Page 13 of Art of the Hunt
“Damn.” He raked his hands through his hair and dropped them to his thighs. “That was…”
“Intense?”
“Yeah, good word.”
She deliberately let her gaze drop to his crotch, and he cleared his throat. His cheeks were bright.
“What do you expect?” he said defensively. “You’re totally hot, and I just spent an hour with my dick pressed against your ass, a freaking Harley engine purring between my legs the whole time. I’m surprised I didn’t spooge, for Christ’s sake.”
She patted his cheek. “Don’t be embarrassed. This is exactly what I expected to happen. Now come on, let’s go stretch our legs.” She would have preferred wrapping her legs around him and moving closer on the seat, maybe figuring out if it was possible to have sex on her bike, except a child’s squeal reminded her that they were sitting in a busy parking lot. And while his body clearly wanted her, she wasn’t yet sure about Hunter’s mind.
Sex without emotions was just sex. Enjoyable but without the lasting effects a true connection offered. She’d not experienced that feeling since before Orion died, thousands of years ago.
She wasn’t opposed to sex for sex’s sake, but she wasn’t interested in going there with Hunter.
They had to work together, after all, and humans were often messy about things like associating with someone after they’d done the horizontal tango.
Speaking of dancing, she ought to check in with Nike, who had promised to cover for her at the biker bar where they all tended to congregate and put back shots and talk about the good old days.
The days of saving humanity.
Ironic? You betcha.
While it was entirely normal for the various gods to take off on a whim, they usually made their leader aware of their plans. Plus, Artemis almost never went anywhere without Nike.
She probably should have thought this trip through before embarking.
Oh well, too late now. Still…
“I should check in with my friend Nike.”
“Nee-kay?” Hunter parroted as he climbed off the bike. “As in the goddess of victory?”
“One and the same. Although her victories these days tend to be relegated to dance-offs at the club.”
“Do you associate with anyone who isn’t named after a god?”
She smiled cheekily. “I associate with you.”
As they headed toward the nearest trail, he said, “Shoot, Hunter could imply Orion, and wasn’t he Artemis’s one true love?”
She tripped over a protruding tree root. Hunter grabbed her elbow to keep her from falling to her knees.
“Thanks,” she said, tugging her arm free and stomping down the path. “Let’s not talk about Orion, okay? And anyway, how do you know so much about the gods? Most of our more famous exploits happened three thousand years before you were even born.”
He shrugged. “I’m fascinated by Greek mythology. Actually minored in it in college. At what point in your life did you start thinking of yourself as a god?”
“Well, since I helped my mother birth my twin brother, I’d say pretty much when I was born.”
“Of course.”
He didn’t believe her. Most humans didn’t.
Nike had told her more than once that she shouldn’t be so honest with them because one of these days, she’d come across one who really would believe her, and then their presence here would go viral on social media and they wouldn’t be able to hide out in plain sight anymore.
She pulled her phone out of the pocket sewn into the thigh of her leggings and pressed the button to call Nike.
“Hey, bestie,” Nike answered. “How’s…where are you again?”
