“DO you expect me to believe that?” the goddess huffs, her long skirts cascading around her ankles. Today, Emily has her hair brushed back into an intricate braid woven with flowers. And though it’s gorgeous, I would much rather have her hair around her shoulders, rumpled from a bout in the sheets.
It’s only been two weeks, and I’m already borderline obsessed with this girl.
“Twenty men. All armed,” I insist. “It only took me ten minutes to disband them all.” I can’t help but flex my biceps for added emphasis. After all, I’m not the God of Combat for nothing.
Emily stares at my muscles intently, lips puckered as if she ate something sour, before she shrugs and turns away.
“I’ve seen better,” she declares with feigned nonchalance.
“Oh, really?” I hedge. When she continues walking, a sly smirk on her kissable lips, I lunge forward and yank her over my shoulder.
“Desmond!” she squeals, laughing.
“Do you want to take back your earlier statement?” I begin to tickle her sides relentlessly, and her gorgeous giggles fill the empty halls of the palace.
“Nope!”
Before I can stop myself, I lift my hand and slap it down on her ass. Hard. She freezes, and I worry my impulsive behavior has ruined the best thing to have ever happened to me. I open my mouth to apologize, to beg for forgiveness, when she smacks my own ass.
A snort escapes me unbidden, especially when she releases a pained mewl.
“Fuckkkkk,” she whines. “Your ass is hard.”
“Oh is it?” Still holding her over my shoulder, I strike a pose, placing my free hand behind my head and cocking my elbow out at a ninety-degree angle.
Of course, that’s when a fleet of Emily’s soldiers turn the corner. Her giggles increase as I continue to hold my ridiculous pose.
“Want some of my hard ass, boys?” I jest to the men, spinning on my heel to flash them said butt.
“You’re ridiculous!” Emily says between laughter, and I finally—reluctantly—set her back on her feet in front of me. Her hair has finally come out of that damn braid, loose tendrils framing her angelic face.
“You know what’s ridiculous?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder to ensure the soldiers have left.
“Your hard ass?” she questions seriously, and I smirk.
“That I haven’t kissed you yet.”
Her pupils dilate as her breathing turns choppy. When she tilts her face up, maintaining eye contact the entire time, my heart begins to thunder.
Like a man possessed, I lean forward to devour her lips with my own.
It’s our first kiss of millions.
“DESMOND,” she asks now, irritation lacing her tone. She takes a step closer until her bare feet are on top of mine. This moment feels eerily familiar, and I have the strangest sense of déjà vu, like we’ve had this exact same argument before. “Do you still love me?”
With a grunt, I wrench my gaze away from her and begin to pace. She watches me with unerring intensity, and I can’t help but melt under her gaze.
Fuck, I love her.
Which is why I’m going to break her heart.
“You don’t remember this, it’s obvious you don’t,” I ramble, forking my fingers through my too long hair. It’s in desperate need of a trim, but I haven’t really had the time between the combat classes I taught and…of course…killing people.
“Remember what?” she blurts, exasperated.
“We fought.” I whirl around to face her, my stomach a tumultuous mixture of dread and despair. Will she hate me?
Her confused expression clues me in that she really doesn’t remember our most recent argument.
And a twisted part of me wants to keep it that way. How easy would it be to take her in my arms and kiss her senseless? Love her the way I’m so desperate to do? But it’s not fair to her, and I’ll hate myself forever.
“In the Realm of the Gods,” I swallow down a lump the size of Texas, “you found me in a…compromising position.”
Confusion appears in her eyes before something shatters. That’s the only word I can think to use to encapsulate the moment. Like a ball being thrown at a mirror, her entire expression shuts down, replaced by a haunting despair. A part of me dies inside when she aims that despondency at me.
“You cheated on me?” she whispers.
“No!” I shake my head vehemently. “It wasn’t like that.” I curl my hands into fists at the unpleasant memory rushing to the surface.
“Then what?” she demands. “If you didn’t cheat on me, why do you feel such guilt? Why are you ignoring me?” Anguish emanates from her eyes, and I long to kiss the furrow between her brow. Her pain is my pain, it always has been.
“I don’t know what happened.” My voice is barely audible, nothing but a brush of air. “We were talking, and then she just…kissed me.”
I remember the shock when her cold lips touched mine. That shock was instantly replaced by panic and anger. I pushed her away, but not fast enough.
Emily still saw the kiss.
“You saw it,” I confess raggedly. “And you…well, you ran. And the next thing I know, we’re here.”
Getting my memories back is both a blessing and a curse. I don’t want to remember the torment I felt when I searched the castle grounds for her, calling her name. The pain flaying me open when I recall the betrayal in her gaze.
“Did you…” She clears her throat and turns away, almost as if it’s too painful for her to stare directly at me. “Did you kiss her back?”
“No,” I declare adamantly. “Of course not. I’m loyal to you and only you.”
Most of the gods and goddesses I know have had numerous relationships and affairs over the years, but not me. Never me. The thought is too surreal to even think about. I’m in love with Emily, the Goddess of Pain, and I’m determined to prove that devotion to her every damn day of my life.
She curses abruptly,
