. It’s more of an open secret now, but the mystique hasn’t dampened. If anything, the way people whisper about this place has only added to its allure. Everyone wants an invitation and only a select few get one. Add in the fact that the press are not welcome in the lower city and even the most foolhardy of them won’t dare piss off Hades…
It’s a perfect setup for a little private fun.
Nothing stays secret for long in Olympus, of course. But the only thing that comes out of this club are verbal rumors. Hades doesn’t allow the rest of the Thirteen free rein, but I’ve convinced him to make an exception for me. The exception only lasts for as long as our alliance does, but that’s fine. I plan to take full advantage of it.
“Would you like something to drink?” I catch Pandora’s sharp look and smile. “No alcohol, but there are plenty of other options.”
She shakes her head slowly. “I’m good.”
I lean back in the booth, watching her watch the room. In the next thirty minutes, people will have taken seats on the variety of chairs and sofas and love seats scattered around the main floor and the show will begin. I would pay good money to witness one of Hades and Persephone’s coveted floor shows—they’re both sexy as sin and watching them fuck would be a true delight—but Hades curates those audiences. He’s overprotective of his little wife, even though she doesn’t need protecting. It’s cute.