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Her breath caught as Athena’s fingers hooked on the one spot that was sure to unravel her in seconds and Athena seemed to sense the change in her breathing, obviously understanding it, she raised her head from where she was biting on her neck. Their eyes met.

And… it was suddenly too much. Too hot, too soft, too kind. Too perfect. Aphrodite tugged on her hands and Athena released her immediately, attuned as she was to her lover’s every move. Aphrodite wanted to cry.

This, this right here.

Nobody else had ever felt her, sensed her, known her without knowing her. She wrapped her arms and legs around the lanky torso even as Athena slowed the thrust of her fingers, gentle now, clearly not entirely certain of what was going on, yet willing to do anything her lover needed. Aphrodite felt the tears spill, one then another... And at the sight of this overwhelming emotion, Athena’s gaze shined with something akin to love.

The earth moved.

Funny how in books it’s usually at the moment of an orgasm, but for Aphrodite, it was that very second before her release that the earth moved. The moment she saw love, as clear as her ownreflection, gazing back at her in Athena’s eyes. Time stood still, and they just looked at each other. Amber meeting blue, love meeting fear. Athena leaned in and kissed a tear away, only to cause more to trickle in its wake. And her gaze held so much love, Aphrodite could not bear it.

In a well-practiced move, she gained the upper hand, reversing their positions, and pinning Athena beneath her. She did not want to see. It was too much. And so she threw her head back, her hands reaching for her breasts, and felt Athena stretch down underneath her, propping her legs to give her stability. She just let it go, her hair slipping out of the loose bun all the way down her back. And then she rode, impaled on Athena’s careful, tenacious fingers. She rode to abandon.

Aphrodite came like a shot. Despite it building for minutes, the strength of her orgasm still choked her and Athena did not give her respite. She just grabbed her hips, and dragged Aphrodite up her body. And then she feasted. There was no other way to call what was happening. That mouth, those lips, that tongue, perfect, perfect, perfect and they drove Aphrodite wild. The iron grip on her hip bones held her in place, and she could do nothing but hold on for dear life.

They say still waters run deep. But Aphrodite had always known she would drown in these particular ones if she let go. And for the moment, for one glorious moment, she allowed herself that freedom. When she felt the very tips of teeth on the underside of her clit, she came again, hearing herself scream in total wantonness. There was nothing left to lose, nothing left to hide, it all felt right. In the back of her mind, she sensed the body underneath her stiffen and heard a low moan, and Athena’s orgasm triggered another release in her, a slow one, a wave that rolled and rolled and gripped her in a state of exultation she had rarely experienced.

She felt Athena gently tug her down until they were face to face, and then she was tasting herself on that wicked, wonderful mouth, and that felt right too. They kissed and kissed, moving in perfect sync, their hearts in rhythm. She threaded her fingers through the always just-a-bit-messy hair and smiled into the kiss. Silky strands, silky skin, silky kisses. She felt blissfully sated, safe, and warm. And she wanted. She wanted to stay. Wanted to fall asleep encircled in this embrace, breathing this woman, feeling her in every pore, in every inch of herself.

She wanted too much. And the little voice inside her reared its head, only to shake it at her.Too muchwas not good.Too muchmeant she’d lose herself again.

And if she did?

She felt that with this particular woman, with this particular lover, she may never find herself. Because, unlike any other, Athena was perfect. And she, unlike any other before, understood Aphrodite on a level that was scary, on a level that was dangerous, on a level that was too close to actually seeing her. The real her. Or perhaps Athena actually saw her and still stayed, still made love, still wanted more. And the fear of what that may, in turn, awaken in her, was paralyzing.

She must’ve stiffened, or maybe by the virtue of being perfect and perfect for her, Athena sensed her apprehension and her arms tightened around Aphrodite just for a second before letting go and falling down on the mangled sheets. She was giving Aphrodite the freedom to stay or to leave. Too bad they both knew Aphrodite would choose the latter.

And so she bent her head and placed her mouth gently on Athena’s, thanking her, blessing her, tasting her one last time. And as kind eyes watched her, she pulled on a hotel robe and, dangling her heels off her fingertips, limped out of the room.

Aphrodite foundherself standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of her massive suite, staring blindly into the never-dying lights of the Las Vegas Strip. Her cheeks were wet, and as she raised her hand to wipe them, it felt silly to be crying now. She had made her own choices. For once, she had not been forced, nor coerced, or manipulated into leaving on her own terms. So why did it hurt so much?

“Maybe you should have stayed?”

She sensed more than saw Erato step to the windows beside her, and the warmth of the familiar presence comforted her. Yet nothing felt like the comfort she had just left.

“You know that wasn’t an option.” Did her own voice sound this hollow? She reached out and Erato enveloped her in a hug, again so familiar yet somehow no longer satisfying.

Damn it all to hell. Hades come and claim all of them!

“Well, I don’t know anything of the sort. We are at the dreaded 80% inflection point. I think they call it that because in math it’s when the equation is about to change its concavity to either up or down. Nobody really knows how it goes.”

Aphrodite wanted to laugh. Trust her friend to be wrong and yet so very perfectly right for the moment.

“Math was never your strong suit, dear. And not only did you just make up the whole ‘inflection’ thing, but I also thought you said the 80% drama was so passé.”

“Hey, I used ‘inflection point’ correctly. It’s literally what happens at this point of every romance book. I may not be super smart, but then, not everyone can be Athena and win you over with her massive brain. As for my opinion on the 80% drama? It really is on the downward trend in the genre, but it’s also a classic for a reason. It works.” Erato held her tight, and they stared in silence at the vista before them.

“Why does it work?” Aphrodite’s chest tightened and her eyes stung again. Zeus, she had cried more in one day than in the last several centuries.

“Because it’s where you make a choice. Right or wrong, you make a choice and you either take on the world or you stand at your hotel window with a friend watching the lights of the Strip sparkle in the distance.”

“You think I made the wrong choice?” The tears flowed again.

“I think we should order something stronger than champagne and get really drunk.”

And that felt like the perfect end to her night.

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