Poseidon's Bride (Olympians, Book One) (5 page)

He smiled at her, then tugged at one
nipple with his teeth before putting her down and dropping to his
knees. She could hardly stand, her legs trembled so, and he
unzipped her pants very slowly. As soon as he had them on the
floor, she kicked them off and reached for him, wanting to move
onto the bed, but he pushed her legs apart and began rubbing her
clit.

She threw her head back and moaned. At
least if she collapsed he’d be the one to catch her. He put his
hands on her hips and brought his mouth to her core, feasting on
her as if he’d been longing to taste her. As his tongue moved back
and forth between laving her clit and delving into her pussy, Layla
began rubbing her breasts, pinching the nipples whenever his tongue
was on her clit. His hands massaged her ass, and when she looked
down at him, the heat in his eyes nearly made her
explode.

He stood up and kissed her, moving
both of them onto the bed. She could taste her desire on his
lips.

“
I need you.” She gasped.
“Ever since that moment on the beach, I’ve needed you.”

He groaned as he kissed a trail down
to her breasts. “Just as I’ve needed you.” He positioned himself
over her and brought his cock to her slick sex. “I’m yours from
this day forward. No other woman could ever satisfy me.” He plunged
into her, and she cried out, arching up so he could delve deeper
into her throbbing pussy.

She’d never imagined sex this good was
possible, much less that she’d be part of it. She was literally
being fucked by a god. He never broke eye contact with her, and she
felt her pussy coiling, ready for its release as she saw the
emotion welling in his eyes. Was this why she loved the sea so
much? Had they really been brought together by unseen powers? As
her orgasm exploded deep in her core, she knew it had to be true.
Nothing this perfect could happen by accident.

He pounded into her as her release
sent waves of pleasure all throughout her body. Her entire body
shook. She clutched her pussy tight around his cock, thrusting
upward to bring him a climax as great as hers.

“
Layla!” He managed to cry
out her name as he spilled his seed into her, bringing them both to
completion before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her
close. He kissed her face and ran his fingers through her
hair.

“
I think we both needed
that,” she whispered.

He kissed her forehead. “I think we’ve
been driving each other mad all night. Perhaps I should have stayed
beside you on the beach.”

She thought about this, but then shook
her head. “I wouldn’t have been ready to believe you. I would have
run into the house and bolted the door. I’m still confused, but I
feel safe here. I’ve always loved the sea, so this makes so much
sense. I can’t help thinking I’m accepting this too quickly
though.”

“
I wish I knew what to
say.”

“
I’m thinking too much. I
tell myself it’s fate and that it makes sense, then I think I’m
being silly for believing it. You’re an amazing man, no matter
what’s really going on here.”

“
Just trust your feelings.
We’re both here because of them. I trusted my instincts and took a
chance, and you trusted yours and let me in.” He caressed her face.
“I won’t disappear again. Sleep, my sweet Layla. You are indeed
safe with me.”

She soon fell asleep in the refuge of
his arms, his voice echoing in her head as she remembered the
loving and passionate way he said her name.

* * * *

Poseidon drew in a deep breath,
enjoying the clean scent of strawberries in Layla’s hair. He moved
a stray strand away from her face so he could watch her sleep. He
hoped she would be pleasantly surprised when she woke up and found
herself on his yacht. Surely she wouldn’t object to breakfast in
bed, even if the bed was in the middle of the ocean.

She stirred against him, and he
couldn’t resist kissing her awake. She responded to him as eagerly
as she had the night before. When she opened her green eyes and
smiled up at him, he felt something tugging at his heart. He kissed
her on the forehead, and then looked back into her lovely
eyes.

“
Tell me,” he began. “Why
was it so important that I had blue eyes?”

She flushed, and he snuggled closer to
her, loving the way the rush of blood heated her skin. “Well…it’s
going to sound crazy.”

He laughed. “Crazier than what I’ve
told you?”

She thought about this. “Maybe not
that crazy.” She looked down at his chest. “When I was on the
beach…you know…”

“
Driving me wild with
desire?” he asked.

She blushed an even deeper red. “I was
imagining someone as I touched myself, and he looked a lot like
you, but his eyes were brown.”

“
That’s why you were so
surprised when you opened your eyes. Am I everything you expected?
Do I fulfill all your fantasies?” He couldn’t help teasing her, but
he also hoped it would put her at ease and lessen her
embarrassment.

“
You don’t even have to
ask that, I should think,” she said with a laugh. Then her face
grew serious. “Why did I imagine someone so much like you? Was I
meant to?”

“
You’d never fantasized
about this man before?”

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t even
say I fantasize that much. But since yesterday…” Her voice trailed
off as she finally noticed her surroundings. “Uh…where are
we?”

“
My yacht.”

“
How did we get
here?”

He smiled. “I brought us here. I
thought you might like to have breakfast in bed and enjoy a nice
view of the ocean as well.” He summoned a cool breeze to open the
window next to the bed and watched Layla’s eyes widen as she looked
from him to the window and back again.

“
So it wasn’t all a crazy
dream?” She stared out over the waves.

He wrapped his arms around her waist
and pulled her close. “I meant every word I said to you. I didn’t
take you lightly.” He took her chin and turned her head so he could
look into her eyes. “We’re meant for each other, for all
eternity.”

“
Eternity’s a long time,”
she finally said.

“
And it would be agony
without you.” He bent to kiss her, but she pulled away.

“
How can I be with you
forever?”

He didn’t have an answer for her. He
knew the Fates were responsible for all this, but they wouldn’t be
able to give him what he needed the most—immortality for Layla.
That would depend on Zeus and Hera. Hera he could be sure of, but
Zeus was going to be another matter.

“
The Fates brought you to
me for a reason. I would not feel such love for you if we could not
be together. It is possible for us to be together forever. Can you
trust me for now?” As he explained this to her, he argued with
himself as well. No matter what task he might have to face, he
would do whatever was required to win Layla as his true, immortal
bride.

To his relief, she smiled. “Of course
I can.” A teasing glint flickered in her eyes. “You’ll have to
forgive me. I am new to the world of the gods.”

“
You’re a charming
addition. I imagine my brothers will try to seduce you, but I
daresay I’ll keep you so satisfied you won’t even give them a
second glance.”

He tried to kiss her again, but she
evaded his embrace and scurried out of bed. “Hmmm…it might be fun
to have a few gods chasing after me. Especially if they’re all as
sexy as you are. Zeus and Ares and…oh, shoot, I’m going
blank.”

He laughed and stood up to gather her
into his arms. “My brothers are Zeus and Hades. Ares is Zeus and
Hera’s son. You’ll get it all straight eventually.”

“
One big, happy royal
family, I hope?”

He laughed. “On occasion.” He kissed
her cheek and ran his hands up and down her sides. “Now, what does
my lady want for breakfast? Any wish of yours is my
command.”

“
I’m starving. Some
pancakes would be lovely. And maybe some fruit too.”

“
Sounds perfect.” He held
up a white silk robe for her to step into before he put a fresh
pair of pants on.

“
Can we eat outside?” she
asked. “I’d love to have a better view.”

“
As I said, any wish is my
command.” He kissed her slowly, then whispered, “And I do mean any
wish.”

She giggled as she tied the robe
around her waist, and he told himself she needed nourishment now
more than sex. There’d be plenty of time to play later.

With a thought, he conjured up
pancakes and fruit, along with juice and coffee as he led her out
onto the deck. When they got there, the table was set beautifully
and Hera was seated in a third chair. Her long, black hair was
pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a simple, black
sundress.

Hera turned and smiled at Layla. She
stood up. “The first thing you’ll have to get used to is guests
literally popping in at any moment.” She kissed a very surprised
Layla on the cheek. “I’m Hera, queen of the gods and best friend to
this bad boy, so I had to be the first to welcome you.”

“
Thank you,” Layla said.
“I hope everyone else will be as welcoming.”

Poseidon calmed down when he heard
Layla’s relieved response. She seemed glad to meet another
Olympian, once she’d gotten over the initial surprise. He’d been
ready to toss Hera overboard, but now he felt that instinct had
been selfish. Hera meant well, and had a wonderful way with
mortals, but he couldn’t help not wanting to share Layla
yet.

Hera smiled up at Poseidon. “I hope
you don’t mind, but I thought we could talk about our mutual
friend.”

Poseidon knew she meant Zeus. “Any
ideas?” He pulled Layla’s chair out for her, and she sat down. He
put his hand protectively on her shoulder as Hera took her own seat
again.

“
Not yet, but the good
thing is we’ll be sure to catch him in a good mood. He’s quite
taken with his latest conquest.”

Poseidon didn’t think catching him in
a good mood would matter because, as soon as he found out Poseidon
had moved on and recovered from the loss of Gloria, Zeus’s good
mood would go right out the window, as would his desire for Gloria.
He felt his chest constrict as he thought of Zeus showing up
unexpectedly, possibly spiriting Layla away somewhere. His brother
wouldn’t understand how special she was or what she meant to him.
He’d only think of her as Poseidon’s latest plaything and try to
take her for himself.

Poseidon finally sat down. “I think
our best strategy is to be prepared for anything. He can’t deny me
outright, so he’ll have to set a challenge of some kind. I’m sure
I’ll be able to meet it.”

Layla had been pouring syrup on her
pancakes, but she seemed to lose interest in them. “How hard will
this challenge be? Are we talking about harrowing Hell and
lightning bolts blowing up mountains?”

Poseidon stared down into the bowl of
fruit in front of him. “Let’s start over. We don’t want to alarm
you, but I will have to do something…well…out of the ordinary. I
don’t want you to be afraid though. I can’t be killed.”

Layla nodded and smiled. She seemed
reassured, but Poseidon still felt bad for alarming her.

Hera speared a slice of pineapple,
then joined him in soothing Layla. “Poseidon can handle anything.
He is second only to Zeus in power, and the Fates didn’t work all
this out for nothing. If Zeus does anything treacherous, it will
backfire.”

“
It sounds like you and
your brother don’t get along very well,” Layla said as she turned
her attention back to her breakfast.

Poseidon shrugged. “It comes and goes.
We both get a bit too high and mighty every now and again, so we
balance each other. However, he seems to have a sore spot when it
comes to women. For one thing, he’s jealous of my friendship with
Hera. He has problems, at times, understanding a relationship
between a man and a woman being successful without sex. He also
can’t stand it when a woman prefers me to him. He wants to prove
he’s better, more to me than to the women.”

“
Have you two had sex
though?” Layla asked.

“
What?” Poseidon looked at
Hera to make sure she wasn’t doing anything, but she was eating her
fruit as though this were a normal conversation.

“
I mean, well, you know.”
Layla seemed to fumble for her words. “Isn’t there a lot of sex
between all of you? Or is that just part of the
legends?”

Hera smiled. “I’ll let Poseidon answer
that.”

Layla turned red. “I’m not prudish or
anything, but I think it’s something I should know, considering how
serious you seem to be about us.”

Poseidon took a deep breath. “I’ve
slept with many women, mortal and immortal. I have slept with Hera
and Aphrodite and many other goddesses many times, very recently in
fact. I had a wife once, Amphitrite, but we separated centuries
ago.”

“
I’ve never heard of her,”
Layla said.

Poseidon stared down at his fruit
again. Instead of having a jealous fit, Layla was interested in his
little mythology lesson. He took a deep breath. “Her father was
Nereus, better known as the Old Man of the Sea, so she was sea
nymph and the most beautiful of his fifty daughters. We were from
the same world, so it worked out for a while, but we grew apart.”
He looked up into her eyes. “I could continue to ramble, but the
point is I’ve had lots of sex. I will say I was faithful to my wife
while we were married. Our kind doesn’t marry often, and we are
almost always unswervingly faithful.”