Page 21 of The Gods Order

“He does have a way with words.”

“Better than anyone I know,” I agree.

She grins before pressing up on her toes. I lean down, meeting her lips halfway.

“I love that you do that,” she says as she pulls away.

“Do what?”

“Despite being the God of Knowledge, you defer to your brothers if you think one of them will handle a situation better. Even when you obsess over a plan or information, you still seek them out.”

“Of course I do. Sometimes it’s harder than others, but the assumption that I’ll always figure it out alone comes from how I’ve handled situations in the past and a grand misconception about the Domain of Knowledge. Many believe it means knowing everything, when that’s far from the truth.”

“Then what’s the truth of Knowledge?” she asks, stepping into the spray and running her hands through her hair.

For a fleeting second, my mind spirals the way it only does in her presence. Despite the conversation, my gaze drifts down her body.

I clear my throat, and she gives me a very distinct, satisfied smirk.

She truly hypnotizes me, and she likes that fact.

“Knowledge isn’t omniscience. It’s the pursuit of understanding. Recognizing patterns, remembering, questioning, connecting what others fail to see. But there will always be things beyond me.”

I take the lathered rag from her hand and lace our fingers together as I hold her arm up to wash it. Her lids close as a soft sound slips from her lips.

“Like what?” she asks.

“Things hidden. Things not yet discovered. Things that can’t be understood through knowledge alone. I gather truths, but wisdom decides what to do with them. Instinct moves faster than thought. Compassion changes outcomes logic never could. Chaos creates variables no mind can fully predict. And choice ensures no being can know everything. People aren’t maps with a clear point A to point B.”

Another small smile pulls at her mouth as I switch to her other arm.

“That’s frustrating for you, although you’re more accurate than not when it comes to figuring people out.”

“It is,” I agree. “There are moments I want every answer laid bare, every possibility mapped. But if knowledge were absolute, there’d be no growth. No discovery. No need for trust.”

My gaze drifts toward the doorway. My brothers are surely waiting in the kitchen by now.

“And no need for them,” I say low, almost fearful.

I wouldn’t trade my brothers for all the knowledge in all the realms.

I may not tell them that in those exact words, but it’s my truth.

She studies me for a long moment.

“So your domain isn’t about having all the answers?”

“No, and it never will be. It’s about never ceasing to seek them.”

A fond look crosses her features as she cups my cheek. I smile, kissing her thumb as she rubs it across my lip and my dimple.

“Well, then let’s get cleaned up and go seek some answers.”

She takes the rag from my hand, though I wasn’t finished. I don’t complain as she washes me as methodically as I’d wash myself.

She will never cease to amaze me.

This intimacy is just as alluring as when our flesh becomes one.