Chapter 8
POSEIDON
The courtyard was warmly lit with tiny lights strung up between the trees.
"This is beautiful," Laila said, leaning back into the hand I'd placed on her lower back.
"It is," I responded. "And here's our host."
Dionysus walked towards us, wearing a deep maroon suit and the confidence of a man who had been following his dream for most of his life.
"Always good to see you, Poseidon," he said.
"Likewise, Dion. This is Laila." I gestured to the beautiful woman beside me, taking another moment to admire how good she looked.
Her dress plunged lower than I expected it to, especially after what she wore the other night.
I wasn't complaining, but it was going to make it harder to concentrate than I'd hoped for.
"It's good to meet you," he said to Laila. "Welcome to my vineyard."
"Thank you. I've heard good things about your wine. And tried a few thanks to Poseidon." She looked at me with a smile, and I felt everything go a bit fuzzy, even without having a drink.
"I'm surprised he didn't tell you there were better wines out there," Dionysus joked.
"He's been nothing but complimentary," Laila assured the other god.
"Then I look forward to sharing more with you." He gestured to a table that was already set up for the two of us. "I'll be back in a moment with your first wine, but why don't you make yourselves comfortable?"
I nodded and guided Laila over to the table.
She took a seat, her skirt falling to the side and revealing a slit, with a perfect, long leg showing through. She lifted the fabric and rearranged it, looking up as she did. From the expression on her face, I had to assume that she was doing it on purpose.
She had an effect on me that was undeniable.
I sat down beside her, doing my best to rearrange myself in a way that didn't make it obvious that a certain part of me was responding very strongly to her. I'd been alive for thousands of years, and yet this woman was somehow making me feel out of control.
"Are you okay?" she asked, putting a hand on my arm.
I cleared my throat. "Fine."
"Are you sure? You haven't said anything in a few minutes."
I cleared my throat. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you." She flipped her black hair over her shoulder, only drawing attention to her chest.
I looked away. I needed to pull this together, or I was going to mess this up. She probably wasn't doing anything on purpose, and I didn't want to ruin the chances I had of this being something by making her uncomfortable.
Dionysus returned, allowing me to focus on something else.
"We're starting with a Moshofilero," the wine god said, holding out a bottle for us both to see.
"It's a dry white wine with flavours of peach and lemon, with some floral notes.
" He uncorked the bottle and poured us both a generous glass before shoving the cork back into the top and placing it in a wine carrier beside us.
Laila picked up her glass and took a sniff. "I think I can smell the flowers."
Dionysus nodded. "You should be able to."
"And also something nutty," she said.
I picked up my own glass and smelled it so that I could make my own assessment.
"Good catch," Dionysus responded, excitement within his voice.
"As Moschofilero ages, it develops some almond notes, though some people think it's more hazelnutty.
You should also have some flavours of stone fruits coming through, notably apricot and nectarine.
Anyway, I shall leave you to enjoy it. I recommend trying it with some of the chilli hummus.
" He gestured to a dish on the platter between us.
Laila reached out to dip a cucumber into the hummus and tried it. "Oh, that's also good."
"Dionysus hired one of my previous head chefs to work here," I said.
She raised an eyebrow. "And that didn't cause any disagreements between you?"
I laughed. "Two thousand years ago, it might have done, but I was actually the one who suggested Christos for the job. He was ready for a kitchen of his own, and he was never going to get that while working under me."
"I don't see how working under you would be a problem," she responded, drinking her wine a lot slower than it felt like she should, drawing my attention to her lips.
I cleared my throat. "I'd like to think I'm a decent boss."
"Mmhmm." She set her wine glass down and put her hand on her leg where the split of her skirt was.
"You're doing this on purpose," I murmured.
Her light laugh constricted my heart. "I wasn't at first," she admitted. "But then you seemed flustered. It's kind of fun to know that I have a powerful god under my thrall." She leaned across the table to get an olive, lifting it to her lips and eating it tantalisingly slowly.
I groaned. "I am completely under your thrall," I murmured.
"Good to know. But I can behave."
"Please don't."
Her smile was enough to make me think that was the right answer.
"This wine is delicious, by the way," she said, picking up the glass again. "Though I am a little confused."
"By?"
"We're not in Greece."
"Well noticed."
"But we are in Dionysus' vineyard, and he's serving Greek wine," she said.
"Ah, that. This vineyard does make wine, but not this wine. Most of it comes from his vines in Greece, or those he keeps in the god realm. But he has vineyards like this in most countries in the world."
"I guess I was just wondering how you all decided where you were going to keep your homes."
I shrugged. "Most gods have moved around a lot, especially once their power fades and they realise that they have to find something else to live for. Most live in a place for a few decades at a time, but it does depend on how many paranormals are in the area."
"So does your lack of ageing give you away?"
"Something like that."
Dionysus returned with a second wine, putting a pause to the conversation. He was gone within a few minutes, leaving the two of us alone again.
"Most of us are sociable enough by nature to want to seek out the other gods," I said. "So you do tend to find us congregating together. Jinx is causing it at the moment, but in another decade, it'll be another reason. Unless Aine has become the most powerful goddess in the world."
Laila laughed. "And to think I hadn't even heard of her until I learned of Jinx."
I shrugged. "That's just how it works. If you'd lived in two thousand BC, you'd probably never have heard of me either."
She blinked a few times. "You're four thousand years old?"
"Give or take. I haven't counted in a long time. Physically, I'm about forty-three, I think." I ate a couple of olives.
She raked her gaze over me. "I can see that."
"And do you like what you see?"
"Definitely."
"Good." I grinned. "I feel more like forty-three than four thousand."
"That makes sense," she said. "My parents say the same thing. Well, not the four thousand part, they're around two-hundred-and-fifty, but they say they only feel like they're in their forties. If we measure by human standards anyway."
"So that makes you...younger than two-hundred?"
"I'm thirty-seven," she responded.
"And that doesn't concern you?" I asked. "The fact that I'm...not thirty-seven."
"You just said that you felt like you were forty-three," she pointed out. "So no. It doesn't bother me. There are more important things than age." She picked up her wine and took a sip.
"Such as?" I hoped the answers were going to make it possible for me to pursue something with her, though, considering that she was very clearly flirting with me, I felt like the chances of that were good.
"Where we both are in our lives and careers, what we want from the future, what we're passionate about, that kind of thing."
I nodded. "I'd like to think we match on some of those things."
"Certainly passion," she responded, popping another olive into her mouth.
"I have been enjoying your passion for food."
"I noticed." She smiled in a way that made it seem as if the observation was welcome. "And I'd say we're in a similar place career-wise. You seem satisfied with yours, and I am with mine. Though we're both long-lived enough that it isn't likely to be a forever career."
"That's true." I paused. "How do you feel about immortality?"
"I've never really thought about it," she admitted. "I have so much of my natural life left, that it's not anything I've ever worried about. I'm sure that will change as I get older, and I'm certainly not opposed to it. Would you want someone you were with to be immortal?"
"I think I'd want them to be open to it," I responded. "I know that things change, but I wouldn't want to date someone who said they definitely never wanted it. That would bring a finality to a relationship that I don't want."
She nodded. "Fair enough. I imagine that an eternity is a long time to consider being alone."
"Yes."
"All right, so I guess the only things left that could be deal breakers are marriage and kids," she said, taking a sip of her wine. "I'm not interested in the latter any time soon."
"I don't want more children," I said softly.
"Do you have many?"
"A few," I responded. "Some of them have grown up and made their own lives, some of them have passed on."
"I'm sorry." She put her hand on my arm.
"Don't be. It's what they wanted, and as hard as it was to let them go, it was necessary.
I wouldn't force immortality on any of my children for my sake.
They lived fulfilled lives and decided that they were done.
But I also don't want to go through it again.
" My heart ached at the thought of the people I'd lost over the centuries.
It wasn't just children, but those were the goodbyes that always stung the most. Watching them grow old and die while I was still the same as I had been for four thousand years was just not something I wanted a repeat of.
She cleared her throat. "Maybe we should change the subject."
I nodded, taking a moment to eat some more of the hummus.
True to her word, she turned the conversation onto a more light-hearted track, which was only furthered when Dionysus arrived with our third type of wine.
As much as I was never going to admit it to the wine god, I could feel the effects of the wine we'd been drinking already.
Laughter filled the air as I told Laila stories of my past, and she filled me in on the antics of her friends, though she was a little cautious when approaching the subject of Cupid, which was entirely fair.
The enmity between the Greek and Roman pantheons had never fully waned, though most of my personal issues were with Neptune, not the love god.
"Oh, no, this is starting to go to my head," Laila said as she looked at her almost empty glass of wine.
I chuckled. "That was the last one, though I can refill any you want." I gestured to the crate of wine sitting at the end of the table.
"I don't think that's a good idea. I didn't realise we could have more of it."
"You can have as much as you want," I said. "Now or later, the bottles are ours."
"But if I have too much, you're going to insist on taking me home, and the date will end."
"Yes." As hard as it would be, there was no denying that was what I'd have to do. I wasn't going to take advantage of her when I knew that I wanted something more than a quick tumble.
"Now would be a good time for those fried stuffed olives, right?" she joked.
I chuckled, glad she was still thinking about the possibility of eating my cooking. "I'm sure I could arrange some."
"Here?"
"No, but I have everything to make them at my house."
For a moment, I thought she'd say no, and I wouldn't blame her for it either. We hadn't spent that much time together, and here I was suggesting something that was a big next step. Especially when we'd both been drinking.
I cleared my throat. "But if that's going to make you uncomfortable, then forget I said anything..."
"No." She placed a hand on my arm. "I'd like to see your home."
"Then I'd like to show you it," I responded. "And make you the best fried stuffed olives you've ever had."
"Feeling a little full of yourself, are you?"
I felt my lips tug upwards. "A little."
"Then I'll take you up on your offer," she said. "Maybe I can feel full of you too."
It took a moment for the words to register, but as soon as they did, my entire body responded, growing tighter and less in control.
I was definitely going to need to make her some good food to soak up the wine, because there was no way I was risking her making a decision while tipsy, even if there was a part of me that wanted to take her up on her suggestion right here and now.