Free God of Ecstasy by Lena loneson Page A

entice. And I
took her away. I showed her freedom. She thought the only way to make it in the
man’s world of ancient Greece was to harness the power of a djinn, casting
spells. But I showed her the power within herself. We made love under the
stars. We danced in the woods and up the mountainside.”
    “That doesn’t sound so bad. It was her choice to leave him.”
    “When he came looking for her, she asked me for help. I was
a lover, not a fighter, and I told her that. But I also said she could get
strength from my gaze—that it would lower her inhibitions enough to allow her
to stand up to him. Which was true. But it turned out that she wasn’t looking to
fight him after all. And when she looked deep into my eyes that night, the
wildness finally overtook her. She threw herself off the side of the mountain.”
    “You can’t blame yourself for that. You didn’t kill her.”
    “Maybe not,” he said. “At the time, I agreed with you. I
told the djinn that Agathe chose to give herself to me. But it wasn’t really a
choice, was it, if she didn’t know the risks? Which is why I had to tell you,
and every woman I’ve known since, how to counteract my power. I need everything
you do to be your own choice.”
    Jaime nodded. It was an awful story. She couldn’t deny that.
But he wasn’t the callous young god he’d once been, the one she’d read about in
the stories. She could see he felt genuine regret for the woman’s death. “What
can I do to help you?”
    “Nothing, I’m afraid.”
    But she knew that wasn’t true. She must be able to help, or
why would the djinn be interested in her?
    “Except, if you could leave the cuffs off, for tonight?” His
eyes were bright with unshed tears and his voice was hopeful.
    “Of course.”
    “And don’t fear the ink or be repulsed by it. The vines are
still a part of me, even if they’ve been turned against me.”
    She nodded. He held his arms up to her. She traced the vines
with her fingers, showing him that she still found his body beautiful, which
was the truth.
    “Would you care to fulfill another of your fantasies, my
mistress?”
    She grinned. “Absolutely. Will you lie back? Don’t move
unless I tell you to.”
    He nodded.
    She met his eyes with her own and saw her desire reflected in
the sepia irises. She let his influence seep into her mind, her inhibitions
lowering. Rather than changing her, she realized, it made her feel more like
herself—her goofy, sarcasm-loving self that emerged around her friends, but
never around the men she had dated.
    “I was going to arrest you, but I guess I’ll have to come up
with another punishment. Want me to read you your rights, or would you rather
have a lawyer present?” Jaime grasped at random phrases she’d seen on American
TV shows.
    He laughed. “What have I done to deserve this?”
    “Well, uh, you’ve spent far too much time looking sexy
without a warrant.” She giggled, feeling ridiculous. She liked it.
    “Guilty as charged. What else?”
    He must have been watching TV as well. Maybe on her tablet;
it seemed as if the god had been obsessed with the thing this morning.
    “Hmm, let’s see…one count of failure to wear underwear. But
don’t worry,” she said. “I’ve got enough for both of us.” She leaned back,
settling her ass on the bed next to him, and ran a finger slowly down her
chest, starting from her neck, to the open area of the robe north of her
breasts. She trailed the finger downward, parting the silk fabric to expose
deep purple lace. She focused on his face. He wet his lips, watching her skin
as she exposed more of it.
    Jaime untied the belt at her waist, sliding the silk through
her hands, letting the robe fall open. Her pale thighs peeked out. She stood
up, letting the robe fall to the floor.
    The purple lace negligee she’d bought earlier that day ran
from spaghetti straps holding it over her breasts, down to the top of her
thighs with opaque fabric covering the hair between her