Forsaken Deity

Chapter 21

Her fear was short lived when she saw Hermes sneaking into her room. “Hermes! What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?”

He walked over. She could see his shit-eating grin in the dark, not to mention the fact he had no shirt on. Distracted, she didn’t refocus until he was climbing into bed with her.

“What are you doing? Get out!”

“No way. My room was cold and yours is much warmer.”

She crawled to the opposite end of the bed, raising an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”

“What?”

“That’s the line you’re using? Have you been taking advice from Apollo recently?”

He stalked across the mattress. “It must be working. You haven’t kicked me out yet.”

“Oh trust me, it isn’t. I’m just trying to think of how I want to kick you out.”

Hermes grabbed her leg and yanked her back across the bed. Shrieking, she tried to fight him off but he had her pinned beneath him before she could put up a decent fight. Her heart thudded as she rested her hands on his shoulders, thoughts of kicking him out evaporating.

“What? Giving up already?”

She leaned up and bit his shoulder.

“Ow!”

Grinning, she poked her tongue out.

“So you’re going to play it that way, huh?” He leaned closer and her breath quickened. His eyes were dark and she heard his breath sharpen. “You’re going to regret doing that, Peaches.”

She laughed as his mouth covered hers and she didn't regret anything.

*                            *                                      *                               *

She slapped his arm and he chuckled. Rolling, he moved out of her and grabbed the covers, pulling it over them. He rolled on his side, taking her with him, and pressed into her back, his arms coming around her. He pressed his leg between hers and wrapped it around her bottom leg, trapping her against him. Pressing a kiss to her neck, his nose traced the line of her shoulder. “I’m serious. I’ve been missing out for weeks and until you make it up to me, we aren’t leaving.”

They fell into silence. Hermes continued to trace her shoulder and her hand stroked his arm lightly as her heartbeat returned to normal. Eyes heavy, she drifted off to sleep, unable to fight it off any longer, feeling safe in Hermes’ arms.

*                             *                             *                             *

Eyes opening, her heart sank when she saw her bedroom cupboard staring back at her.

“Not again,” she whispered. Sitting up, she tried to find a weapon and ended up grabbing her hair straightener from the floor. She opened her door, expecting Cronos to be waiting, and her breath caught in her throat. Josh sat tied to a kitchen chair, body slumped forward. She saw blood pooling from his mouth, dripping onto the floor, and she rushed over in a panic. “Josh!”

He didn’t respond to her voice and before she could reach him, she was yanked back by her hair. Shrieking, she came face to face with Cronos.

“Ah, my dear.” He gently pulled the hair straightener from her hand. “How adorable, thinking you could hurt me with this strange object.” She struggled to break free and his grip on her hair tightened, curling into the base of her neck. He pulled her closer, her head tipping up, and she winced, breathing heavily. “Now, you can only imagine my disappointment when I discovered my men missed you today.”