Page 85 of Radiant Sin

Letting me take care of him.

Every time I glance up, I find him watching me with a fevered, intense look that feels twin to the feelings pushing in my chest. The knowledge that we might love each other but we’re destined to be temporary takes up too much space in the room with us. There’s no escaping it.

“Come here.”

I ease off his cock and give him a long look. “Your ribs.”

“I’ll hold perfectly still.” He gives a surprisingly sweet smile. “I promise.”

I hesitate, but the truth is that I want this, too. I narrow my eyes. “You’ll tell me if it hurts.”

“Yes.” He motions to the nightstand. “Condoms.”

I grab one from the nightstand and take my time ripping it open and rolling it down his length. I give him a slow stroke. “Apollo…”

“Come here,” he repeats.

He’s right. There’s nothing left to say. There’s only this. I carefully straddle his hips and lower myself onto his cock. Even with how turned on I am from sucking his cock, I have to fight to take him fully. I love it. I fuckingloveit. I take his hands and press them to my hips as I slide down another inch. “I feel so fucking owned by you when we’re like this.” I roll my hips. “Taking what’s yours.”

“No.” He tightens his grip and drags me down to seal us together completely. “You’retaking what’syours.”

One of his hands drops to my upper thigh, his thumb stroking my clit as I ride him. The only sound in the room is our harsh breathing and the faint shift of our bodies against the sheets. I want this to last forever. For us to remain here for time unknown, to stay safe and isolated and happy.

Nothing lasts forever.

My orgasm takes me by surprise. One moment I’m luxuriating in the steadily building pleasure between us, and the next I’m coming. Apollo keeps me moving on him even as I lose control, crying out his name as I come. I manage not to slump onto his injured torso, but it wouldn’t matter. He bends up and kisses me even as he keeps me moving on his cock. He grinds me down on him, sending another wave of pleasure through me. I cling to him as I come again, as he follows me over the edge with my name on his lips.

Too good. Too perfect.

I ease off him, and he carefully climbs off the bed and walks into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. His phone rings as he’s heading back toward the bed. We exchange a look. Nothing lasts forever, but this was nowhere near long enough. I’m not ready for it to end. I’m not ready to leave him.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to leave him.

He picks up his phone and sighs. “I’ll take this in the living room.”

I’m about to say that’s not necessary when my purse starts ringing. It startles me so much, I stare at it, my brain shorting out. It’s Apollo who walks over and digs out my phone, passing it over before slipping out the door to answer his call.

Guilt rises at the sight of my sister’s name on my screen. I hadn’t even thought to update her, but why would I? I try to keep the unsavory aspects of my life from touching her. Until this point, that included how gods-awful everyone with the tiniest bit of power is to me, how stressful the bills get, how much I resent our parents for painting us into this corner with their selfishness even as I grieved them.

This is different.

I take a deep breath and try to erase any fatigue from my voice. “Hey, Alexandra.”

“What happened?”

I blink. “What do you mean, what happened?”

“Cassandra.” Her exasperation practically pours through the line. “It’s all over the gossip sites. Hephaestus is dead. And he was at the same party you were at this week with Apollo. What’s going on?”

I open my mouth to tell her that she needs to worry about college and not about me but stop short. I don’t want to drag her into this, but dismissing her question is shitty. “Some stuff happened, but it’s best if you stay out of it. I’m okay, but I don’t want you to worry about stuff you can’t control.”

“Cassandra, I love you, but that’s a load of horseshit.”

“Excuse me?”

She doesn’t sound angry. More like she’s exhausted. That almost makes it worse. “I’m not a kid anymore. You don’t have to shelter me from the bad stuff in this world. I know it’s there.” A weighted pause. “Be honest with me. For once.”

She’s…right. Alexandra is an adult. Wanting to shield her from all the bad stuff is as much about me as it is about her, and that’s not fair. I sigh. “It’s like it was with our parents. The new family in town? The Vitalises? Theseus killed Hephaestus and claimed right of might.”

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