Read Online Arcadian Nights by Marie Medina - Free Book Online

fault. What if I give my word?”
    She shook her head, but she was still
smiling. He didn’t know if she was laughing at him or if she didn’t
believe him. “You want to fuck me again that bad?” She climbed back
onto the bed and ran her hand over his chest. “You did seem
pleased.”
    He decided to play her game. He opened
her robe and took one nipple between his teeth, making her sigh
with desire as he played his teeth and tongue over it. He looked up
into her eyes. “You were the best I’ve ever had.”
    That made her smile, but it faded when
he touched her cheek and added, “You were so lovely when you came,
even though you wouldn’t look at me.”
    She pulled away and got off the bed.
“Just go.”
    He stood and began putting his clothes
on. “You said you were afraid I was toying with you. You still
think that? Seems more like you’re toying with me.”
    She walked into the bathroom and shut
the door. “You can call me. I may eventually answer.”
    He sighed and dressed quickly. He
hoped he was right about what he’d seen hiding below her cold
exterior. He was risking more than his pride if his instincts about
her were wrong, and that was something he didn’t like to think
about.
    * * * *
    Eris sat on the bathroom floor,
thinking. She heard a meow and looked up to see Cosmos getting out
of the tub. She slept in there fairly often. The petite gray cat
came over to her mistress and rubbed against her, meowing
again.
    “ I suppose I can talk to
you, baby. There’s no one else I can trust.” She rubbed Cosmos
behind the ears.
    The cat looked up at her and
purred.
    Eris sighed. Sleeping with Hermes had
been a mistake, even though it had been satisfying beyond words.
He’d touched her just right, and his cock had sent her over the
moon. She shivered as she remembered the hot pleasure flowing over
her. He’d been even better than she’d expected.
    But she hadn’t expected him to
challenge her in the way he had. She’d imagined them trying to
dominate each other. She would have given into him eventually.
Instead of trying to control her body, he’d tried to command her
heart. That was too dangerous. He’d taken her more gently than
she’d expected, yet with a force she couldn’t explain. It confused
her, and she didn’t like it. She’d refused to let him see how much
she wanted to sleep with him again. Her body craved his touch
already. She felt she’d gotten a little taste of what Aphrodite had
become addicted to. Now she knew she was right about all the
complexity below his detached surface.
    She still felt him touching her, and
she ached to feel him inside her again. Shaking her head, she got
up, knowing she had a new dilemma. How could she get him back in
her bed but block him from her heart? She knew he didn’t love her,
but could that be what he wanted? He’d certainly hinted at it. If
that were true, he must believe she could love him. She thought of
Ares and how much he talked when he was drunk. What if he’d said
something about suspecting she had a thing for Hermes? She knew it
could have gotten back to Hermes somehow.
    She pushed the thought away and drew a
hot bath. Right now she didn’t want to think about him. She felt
the memory of their coupling engulfing her, and she had no
intention of giving into it.
    * * * *
    Hermes walked into Iris’ restaurant in
London and went straight back to her office. As soon as he appeared
in the door she ushered him in and got up to close the door behind
him.
    “ So, what’s happened?” she
asked as she motioned for him to sit down.
    “ We had a fight, but then
we had sex.”
    Iris opened her mouth to reply, but
then stopped.
    “ I’m not sure how it
went.”
    She looked at him quizzically. “How
can you not know?”
    “ She just wanted a shag.
She didn’t want me.”
    Iris shook her head. “That’s not
true.”
    He had a hard time believing that.
“What makes you so sure?”
    “ Why go to all this
trouble and spend all this time if