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Her brows furrowed in the ever-perfect light as she spoke. ‘You’ll forever be my sweet little Cupid.’
She planted a kiss on my forehead before leaving the room to amuse herself elsewhere, withdrawing, as she always did when the topic of me no longer being a child came up. For eons, I’d been exactly that to her. Her chubby-cheeked little cherub. It had taken me much longer to age than the other deities, and while their ageing slowed almost to a stop at adulthood, mine had been slow from the very beginning.
‘I’ll find someone you like to rid you of your innocence so that it’s no longer in the way,’ Anteros said, a devious grin painting his face.
‘Why do you care?’ I asked, suspicious.
‘Because my brother’s the only fucking adult virgin in Olympus.’
‘I’m not sure anyone knows.’ A hot flush made me squirm at the idea of the other god’s discussing my lack of sexual prowess.
‘They know alright. They joke about the god of passion not knowing how to kiss. They titter about it behind your back, especially when mother gets all googly-eyed.’
With a sigh, I sat back in my chair, tucking my wings tightly around me. The problem wasn’t that I lacked opportunity, nor that I didn’t find women attractive. It was simply that the crushing perfection of Olympus didn’t intrigue me half as much as the messy world of the mortals did.
Gold, silk, and idyllic beauty didn’t steep every corner of their world. Humans struggled, suffered, and still found joy and pleasure amongst hardship.
It was intoxicating.
I'd watched them often enough after hitting them with an arrow, seen them cry and argue, and then tear into one another with a passion that I'd never seen in Olympus. It was as though they burned to their very cores for each other, as if, without that intimate connection at that very moment, they'd expire with need.
I wanted that.
It was the imaginings that kept me up at night, twisted in my silken sheets and palming my cock while I pictured a comely human crying out for me, feeling the heat of her breath on my cheek and billowing out her human need as I worked to capture every last drop of it.
Ineededthat.
CHAPTERTHREE
EVA
February 8th
Iswept the cloth across the sticky counter, dodging Jack’s elbows. The most regular of my grumpy old patrons barely raised his wispy grey eyebrows as I worked around him.
‘You can’t change the name. It’s been called Rusty’s ever since your Pops took it over,’ his words slurred. I glanced up at the clock, praying that closing time would come sooner.
‘It’s my bar now. It needs updating,’ I replied, continuing the long sweeps on the dark wood to clean up the myriad of spills.
‘You’re just going to up and sell it, anyway. Don’t you want to keep his name on it? What does it matter?’ Jack downed the remnants of his beer before sliding the bottle back toward me.
‘She’ll get more money if she erases any traces of her grandfather and us. Clean the community out of it so that it can become another soulless franchise that sells microwaved steaks for more than their worth.’ Bill scowled at me.
‘Listen, Pop did so little upkeep on the bar these past few years.’ I sighed with annoyance as the old grumps eyed me sceptically. ‘It needs an uplift. You know I loved him more than anything, but he’s gone now, and I need to do what’s best.’
‘Best for who? Not us.’ Jack signalled for another beer, sliding a couple of coins toward me.
My eyes burned right along with my calves. Getting reliable staff was proving impossible.
Leaving the grumpy curmudgeons to prop up the bar, I cornered Scout, one of the few staff members who’d stuck around to help me while I ran the bar long enough to pay off its debts. A pang of anger flew through my stomach when he set his cocky grin on me.
‘What’s up, boss lady?’
‘Can you stay on for an hour and help with cleanup after closing? The cleaner’s bailed, and I’ve got to go to the bank tomorrow and the estate agent. I’m going to struggle to get it all done before opening time.’
‘No can do. I’ve got something on.’ Scout shrugged.
He must have seen my body deflate at the thought of the hours of work I’d have to do by myself after closing because after a few moments, he relented. ‘I can give you thirty minutes. Max.’
