Page 30 of For the Gods' Sake

A noise slipped out of my throat, one that could only be described as a smothered yelp. I was about to chastise Adrian under my breath, but that sound drew the attention of the old woman again. Her head whipped around, her eyes landing on us in accusation.

I gave her a close-lipped smile, one that readnothing to see here.

Holding that smile while Adrian peeled the last of my glove from my hand was an expression of iron will I had no idea I possessed.

He draped the glove over his free thigh, thenintertwined our hands. Now free of any barrier, his skin felt sweltering against mine, like with just that one point of contact he could boil all the blood in my body.

The blood in my face and neck was heating with upsetting speed, drawing what I was sure was a splotchy, feverish blush all over my skin.

As if Adrian had a special skill to tell when I was on the verge of reaching over and pinching him until he let up, he tried his luck a little further. Lifting our joined hands to his mouth, he pressed a slow, open-mouthed kiss onto the back of my hand.

If that one touch was any indication as to how the man kissed, I was fucked if we ever kissed for real.

For show, I corrected forcefully.

“You taste like honey, too,” Adrian whispered, the words warm against my skin. And Jupiter help me, if there weren’t people here I would have broken right there.

He held his lips there for a second longer, going from tender to borderline lewd. To anyone staring, it probably looked like we were barely keeping our hands off each other, only breaking free of our newly-in-love-sex-bubble to do our civic duty.

Even though we’d spent most of the night touching. Either holding hands or wrapped around each other in some way.

I couldn’t really care what others thought, not when my attention was funneling towards the singular point on my skin where Adrian’s lips touched, hot and insistent.

He finally let me free after what felt like years later, a grin pinching the skin of his cheek into a long dimple. I didn’t know how I was going to get him back, now thatwe were fully immersed in this game.

Maybe I’d save my revenge for later.

Before I could start plotting, movement in my peripheral caught my eye. I looked over, searching for what I’d seen.

At the other table for guests of honor, on the other side of the stage, sat the other gods in attendance along with a few others. Notably, Gus Mercury, the young, newly minted messenger of the gods. He constantly looked windswept, his shaggy hair a little disheveled and his long, lithe limbs supporting muscles that looked fit for a distance runner.

Something had just landed in his hands, sending off literal sparks of rainbow into the air around his hands. I’d seen that before.

It was an Iris letter.

Daphne had gotten them before—it was a way the gods communicated with each other confidentially. They were powered by a minor powerline—Iris herself—one that supported Lord Mercury’s messaging endeavors.

Whatever was on the letter, however, had turned Gus into a white-faced, fidgeting mess. He was looking around behind him with barely concealed panic on his face.

Then his attention was back on the table, looking around to Sabina and Sebastian like they could help him. Sabina narrowed her eyes at him, but Sebastian was still watching the stage.

With a rapid shake of his head, Gus pushed away from the table as quietly as he could.

I tugged on Adrian’s hand and when his gaze shot to mine, I tilted my head in Gus’s direction.

His spine went rigid immediately and I literally felt his role as king of the gods settle into his form.

He tracked Gus with a stern expression as he stepped into the shadows behind a column and seemingly disappeared.

A moment later however, the soft crack of a portal sounded from behind us. And a moment after that, Gus was inching towards our table, crouched to hide the lights illuminating the stage but with one clear target in mind—Adrian.

True to his divinity, Gus was able to slink up to our table on quick feet, able to approach us without drawing too much attention. Corrina noticed, raising an eyebrow at Adrian, but he shook his head slightly.

I’d been around a lot of powerful people, seen how people bowed to authority or steeled their spine in the face of someone’s strength, but it was an entirely different thing watching the other gods interact with Adrian.

It was almost instinctual, how they respected him. Like the marrow filling the bones of their power knew that he was their leader. Like there was never any other option.

Gus came up on Adrian’s left, the side away from me and almost tripped over himself trying to figure out what to say first.

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