Page 10 of A Contemporary Mythos Valentine's
She nuzzled against my palm. “Gods, I love you, Eros.”
“I love you too.” I wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and poured every emotion swirling through me into the soft kiss I placed against her lips.
She whispered into my ear, “I need to fly.”
Peeling back, I spied her grimace. One I knew all too well and a burden all winged gods shared. Our wings ownedus,and they demanded attention when they saw fit. Leading her away from the crowds, and after she cloaked us, we let our wings fan out and took to the skies.
“Let’s go somewhere with far fewer people, hm?” I ran a finger over the soft skin on the back of her hand as we flapped our wings in time with one another, switching to coasting when the wind currents picked up.
It didn’t take long to arrive at the partially standing temple, but still breathtaking in its own right—The Temple of Poseidon. They’d appropriately built it directly on the shoreline overlooking the Aegean Sea. Only a dozen of the structure’s columns remained, but when it was whole, it’d been a sight to behold.
“The Temple of Poseidon,” I whispered into Elani’s hair. “And there isn’t another soul in sight here.”
Once our feet hit the dirt, we sheathed our wings to avoid potential surprise visitors seeing them. Elani smiled as she made her way through the time-worn columns, and once she reached the opposite side of the temple with the sea in view, she sat on the top stone step, motioning for me to follow her.
“So, Heph is a futuristic bounty hunter?” She bobbed her brows to Olympus.
A roaring laugh boomed from my chest. “It sounds so ridiculous when I think of it like that, but yeah, he is. He prefers life in the future where he doesn’t have to hide who he is, and defending people by getting rid of their big bad monsters is his way of upholding duty, I suppose.”
“Why don’t all of us live in the future then?” She leaned her head on my shoulder.
“We can’t forget about the mortals who live in the present time. Heph comes back from time to time. That portal device he created can take him to any other dimension, time continuum, or universe.”
She peeled back with wonder playing in her eyes. “That’s incredible.”
Leaning forward, I placed a quick peck to the tip of her nose. “You are.”
With a mischievous grin, she made a glass jar with dozens of folded pieces of paper appear and held it out to me. “Pick.”
Smiling, I slid two fingers inside and plucked a piece of paper. “Like the Lupercalia festival?”
Grinning with a brightness to surpass the setting sun behind her, she nodded.
I opened the paper. “Lani.”
“Well, fancy that. Pick another.” She wiggled the jar.
Eyeing her sidelong with a wry grin, I selected another piece of paper. “Elani.” Another piece. “E.”
Each piece of paper contained nicknames I’d given her over the time we’d been together.
“I would pick you every time for each waking day until our unnatural lives become a part of Chaos itself.” She leaned forward and placed a delicate kiss on my lips before rubbing our noses together.
Deepening the kiss by slipping my tongue into her mouth, I swirled hers with mine and hummed her favorite song, making the baritone of my voice vibrate our joined lips—Strangers in the Nightby Frank Sinatra.
“Two love gods making out in my temple during Valentine’s week. This I didn’t expect to see,” a gruff man’s voice sounded from nearby.
Elani jumped and clapped a hand over her chest. “Poseidon. You scared the Tartarus out of me.” After laughing, she hopped to her feet.
Leaning on one elbow, I waved at Poseidon, letting the arousal that’d built up fizzle away before standing.
“It’s so good to see you again,” Elani preened as she wrapped her arms around Poseidon’s neck, hugging him.
He embraced her back with one arm, patting between her shoulders. His long hair and beard were soaked, as were his shirt and jeans. He’d crawled onto the bank from the sea barefoot.
“Poseidon.” I gave a curt nod and shook his hand. “Did you just happen to be swimming by or—” Raising a brow, I displayed my hand to the water splashing behind him.
“Something like that. I went for a swim to clear my head. This time of day, there usually isn’t anyone here, and I like to come here to reminisce and all that bullshit.” He flicked his wrist at the dilapidated columns, sending water droplets flying.
