Chapter Four

Charon

Moira grunted as her back slammed against the deck of my boat. A growl quickly followed, raw and animalistic for such a beautiful creature.

Beautiful ? Treacherous. A treacherous creature, a fact I would do well to remember.

She had tried to steal from me—to take the one thing of importance.

For a moment, I had given in to her temptation. I thought I was content, but the more this dangerous mortal amused me, the more of her presence I craved.

I followed her forward. Pain ricocheting up my legs when my knees hit the deck. My body fell, my weight resting onto my hands and knees, caging her beneath me.

My little thief was still more fiery than a fury. Moira raised her fists to strike me, clearly not having learned her lesson.

I was faster than her, stronger. Her wrists felt frail in my hands as I captured them and shoved them above her head.

"Brute!" she spat, dark eyes full of contempt and rage.

"Thief!" I snarled back.

The worst kind of thief. She had thought to seduce me, to use her wiles to take something she could not steal, and in my foolishness I had almost fallen for it. How many souls had I ferried across the water that had perished from someone's tricks?

I knew better. I was far too old to be fooled by a pretty face and the cant of a hip, and yet here I was. More fool than ferryman.

Her heels dug into my thighs and she arched her back, fighting to break free. Each time she bowed upward her breasts pressed into my chest.

Gods , this woman.

How could I loathe someone and want them so fiercely at the same time?

Attraction was something I didn't feel. Emotions were something I didn't have.

I lowered myself until our noses nearly touched. Moira stilled except for her panting breaths that danced along my face.

"Why?" The word rasped out from my lips, something between a demand and a plea.

Her throat bobbed. Those rich, dark brown eyes danced back and forth between mine.

"Hermes."

My brow furrowed. "I don't understand."

"I don't either."

I hated how her gaze softened with her words. How the heat of her body warmed me to my very core.

How she made me feel.

I hadn't felt in centuries, and this little wisp of a mortal unmoored me.

How could a heart that didn't exist beat wildly for this woman? This enemy.

"This is your fault!" I hissed.

She rolled her eyes. "It's Hermes' fault, really."

"Not that, you foolish mortal. These… feelings."

"What feelings?"

"ALL OF THEM!" I spat.

I slumped down to my elbows. I had to move my head to the side so that it was along hers, my lips barely touched her cheek as I spoke.

"I hate you," I whispered. "I pity you. I'm intrigued by you. I even want you. How ridiculous?—"

Moira spun her face towards me and captured my lips in a bruising kiss.

I was frozen in shock. My lips didn't move for what felt like an age until her tongue danced along their seam.

As if the touch had awakened me from Medusa's stare, I sprung to life and took over, demanding entry to tangle my tongue with hers.

Moira moaned, arching her body into mine. I broke away long enough to growl against her lips before taking them again in a punishing kiss.

Her teeth sank into my bottom lip until the metallic tang of my blood hit my senses. She leaned back and away from me with a feral grin, teeth tinged in silver and bronze from my blood.

"You could hate me and want me at the same time, Charon. But you don't hate me. Not really. You want me far more than you hate me, and you hate yourself for it. You relish in the fact that I make you feel, that I broke the monotony of your pathetic life, even if you're terrified of it."

I pressed my hips harder, grinding my traitorous cock against her heat. My hands pressed her fists against the wood with renewed pressure.

"You're wrong."

Moira bucked her hips into mine; they could barely move, but the added friction only made my cock stiffen further.

"Your body says differently." She smirked, far too satisfied with the effect she had on me.

I grunted in dissent.

I wasn't the only one affected by this pull between us; I wouldn't let her think she held the upper hand. Switching my hold so that only one hand was needed to pin her wrists, I reached down and grabbed the fabric of her chiton.

She didn't protest. Our eyes remained locked in a burning glare. The fisted fabric slipped up her calves, over her thighs. I lifted my hips to allow it passage between our bodies. Moira could have fought me then. She could have made use of the lapse in pressure holding her down.

But she didn't. My little thief wanted this as badly as I did, even if she wasn't willing to admit it.

With the chiton pooled at her waist, I trailed a finger along the soaked fabric of her perizoma.

"Little Thief," I said smugly, "your cunt is soaked with desire. You want me right back. You're trying so hard to hold that rage in your eyes, but it's not for me, it's for yourself. You're just like me."

She smirked at me. This woman was unflappable. Besides the fleeting fear when threatened with the Styx, she hadn't displayed any trepidation. I wanted to see her lose herself, consumed by fear or lust, anything to break that composure as she had broken mine.

I couldn't be the only one losing myself. I wouldn't accept it. With Moira, there could not be defeat nor conquest, only mutually assured destruction.

I gripped the sopping fabric and jerked it back until the sound of it ripping echoed across the water. Moira's eyes widened, but her surprise was short-lived. I plunged two fingers into her cunt, curling them, then sliding them out only to thrust them deeply again. She bucked into my touch. A sweet moan slipped from those perfect lips.

"You want me, Moira. Admit it."

"I don't."

I removed my hand from her pussy and gripped her hip, her juices slick against her flesh from my fingers. She whimpered in disappointment.

"Do you want me to touch you?"

She looked away, eyes facing my forearms instead of meeting mine.

"I can. I can stroke you dripping cunt until you writhe in pleasure." I stroked a single finger along her slit, barely touching. A shiver wracked through her body at the touch. "Or," I continued, pulling away, "I can leave you like this. Wanting. Desperate."

She snapped her head forward. Her lips were pulled into a thin line, eyes glowing with want and resentment.

She couldn't hide from me. She wanted me as much as I wanted her; it was an undeniable truth. Her flushed chest, the pace of her breathing, the way she chased my fingers with her hips. It all spoke of her desire, but I wouldn't continue until she admitted it.

She hesitated, but if the little brat was trying to wait for me to give in to our desires first, she would be sorely disappointed.

I waited for eternity for souls to seek passage. I had more patience than any other.

"Touch me." The words were barely a whisper.

"What was that?"

"I said touch me ."

"You're not very convincing."

" Gods , Charon, get your hand back on my cunt and make me?—"

Moira's words cut off with a guttural moan as I plunged my fingers back inside her. One, then two, then three, filling and stretching her wide for me. My thumb pressed against her clit, circling in a pace to match my fingers.

" Fates ," she cried. "Just like that."

"You will take it how I give it," I growled.

I was going to possess this woman, steal her very soul.

"That's it, Little Thief," I purred. She ground against my touch. "You tried so hard not to care, but look at you. Your greedy cunt is squeezing my hand. You're writhing under me, chasing your pleasure, but it's mine to give."

My words were spoken between my own panting breaths.

"Shut up and fuck me," she spat, lip caught in a snarl.

I jolted forward and circled her neck with my soaked hand.

"You tried to take something from me. Now you'll take exactly what I give you. You'll take my hand and my cock and my cum until it drips down your thighs. Your body will be a toy for my pleasure until you're well used."

Moira managed to slip one of her hands free and pulled me down. Her teeth dug into my neck until I felt the skin break. The pain was sharp and aching, but it only served to raise my arousal. I loved her fight. I reveled in her fury.

"Don't fool yourself, Charon. I'll use you just as well as you use me." The silver of my blood streaked along the side of her face.

I snapped forward and locked my own teeth into her shoulder until the tang of blood filled my mouth. Moira screamed, but she didn't scramble for escape. She freed her other hand; one gripped each of my shoulders, nails digging into my flesh.

My hips snapped against her core, cock aching to be inside of her. I raised to my knees and shoved my own chiton up. Precum seeped from the head of my dick. I lined it up with her center, sliding the tip of my cock along her wetness, teasing us both.

Moira clenched her legs around me and pulled as I thrust forward, filling her in one swift move.

"Gods, your cunt," I moaned. "You're squeezing me like a vise. So wet for me." I remained there, buried deep inside her, relishing in how her warm heat enveloped me.

Moira arched up and grabbed my horns, pulling me down until our noses touched.

"Move, you bastard." She shoved her pelvis against mine to make it clear what she desired.

I pulled out of her pussy and slammed forward again. We set a punishing pace, each thrust rattling our bodies with the force.

We were feral as we consumed each other. Moira's hands left my horns to dig her nails into my shoulders and back. I twisted her nipple through the fabric of her chiton until she hissed at the sensation, then moved from the sensitive peaks to circle her neck.

Pleasure built deep in my body until I knew I was just on the edge, but I wouldn't cross it. Not yet.

Moira wrapped my hand around her throat with hers.

"More."

Carefully, I put pressure on each side. "Come on, Moira," I urged. "Let it out. Let go."

She was fighting me until the very end, determined to take control, but it was no use.

She cried out, her voice hoarse from my hand squeezing her throat. Her cunt pulsed around my cock. I let myself follow her over the edge, spilling my cum inside her even as I continued to thrust, determined to fill her.

I wanted to take her in, to see what my possession of her body had done. My cock slipped free of her as I rolled back to rest on my knees. There before me her legs were spread wide, her glistening pussy a feast for my eyes. I was transfixed by the way I dripped from her body. The way my cum coated her folds and made a pearly trail from where it filled her.

"Bastard," she huffed.

She was stunning in her destruction.

Her braid had come loose, brown tendrils wild around her head. Her cheeks and chest were flushed and shined with sweat, eyes glossy with satisfaction. Still, those lips curled in her customary smirk.

"Thief."