Page 19 of Queen of Tempests and Sin

POSEIDON

We walked outside to my waiting Tesla Model X Plaid.

I opened the passenger door for Amelia, and she gave me a faint smile before slipping inside with fluid grace. I circled the hood, slid into the driver’s seat, and shut the door behind me.

The car was filled with her scent: cherries, summer rain, and something exotic like a perfect sinful cocktail designed to unmake a man. The smell went straight to my cock. But beneath the intoxicating sweetness, I could also taste her agitation in the back of my throat: a tartness akin to cranberries. She was trying to hide it, but I felt it crawling across my skin like a live wire.

‘A Tesla?’ she asked, tossing me a sideways glance. ‘I had you pegged as more of a Bugatti guy,’ she said, glancing my way. I swallowed my smile, started the engine, and pulled out into the local street.

‘Au contraire, Little Red…’

‘Little Red?’ She side-eyed me.

‘It suits you.’ I gave a half-shrug. ‘Fiery, sharp-tongued, and tempting in ways you probably don’t realise.’ A beat of silence passed, but I caught the flicker of amusement in her eyes.

‘As for the car,’ I continued, turning the wheel, ‘I’m a little more complicated than just a man with expensive taste.’

She leaned back, folding her arms. ‘Enlighten me.’

‘I’m committed to protecting the planet,’ I said, voice calm. ‘Humans have plundered Earth for centuries, and now they’re paying the price. The triple planetary crisis, climate change, biodiversity collapse, and pollution… is spiralling out of control.’

Her brow lifted, but she said nothing.

‘The ocean alone absorbs around ninety percent of excess heat caused by global warming. That’s led to deadly marine heatwaves. Coral bleaching, mass die-offs, disrupted ecosystems. Greenhouse gas emissions feed it all. Entire food webs unravel. Whales, sharks, keystone species… they’re losing their ability to reproduce, to survive.’ I paused, glancing over.

‘Just because I’m a rich playboy doesn’t mean I don’t give a shit about the world.’

Her lips parted slightly, and something unreadable flickered behind her eyes. I was on my soapbox. Maybe I should change the subject.

‘Whoa… you’re passionate about it.’

‘I am.’ I gritted my teeth at the thought of my ocean being harmed.

‘I respect that. I hate the greed and power plays of politics. We need to preserve a functioning ecosystem that humans can live in, in harmony.’

My heart swelled at her words, and I bit my lip, tamping a delighted grin. ‘Yes, because Mother Nature is a bitch and doesn’t care about human priorities. Humans need to choose to make it work or join the 99.99% of life forms that have already gone extinct. Nature doesn’t care which path we take.’

She smiled, her eyes sparkling as she caught my gaze, and that look sent magma burning in my core, hardening my cock. That dress accentuated her perfect curves, that impossible mix of athletic and feminine. Gods, she was truly striking.

I concentrated on the highway until the exit came into view, and we arrived at the restaurant. I parked up, exited the car, and moved lightning-fast around the car to open Amelia’s door. She stared at me, wide-eyed, her lips slightly parted, her hand frozen halfway to the handle.

Damn. I’d startled her.

‘Come,’ I held out my hand, and slipped hers into mine. Sparks of electricity danced up my arm at her touch, and my cock twitched.

This woman had bewitched me.

The sweet, heady scent of her arousal made my mouth water and my dick throb… Cherries and sin. But cherries, though juicy and sweet, carry danger in their cores: their stones contain amygdalin, a precursor to cyanide.

Sweet, potent, and potentially deadly.

I needed to be careful.

Was she friend… or foe?

CHAPTER 8

CORDELIA