Free Queen of His Heart by Marie Medina

Queen of His Heart
    Hera stopped on the balcony and surveyed the party below. Her gaze fell on Christian, who owned the chateau. He raised his glass and gave her a wicked smile, but then he turned back to his other guests. Hera crossed her arms and leaned against a column, not bothering to hide her frown. She’d been promised a decadent evening, and she’d felt certain an invitation-only party thrown by a notorious bohemian would be able to deliver. Thus far, the year 1896 left her unimpressed and just as bored as she’d been when she’d decided to leave Olympus.
    She’d seen a few couples snuggling in corners, but no true revels had begun just yet. The drunken men were laughing too loudly while the intoxicated women leaned against them. She’d literally been to this same party a dozen times in as many different time periods. A few guests hovered over the food and kept calling for more wine and champagne, but she didn’t see anything or anyone promising.
    “Dionysus?” Hera said, sending a call out to the other god.
    She heard footsteps behind her, very deliberate ones. She adjusted her own golden mask, which had been slipping down, to look at the man who’d approached her. Dionysus wore the uniform of a dragoon, his mask a mix of navy and white, like his uniform. He took Hera’s hand and kissed it, his lips lingering.
    “My queen. What is your pleasure?” he asked. He held on to her hand and caressed the back of it with his thumb.
    “Oh, I don’t know.” She drew her hand away. “What’s the fun if we have to stir them up in the first place?”
    “It shouldn’t be too hard. A masked ball in a private home? It gives one a sense of anonymity. Of daring. Perhaps we could spy on some of the more enthusiastic revelers? They’ve already retreated upstairs.”
    Hera scanned the room once more. She had arrived late and hadn’t considered that option. “Perhaps.” She gave a shrug and then extended her arm to Dionysus. “Why not?” She smiled, but it didn’t stick.
    “Is something wrong? You don’t seem yourself,” Dionysus said as they moved through the crowd and up the next flight of stairs.
    “Zeus has been … odd lately. I think he’s trying to get my attention. One day he’s all love and devotion, and the next he’s dangling some lovely creature in front of me.”
    Dionysus kissed her hand again. “He knows he is wed to the perfect woman yet will never fully possess her. It must frustrate him.”
    “He prefers it that way. If I were completely his, he’d have to also be completely mine.” She smiled as she chuckled. “He wouldn’t like that for very long at all. No telling what cute little nymph would wander by the moment he committed to such a thing.”
    Dionysus led her into a small, dark room. A large bed dominated the space, and a mirror covered one wall. Only, it wasn’t exactly an ordinary mirror. After he’d closed the door, Dionysus reclined on the bed and pulled Hera to lie in front of him.
    “You may find this inspiring, my queen.” He kissed her neck. “And if you do, I am at your service.”
    Hera pulled a plush pillow close and wrapped her arms round it and rested her chin on it. “It does look promising. Do they know they’re observed?”
    “Oh yes. They desire it. Come here for this very indulgence.”
    A curvy brunette with plump red lips and a heart-shaped ass stood between two blond men. They had undressed her completely and now fondled and kissed her body. The man behind her, who had much longer hair, held her breasts up for the other man to feast upon them. When the woman cried out in pleasure, the man lifted his head and kissed her as he pinched the nipples he’d just been suckling. She touched them both through their trousers as she writhed between them. Leaning back, she kissed the other man and smiled at them both, whispering something Hera couldn’t quite hear. She got down on her knees as they undressed and smiled at each other, and soon she took turns