27

27

Apollo

In the past, I’ve viewed sex as an intricate dance between myself and my partners. One of consent and power exchange and finding out exactly what makes them tick in order to bring them as much pleasure as possible. All those impulses are there with Cassandra. I am who I am, after all.

But they’re superseded by sheer need.

My logical side has clicked off and there’s only desire. It takes everything I have not to lose control now that she’s naked and spread out, looking at me like I hold the keys to everything she needs. I want to be that for Cassandra. Desperately.

If I can’t give her everything, at least I can give her pleasure. Escape. Comfort.

I smooth her hair back from her face and press a kiss to her forehead, the tip of her nose, her lips. She tries to arch and to deepen the kiss, but I keep moving before she can. I can’t quite keep it light, though. I drag my mouth over the curve of her shoulder, the softness of her arm up to where the rope binds her, and then repeat the process on the other arm.

She shakes like a leaf, little whimpers slipping past her lips that I’m not certain she realizes she’s making. It’s a heady thing to affect this self-possessed woman so deeply. To have her trust me to guide this, to get her where she needs to be. I cherish the feeling, doing my best to memorize it as I move to her breasts.

I lavish attention on them, pressing them together so I can alternate between her nipples. I can’t get enough. Gods, I can barely believe this is happening at all. It feels like a particularly vivid fantasy, as if at any moment I’ll open my eyes and find myself alone in my bed, my fist wrapped around my cock.

I keep playing with her until her shaking has graduated to full tremors. Each breath is gasping and needy and her dark eyes have glazed over with desire. Only then do I move down, giving her stomach and hips the same thorough treatment. She’s so lovely, it makes it hard to breathe.

As tempting as making her come again is, I promised to fulfill her fantasy and that’s exactly what I intend to do. I deny us both and bypass her pussy, worshipping first one leg down to her ankle and then the other.

By the time I finally kneel between her thighs, we’re both breathing hard and she’s so wet, she’s glistening. I drag my knuckle down her center. “Perfect.”

“You keep saying that word.” Her voice is ragged and hoarse.

“I mean it.” I watch her face as I press two fingers into her. She’s even wetter than she was earlier, her body more than ready for mine. “You’re bold and smart and kind, Cassandra. It’s a privilege to take care of you tonight, and I’m glad you trust me to be there for you.”

She smiles, though her mouth trembles a little around the edges. “You’re making it very difficult to protect my heart right now.”

You don’t have to protect your heart from me.

I don’t say the words.

I run my hands up her thighs and press them wide. Her eyes slide half-shut as I grab a condom and rip open the package. It’s quick work to get it on, but I make myself go slower than normal, ensuring it’s properly done. This close to paradise, I’m determined to do nothing to taint the experience.

Now that the moment is here, it feels surreal. I prop myself up with a hand on the bed at her side to brace myself and press my cock into her. We both moan as I work into her in slow, shallow strokes. She wraps her thighs around my hips, urging me deeper. “More. Give me more.”

“Impatient.”

“For you? Always.”

Kissing her is the most natural thing in the world. I can’t believe I’ve spent the last five years not kissing Cassandra Gataki. She kisses me like she’ll never get enough, like she wants to imprint this experience on her memory with the same intensity that I do.

It takes me a moment to gather my wits about me, to smother my instinct to drive into her as deeply as possible. She told me what she wants, and I’ll be damned before I give her anything less than perfection.

I begin to move inside her slowly, but each stroke frays my ability to think, to plan. It feels too good to have her in my arms, her ankles locked at the small of my back. I lose myself a little more with each wave of pleasure that rises.

Time ceases to have meaning. There is only Cassandra. Her little helpless sounds. Her body moving against mine in a rhythm as old as time itself. Her eyes glazed with pleasure and yet focusing on me with an intensity that strikes right to my core.

Don’t leave.

I love you.

Words I will never say.

I can only show her with my mouth, my hands, my cock. In this moment, everything I am is devoted to her pleasure. I change my angle so I can reach between our bodies to stroke her clit. Cassandra cries out. “More.”

“Anything for you.” The words have too much intensity, too much truth, but there’s no recalling them now. I keep up the exact touch she seems to find the most pleasing and watch as she comes apart beneath me. I will never get enough of the moment of total surrender when she orgasms. The trust she places in me is staggering. I’ll do everything I can to ensure she never regrets it.

I slow down, giving her time to come back to herself, giving myself time to wrestle back from the brink. She blinks up at me, dark eyes wide. “I want to touch you.” I hesitate, but she presses harder. “Apollo, please.”

Again, I can deny her nothing. The truth is that I want her hands on me and desperately. I nod jerkily. “Yes.” I fumble for the rope binding her wrists, finally getting it loose with a curse that makes her laugh.

The first thing Cassandra does is cup my face in her hands and tug me down for a devastating kiss. Everything falls away. This time, when I move inside her, it’s with less control. It feels too good. She feels too good. She shifts one hand into my hair and coasts the other down my back to grab a fistful of my ass.

Just like that, my control snaps. I drive into her, needing to be deeper, needing to take her harder, simply needing. She cries out against my lips. Too soon. It’s too soon, but neither of our bodies seem to care. Cassandra orgasms, her pussy clenching around me.

Words spill from me, drawn forth by sheer need. “You’re perfect. Fucking perfect.” I bury my face against her throat as I come. My body keeps moving even as my mind shorts out, grinding into her and making both of us moan.

Slowly, oh so slowly, the racing heartbeat in my ears starts to recede. I become aware of Cassandra tracing abstract patterns over my back. It feels good. Really good.

Still, there’s the condom to consider.

I groan and start to shift away. She, naturally, responds by tightening her legs around my waist. “Just a little longer.”

It’s tempting to give in, but the longer we stay like this, the more likely for the condom to not work the way it was designed. I lean back enough to kiss her. “I’ll be right back.”

It’s far more difficult than it has a right to be to leave her in bed and duck into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. I take a few seconds to clean up and hurry back into the bedroom, half-sure that the moment will have passed.

Cassandra is exactly where I left her, her body relaxed, her eyes closed. She opens them as I approach the bed. “Come here.”

I’m all too happy to do exactly that. I climb onto the bed and settle next to her. It’s the most natural thing in the world to pull her close. She fits perfectly against me and she does this achingly adorable little snuggling thing against me. She’s not tense and upset like she was before. I’ve given her exactly what she needs, and that knowledge sits like a comfortable weight in my chest. I know I should hold her loosely in all things, but I can’t help tightening my arms around her and drawing her closer yet.

If I only get this for a few more days, I will take everything she gives. Even these intimate little moments. Especially these intimate little moments.

“Apollo.” She says my name slowly, dreamily. “You said fuck three times. That’s got to be some kind of record.”

That surprises a laugh out of me. “In that moment, I was…inspired.”

“I’m taking it as the highest of compliments.” She smiles against my skin. “I don’t think I can walk. My legs are doing this little tremor thing that would be worrisome if I wasn’t riding the high of like…multiple orgasms.”

My chest can’t decide whether it wants to expand or close. I settle for simply breathing. It’s enough. Right here, right now, it’s more than enough. “You come so beautifully, Cassandra. How could I not want to experience that as many times as possible?” I hesitate. Maybe now isn’t the time to get into it, but I want her to know the truth. “I’m sorry that I brought you here and put you in a position where you were exposed to violence again, but I’m not sorry that this has happened between us.”

“This afternoon…” She lifts her head, her expression going serious in a way that makes my stomach drop. “I know we don’t move in the same world, for all that we both live in Olympus, but it’s never been clearer.” She swallows hard. “But I don’t regret this time with you, either.”

That’s the crux of it. If it was a matter of money or power, I might be able to convince Cassandra to stay. But the reality that I cannot guarantee her safety if she didn’t leave… It’s too high a price to ask of her. No matter what my feelings are in the matter.

“Cassandra.” I catch her chin in a light grip, enjoying the way her eyes flutter a bit at the contact. “Our time numbers in the days, the hours. I’m not going to do a single thing to shorten it.”

“Me either.” She lays her head down on my chest again and tightens her grip around my ribs.

The space between us is filled with things we’ve agreed not to speak about. I hold her close and smooth a hand over her hair. This moment is another to tattoo on my memory. Just as valuable as what preceded it. More, really.

Still, I am not going to waste a second of my time left with Cassandra.

I start to press her onto her back, but she wiggles out of my grip. When I raise my eyebrows, she smiles a little. “I feel a bit better now, and it seems a shame to waste all these hours alone with you.” Her smile goes devious as she trails her nails lightly down my stomach. “May I, Apollo?”

I can deny her nothing. “Anything for you, love.”