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Cecily

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“You look beautiful.” Cage repeats what Dionysus said when he opens the car door for me.

This time, however, my heart doesn’t race. “Thanks.”

I’m still reeling from the conversation earlier and the fact that Dionysus walked to the door as I left, didn’t respond to Cage’s greeting, and if I guessed right, almost went for my date’s jugular.

“I never imagined seeing Zeus getting married,” he says, much more to fill the uncomfortable silence than to talk about his employer’s love life, I think.

I fasten my seatbelt and turn to face him. “I texted you because you told me you were offering friendship, so just to be clear, that’s what I’m accepting, Cage. A dance or two. Your company and good conversation. Nothing but that.”

He doesn’t seem upset. “May I know why?”

“I don’t have an answer to give you at the moment, just that I’m not looking for romance.”

Yes, I have an answer to give, but what am I going to say? Confess that any man besides Dionysus seems dull? Or that my skin still tingles from the unseemly promise to pleasure me that my boss just made?

“I accept your friendship and the dances, Cici. For now, I won’t ask you for anything more than that.”

“You are the best dancer at the party, you know that?” I tell Joseph, who laughs in my arms as I spin with him in the middle of the dance floor.

In my peripheral vision, I feel the eyes of the entire Kostanidis family, and also the Lykaioses, on both of us, but at the moment, my attention is completely on my party partner.

“Moooooore, Shishi.”

“Do you want to spin again? My God in heaven, you are tireless!”

I feel little hands pulling my legs, and when I look down, I see Madison’s twin niece and nephew apparently wanting to join in on the fun too.

I put Joseph on the floor, and at the same time, he gives Soraya his hand. I hold Silas’s hand with my free hand, and we form a circle. The kids dance, imitating my antics, and I feel my chest loosen from the intensity of meeting my boss earlier.

We stay on the dance floor for several songs, until Lisa and the twins’ foster grandmother approach, perhaps to give me a break.

As soon as they leave, however, I hear Cage ask, “My turn again?”

We’ve already danced to a few songs, and so far, he’s behaved.

Before I can respond, the man whose presence makes my skin crawl says, “No, it’s my turn.”

I know it’s totally inappropriate to agree to dance with him, and I also know that we’ll probably be the target of gossip tomorrow, but if the Greek isn’t worried, I’m not going to say no.

A dance is a safe way to be in his arms, to satisfy my hunger for his skin without doing anything I might regret later.

I realize that Cage leaves the decision in my hands, but Dionysus wasn’t born to wait, so putting his arm around my hip, he pulls me toward an empty corner of the dance floor.

“You’re giving people reason to talk about us.”

He doesn’t respond, his jaw clenched and his entire posture showing tension.

I don’t want to fight, however, but rather enjoy every second of this opportunity, so when we stand facing each other, I wrap my arms around his neck, bringing our bodies closer together.

He turns his face away from me. “Why did you come with him?”

“We didn’t come as a couple. Cage offered to pick me up before you arrived. I am free. I can go out with whomever I want.”

Both hands were around my waist, but after I say it, one of them slips to my hip, squeezing it. I hold on to the lapel of his blazer because even a simple touch from him makes me burn all over.

I think Dionysus notices, because he takes us farther and farther away from the curious eyes of the guests. “Talk about your dream again.”

It doesn’t take me long to understand that he’s resuming the conversation we had at Elina’s house.

“No. I’m embarrassed.”

“I want to hear it. I’m obsessed, imagining your body burning with lust as you sleep. Feeling hungry for what I can give you,” he whispers in my ear.

“We shouldn’t have this kind of conversation.”

“We agreed that talking was neutral territory.”

“As long as we weren’t touching.”

“I’m not touching you. It’s just a dance.”

“You play with words and agreements according to your preference, Dionysus.”

“I’m a ruthless negotiator, Cecily. I want to hear about your dream.”

I hide my face in his muscular chest, breathing in the manly smell, excited and embarrassed in equal measure. “That day, at Elina’s house, you told me to touch myself, imagining that it was you who was doing it. I obeyed you, but in my dreams, you wanted to see while I caressed myself,” I say, not believing I’m actually doing this.

“Go on.”

“You guided me. You said what you wanted.”

“How, Cecily?”

I no longer hear the music and realize that we are near some trees, far from the party. “I don’t have the courage to say.”

“What did I tell you to do?” He holds me against him, and I lose my breath as I feel the pressure of his excitement.

“You ordered me to take off my clothes, lie down on the bed, and spread my thighs. You wanted to . . .”

“See your pussy,” he whispers in my ear.

“Yes.”

“Did you obey me?”

“I did, even though I was embarrassed. In my dream, I enjoyed showing myself to you.”

“Damn, you’re really hot.”

“It was a dream.”

“No, it is your wish. Do you have the courage to tell me right now that you are not wet while we dance together? I know that if I lift your dress, you will be dripping for me, redhead.”

“I want to go back to the party.”

“No, you want to escape the excitement you’re feeling, but you won’t be able to. Until we satisfy this hunger, we won’t be able to break this spell.”

With all my willpower, I evoke the memory that he’s a professional seducer.

I can’t exchange my promise for a few hours of pleasure.

“You’re right. I’m trying to escape the desire I feel. It’s so powerful that it seems to control me, as if my body doesn’t belong to me. The problem is that I have an idea of what will come next. I will be sent away with good compensation and a good luck wish. I don’t want that. Don’t treat me like one of your women. I’m not a conquest.”

I pull away and run before I can turn back. I’m shaking. My body is begging for his, but I can’t afford to give in.