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My brothers.
Staring at the floor, I gripped the back of my neck. How did I tell Zeus, the Almighty Creator, that I didn’t want what he offered?
“Aros?” he called out.
I glanced up. “I—”
“Yes?” Brows raised, he patiently waited. It was so odd to see Zeus in the guise of a mortal. Ratty jeans, white T-shirt, and leather jacket, he could’ve been any James Dean-like biker. Especially as he chilled there with one scuffed black boot resting on the opposite knee. If the situation weren’t so complicated, I might’ve laughed.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I told you he wouldn’t want to come back,” I heard snapped from behind me and spun.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I groaned and palmed my face. Aphrodite’s jealous and petty ass was standing there. But while Zeus sought to conform and blend in, Aphrodite didn’t give two shits. She stood in my living room in her flowing and diaphanous gown, her long auburn hair, similar in color to Soleil’s, hung in silken waves over her shoulders. A circlet of gold rested upon the crown of her head.
“Not happy to see me, lover?” she purred with a secretive smile.
“I haven’t been your lover in forever,” I shot back. “I’m married. I have a child.”
She laughed. “So do I. What of it?”
Frustration boiled my blood as I glowered at her.
“Oh, calm down—I’m only playing. I’ve moved on from you. I told Zeus you wouldn’t want to leave now. But will it be worth it when you watch her age and die, followed by your son, while you still live, whole and hearty?” She cocked an elegant brow.
My chest ached because I’d thought the same thing every day since I found out Soleil was pregnant. Desolation nearly suffocated me when I thought of them leaving me. “I don’t know, but I know that I want to be with them for as long as I can. If that means I’m left alone, then so be it. I love them. If I could give up my eternity on the Earth, I would.”
“You’d give up immortality for them?” She sneered in disbelief.
“In a heartbeat,” I immediately and firmly replied.
Zeus chuckled, and Aphrodite grumbled. “Hmm, looks like I was right,” he gloated.
She huffed and disappeared in a cloud of glittering smoke.
“What the hell is going on?”
“She bet me that you wouldn’t willingly give up your life as a eudaemon if you were able to come back. I like to think I know my creations better than they do. I know you, Aros. If you are sure you want to stay, I will allow you to remain in this mortal body. Unfortunately, you’ll still have the ability to heal yourself—that I can’t undo. But I can allow you to age with your wife. You will live out your days with her, but on the forty-eighth hour after her death, yours will follow. Whenever that may be,” he added as he shrugged with his hands both palm up.
Afraid this was a trick, my heart raced, and I warily studied his face for duplicitous clues. He chuckled and motioned toward the bedrooms. “Choose quickly. She’s coming.”
“There is no choice. I will always choose them.”
“So be it,” he concurred. There was a sharp stab in my chest, my vision blurred, and I experienced a pins-and-needles sensation over my entire body. It caused me to stumble backward. The backs of my legs hit the couch, and I fell down on my ass. When my eyesight cleared, he was gone.
“Are you okay?” Soleil asked me as she stood with her head cocked in question.
Without answering, I reached for her, and with a tug, she was in my lap. Shuffling her until she straddled my lap, I buried my nose in her neck and wrapped my arms tightly around her.
Her fingers combed gently through my hair. “Aros, baby, what happened?”
After inhaling a stuttering breath, I slowly let it out. “Nothing. I just love you and Ashton so much. I can’t believe how lucky I am.”
She cradled my chin and lifted my head so I would look at her. An angelic smile lifted her lips, and her emerald-green eyes sparkled. “I love you too,” she whispered. Leaning closer, she tilted her face to bring our lips together.
I’d never get tired of hearing her say that.
The soft brush morphed into a passionate and borderline desperate kiss that led to me putting my hands under her shirt to shove it up. Needy, I licked between the swells of her perfect breasts. My teeth scraped their skin. I kissed, sucked, and licked her flesh until we were both so wound up, we couldn’t see straight.
“Make love to me,” she begged.
