Page 32 of Desired By Eros

“How?”

“We can keep going. At the brunch.”

“Oh, you mean act like…” She didn’t want to say boyfriend because now she felt silly after misreading the situation. “Like we’re sleeping together?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s not harming anyone, is it?”

She chewed at her bottom lip. “I suppose not.” All these years, she’d been trying to understand them and their behaviors, not to mention, give excuses, and all the while, neither of them thought to do the same for her. Now that she replayed the events in her head from last night, she could see exactly how her sisters,particularly Christine, got some of their own medicine back, which, she was petty enough to admit, felt good.

“Well?”

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

Grinning at her, he offered his arm to her. “We’ll put on a good show.”

Agnes and Christine had already gone ahead as they had their own car and driver, which suited Psyche just fine as she used the time to go through her routine and calm herself before the assault on her senses. She had never been to the Full Moon diner before, but from her previous experiences, restaurants were loud, noisy places, not to mention, all the mixed scents of food, coffee, and sweat were grating on her sensitive shifter sense. Thankfully, by the time they entered the diner, her anxiety levels had gone down significantly. Scanning the room, she found Christine and Agnes in a semi-circular booth in the far corner.

A warm hand covered hers. “Ready?” Eros said, giving her a playful smirk.

“Yup.”

They strode toward the booth, where her sisters were deep in conversation.

“… can’t believe this is the only decent restaurant in this little—Psyche!” Agnes’s face lit up as she saw her, but then fell. “And you brought Lord Eros.”

“Of course she did.” Eros said. “I couldn’t bear to be apart from her.”

“I, for one, am glad you are here, Lord Eros. How lovely to see you again.” There was a distinct breathiness to Christine’s tone. “I was disappointed that you left so soon.” She scootedfurther into the circular booth and rubbed her hand on the empty spot next to her. “Please make yourself comfortable.

“Don’t mind if I do.” Instead of sitting next to her, however, he ushered Psyche into the other end next to Agnes and sat on the end. “There’s no menu here, but it’s all the usual stuff–eggs, toast, bacon, sausages, pancakes. If you can say it, they can make it.”

“I’m having an egg white omelet and coffee,” Christine said. “You should order the same, Psyche. It’s about as healthy and low calorie as you can get.”

“The pancakes are divine,” Eros said. “And they give you a stack as tall as your head.”

“That sounds good,” Psyche said. “And some bacon, too.”

Christine leaned forward, her perfectly-manicured red nails scraping the Formica top. “Isn’t that a little too greasy?”

Eros didn’t even look at Christine. “With extra,extrabacon.” He waved at the waitress, who hurried over to fill their coffee cups as she took their orders.

“So, Lord Eros,” Agnes began. “You never did tell us what you were doing on earth, particularly with the Alaska pack.”

“No, I didn’t.” His expression never wavered, even as awkward silence filled the air.

Christine cleared her throat. “Gods and goddesses have their reasons, which are only known to them. But surely, you’re not staying long here on earth? You must have so many duties to attend to, being the god of love and desire, and are eager to go back to Mount Olympus.”

“Yes, but there’s a thing or two keeping me down here.” He glanced over at Psyche, lids drooping and his eyes lingered on her lips, making her stomach perform a somersault. “In any case, why the interest in me? I thought you wanted to spend time with Psyche before you left? Don’t you want to know more about her work and how she’s faring?”

“Of course,” Agnes sniffed. “Psyche, you know how terribly proud we all are of your accomplishments. Dad and Mom miss you and send their love, and they can’t wait to see you when you come home for Dad’s sixtieth birthday party back home in a few weeks.”

“I miss them too.” When she got the news that she was accepted for the program at Denali, there was so much to do before the trip that she hadn’t had time to make a visit home. A pang in her chest filled her with sadness at the reminder of how far away she was from them and her home. “But yeah, I’m excited to see them.”

Agnes continued. “Have you started your dig yet?”

“No, the actual work begins next week.” She explained everything that had happened in the last week to them and the details of her upcoming research. Truly, she could go on and on about the subject, and most of the time, she did until whoever she was talking to had found some excuse to cut her short or to leave. Now, however, despite her excitement at the topic, she sometimes stuttered or forgot a word or two as Eros showered her with affection. It began with placing his arm around her, but soon, he was touching her arm, brushing her hair from her face, or even nuzzling at her cheek. It sent all kinds of warm and fuzzy sensations throughout her body and made her tongue trip up.

He’s only doing this as part of our show, she reminded herself, even as the hand inching up the top of her thigh made her breath catch. When their food arrived, he stopped touching her, though he did offer her bites from his plate every once in a while.

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