Page 8 of A Contemporary Mythos Valentine's
“Beauty from destruction,” I whispered. “It’s unsettling to think how often that’s true.”
He cupped my chin as he tilted his head to one side. “In what sense, sweetheart?”
“Well, we both had to go through some harsh times before finding each other. But in the end, what this is—” I motioned between the two of us. “Made it all worth it.”
A fire lit in his gaze and he tossed my feet from his lap before slipping between my legs, and hovering over me on the couch. I grinned up at him and watched his gaze roam my hair that sprawled the cushion. He kissed me and pressed the hardness hidden within his pants against my stomach.
We’d made love on the balcony underneath the moonlight and once more on the heart-shaped bed before drifting off to sleep. I awoke the next morning, wrapped in Eros’s wings, my own folded and pressed behind me. Cooing, I nuzzled my soulmate’s shoulder.
“Mm, morning. I think that’s the most sleep I’ve gotten in months.” Eros chuckled before fanning his wings out and kissing the top of my head.
I reached behind the bed, feeling around the headboard.
“Did you lose something?” Eros’s voice was always extra grainy in the morning, and it made my stomach flutter.
“I was just checking to see if this thing vibrated or rotated or something.” I bit back a laugh and turned on my side, staring up at him with mischief playing in my gaze.
He chuckled and propped himself on one elbow. “You mean like that kind that took quarters?”
“That’d be the one.”
“I think we can make the bed vibrate or rotate well enough on our own, hm?” He rubbed his crotch against my rear, inciting a moaning sigh to flow from my throat.
The sound of the door clicking, the handle pressing down caused us both to sit up straight, make our wings disappear, and clothe ourselves. Eros leaped from the bed, producing his bow and arrows, pressing his back to the wall behind the door. I scurried to him, grabbing an empty metal water pitcher on my way.
“You could at least have warned me, Harm. That’s all I’m saying,” a familiar man’s deep voice laced with a Greek accent said from the doorway.
“Then it wouldn’t be a surprise,” a woman’s voice followed.
Eros squinted and, with his arrow notched, stepped to the side just as the light flicked on.
Ares and Harmony, war gods, stood there, immediately throwing up their fists once they caught sight of Eros’s arrow pointed at them. I raised the pitcher above my head, and we all stood frozen and dumbfounded.
“Cherub? What the hell are you doing in our room?” Ares asked, lowering his hands to his sides.
“I could ask you the same thing. We got here last night.” Eros glared at Ares before lowering his bow and making it disappear in silver shimmers.
Harmony sighed and folded her arms in a huff, her long dark brown hair shifting over her shoulder. “Great. They must’ve double-booked.”
Ares snarled as he looked around, pacing the perimeter of the room and recoiling his hand when it neared something frilly. “Vlakás. It looks like Eros threw up in here.”
“If you’d have ever, in the thousand years we’ve known each other, war god, took the time to get to know me, you’d know this kind of stuff isn’t my bag.” Eros shook his head before he gently took the water pitcher from my grasp.
“We’re all family here. No saying we can’t, I don’t know, share?” Throwing my hands out at my sides, I shrugged.
All three of them turned to look at me in unison with raised brows.
“Oh. Oh, no, no. I know orgies were all the rage in ancient Greece, but that’s not what I meant. You both take the room tonight, for instance. I want Eros to show me more of this beautiful country anyhow.” Beaming up at him, I interlaced our fingers.
“You’ve never been to Greece?” Harm leaned her forearms on one of Ares’s shoulders, her finger unabashedly tracing through his dark beard.
“Nope. And I can’t see it if I’m in the room the entire time.” I kissed Eros’s cheek. “Despite it having its advantages.”
“Fine. We uh—we appreciate you working with us.” Ares scratched his chin and averted his gaze as if the words had been challenging to push out.
“Yes. Thank you. I’d been looking forward to this for months. Ares doesn’t exactly agree to this type of thing often.” Harmony grinned at him and gave his long locks one quick tug.
Ares narrowed his eyes at her with a wry grin. “Cherub, don’t just pop in here when you’re done for the day, though, eh? We could be—compromised.”
