Page 124 of Eryx

Even in the darkness, I saw tears shining in his eyes. I could not give him the home by the sea like he wanted, but I could give him this: my devotion, my loyalty, and my body. They were all his.

Gentle waves lapped at our feet as I laid Axios down in the wet sand. I captured his lips in a soft kiss as I lay on top of him, our bare chests sliding together. I pushed my fingers through his dark hair and used my other hand to remove the clothing separating us. Nothing—no one—was more precious to me than him.

He wrapped his arms around my back, smiling against my mouth as he kissed me.

A vile thought entered my mind. Axios had become aroused while watching the king with the serving boys. As he lay beneath me, heart to heart, was his mind still in the grand hall? Was he imagining another set of lips against his?

“Do you wish I was him?” I asked, breaking from the kiss as pain lacerated my chest. My voice shook and it was hard to breathe.

“Never,” Axios growled, grabbing my face. “For as long as there is breath in my lungs, I will love you. Only you. And even when I leave this world, I will still belong to you, for my soul will forever seek yours. In both this life and the next. Remember?”

The words of our oath. I could never forget them.

In that moment, I let go of my insecurity, but more importantly, my anger. I couldn’t keep blaming Axios for something he did years ago, especially when I was the one who had pushed him to do it. Any feelings he had for King Agesipolis was nothing compared to what he felt for me. The rivalry between me and the king was one of my own making.

And so, I kissed Axios, asking for forgiveness with the soft pressing of my lips. Pressure built inside my body, and I kissed him deeper. But it wasn’t enough. I licked down his neck and kissed his chest as I slid down his body.

His hands tangled in my hair once I reached the place between his legs, and when I slipped his swollen cock between my lips, a beautiful sound left his mouth, a cross between a grunt and a whimpering sigh. He lifted his hips, trying to sink deeper, and I denied him by pressing him back to the wet sand.

With a frustrated chuckle, he dropped his head back.

I met his gaze as I took him deeper into my mouth. He gasped and tightened his grip on my golden locks. Each whimper and every grunt was sweeter than any music I’d ever heard. I enjoyed being the one to pleasure him, to cloud his mind with lust. With my lips still firmly around his cock, I brushed a finger across his backside. He nibbled his bottom lip as I pushed my finger inside him.

It mattered not how driven with desire I was, I made sure to first prepare him. My hands had performed many acts; driving swords into enemy throats and punching flesh. Yet, the hands that had been so rough to others were now gentle as I slowly pumped my fingers inside him. He gasped and grunted as he soared higher with pleasure.

Unable to ignore the ache in my cock, I slid a hand down my body and gripped it as I continued preparing Axios. I moaned as I stroked myself, and his eyes darted to mine.

“Ery,” he whimpered, knotting his fingers tighter in my hair. “I need you closer. Inside me.”

I stopped sucking him and moved back up his body, pecking kisses against his heated skin on my way to his mouth. Positioning my cock at his entrance, I slowly pushed forward. He winced at first, but once his body welcomed me and pulled me deeper, the crease between his brow smoothed. I kissed the spot before slamming into him hard.

Axios groaned and clutched onto my shoulders.

The tide rolled in around us as I pumped into him, hard and deep. His skin glowed in the moonlight, the muscles in his abdomen tightening and releasing as he sighed and peered up at me through heavy lidded eyes.

The sight nearly broke me. He was no mortal. It was impossible. The blood of Aphrodite must’ve run through his veins, only then would it explain the power he held over me.

Gripping the side of his neck, I stared down at him as my body moved inside his.

My warrior. My heart.

When I adjusted my position, hitting him at a different angle, Axios whimpered and dug his nails into my back. His orgasm slammed into him without warning, and the words flying from his lips were unintelligible as he trembled and spent between our bodies.

“I love you,” I murmured as I started to quake.

Axios wrapped his legs around mine and raised his hips to meet my thrusts, drawing out my orgasm until my voice cracked from the force of my groans. Once he’d milked my cock dry, I collapsed on him and nuzzled my face into his neck.

“I love you as well,” Axios said, gliding his fingertips down my spine. “I wish we could stay like this forever.”

The sea continued lapping at us as we lay together in the sand, and it was all so peaceful. I didn’t have the energy—or the heart—to speak a lie.

“Me too,” I whispered, nuzzling in closer.

His arms tightened around me and he cast his gaze upward. The quick beating of his heart began to slow as we caught our breaths.

“What are you thinking of?” I asked, rolling off him to lie at his side.

“The stars.”