For The Love Of A God by Rosanna Leo (ebook reader for comics .txt) 📕

She looked as if she might cry if he didn't release her hands. As if she ached to touch his skin, pined for it. He wondered if it were possible that her need matched his. If she, too, felt she'd die if she didn't get a chance to caress him.

He stared down into her eyes, feeding off the exquisite torture he was inflicting. Seeing her passion, her need, filled his soul. Made him feel whole.

This fervor, this adoration, was something he hadn't experienced in centuries. Not since the days when mortals danced and fucked in his name. When they held festivals and orgies in his honor. When maidens would offer him their bodies, their souls.

This was what made him feel like a god. Perhaps he'd denied himself the heady rush for far too long.

And yet, somehow, this feeling was even stronger. More profound and all-consuming.

Slowly, while he feasted on her bottom lip, Eric dared to release her hands.

Maia inhaled sharply. And then she touched him. For the first time since he'd entered her bed, she closed her eyes.

He felt so good. Manly and smooth. Firm muscle under perfect, unblemished skin.

But there was something more, something different, which set him apart from other men. A heat in his skin, making her sizzle. Making her dizzy with want. She'd felt it before when he kissed her, but those moments had merely given her little jolts of electricity. Now, as she smoothed her hands over his naked body, the warmth penetrated her. Changed her. Transformed her body into an aching, seething mass of sensation.

And they'd barely touched each other. What would happen when...?

She couldn't even let her mind begin to process it.

And then it hit her. He did feel like Eryx. The Eryx who had come to her in her dreams and loved her.

She ran her hands down his back as he kissed her, feeling each section of muscle clench under her touch. Every sinew, every bone in him, was one she already somehow knew. She'd felt him in her dreams already, studied his hard length in wishful silence in the Gallery of Greece. Every inch of him screamed, “Know me. I am your one true Eryx!"

God, she thought. I'm delirious! Now I know it's been too long since I did this. I'm equating him with a man who never existed. How sick am I?

Yet as his lips continued to plunder her body, she didn't care. She just wanted Eric inside her. Needed him, as surely as she needed to breathe.

Even though her eyes were fluttering, she was conscious of him lifting himself off her by a few inches. “Don't go,” she murmured, opening her heavy eyes.

Eric's lips curved into a provocative grin. “I'm not going anywhere. I just want to look at you."

He leaned on one elbow and traced one of her nipples with a finger. She arched into his touch, desperate for that charge again. Wanting full-body contact. But Eric seemed insistent on driving her mad. Pulling away a degree, he continued to touch only her nipple, circling its hard peak.

"You have beautiful breasts. The most sinful breasts I've ever seen,” he drawled. “I've been imagining them since I met you. They've exceeded my expectations."

She stared at him, awed.

"But,” he continued, his deep voice stroking her. “What I can't stop wondering is how they'll taste."

As he lowered his head, Maia's heart hammered in her chest. “Oh, God, I can't take this."

His tongue flicked out, curling around her nipple. “You'll take a lot more before we're done.” He drew the nipple between his teeth and sucked.

An explosion rocked her body. For a moment, Maia wondered if an earthquake had struck downtown Toronto. But then she realized the only things moving were her tortured body and Eric's lips and teeth. And, oh, how they moved! Her breast felt on fire.

Surely his touches would kill her. They'd find her stiff body in the morning, dead to the world and cold, but with a ridiculous smile on her face. And as she decided it was a perfect way to go, she opened her eyes.

And saw the dark-haired woman. Standing next to her bed. Smiling down at them.

Nemesis.

Maia screamed and pushed Eric away. She scrambled to cover herself with the sheets. But when she looked back up, the woman was gone.

"What's wrong?” Eric reached for her, and she fell into his arms.

"Didn't you see her?"

Eric's eyes narrowed. “Who?"

She couldn't even say who she saw. Eric would think she was loony tunes. “The dark-haired woman,” she replied, shaking. “She was in the room with us, and now she's gone. She was watching us. Oh, brother, I'm going to be sick."

Maia launched herself off the bed and ran to the bathroom. Eric listened as she threw herself down on the floor and retched.

"Shit,” he muttered. “Show yourself, Nemesis! Enough already. You took Chloe away from me. I won't let you have Maia."

But the goddess did not respond. The apartment was silent, aside from the sounds of Maia tossing her cookies. They were alone again.

Eric's heart seized as he listened to her awful heaving noises. He wanted to help her. Comfort her. Maybe he could hold her hair back. Wasn't that what mortal lovers did at these moments?

He tried the bathroom door, but it was locked. She'd managed to bar it against him, obviously embarrassed. Sure, he could have easily entered her bathroom using his powers, but didn't want to totally freak her out. No, she'd locked the door for a reason, and he'd respect her wishes.

He threw on his underwear and sat on her bed, feeling unnerved. And then he waited for her.

"Mr. Lord?” Sarah poked her head into Eric's office.

He glared into his laptop screen. “What is it now, Sarah?"

Her face crumpled. Gods, he was barking at young girls now! He didn't mean to be rude, but she'd been peppering him with questions since he'd arrived at work, when all he could really think about was what had happened at Maia's.