Page 124 of A Touch of Chaos

She ignored him, and there was silence in the room.

“Are you certain you can seduce him?”

“Do not mistake my disgust for an inability to execute this plan,” she snapped and returned her gaze to the window. “He is probably off seducing some lowly mortal.”

Her words rang with bitterness, and Theseus found that he did not understand her jealousy. If she did not love her husband, why should she care who he fucked? It was not as if she did not benefit from his power and title, but he did not often understand human emotion, and gods seemed to be more human than even mortals.

It was an attribute Theseus did not possess. The closest thing he had ever felt to passion was violence.

He liked violence, preferred it, and his future would be full of it.

Suddenly, the air in the room felt charged with electricity, and Zeus appeared as quick as a lightning strike, his presence just as thunderous. Though Theseushad a lot of contempt for the God of the Sky, the truth was that his very presence commanded attention. Even Hera could not deny it as she whirled to face him, though she would likely claim she was only playing a role.

“My king,” Hera greeted.

“Hera,” Zeus said, his voice a low rumble. His eyes glittered darkly as they trailed down her robed body, lustful despite the loss of his balls at the hands of the goddess Hecate. “You have not dressed for the day.”

“I have not dressed at all,” she said and let the silk slip from her shoulders, pooling at her feet.

The air in the room became thick and heavy with Zeus’s desire but also his suspicion.

“Why did you summon me?”

“Is it not obvious?” she asked.

He narrowed his eyes. “It is not usual.”

Hera let her eyes drop for a moment, and she took a step forward before meeting his gaze again, almost shyly. “I hoped we might put our differences aside.”

Zeus also stepped closer.

“We have many, Hera,” he said, though his voice had grown quiet—the tone of a lover and not a king. Perhaps that was Zeus’s greatest downfall. At heart, he wished to be a romantic and not a ruler.

“Have we not always overcome?” Hera asked. Now she was so near to Zeus, her breasts brushed his chest.

“This is a trick,” he said.

Hera’s eyes flashed. “Can I not desire my husband?” she asked, her tone hinting at the fury boiling in her blood.

Theseus wondered if her anger would sway him or if it would ruin this moment.

Zeus studied her for a long moment, his eyes falling to her lips.

“I have dreamed of it,” he admitted quietly. “But I can hardly believe it is true.”

“Then touch me,” she said. “And know that I am real.”

Hera reached for his hand and guided it to her breast, where Zeus’s eyes stayed as he squeezed her, pinching her nipple between his fingers. Hera’s breath caught, and she closed her eyes. Her mouth was tight, and her arms went to her sides, fists clenched. They were signs that could be interpreted as desire, and they seemed to satisfy Zeus, who bent his head closer to Hera’s.

“I cannot please you the way I wish,” Zeus said, and she opened her eyes to hold his gaze. “But I can bring you pleasure all the same.”

It took Hera a moment to speak, to gain control over her voice as she managed to lie.

“All that matters is that it is you.”

Zeus kissed her, and his hands sank into her skin as he brought her slick body to his.

When he broke away, he spoke, his mouth close to hers. “You know it has only ever been you,” he said, impassioned. “I have only ever loved you.”

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