11. Cameron

Chapter 11

Cameron

Hallway after dark hallway, they all looked the same. Left, right, right again. Dead end. Whining, I spun on my heel and backtracked, wending my way deeper into the house. My heart was like a frightened bird trapped inside my chest, its wings beating a staccato against my ribs.

I just needed somewhere to hide .

The mazelike mansion, the incessant bickering of gods, piled high on top of an already teetering mound of scary-as-hell medical bullshit; it was all simply too much. Overwhelmed, panic built inside me, and with it my power rose. Unbidden, unwanted. And unending…

It was like my toes were hanging over the edge of a cliff, and I was staring down into a bottomless abyss. It wouldn’t take much to tip me over, and I just knew that if I let myself fall, I would raze the entire house to the ground around me.

I stumbled through a doorway and was grateful to find myself in a bathroom, all gleaming white porcelain and marble. Slamming the door behind me, I swore I felt the ground shift, and I collapsed against the counter, gripping the marble hard enough that my joints screamed in protest. Great, just what I needed now—the ability to control the very earth beneath my feet. It wouldn’t be a stretch, considering I already controlled fire and ice.

“No, no, no, no,” I chanted, clinging desperately to the fibers of my being, even as I felt myself unraveling, the weft and weave of my soul being shredded. Too hot, I was too hot! I wrenched off my jacket, throwing it to the ground.

Reaching for the tap, I cranked on the cold water and shoved my face under the faucet, sputtering and choking and drinking it down. I cupped my hands under the water and scooped it over the back of my neck, and I felt it soak into my collar. I stayed there, listening to the burble of water spiraling down the drain, until I felt the panic begin to ease. My breathing slowed, my heart regulated.

Blowing out a sigh, I straightened myself up, water dripping from my hair and down my face. I met my eyes in the mirror, and my heart sank. “Well, aren’t you a mess,” I muttered, reaching for the hand towel. I’d tried so hard to look nice tonight, but now, I looked more like a drowned rat. My hair was drenched, rivulets of water dripping down my cheeks and neck, soaking into my shirt and making it see-through.

I felt like I was coming off a three-day bender, but there was no sign of it in my reflection. I looked normal. Healthy, even. Like absolutely nothing was wrong. Besides being drenched, of course.

“What a crock of shit.”

I hated to imagine what everyone thought of me. Ares and Aphrodite were like Greek royalty, and I’d been so excited to meet them. Now, though, I wanted nothing more than to escape.

Maybe I could sneak out and no one would notice…

I knew that wasn’t a realistic option, considering Phobos was my ride, so instead, I dried myself off as best I could, finger-combing my hair into place. “You’ve got this. You are a badass. You are charming, and everyone will love you. They didn’t notice anything was wrong,” I told myself in the firmest voice I could manage, still nowhere near steady enough to deny my doubt. I couldn’t even look at myself as I lied, so I turned and grabbed my jacket off the floor and opened the door.

Having prepared for the long walk through the maze of darkened hallways to retrace my steps, I found myself slamming into a hard chest. “Oof!”

Bouncing off his chest, his hands clamped down on my biceps in a vice-like grip. Deimos. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked bluntly in a level voice, his violet eyes hard as amethyst. I was struck suddenly in this moment just how different from his twin brother he was.

“W-What? Nothing is wrong. What are you talking about?” I sputtered like a fool. I knew exactly what he meant. I angled my gaze somewhere vaguely over his right shoulder and tried to tug free from his grasp, but his grip held firm.

He shoved his way into the room, forcing me to stumble back, but when I nearly tripped, he was there, with a hand sliding down and snagging around my waist. He pulled me flush to his body, closing the door behind him with an ominous click .

I braced my hands on his chest, trying to push off, but he was an immovable figure, his muscles hard enough to be carved from stone. Gods, I hated myself for noticing that. “Let me go, Deimos,” I demanded weakly.

“Not until you answer my questions.” He quirked one eyebrow. “You’re soaking wet. Did you have a shower and forget to take off your clothes? ”

I chuckled awkwardly. “Obviously not. I just got a little too warm at the dinner table, that’s all. And I misjudged how much water I had in my hands. Oops?”

His eyes narrowed, and when he frowned, my eyes were drawn to his full lips as they puckered. “Nope, I’m not buying it. You…” he began as he dipped his head down low enough that his lips brushed my ear, “…have a secret, and I want you to tell me what it is,” he finished in a ragged whisper. He lingered there for a moment, his breath ghosting over my sensitive skin, sending a chill racing down my spine. “Are you sick?”

I swallowed hard and found I couldn’t deny it—most importantly, I didn’t want to. “H-How did you know?” Phobos hadn’t even said anything about it, so how did this man I’d only met once notice?

He let go of my arm, inching his hand up over my shoulder, up my neck, until he was cupping my jaw in his warm palm. “I’ve been watching you, Cameron. In those moments when you think no one is watching and you let your guard down… I see you. And I’m telling you, there is something wrong. Isn’t there.” It wasn’t a question.

The emotions welled so close under the surface, it didn’t take much for him to stir them up. He was watching me? I wanted to be mad, but for some reason I chose not to think about, I kinda… liked the thought that someone was there for me, even if that made him a creep or a stalker. It felt like he was my guardian angel.

My eyes burned with tears, and I bit down on my lip to keep it from quivering. I simply nodded.

“There, was that so hard to admit?” He dragged his thumb over my lip, drawing it out from between my teeth. “Do you want to talk about it? ”

The question surprised me. The way he’d barged in here demanding answers, I’d expected him to keep going until he’d stripped me bare.

I thought about it for a moment, about what it would feel like to get this off my chest. To admit my weaknesses out loud. And I almost opened my mouth and spilled it all, but before I could, my body decided for me. I shook my head, and it set a tear free from my lashes, coursing down my cheek.

“My poor, sweet, breakable mortal,” he murmured, then leaned down and licked the tear from my skin, slowly, seductively. He was unhurried, the stroke of his tongue ending with a teasing flick and a satisfied hum in the back of his throat.

I should’ve pulled away, should’ve shoved him, slapped him, been outraged over the sheer nerve of him. And I could definitively say that I should not have tangled my fingers in the silk of his shirt, creasing and wrinkling the fine fabric, though that was the precise thing I did.

“Deimos, I…” My protests jammed up in my throat, like they were trapped in a bottleneck, all trying to get out at once. When words failed me, I tried to squirm in his embrace, working to free myself, but that had an unexpected outcome, because now it wasn’t just his muscles that were hard. My jaw dropped as I felt his erection thicken—but even more surprising was when my cock twitched in reply. I tried to angle my hips away, but there was no way he would let me get away so easily. He moved until I was pinned between him and the counter, with nowhere to run.

It had been weeks since I’d even entertained the idea of anything sexual, months since I’d jerked off, and too long to count since the last time I got laid. It hadn’t been a priority when I felt so awful, but there was something about this dark god, something that felt like… balance .

And maybe it was just because the steroids had made me feel better, but suddenly it felt like my body was waking up from a coma, and it was hungry .

Oh, and he knew it too, if his widening smirk was anything to judge by. With his hand still gripping my jaw, he tilted my head back, tracing his nose across my cheek. My eyes fluttered closed of their own volition, and I breathed him in, his taste sweet and spicy on my tongue. Oh, shit, he was going to kiss me! He rolled his hips just once, twice, showing me what I was doing to him.

Fuck me, I wanted this, wanted him, but then I thought about his brother. I’d kissed Phobos too. It was that thought that snapped me out of my daze. My eyes flew open, and I shoved hard at his chest until he took a step back, easing up but keeping his hands on me, leaving me gasping for breath.

Sliding his fingers through the hair at the back of my neck, he said, “You know, you never answered me. About the job offer. In fact, you didn’t have much of a chance to say anything at all. Phobos kept putting words in your mouth. I’d like to hear what you have to say.”

“I’m not his, you know,” I blurted before I could even consider taking it back.

“What?”

“Phobos, back at the dinner table. He said I was his, but I’m not. I’m not anyone’s.”

The smile teasing at his lips did very, very bad things to me. “Good to know.”

I swallowed hard, my throat tight and dry. It took every bit of willpower to slip free of his hold, and this time, he let me. I felt cold without his blazing heat, and it helped to clear my head. I reminded myself that he was the bad guy. A real-life supervillain! He hurt people, committed crimes! So what if he was handsome and charming and hung like a horse. I had standards.

“And no,” I said firmly, reminding myself to stay strong. “I don’t want a job. I’m happy where I am.”

He seemed amused as he took in the shades of varying emotions flitting across my face. “My brother is an interesting character. He’s a better man than he has any right to be, considering how we were raised. We were groomed to be our father’s helpers, riding into battle with him. It was bloody work, and there never seemed to be an end to war. There are only two things humans really excel at—killing each other, then fucking in order to produce another generation of fighters so they can do it all again.”

“You’re wrong,” I said vehemently, heat rising in my cheeks. “There is love and beauty in humanity, fragility and tenderness. Our lives may be nothing more than the blink of an eye to a god like you, but that only means we have to make every moment on this earth count for twice as much. Humans can make huge changes in the world even without super strength or speed or—”

Deimos held a hand up to cut me off, chuckling. “Okay, I give up! I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it. I’ve certainly never seen it, not when it was literally my job for thousands of years to invoke dread and terror, to provoke anger and violence in those same humans you praise. And I excelled at my job, Cameron. So did Phobos.”

“But… that doesn’t make any sense. I know Phobos, and he’s more like a puppy—an extremely powerful puppy, sure, but he’s never been anything other than gentle with me.” I thought of the way he’d cupped my face and kissed me with all the tenderness in the world, and about how he hadn’t pressured me for more even once .

Deimos paused, his intense gaze stripping away all that I was saying until it was like he could see the truth of all I wasn’t saying, and he could see everything that had happened between us.

“Well…” he continued after a moment, his eyes now shuttered, so that I doubted I’d seen anything at all. “Somewhere along the line, between countless wars and insurmountable death, he grew tired of it. Maybe it was our mother’s influence, or maybe he’d just hit his limit; everyone has one. Either way, he decided it was time for a change. I figured he’d get a job as an accountant or a real estate agent or something mundanely human . Not a fucking superhero!” He barked a short, hard laugh, before his smile promptly fell. “What do I know. He must be doing something right if he’s collecting such avid fans.” Deimos rolled his eyes, leaning a hip on the counter and crossing his arms over his chest like a perfect portrait of relaxation, but it was all a show. I could tell there was a rift between the two brothers.

“What do you mean, avid fans?” I asked.

“Well, I’ve seen the news stories about him, the celebrity spotlights, the way that woman had screamed for him when his limo pulled up outside the charity gala.” Deimos was sulking! No way, was he… jealous?

A startled laugh slipped out before I could stop it, and I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep it in, tears leaking down my face as I doubled over. “What’s so funny?” he snapped.

“I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just… you’ve got it all wrong.” I mopped uselessly at my wet cheeks with my hands, trying to regain control of myself. I hadn’t laughed that hard is ages! “That woman at the gala was an actor,” I explained. “I hired her to make a big scene outside the gala. I’ve been working to build up his image through a PR firm. ”

Deimos’s jaw dropped, mouth gaping. “Are you shitting me? What about the news, the media coverage, the men’s underwear billboard downtown?”

I shrugged. “All me. Phobos hired me to help him, so that’s what I’ve been doing. I know money can’t necessarily buy you happiness, but it’s amazing what you can achieve with a nearly infinite budget.” I took pleasure in the shift of emotions on his face, from sulking to smirking, but then I realized what a mistake it could be to have shared that with him. He was the bad guy, after all. I took a quick step closer, reaching for him, my hand gripping his forearm. “Oh! But please, don’t tell him! He doesn’t know what I’ve been spending his money on. He thinks he’s just popular and that word is spreading about what a great hero he is. I want him to think he’s doing well. It would break his heart.”

“Yes, wouldn’t want the poor, delicate god of terror to get discouraged,” he sassed, narrowing his eyes as he reached down to where I held his arm, placing his warm palm over top.

I grimaced. “Yeah, that hasn’t been an easy sell, to be honest. His past history doesn’t exactly instill warm fuzzies. He should’ve changed his name.”

His eyes danced as his lips split in a blinding smile. “Right? I keep trying to tell him that, but he refuses to listen. Says if he tries hard enough, they will eventually be grateful for his help.” His humor dimmed as we lapsed into a moment of shared silence, his smile softening into something far more gentle than he would ever admit to.

His thumb moved in an idle circle over my knuckles, sending a ripple of current up my arm. “So, I guess you don’t want me to rub his nose in that little tidbit of information at the first opportunity?” He looked like a mischievous little imp in this moment, and I regretted letting my walls down around Deimos. It was too late to take it back, but I should’ve known better.

“Please, don’t.” I swore there was a spark of something between us as he made me beg.

His mischief was joined by a hint of mayhem. “What will you give me for it?” the gremlin asked coyly.

“What? Are you blackmailing me?!” I should’ve known better! I tried to jerk away, but he moved with me, my feet dragging across the floor as he trapped me between him and the tiled wall behind me, the cold seeping through the fabric of my damp shirt. He was scary strong, but even as a tingle of warning niggled at the edges of my mind, my self-preservation instinct doing what it could to keep me safe, there was also a frisson of excitement. Hadn’t I wanted to be manhandled?

“Nothing bad, I promise. How about… a kiss.”

My stomach dropped, and my skin flushed hot, but I couldn’t decide if it was good or bad. I was stalled at the top of a rollercoaster, waiting for the plunge. “A-A kiss?”

“Yeah. One little kiss buys my promise of silence.”

While I hated the idea of being pressured into anything, was it really pressure if it was something I wanted to do in the first place? But then I felt guilty, like I shouldn’t want anything if I were being coerced into it.

Saliva flooded my mouth at the thought of kissing him. What would he taste like? Would it be overwhelming like when I’d kissed his brother? Fuuuuuck.

“J-Just one kiss?” I asked haltingly.

Deimos grinned like he’d already won. “Unless you want more.” He was so certain I would.

I thought of what Phobos’s face would look like if he heard what his brother had to say, if he learned it was all a lie .

“Okay, but you have to promise. If I give you a kiss, you will never speak of my falsehoods again, to anyone.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” he said, drawing an X over his chest. “And trust me, the punishment to a god for a broken promise is more serious than you’d think.”

I closed my eyes, finding strength for what I was about to do. “Okay, I’m ready,” I whispered, looking up at him through my lashes.

“Mm, finally. I’ve been waiting for this…” He tilted his head and moved toward me, but when he was only a few inches away, I raised my hand and stopped him with a finger over his lips. He frowned in confusion. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his words mumbled around my finger.

Without answering, I tipped up onto my tippy toes and kissed his cheek. “Thanks. I appreciate your discretion,” I said, biting my cheek to keep from giggling as I ducked under his arm and practically pranced over to the door.

On my way out the door, I glanced over my shoulder at him. He was still standing there, looking stunned, his mouth gaping and his pants tented.

As much as I would’ve liked to kiss his lips, I simply couldn’t let him win.

I practically flew down the hallways on my way back to the dining room, so fast you would think I was the one with super speed, even picking up the pace when I heard his pursuit.

“Cameron,” he growled behind me. “You know that isn’t what I meant.”

“A deal’s a deal,” I sang back. “You really should learn to be more specific.”

He’d nearly reached me by the time I found my way back to the dining room. The scene had entirely changed while we were gone. Not only was it much quieter without the bickering, but half the seats were empty.

Phobos’s head snapped up. “Where have you been? I was getting… worried…” He trailed off as his gaze drifted over my shoulder.

Deimos nearly bumped into me, his hand landing on my lower back and searing me as he glanced distractedly around the room. “Where is everybody?”

“Where do you think?” Harmonia said, jerking her chin toward the kitchen.

“Of course.” Deimos blew out an exaggerated sigh, but I must’ve missed something, because I didn’t understand what they were talking about.

Or at least I didn’t until I heard a long, carnal moan. “Is that—” I began to ask, but my answer came in the way of Aphrodite’s muffled shout. “I will do as I please, and you will like it!”

And his reply? “Well, I hope you like choking on my cock, because that’s the only way I seem to be able to shut you up!”

There was a slap of skin, followed by a grunt. “C’mon, you little cock slut, you can hit me harder than that,” Ares growled. “I wanna feel you into next Thursday.”

There was a clatter of pots and pans tumbling to the floor, and I covered my face with my hands, blushing fiercely. “Are they always like this?”

“Only when they fight,” Deimos said behind me. “So… yes. What’s the matter, sidekick? Don’t tell me you’re a prude.” He said it as a jab, and it hit its mark. I obviously wasn't as experienced as he was, but I wasn’t a virgin or anything. He was just taking a cheap shot at me because I’d played him out of a kiss.

“I’ll have you know I’m a wildcat in the sack,” I snapped back, poking a finger into his chest. “Not that you’ll ever get the chance to find out.” His eyes sparkled in a way that made me pause. There was a sudden heavy silence in the room.

Shit.

I realized my mistake as soon as Phobos pushed his chair out, his presence looming and prickly at my back as he crowded in close. He snaked his arm possessively around my waist and dragged me hard to his chest. “Time to go,” he said, the unspoken threat hovering in the air between the brothers. “Home, where we live together,” he added unnecessarily.

It was like I was caught in the middle of a pissing contest. I wonder who will pull out their dick first , I wondered wickedly, followed by imagining whose might be bigger—my money was on Deimos.

Aphrodite and Ares were still going at it in the kitchen while I got whisked off toward the front door without another word. Was it wrong that a not-insignificant part of me wanted to stay and listen? I glanced back over my shoulder with a strange longing burning in my gut, and of course, Deimos was there.

He met my eye, smirking. “If you decide to play fair on that deal, let me know. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”

Phobos slammed the door behind us, blocking my sight line. “What was he talking about? You have to be careful making deals with my brother. He will always be the one to come out on top.” Which would put me on the bottom.

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. He was just… joking.”

We rode home in silence, and as soon as we parked in the garage, I made my excuses and headed for bed.

“Cameron? Are you sure you’re okay?” Phobos called after me when I was halfway up the stairs .

“Sure. Just tired.” And yet, sleep eluded me. I laid in bed most of the night, replaying in my head what it felt like to have Deimos pressed against me, all while I had a hand wrapped tight around my cock.