Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
His chuckle makes things low in my stomach clench. Part of me still can’t believe this is happening, even as he resumes his position in front of me and eases me onto my back. Apollo’s touch is just as gentle and firm as he is, his hands lingering on my stomach and hips in a way that feels downright worshipping.
As promised.
He nudges my thighs wide and exhales shakily. “Now I can finally see you properly.”
“Apollo—”
“Hush.”
I lift my head and give him an incredulous look. “Did you just hush me?” He doesn’t respond with words. Instead, he drags his thumbs up the outside of my pussy, spreading me, and gives another of those deliciously shaky exhales. I bite my bottom lip. “I suppose I can be hushed if you keep doing that.”
“I appreciate your obedience,” he says in a distracted sort of way. He eases two fingers into me and a sound rumbles from his chest that’s almost a growl. “Is all this for me?” He pumps slowly, exploring me. It’s both similar to what he did last night and entirely different. “You’re so wet, you’re going to ruin the sheets.”
I start to make a snarky response, but he presses his fingertips to my G-spot and my ability to think flees, leaving only stark truth in its wake. “It’s for you,” I cry out. “It’s all for you.”
“Good girl.” His low words, his approval, send me over the edge. I orgasm with a cry that surely can be heard through the house. Apollo doesn’t stop, though. He starts stroking my clit with his other hand, watching my face even as he keeps my orgasm going. “Give me another, love. You can do it.”
As if I have a choice.
He leans down and presses a kiss to my knee even as he winds me up tighter, urges my pleasure higher. And, gods, the way Apollo looks at me. His heart is in his eyes, and it feels as if he’s laying it at my feet even though he’s most assuredly in the dominant role. Every touch, every sweep of his gaze over my body… It’s worshipful, but it goes beyond that. He’s not just happy to be fucking someone in general.
Apollo sees me.
The realization comes as he shifts down and presses a lingering kiss to my pussy. He keeps working me with his fingers, but his clever tongue drags leisurely over my clit, again and again. I reach for him without thinking, only to be brought up short by the bondage holding my hands together and my arms bent. “I want—” I fight against the bonds, which drives my need higher. “I need—”
He lifts his head long enough to say. “When I’m finished, you can make requests.”
I blink down at him. “When you’re finished.”
“Yes. You asked me to take care of you. I’m doing it my way.” He nips my thigh lightly. “If my nights with you are numbered, then I’ll be damned before I cut any part of this short.” A shadow flickers through his dark eyes, there and gone too quickly for my desire-addled brain to identify.
Something cracks and gives in my chest. To my horror, my lower lip quivers. “Apollo.” So much in that single word. I care for you. I might more than care for you, but I can’t admit that because if I do, then I’ll never leave. I can’t stay.
“Cassandra.” His response contains just as many layers. I know him well enough to pick up on some of them, if not all. I care, too. I won’t ask you to stay.
The moment stretches out between us, and all the things I can’t say press against the inside of my lips. I didn’t expect to feel this conflicted. I didn’t expect…any of this. It doesn’t change the circumstances, though, and we both know it.
Even if I wasn’t planning to flee the city to save my sister, the events of this afternoon have been an unwelcome reminder of just how dangerous it is to be among the Thirteen. It wasn’t Aphrodite or Hephaestus or Dionysus who was attacked. It was Pan. It could have just as easily been me. If I stayed, it might very well be me next time.
What happens to Alexandra if I get hurt?
If I die?
Apollo kisses me before I can ruin this with messy emotions and an impossible situation neither of us can solve without someone getting hurt. Better we be the ones to hurt than those who depend on us.
Again, I try to reach for him, and again, the rope pulls me up short.
This time, he doesn’t leave me frustrated. He keeps kissing me as he starts to unwind the rope. The problem with the more elaborate forms of bondage is that it takes almost more time to get out of it than it does to get in, but with him, it doesn’t feel like a chore. It’s just a different form of foreplay.