Page 88 of Scion of Chaos

My piercings bump past the edges of her flesh one by one, and when I’m halfway in and still moving, she lets out a soft moan.

“Oh, that’s good. I didn’t expect to be able to feel it so much.”

“You like?” I pull out just a little and push back in, watching her face now. She’s flushed and beautiful, and the tiny thrust of her hips gives me my answer.

Looking into her eyes, I realize what she meant about wanting to bond. Being buried inside her with my cock isn’t enough. Now that I’ve tasted her too, maybe that’s enough to have it all?

Plunging in and out of her is a rhythm that’s easy to find without thought. Our bodies are in sync, moving in response to our desires. Our minds, however, are separate, and that needs to change.

Holding Nemea’s gaze, I tentatively drop my mental barriers and explore, reaching for her in that space she tried to bring me to before. It feels less like an abyss now than a simple portal into the unknown, but when she realizes I’m there, she eagerly opens up for me, and what I see inside her is a wonderland, I’m more than happy to step into.

My body shudders with pleasure as my orgasm takes me unaware, her body spasming and her cries filling my ears at the same time. I roll us onto our sides, hooking her leg over my hip and pushing into her one last time. Then I just hold her tight against me and surrender.

40

Nemea

The others arrive when Chrysaor joins us within my sanctuary. As if sensing his arrival, they all come out to greet him. It’s like a heartfelt reunion between friends who haven’t seen each other in ages, the way they share hugs and congratulations. Asterius and Pan release him and he turns, laughing out loud when he sees Typhon in his human form. He hauls the young man into a rough hug.

“I knew you had it in you, buddy. This is a good look.” Then he looks around in his wide-eyed, appreciative way. “This is like the prison, except not oppressive. I like it.”

Erebus merely watches from the side, giving me a slight nod of approval and a silent mental promise that he has no intention of staying away for long. I get the sense he wants to give the others a chance to bond with me first.

They don’t linger long, though. Each of them makes apologies for having tasks to complete, then disappears. Vesh is noticeably absent, and I suppress a pang of disappointment that borders on resentment. After waking up in his arms, I thought I might finally get more of his attention.

I shouldn’t be upset. There’s a crisis underway, and I need to do my part to be ready when it comes time to fight. What Chrysaor said is true: bonding with them is how I prepare. With this new connection, it’s as we’ve dug the well of potential power even deeper, and I can feel it filling while we lie in his bed, still entwined. I don’t know what I can do with it in a fight, but this is all a good start.

When it’s just myself and Chrysaor left in my sanctuary, I look up at him. “This isn’t so bad, is it, now that you’re here?”

“It’s beyond wonderful. Is this all you?” He turns to look over his shoulder at the elaborate temple that appeared beside the ones dedicated to my other mates, all situated around a central square. A statue of Pegasus rests in the center in a place of honor, and the remainder of the interior resembles Chrysaor’s room with its weapons and practice dummies.

“I think some of it must be you. You’re part of me now.”

He studies me for a beat before closing the distance and kissing me. When I open my eyes, we’re back in his bed, my mental sanctuary a mere glimmer in my imagination.

“What doeshethink about all this?” he asks, tapping my temple.

I raise my eyebrows. “Vesh? I don’t know. He seemed fine with it when I discovered it this morning. Should it bother him?”

“I guess not. It’s just that it means you’re much more like him than we realized.” He frowns as if a thought just occurred to him.

“What is it?” I ask.

“What if this means you can’t stay? If you’re that powerful at the end of this that you can manifest your own domain, what if it means you can’t coexist here with us? What if you outgrow him and he has to let you leave?”

“What do you meanletme leave? If I need to go, I just go, but this will always be there. You and the others will always be there.” I tap my head, then frown when the look on his face registers. He’s wincing as if he’s just said something he shouldn’t have, and the emotions running down our newly created bond suggest he regrets his words.

When he doesn’t answer, I pull away and sit up, staring down at him when he rolls onto his back. His wings flex and his upper body elevates slightly as he reaches for me, but I pull back.

“What did you mean, Chry?” I press.

He grimaces, then sighs. “Nemea, no onejust leavesTartarus. This is a prison, in case you missed it. Not just for the actual inmates, but for the guards too.”

A pit opens in my gut that feels nothing like that deep well filling with power. This one is dark and cold, and filled only with betrayal. I really hope he’s wrong. “But he took some of you with him yesterday. You were gone.”

“We weren’t here, but we weren’t outside the prison either. When he summons us for an excursion, we’re effectively outside, but our bodies rest in a sort of limbo while we inhabit copies of him. He has the power to send us back at his whim. We don’t actually exist in the world on our own. Pan’s the only one of us who has actually escaped in our entire time here, and that didn’t last long.”

His upper lip makes a slight twitch against one of his tusks and his gaze darts away for a second. Through our bond, I can sense him carefully walling off a thought.

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