A Scent of Greek: Out of Olympus (20 page)

Tears stood at the brim of her eyes. “I love you.”

Dio lowered himself over her. “Love of my life, keeper of my heart.” He brushed his lips against hers and felt them part under light pressure. When he swept inside, his hips drew back, and with a rhythm as old as the gods, he pumped in and out of her silken sheath.

Ari’s legs came around his hips, her ankles hooking together behind his back. The knowledge that she didn’t want him to leave made him thrust harder and faster. It fuelled his need to claim her, to make her his for eternity.

Her nails dug into his backside as she urged him on to go deeper, and with the last of his breaths, he plunged deep and hard, feeling her spasm around him as his seed rushed through his shaft and exploded from the tip.

With a groan, he let his climax take him.

***

“Why didn’t you tell me immediately that you got your memory back?”

Dio shoved a pillow behind his back and pulled the gloriously naked Ariadne onto his chest, enjoying the feel of skin on skin. He’d finally moved them both into his bed.

“At first I was a little angry.”

“A little?” She raised her head and looked at him.

“Okay, a lot. You have to admit you really pulled a fast one on me.”

When regret swept over her face, he quickly kissed her. “Don’t. I’m glad you did. But it took me a while to realize that. And then I was afraid if I’d let you know that I knew you weren’t my fiancée, all this would be over, and you’d run from me. I couldn’t risk that.”

“When you proposed … did you—”

He grinned. “When I proposed to you, I was in possession of all my faculties including my memory.” He ran his hand through her thick hair and brought her face closer to him. “I knew exactly what I was doing.”

Her cheeks colored prettily. “Did you also know what you were doing in that fitting room?”

Dio hardened at the mere recollection of the events that day. “Did you?”

She cast her eyes downwards, clearly embarrassed about her behavior. “I’m not normally this … uh … I don’t …”

He tipped her chin up. “I’ve never beheld a lovelier sight. Just thinking of it now …” He pressed her closer, his cock sliding against her thigh. “In fact …” He grabbed hold of her hips and positioned her above him so her core aligned with his shaft. “Why don’t you show me right now how beautiful you are when you let yourself go?”

Her eyes flashed with desire. “But we just … I mean, don’t you need a break?”

He thrust his cock upwards and gave a roguish grin. “Evidently not.”

“Are you always like that?”

“You mean ready and eager to satisfy my beautiful fiancée?”

At the compliment, a soft smile played around her lips.

“You make it easy. I only have to look at you and I’m hard.” Then he remembered something. “About that abstinence thing …”

A sheepish look spread on her face. “Oh, sorry, but I had to hold you off somehow.”

“And why’s that? We’d already had sex before I lost my memory.”

“Yeah, and see where that led to. You broke up with me right after that. I didn’t want you to think I was easy.”

“Easy?” He shook his head. “Baby, there was nothing easy about you. You’ve been the hardest conquest I’ve ever made.”

“Conquest?” A flash of fear widened her eyes.

Dio instinctively tightened his hold on her. Maybe he’d chosen the wrong word. “Shh, baby, don’t look so scared. You’re my last conquest, the one I’m going to keep for good. Don’t you know that?”

She gave a tentative smile. “It’s just still so new and unexpected. And I’ve been down this road before—” She gasped at her own words as if she hadn’t wanted to tell him.

He stroked his knuckles along her cheek. “I know about that.”

“What?” Her eyes shot wide open, pinning him.

“I spoke to your parents. They told me about Jeff.”

“When did you speak to my parents? How?”

“Yesterday, when I invited them to our wedding.” He left out the part that he’d actually visited them in Idaho. That piece of information was something to be revealed on their honeymoon, together with the fact that he was a god and by being his wife she would draw on his immortality and remain as young as she was now.

When he looked into Ari’s eyes as she sat up, he saw tears forming there. “Baby?”

“You invited my parents?” Her voice was thick with tears.

Confusion and concern spread inside him, one battling the other for supremacy. “Don’t you want them at our wedding?”

She sniffed. “Of course. I just … I never thought there’d be a real wedding, so I never invited anybody. I planned on giving you the ring back after I told you the truth tonight before we—”

He put his finger onto her lips. “Just as well that I’ve taken care of the guest list for us. So there’s nothing to worry about anymore. Tomorrow, you and Natalie will go shopping for a bridal gown for you and a bridesmaid’s dress for her. I made you an appointment at that boutique Sophia recommended. And then—”

But he didn’t get any further, because his sweet Ari kissed him under tears of joy. When she released him, her eyes shone with love. “I can’t believe you’re doing all this! I love you, I love you, I love you!” She almost shouted the words.

“Care to prove it?” He grinned unashamedly before casting his eyes downward to where his cock stood erect.

***

Ari followed Dio’s glance before lifting her eyes back to his face. “How?” She batted her eyelashes as their gazes collided.

His eyes were full of fire and the same uncontrolled passion she’d seen in him when he’d taken her in the kitchen. “I think you know how.”

She leisurely stroked her index finger along his velvet skin and felt his shaft tilt toward her in response. “Let me guess.” She gathered the drop of pre-cum that had already oozed from his tip and spread it over the purple head. “Is this how?”

“Yes,” he choked out as his body bucked toward her.

She let her hand glide down his length before wrapping her fist around him, gripping him ever so slightly.

“Fuck!”

“I had no idea you were so sensitive,” she teased, enjoying the effect she had on him. She’d never felt so confident.

He lashed a glare at her, but she knew he wasn’t angry. “Wait until it’s my turn.”

She chuckled. “But it
is
your turn.” Then she lifted herself on her knees and positioned his erection at her center. “Your turn to lose control.” With one thrust, she impaled herself on him, taking him into her body, his hard flesh filling her, stretching her.

Dio pressed his head back into the pillow, his eyes closing, his back arching off the mattress. She allowed him to take a few breaths and didn’t move. When he opened his eyes a few moments later, they were darker than before, and they shone with love.

“I think you’ve made your point.” His hands went to her hips. “But  I’m not ready to lose control yet. I’d be a poor lover if I didn’t take care of you first.”

She laughed. As if he hadn’t already taken care of her—twice. She snatched his wrists and pried his hands off her hips then pinned them next to his head as she bent over him. “Not so fast, my love.”

The endearment felt strange at first, so she tried out another. “Or would you prefer I’d called you ‘baby’?”

“You can call me ‘stud’ or anything else you like as long as you’re getting on with it,” he growled.

“Impatient much?”

He thrust his hips upwards, lodging his cock deeper in her. “Just a little starved. As you might know,” he said casually, “I’ve just come off a two week stint of abstinence.”

She dropped her head lower, her lips now hovering less than an inch from his. “Me, too. It was grueling, especially since you didn’t play by the rules. Remember the store room?”

“In your shop? No way I can ever forget that.”

“You weren’t supposed to seduce me.”

“How was I supposed to know? I had amnesia, remember?”

“You’re incorrigible.”

He freed one hand and cupped the back of her head. “And very, very hungry. So, baby, what’s it gonna be? Are you playing Lady Godiva for me, or do I have to pin you down and take what’s mine?”

His possessive words sent a flame of desire through her core. Without a word, she brushed her mouth against his and slid her tongue over the seam of his lips. They parted instantly.

“That’s better,” he breathed before she silenced him and captured his mouth.

As she stroked her tongue against his and explored him, his arms came around her, and of their own volition her hips moved in an easy rhythm. Dio’s cock pulled from her sheath but for the very tip before she took him back inside again.

At first, she rode him slowly but the more she ground against him, the more her heated flesh connected with his, the faster her heart beat. Their kiss took on the same rhythm, growing more passionate and urgent with every breath.

When she ripped her mouth from his, panting heavily, she gazed into the ocean blue of his eyes. How they could have ever looked ice-cold to her, she couldn’t remember, because now his eyes were full of warmth and passion.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered and dropped one hand to her pussy, finding her clit with unerring precision. As he touched the engorged bundle of flesh, she felt a shudder go through her. Her next breath signaled the arrival of the spasms that made her body explode.

Dio moaned out his pleasure in the same instant, his cock jerking inside her as the warm spray of his seed filled her.

As Ari collapsed on top of him, he pressed her to his chest. She breathed as hard as he did. But she’d never felt better in her life. In a few days, she would be Mrs. Dio—

She lifted her head. “I’m afraid for some reason I don’t remember your last name.” Even though she’d filled out that order form for the case of wine he’d purchased when they’d first met.

He chuckled, then touched her nose with the tip of his finger. “If I was an insecure person, I’d be a little worried that my bride doesn’t even remember my name.” Then he stroked his palm over her cheek. “My name is Dionysus Theos.”

Ari smiled. She would be Mrs. Dionysus Theos!

Chapter Thirty-One

Dio arrived at the Bed and Breakfast with plenty of time to spare. Finding the reception room empty, he stepped out onto the balcony and surveyed the garden.

Everybody had outdone themselves. The entire garden was decorated with white and red flowers, bows, and white columns. At the end of a path of rose pedals, a little podium had been built where the minister would stand and officiate the ceremony. Alongside the walkway, rows of chairs covered in white fabric stood waiting for the guests.

Small fountains framed the area, the fine mist they produced intended to cool the guests in the hot afternoon sun. Dio could have opted for an evening wedding instead, but he had no intention of spending an evening with a bunch of guests when all he wanted was to take his new wife to bed.

He’d teleported to his estate in Napa in the morning to make sure that his servants had prepared the place. It was where he intended to spend his honeymoon with Ariadne.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Triton’s voice came from behind him.

Dio smiled at his friend as he stepped next to him. “You guys have really outdone yourselves.”

“It’ll cost you an arm and a leg.”

“Just as well that I don’t care about money.” As long as Ari was happy, he’d do anything in his power.

Triton slapped him on his back. “Totally pussy-whipped, just like I thought.”

Normally Dio would have glared at a comment like that, but today he couldn’t even contradict his friend. He merely shrugged. “Nothing wrong with that.”

Triton nodded. “Nope.”

At first, Triton hadn’t believed in Dio’s sincerity about the wedding, but Dio had finally convinced his best friend that he was a changed man.

For a long moment, both of them stared out at the garden, then Dio cleared his throat. “I’m going to be a father.”

Triton jumped. “Gods! Are you serious?”

Dio couldn’t suppress the smile that split his face. “Ari conceived our son.” As a god not only did he have the power to decide when to create a child, he could also choose its sex, and while he knew he wanted a little girl that looked just like Ari, he wanted a son first. Maybe it was selfish of him to get her pregnant this quickly, but after all, Ari hadn’t insisted on condoms, so she knew the risks. Even if he were a mere mortal, she could have gotten pregnant. Besides, she’d be his wife today, and he knew she wanted a family.

“By the gods! When you do something, you do it fully and you do it fast.” His friend pulled him into a bear hug. “Congratulations!”

Dio peeled himself out his friend’s embrace and straightened his white tuxedo. “How about you and Sophia? Any little heroes on the way?”

Triton grinned. “I’m not ready to share her with anybody else yet.”

“And Sophia feels the same?”

“She wants to wait another year, but then we’ll have at least two or three.”

“Don’t wait too long,” Dio cautioned. “I want our children to be the same age so they can play together.”

Triton broke out in laughter, his eyes tearing. Dio stared at him. “What’s that for?”

His friend wiped the wetness from his eyes. “I never thought I’d hear that from you.”

Dio gave him a crooked smile. “Wait until my son starts beating up your son.”

Triton grinned and squeezed Dio’s shoulder. “They’ll be best friends just like we are.”

“And beat each other regularly.”

“Until they find women who’ll tame them.”

***

Ari looked in the full length mirror in her living room. The white gown she wore was beautiful. She’d seen it displayed in the window of the boutique but at first dismissed it as a possibility because she thought she could never carry it off. But now that she wore it, she realized that it fit her like a second skin. The tailored bustier held her breasts perfectly and tapered to a narrow waist while the flowing silk skirt billowed at her feet, projecting a perfect hour-glass figure.

“I knew you could wear this,” she heard Natalie behind her give her approval.

“Pinch me, because I can’t believe this is really happening.”

Natalie pulled her into a hug, then quickly stepped back and brushed out the creases she had created on Ari’s dress. She sniffled. “Sorry, I’d better not ruin your dress. You really deserve this, you know? And I’m the first one to admit I was wrong. I never thought Dio would really change.”

Ari felt her face split into a huge smile and her eyes moisten with the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her once more. “He did. He’s a new man now.”

The last few days had passed in a flurry of activities, and Dio had been by her side at all times, helping make decision, but most of all he’d simply been there, showering her with love. Ari looked at her friend. “He loves me.”

“If you believe that you’re more gullible than I thought!”

The unfamiliar female voice made her spin on her heels, and what she saw made her take an instinctive step back. Ari’s feet caught in her long gown, and she would have crashed into the mirror behind her had Natalie not steadied her with a tight grip on her arm.

Right in the middle of the living room stood a stunning woman wearing a long white tunic, her long, dark hair draped artfully on her head, soft curls framing her flawless porcelain face. Sandal-clad feet with painted toenails peeked from underneath the seams of the tunic, and gold bracelets covered the woman’s wrists. A golden sash accentuated the apparition’s wasp-sized waist.

“How did you get in here?” Ari choked out. “Natalie, get help!”

But Natalie was shaking as badly as she was.

Ari tossed a look toward the apartment door, but it was closed. She hadn’t heard it open. The crazy woman must have gotten in a different way. Darting her eyes toward the closed windows, Ari’s gaze fell on her cell phone on the coffee table. She had to get to it and call the police.

Ari lunged for her phone, but as if pulled by invisible strings, it levitated and then smashed against the wall with such force, it broke into several pieces.

“What the …?” Natalie yelled.

“Get the hell out of here!” Ari’s heart beat into her throat. This woman was crazy, and unfortunately she knew some crazy-assed parlor tricks.

The intruder advanced. “We need to talk.”

“Who are you?” Ari thrust her chin out, pretending braveness when she felt her knees wobble.

There was a haughty air about the woman, almost aristocratic, when she finally spoke. “I am Hera, the mother goddess, wife of Zeus, and stepmother to that no-good philanderer Dionysus, the one you know as Dio.” She almost spat the last word as if expelling poison from her lips.

Instinctively, Ari shook her head. “No, you’re crazy!” A goddess? Zeus’ wife? Dio’s stepmother? Hell no! This one had escaped from a mental hospital.

Suddenly Hera stood only inches from her. Ari gasped: she hadn’t seen the woman move. “If I were you, I would be careful with my words. As Dionysus can tell you, I have a vicious temper.” The icy chill in her voice made Ari’s heart race and her lungs fight for air.

A second later, Hera stood in the middle of the room again without having moved. Again, Ari’s heart skipped a beat. Ari felt frozen in place and grabbed Natalie’s arm for support.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Natalie muttered. “This is not good.”

“I hadn’t pegged your friend here for a whimpering mouse, but I guess even I can be wrong sometimes,” the woman went on. Then she narrowed her eyes and addressed Natalie directly, “Another word out of your mouth and I’ll make sure the same fate as Echo’s will befall you, and you’ll only be able to repeat what others are saying.”

Ari felt her friend stiffen at the threat, but she didn’t say another word.

“Good. Now to you, my dear Ariadne.”

Panic set in. What did this crazy woman have in mind? Damn it, this was her wedding day: nothing terrible like this was supposed to happen. This wasn’t fair! Nobody was allowed to destroy her perfect day.

“Please leave and I won’t call the police. I promise. I just want you gone.”

“I’m leaving when I’m done and not when you’re telling me to,” the woman who called herself Hera hissed. “Nobody orders me around!”

Ari searched her brain for a way to pacify her. “What do you want? Money? I don’t have much here.” She motioned her head to the kitchen counter. “Take my purse.”

Hera pursed her lips. “That ugly thing? It doesn’t go with any of my outfits. Maybe I should have taught you some fashion sense in the last three weeks rather than waste my time on teaching you how to make Dionysus eat humble pie.”

“Teach me?” Ari croaked, her throat parched and her palms damp and still shaking. How did this woman know about Dio and about what her initial plan had been?

With an impatient huff, Hera crossed her arms over her ample chest. “Of course, teach you! You didn’t think that you came up with that plan of getting back at him all by yourself, did you? I showed you how to teach him a lesson.”

Teach him a lesson.
The words echoed in Ari’s head. She’d heard those words over and over again and others too, messages telling her to get back at him, to take revenge for what he’d done to her. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the notion that somebody had planted suggestions in her mind. “You manipulated me.” But that wasn’t possible. “How?”

“Didn’t you listen earlier? I’m a goddess. I have powers you can only dream of.”

Ari perused the woman once more. With all windows and doors closed, there was no way she could have entered the apartment the normal way. And the way Hera had moved without Ari noticing, or smashed the cell phone against the wall without touching it—all this could only have a supernatural explanation. It was against the laws of physics.

Could gods really exist? Or was this all a nightmare she’d landed in?

“Let’s just say, I believe you, and you’re really a goddess, then what do you want from me?”

Hera gave a sly smile. “I’m trying to save you from making the biggest mistake in your life. You can’t marry Dionysus.”

The words made Ari’s knees buckle involuntarily. “No!” Her objection was out before she even knew her lips had moved.

“He’s a liar and a cheat!”

“You’re wrong! He told me everything.” Just like Ari had confessed the truth to him. They’d both come clean.

“Everything?” Hera arched her eyebrows. “Has he told you who he is?”

Ari’s stomach lurched as dread traveled northwards. Had Dio not told her everything about himself?

“Ah, I see you still have doubts about him. And so you should. Dionysus is the god of wine and ecstasy. He’s Zeus’ illegitimate son. A god. Has he told you that?”

Ari leaned into Natalie for support, feeling her friend’s arm come around her waist. The words Hera had spoken when she’d first appeared came rushing back:
stepmother to that no-good philanderer Dionysus
. “Dio is a god?” Was it true?

“A powerful one who doesn’t like to be trifled with. And you trifled with him.”

“I didn’t! You manipulated me! And besides, he’s forgiven me.” Her voice trembled as doubts continued to spread. If Dio was a god, why had he not told her? And how could he have had amnesia in the first place? Had he lied about that?

“Forgiven? Think again, sister! He’s been toying with you from the start. I saw it, and decided to help you by taking his memory away.”

“You did that?” Ari gasped. But at the same time she felt a sliver of relief. Dio hadn’t lied to her about his amnesia after all.

“So you’d have a chance at teaching him a lesson. But what do you do? You fall in love with him! That was not the plan!”

Ari’s lips trembled. “But he loves me.”

“Are you so sure about that?” Hera taunted.

Ari held her breath. Was she? Did Dio really love her the way he’d professed each night for the last week?

“Maybe you need proof of what a jerk he is.”

At Hera’s words the surface of a pond suddenly appeared in the middle of the living room where the coffee table had been.

“Watch and learn!” Hera advised and pointed at the pond. On its surface, a scene played out. The reflection of three man in a living room became visible: Dio with Triton, the owner of the B&B, and a handsome dark haired guy.

The dark haired man pulled his t-shirt straight. “Who are we talking about now?”

“The woman who made Dio think he’s engaged, and if I remember correctly, he also said he’s in love with her.” Triton leaned nonchalantly against the window frame.

“Bullshit!” Dio protested loudly. “I’m not in love with that scheming, lying woman.” He took another deep breath, clearly fuming. “How dare she lie to me like that? What have I ever done to her to warrant such deviousness? Oh, I’ll give her a wedding! But there won’t be a groom!”

With a sweeping movement of Hera’s hand, the pond and the image disappeared to be replaced by the coffee table.

Ari fought the tears that welled up in her eyes and lost the battle. “He played me. He hates me.” The tears burst from her lids as she pressed her eyes closed, trying to shut out the world around her. Dio had lied to her. All his tender words had been lies, his kisses treacherous, his touch poisonous. Not only was he a god—she believed Hera now, how could she not after the evidence she’d presented—but he was bent on taking revenge on her. And what better way than to leave her standing at the altar?

Dio’s admission that he’d talked to her parents and knew about Jeff infiltrated her mind. How cruel of him to punish her with the one thing that would not only hurt
her
most but also humiliate her parents.

Hera’s voice pulled her back to the present. “I’m glad I was able to stop you from doing something foolish.”

Ari nodded, her body and mind numb now.

“Let that be a lesson to you,” Hera sputtered before she disappeared into thin air.

Her hands shaking, Ari reached for the zipper of her dress when Natalie’s hands covered hers.

“I’m so sorry, Ari,” her friend whispered and hugged her. “A god! And what a mean one. I can hardly believe it. But after what she did and said …”

Tears running down her cheeks, Ari sucked in a breath, but with it more sobs tore from her chest. “He hates me.” Nothing else mattered, not that he was a god, nor that he’d omitted that fact when they’d told each other the truth.