Chapter Twenty Four

As Thanatos lifted me, my thighs securely wrapped around his waist. In a heartbeat, we burst out of the room, his majestic wings unfurling behind us. The rush of wind created a symphony of whispers, while the swirling shadows encircled us, casting an eerie aura.

A set of doors forcefully swung open and swiftly slammed shut and I left Thanatos” arms, leaving me momentarily weightless. I bounced and landed with a soft squeak onto the velvety, obsidian sheets of the opulent four-poster bed. The room was bathed in the ethereal glow emanating from my own luminous skin, casting a gentle radiance. Hovering at the door, Thanatos extended his majestic wings, their span seemingly boundless, as his piercing blue eyes gazed down upon me with a subdued intensity.

I squeezed my legs together, still feeling the slickness between my thighs.

“I’m trying to do right by you, Juniper. I’m trying to take it slow, but you make it so damn hard.” Thanatos sauntered toward the bed and leaned over me. “Why do you test my patience?”

I bit my lip and shrugged my shoulders. “Ah, well. I danced at the club, someone might have groped me—”

Thanatos’ breathing grew deep, his body leaned over me more and his shadows encompassing me.

“—but I was lucky,” I blurted. “I wasn’t raped. They didn’t want to damage the product. Just in case I was sold. That means I’m just alittleneedyrightnow,” I blurted.

Thanatos cupped my hip and his fingers trailed up my side.

“And I have never been more attracted to anyone like I have with you.” I blushed.

Thanatos pulled the fabric from my shoulder down my arm.

“I don’t know why, it’s just when I’m around you, when I touch your hand, your skin, I can’t stop myself,” I whispered.

He trailed gentle kisses on my shoulder, nipping, playing with the skin with his sharp teeth. He sucked at the base of my throat, and I gasped.

“I’m drawn to you, and I have no idea why.”

Thanatos pauses his nipping. “And you have this attraction to me, even without seeing my face?” he mused.

I nodded quickly, my arms wrapping around his clothed back.

He hummed appreciatively, moving his hand up my thigh, pushing away the dress. “What if my face is hideous? Scarred and deformed?”

I shook my head. “Wouldn’t matter. I like who you are.”

“Even if I am demanding?” He sucked on my neck.

My toes curled.

I’m pretty sure this is coercion.

He chuckled. “Trust me, it’s not, my treasure. Are you still attracted to me, even when I say I’m going to keep your soul forever? Never let you go?”

I paused, thinking of his question.

He bites down on my neck, hard.

I gasped, my eyes rolled off my back of my head. Did I want that? Did I want to stay with him forever? Stay here? In the dark? But was it truly the dark when I glowed? When he was more family than I ever had?

Would he want me for that long?

“I will always want you!” He snarled and pulled away from my neck. “What hideous thoughts. How could you ever think such a thing?”

My lips parted. There was such anger and hurt in his voice.

“You are my everything,” he growled. “Do you hear me?”

“H-how can you say that?! We barely know each other!”

Thanatos cupped my face. “I know your soul. I may not know every thought, every memory until you let me see, but I know your soul, and it is perfectly compatible with mine. You belong to me. Your soul is mine as mine is yours,” he whispered, his warm breath brushing against my ear.

Then, his lips met mine with a fiery intensity, sending shivers down my body. I heard the faint sound of our hearts pounding in sync, the rhythmic melody of desire. As his hands traced the contours of my lower back, a surge of electricity pulsed through me, igniting a primal connection. I felt the strength of his desire pressing against me, our bodies merging in a passionate embrace.

My nails raked down his back, and if somehow my nails had magic within themselves, ripped away at his clothing like shreds, like his clothes were shadows. His robes disappeared. I was finally touching his back, the most skin I have touched at one time. I could feel all of him. I sighed into the kiss and his hold around me tightened.

“You’re mine, and I’m yours. Never forget that,” he paused between kisses. “No matter what you think, whatever your past, whatever lack of confidence you have—you are and always will be mine.”

I let out a cry, my eyes still closed and yet to see if he still had a hood on his face. I knew he didn’t have his robe, but what of his face?

“Let me taste you, as you have tasted me,” he rasped. “Let me.”

“A god pleading to eat me out. How could I ever say no?” I nearly choked.

I kept my eyes closed, too worried to open my eyes and see his face. I didn’t want to ruin the moment, didn’t want to take away what we were experiencing right now. The appearance of scars, beauty, or ugliness didn”t matter to me. I just wanted him to touch me.

He has given me the most care and attention I have ever received in my life and I didn’t want this moment to end.

I felt his warm open mouth trail kisses down my body. Along the way his nails? Claws? Pulled and ripped the emerald green dress and laid me open. I didn’t hide myself. I was too used to being naked, and I think he appreciated my openness. He hummed in approval, licking my hips and spreading my thighs so his head fit perfectly between.

The initial touch jolted me, threatening to propel me from the bed. With precision, his heated mouth seized my clit.

He savored the moment, tracing gentle, heated strokes along the delicate contour between my legs. His tongue, a velvety warmth, moved with a purpose, exploring, teasing my most sensitive spot until waves of pleasure crashed through me, causing my head to thrash against the softness of the comforter.

“You are playing with me,” I cried out as he continued to lap between my folds.

Thanatos hummed, another zing of pleasure making me arch my back.

He thrust his tongue inside. I swear his tongue could nearly hit my g-spot, and my hips thrust upward on the bed. He wrapped his arm around my leg and laid it across my hips down to the comfortable surface.

“I want you to look at me, my treasure,” he said between my legs.

I shook my head, biting my lower lip until I felt the coppery tang in my mouth. I didn’t want this to end. I didn’t want this little bubble we had created. I world where I was wanted, a moment where he wanted me and no one else.

He was a god, a god who could have anyone. He had come far in just the few days I had known him. I didn’t have to tell him emotion, he just needed to become–a human-like person again. Gain his skin of who he once was. He didn’t need me telling me what emotions are.

I was just here to help him with a crime ring–he didn’t need me.

No, if I kept my eyes shut, I could live in this place of ecstasy. Live in this dream. Maybe Hypnos has kept me in his Dream Realm, all along. It”s a really nice dream, and I didn’t want to wake up.

As Thanatos growled possessively, his voice resonated with strength and power, demanding my attention. Startled, my eyes snapped open, and I turned my gaze downwards, between my legs.

His hood was long gone.

I took a deep breath, feeling his tongue flicking my clit, my breath heaving and running down my stomach. His dark hair was a beautiful contrast to his glowing, bright blue eyes. His shadows danced around him while he continued to bury the lower half of his face into me.

“Come,” he commanded, and my body succumbed.

My body let go and my back arched and it was the most powerful, electrical orgasm I’ve ever experienced in my life as he forced his fingers inside me, pumping his thick digits while he made me ride out the intensity.

“That’s it,” he groaned, rubbing the insides of my pussy. “Let your cunt suck on my fingers, I can’t wait until your pussy does it to my cock.”

His dirty words only prolonged the sensation until I laid limply on the bed.

When he stood up, the stubble on his face caught the light, shimmering with my excitement. I gasped, my eyes fixed on his strong, well-defined jawline.

He was absolutely gorgeous. He didn’t need to hide behind a hood, he could very well be an angel.

I guess people considered him the angel of death, but my gods, he was stunning.

“Fuck, you are so damn beautiful when you come,” he rasped.

My face flushed red as he crawled over my body, then lay next to me; rolling me to my side so my breasts pushed up against him. I could see his face so clearly, it’s all I wanted to see.

I hesitated, but soon enough I cupped his cheek and rubbed my thumb over the stubble. “You’re so handsome.”

It was his turn to blush.

“Why do you hide your face? It’s too beautiful to hide.”

Thanatos grabbed my wrist and kissed it. His shadows returned to him, covering his body with his robe, but leaving the hood off of his head. Then his shadows covered my nakedness. The shadows bring back my dress to my body and automatically sew the rips back together.

“Unwanted attention,” he began. “Gods used to think of me as too approachable. It was a way in, to get me to let their favorite mortals live longer. Let their souls stay within their bodies so another god could heal them. Souls are often ready to pass on–most gods do not understand that. I was tired of it, so I changed my appearance and by that time humans had created the lore of the Grim Reaper or a dark entity that steals souls. I took on that form and decided not to be called Thanatos to the mortals any longer.” He chuckled darkly and shook his head. “It isn’t like many know who Thanatos was, anyway.”

“That had to be painful, people not knowing the real you.” I rubbed his cheek.

He shook his head. “No, I preferred it. Fewer prayers to deal with.”

I continued to rub Thanatos’ face. “If you want to be nothing but bones, I won’t fight against you on that, but I will miss your dick.”

He laughed with me, rolling on top of me. “No, my brother was right. I lose all emotion when I am nothing but bones. I feel now. I like feeling when you are with me. I can’t say that I can control my emotions and what they all mean, but I’m definitely willing to explore.” He gave me a smirk.

“I’d be happy to help you with your emotions still, then.” I wrapped my finger around the string of his hood. “If you promise we can do more of what we just did.”

Thanatos showed off his bright white teeth with a huge smile and I fell deeper into an emotion I dare not say, nor think out loud.