Page 48 of Poseidon's Island Flower

Iamnotaviolent person, and punching two people within a week would certainly do me in, but it wasn’t out of the question. Not when I found myself becoming insanely crazy about my mate and possessive of our time together.

My dreams didn’t seem so abysmal anymore. Zeus didn’t have to wake me in the night to take me out of my nightmares. I could claw my way out of them now without his help—because on the other side was Lani.

Lani was my island flower, and she inspired me to reach for the surface, to crawl onto the beach to fetch her, smell her, hold her, keep her. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to convey that at all. I didn’t know how to show her how much I wanted her.

But my mate understood me. Maybe even better than I did myself.

She took the lead; she’d climbed into my lap unafraid and did what I was too afraid to do.

My mate kissed me.

It was nothing like breathing air into her lungs when I found her close to the bottom of the sea. This was different. This was so intimate. I’d never felt close to any female like this; I’d never had a connection such as her.

I wanted more. I wanted her slit rubbing against me, to feel its heat as the wind dried our skin from our long swim. And she wanted it too, at least I thought she did.

Her sweet jasmine aroma intensified, and it went straight to my shaft.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Zeus said. He tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel several times, waiting for me to answer.

I crossed my arms, staring out the window like a petulant child. I had nothing to say to him, not when he’d opened the skies to break up a magnificent moment.

“Ah, don’t be like that, brother.” Zeus grabbed the back of my neck and shook me. “I did it for a reason. We have a guest, and she wanted to make sure you do this right. She has a few lessons for you so you can woo your mate.”

“I was doing fine,” I muttered. “As you could plainly see.”

“Yeah, she leaped over the blanket and sat herself in your lap while she showed you how to kiss.” Zeus raised a disappointed brow.

I scoffed. I didn’t care what Zeus thought. Sure, I wasn’t comfortable making the first move, because any moves I had made on the opposite sex were all for naught. The few I tried to lure in rejected me, they didn’t really like me in any sort of romantic way.

But with Lani, she knew what she wanted and guided me. She could shape me the way she wanted because I was a fast learner.

I touched my lips, still feeling the burn of her heat. Out of all the creatures I had created, out of all the wonders that their bodies could do, their strength and agility were all amazing in their own right, but what of this kiss?

When two lips came together, touching innocently, parting for a tongue that was meant to be used for eating and speaking, it was erotic to me. Even though I’d created many humanoid species, I had yet to understand the mating rituals. I only created male versions of new species now that Athena no longer helped me.

That was many years ago now. She may not even know of the new creatures that lay at the bottom of the sea, waiting to be released.

I groaned, pulling my swim trunks further down my leg to relieve the tightness in them. I was itching to be rid of this stupid clothing and release my fin, but it wasn’t time. I still had to remain on two legs when I was in the sea, I couldn’t let Lani know. Not yet.

I needed to tell her the truth about me. She knew I held back many secrets. My answers were bland and vague, and I didn’t want her to see me as a liar, but what would she say? What would she do when she found out I was a god?

And a timid one at that. I could capsize ships, bring forth a hurricane with the wave of my hand, but I couldn’t do any of those things.

“You’re thinking pretty hard,” Zeus commented as we left the car.

I had my towel slung over my shoulder, my feet bare, feeling the sun-warmed asphalt.

I was thinking hard. I had a lot of things to consider. Telling Lani shouldn’t make me feel stressed, it should flow naturally, but I was afraid. Afraid of what she would think of a god that could barely wrap his arms around his mate because he was fearful of rejection or worse yet, how to show her I cared for her.

Fates, what would she think when I tell her we were destined to be together? Would she think she didn’t have a choice?

My thoughts continued to rampage when I opened the door to our suite. It was a dark with only light from a single lamp, and it smelled of roses and champagne. I sneezed, moving my hand to the switch on the wall, lighting up the room, when I saw none other than Aphrodite.

I clenched my teeth, trying to suppress my groan.

Aphrodite was wearing a deep crimson strapless dress. Her blonde hair came down in perfect waves, her red lipstick perfectly applied, and she had deep, long thick lashes tickling her cheek. A nail file sat in her hand, and she sounded disinterested, when she said, “Hello, Poseidon.”

A vase with dozens of roses sat on the table, their smell almost toxic as we entered further into the room. “You are a bit late. I hope Zeus stopped you before you made a fool of yourself.”

---