"We have an acquaintance in common. My ex, to use the modern term."
Understanding dawned. This was about Adonis. She narrowed her eyes on the goddess now circling around her, scrutinizing her as though she found Sage lacking. "Didn't you, like, dump him because he had hooves or something?" He was still attractive with them. On the other hand, why was something like that a problem for the gods of Olympus? It wasn't like their pantheon was shy about the weird stuff—if Zeus turning into swans and Poseidon fathering horses were true.
The goddess had the grace to feign embarrassment with a dainty laugh and creased brow, though Sage saw right through it. She'd known girls that acted this way all her life.
"I was so young back then. It surprised me, is all. And, of course, his twin didn't want to play with us." Aphrodite's coy smile turned into a wicked grin. "Have you ever fucked a set of twins? Gods, it's so much fun."
She wasn't expecting the twin fetish. Sage had no words. Absolutely none.
"Did dear Adonis not tell you about that?" She came nearer and leaned in close. "Mean Ariston didn't want to share with his brother, and I told Adonis to change his mind or don't come back. So, what do they go and do? Get themselves cursed, that's what."
"Not sure why you are telling me this." And she really didn't. There was no point to it. Sage couldn't change the past, and Adonis had moved on enough that he refused to talk about it without having to practically pry the information from him.
"Oh, come now, Sage. You want to fuck my ex-lover, but he can't get it up for you."
Heat enveloped her cheeks, though Sage wasn't sure if she was more embarrassed for herself or Adonis at this point. Christ, who all knew about the situation? Were all the gods watching them struggle down here? "It's a curse."
"Yes, of course. Of course." Aphrodite stopped behind Sage and put her hands on her shoulders. A shiver of trepidation coursed through her. The goddess could as easily snap her neck as she could take her next breath. "But I'm the goddess of love, my sweet little wood nymph. I can help you help him."
Something wasn't adding up. Sage didn't think, for one single minute, Aphrodite was doing this out of the kindness of her own heart. "Oh really? And how's that?"
Those hands on her shoulders slid to her breasts, knocking Sage's arms out of the way before the goddess pulled her flush against her chest. Her floral scent, her warmth, her touch…it overwhelmed all thought. Sage gasped and her head dropped back against the goddess. Aphrodite rubbed her hands lower to her waist.
What is happening?
"Feel how your body responds to my touch?"
"Yes," Sage whispered, her body awakening with pure lust. She hadn't ever been attracted to women before, but she wasn't opposed to the idea.
"I can trick his curse long enough for you to make him human again."
"Yes," she repeated, closing her eyes, and Aphrodite brought one hand back up to tease her nipple through the tank top.
"All you have to do is promise never to see him again afterward."
Whatever spell the goddess held over her broke. "What?" She shoved out of the goddesses' grasp and whirled around. "That is a dirty trick."
Aphrodite's demeanor changed in an instant. Gone were the seductive and welcoming airs. Now she scowled at Sage as though she'd just removed a piece of trash from the bottom of her dainty sandal. "I told you already. You have something I want. I want Adonis back, as he was. You merely wish to fuck him, and no one can blame you for it. He's exquisite to behold, even more so in bed. He was skilled as a human, and after all these years with heightened virility…" She sighed dreamily, then waved her hands out in a giving gesture. "I'll help you get your wish on the night of the Satyr Moon, but once he's human again he belongs to me."
Adonis didn't belong to anyone but himself. Sage might be a pile of unbridled hormones lately, but she wasn't selfish. "Yeah, that's what I thought you said. I decline."
Aphrodite crossed her arms. "You what?"
"Decline." Anger at what the goddess had done, had made her feel against her will—Sage shook with fury. How dare she presume Sage would trade Adonis to her like a scrap of meat. No one deserved that. It wasn't about her. Did Adonis not get a say in what happened to him? Hell, the other satyrs hadn't even included him in on the temporary cure they'd come up with in a pill form. No wonder he didn't think he was worth saving.
"You're making a mistake…" the goddess said in a sing-song voice.
Sage returned the goddess' sneer with one of her own. "I don't think I am."
A sly smile pulled up the corner of Aphrodite's mouth. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt in that you don't know who you're dealing with, being new to our world and all that. As the Satyr Moon approaches, you'll change your mind. If you want to save him, you'll summon me."
Doubtful.
Before Sage could say another word, she was dropped onto the balcony of her room at The Aegean Inn. The cold concrete scraped her knees as she landed. "Bitch," she muttered as she stood up—and realized not only was she left on the balcony, the door of which was closed and locked, but Aphrodite had taken her clothes. She was standing on the balcony naked, in late October, and the streetlights illuminated her pale skin perfectly.
"Fucking bitch!"
Adonis woke up with a start.
Sage had left the inn. She'd left him. The raging hard-on under the sheets provided clear evidence that she had left his proximity. He hadn't yet taken the pills Melancton gave him that
