A Goddess Unraveled

~46~

By some miracle, Lexi and Hades were granted a few undisturbed moments to bask in the ambiance of their secret liaison. Lexi would have stayed inside Hades's arms for eternity, soothed by his warmth while her body bobbed on some unknown current, taking her on the ride of her life. Whether this was love or lust, she didn't care. She just knew she wanted more.

Of course, the reality of getting busted by an overprotective family member forced them to abandon her bed, and they parted ways. Hades left by the balcony, and Lexi made her reappearance in the living room not long afterwards. He met her at the bottom of the stairs with a concerned expression, pretending to have wandered the grounds waiting for her to return. They shared a covert smile and went on to mingle with the remaining party guests, although Lexi found it difficult to keep her mind on conversations while her body idled in sex drive.

As soon as Nora aka Mnemosyne noticed Lexi and Hades helping themselves to the couch, she hurried over, snuggling up to Lexi and whispering not so privately in her ear. "You have the glow of someone who has been engaging in heavy petting." She offered Hades a knowing smile, and he responded with an innocent shrug.

"I'm just flushed from my near drowning incident this evening," Lexi said, although she didn't know why she was trying to fool Mnemosyne. The goddess was Zeus's consort. She knew the ropes.

Mnemosyne chuckled. "You don't have to play innocent with me, Lexi. I'm on your side. I suggest you wait until everyone is tucked into their beds then sneak into Hades's room and have your way with him. That's what I would do."

Her mischievous grin made Lexi slightly uncomfortable, and Lexi had to work hard not to imagine Mnemosyne sneaking into Hades's room to have her way with him. Had the goddess been a consort to Hades? Lexi knew she'd be struggling with the whole gods sleeping with gods thing for a while, but now was not the time to dwell on that. She had already planned to take Mnemosyne's advice. But, where to do it?

Hades slept down the hall from Zeus, so his room was out, and Lexi's room wouldn't be private enough, since the couple with the infinitely shy son stayed in the guest room next door. Too bad they hadn't bailed like the others. She and Hades needed somewhere secret and soundproof. If she was going to do this thing properly, she wanted the option of screaming like a banshee without waking up the whole house.

With thoughts of sugarplums dancing in her head, the night seemed to drag on like Christmas eve, and when the room had emptied of most of its occupants, Lexi stretched against Hades as she let go of a long yawn. Hades brushed his knuckles across her cheek, and chills prickled her scalp.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Lexi, but you look tired," he said. "I'm surprised you stayed awake this long, after all you've been through today."

"I could use a rest, but I don't plan to spend the whole night sleeping." She grinned and had to stifle the temptation to kiss him. They were still in mixed company. Oddly, Zeus had given them a wide berth. Maybe her earlier speech had sunk into his thick skull, and he had resigned himself to the fact she and Hades would see each other naked before the weekend was over.

"Would you like me to see you to your room?" Hades asked. "Or would that be pushing it?"

They both looked at Zeus, who didn't appear tired in the least. In fact, he narrowed his eyes as he glared pointedly at the two of them. Maybe her naked idea needed more planning.

"I think we better play it cool. Big brother is watching. But I'm going to set my alarm for three AM. Should we synchronize our watches?"

Hades smiled. "Three AM it is. Do you have a rendezvous point in mind?"