Chapter 31
CORDELIA
The next morning, after more mind-blowing sex, Si had left me to go back to Genesion, after asking me to come with him, even for a few days.
I needed to check with Sephy about watching Guinn, but gods help me—I wanted to see his kingdom. More than that, I just wanted to be with him.
Pathetic. I was turning into a lovesick sap.
For a heartbeat, the old fear flickered—what if I was just another conquest, something he’d use and discard when the tide turned? I shoved the thought down hard. No. I wasn’t going there—not today.
‘Ouch,’ I muttered, wincing as I buttoned my leathers. Everything hurt—in a good, smug, absolutely Si-shaped way. We probably should’ve stopped after the second time. Or the third; I would’ve been fine after the third.
I shuffled into the kitchen and found Sephy and Bronte at the table, demolishing eggs and toast with steaming mugs of coffee.
‘What the fuck?’ Bronte said tersely, putting a hand out to me. Sephy’s grin almost split her face as she slid a cup of coffee towards me.
What? Did I have a morning-after glow? Shit. I plonked into a chair and let my head thunk on the table. ‘He’s always assumed I’d end up in his bed and…’ I said as heat crept into my face.
‘But you didn’t end up in his bed?’ Bronte asked dryly.
‘No, of course not.’ Technically, I wasn’t lying.
I’d ended up against the wall and then in my bed, then this morning, over the console table, and in the shower…
and it was so incredibly hot. Great sex with a man who could easily hold my weight—and, gods, that divine, huge cock.
Desire washed through me at the thought.
‘He was seething about me leaving the Underworld with you two. He tried to push his weight around, and I gave him a piece of my mind.’
‘Ah. So you gave him a piece of your mind,’ Bronte repeated flatly. ‘Not a piece of your booty?’
I could tell she knew exactly what had happened, and so did Persephone, who was trying—and failing—to swallow her grin.
‘Yes, I gave him a piece of my mind.’ I clenched my jaw. ‘I slapped him across the face… and then… I had sex with him. Okay?’
‘Well you sure showed him, huh?’ Bronte pursed her lips and arched a brow. ‘The bad-decision express has officially left the station.’
‘Bronte, she obviously loves him,’ Sephy said defensively.
I snapped my mouth shut and swiped a hand across my forehead. Was what I felt love? What if he got bored of me? The thought squeezed my chest again until I could hardly breathe, but I had to trust he’d meant what he’d said.
‘It’s done now, right? She can’t undo it.’ Bronte’s eyes swung to Sephy.
‘Nope. Only death can break the bond,’ Sephy said cheerily.
‘Undo what?’ I squinted at her. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘It’s subtle but—’ Sephy began, eyeing me.
‘It’s subtle because you’re her friend. You don’t want to bang her.’ Bronte cut in.
‘You’re such an unromantic asshole, Bronte,’ Sephy shot back. ‘She’s clearly accepted it, which definitely means she loves him. It’s obvious, otherwise she wouldn’t be glowing like a firefly. It’s undeniable… She’s his, and anyone who tries to take her away will feel his wrath.’
‘Hey! I’m right here.’ I jabbed a finger at myself.
Bronte narrowed her eyes as she looked me over. ‘She looks almost angelic, which is a hysterical contradiction given her profession.’
I spread my hands. ‘Seriously… What in the gods’ names are you two talking about?’
Guinn walked into the kitchen in her training gear, ready to kick ass, but came to an abrupt halt, eyes widening as she stared at me.
‘What’s up with you?’ I snapped.
Her eyebrows lowered. ‘What’s up with you?’
‘See?’ Bronte pointed at Guinn.
Guinn’s expression flattened. ‘Is that a morning-after glow? Because if it is… eww. Gross.’ She wrinkled her nose, and my eyebrows wrestled my hairline. ‘Or has he bought you godly skincare products with a bronzer? Your skin is legit glowing.’
‘It is?’
‘Yeah.’ She scrunched her face, then stiffened, slowly turning to Persephone. ‘Like Persephone’s… What’s going on?’
‘It’s the mark of a god, kid,’ Bronte said, cocking her head as she scrutinised me. I almost choked on my own spit as Guinn’s eyes popped. ‘Do you want your sister shackled to a possessive, arrogant god?’
‘Now listen here!’ Guinn pointed to me with the ferocity of a pissed-off, fifty-year-old perimenopausal woman, eyes still on Bronte.
‘She isn’t ruled by anyone. She’s a ball-buster.
He doesn’t own her, and if she wants to leave, she will.
She’s her own woman. Is he controlling? Yes.
Is he an arrogant son-of-a-bitch? Also yes, on occasion.
And he stalks her shadow like he’s auditioning for Creeper of the Year.
Even so, I can tell he loves her’—my heart squished at this point—‘and she’s the only one that can kick his ass without him throwing a tantrum. ’
Guinn threw her arms out and shrugged. ‘Anyway, nothing I say will change her mind, and he makes her happy. So I’m adapting. And…’ she hesitated, ‘he’s sort of growing on me.’
A fuzzy warmth enveloped my heart. Guinn, who had started off so suspicious of the gods—and of Si—was accepting him as my partner.
‘So, you’re okay about a god peeing on their chosen booty, and staking his claim like a Neanderthal?’ Bronte asked, effectively throwing ice water on that fuzzy, warm feeling.
‘Hey…’ Persephone raised a finger. ‘She’s staked her claim on him, too. It’s not only one way. Anyway, what’s a wedding ring if not a claim on someone?’
Bronte was undeterred. ‘Are you okay with this, Cordie? Being bound to a controlling god known for anger issues?’
I pressed a finger to my lips, thinking about Si and what he’d told me all along—that I was his, and he was mine.
Then I thought about last night, when I’d angered him.
Oh gods… Now I knew the sex in my books wasn’t just fantasy.
My pussy tingled, and my cheeks heated. I rubbed a hand over my face. I wanted him more now than I ever had.
‘Jealous much?’ I asked. ‘Or just terrified of catching feelings for someone?’
Bronte’s lips curved, but her eyes didn’t soften. ‘I don’t do feelings, sweetheart. They tend to bleed.’
Persephone snorted. ‘Spoken like someone who definitely has them.’
Bronte shot her a look. ‘And yet here I am, the only one not claimed by a moody god with territorial instincts.’
Guinn grinned. ‘Give it time.’
I grimaced and swallowed a gulp when sparks went off in Bronte’s peepers. She pulled her lips to the side and studied us both. ‘Two magically shackled chicks. You’re both insane.’
Guinn shrugged. ‘He can’t control her, not really. Just like Hades can’t control Sephy.’
‘You know it,’ Sephy said, lifting a shoulder. Bronte made an irritated noise in response.
‘Anyhoo, I hope it works out. Also… he’s loaded, right? If he gets too much, we’ll take half his money and split.’ And there was the fifty-year-old Guinn again—part teenager, part calculating divorce lawyer.
Bronte sighed in defeat and shook her head. Then she put two fingers to her eyes and pointed them at Sephy and me. ‘I will maintain my vigilance.’ She turned on her heel. ‘Come on, Guinn, let’s go and try to knock some sense into these two idiots.’
‘What about breakfast? ‘ Guinn whined.
‘Grab a croissant and a to-go mug. Put a fire under it and skedaddle,’ Bronte said over her shoulder, Guinn following orders, for a change.
Once she’d left, I grabbed Sephy’s arm before she rose from the table.
‘Sephy.’ I hesitated, and she cocked her head. ‘Si wants me to go to Genesion for a couple of days and—’
‘Yes!’ she cut in before I could finish. ‘Go! I’ll take care of Guinn, don’t even worry about it.’ She clapped her hands in delight, practically bouncing in her chair. ‘OMG, we’re going to be sisters!’
‘That’s a bit premature. I’m—’
She waved me off, eyes sparkling. ‘Don’t fight it, Cordie. Don’t fight the bond or the love you feel for him. You can deny it with your words, but your heart’s already chosen.’
I swallowed hard, my chest feeling bruised. ‘I’m scared, Sephy. What if he gets tired of me? What if I give him everything and he leaves? Gods don’t stay… they take what they want and move on.’
Her expression softened, all her teasing vanishing in an instant.
She reached across the table and covered my hand with hers.
‘I know that fear. I lived it. I thought Hades would drag me down into darkness and leave me there alone. But instead… he showed me I wasn’t something to be caged.
He wanted me free, even if that meant I could walk away from him. ’
Her thumb rubbed a circle over my knuckles, grounding me.
‘Poseidon may be tempestuous, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you.
That isn’t lust alone—it’s devotion. You calm him, Cordie.
You take that rage that could drown cities, and you quiet it like the tide easing back from the shore. He needs that… he needs you.’
My throat closed, tears pricking hot at the corners of my eyes. ‘What if I’m not enough?’
Sephy squeezed my hand, her smile warm and certain. ‘You already are. You just have to let yourself believe it.’
I sniffed, trying to blink back the sting in my eyes. I wasn’t used to feeling this vulnerable, and it rattled me to the core. Vulnerability wasn’t my strong suit. Banter was safer. Banter, I could handle.
‘Any chance this pep talk comes with a shot of tequila?’ I muttered.
She ignored me, smiling faintly at some memory only she could see. ‘I once had this conversation with Hecate. She told me love isn’t simple. You can’t fight it or bend it to your will—it shapes you whether you’re ready or not.’
I drew in a breath, meeting her eyes as she continued. ‘The Greeks knew there were eight kinds of love. Philia—a bond deeper than friendship. Ludus—the joy and playfulness you bring out in each other. And pragma—the kind of devotion that lasts a lifetime.’
She paused, her gaze glinting. ‘And then there’s Eros.’
‘Eros?’ My head snapped up.
Sephy’s grin turned sly, her eyes sparkling. ‘Sexual passion.’