Goddess of Pain - Katie May Page 0,22

that these men were always meant to be mine. It just took us a while to get there.

His body trembles against mine as I rest my head on his chest. I can feel his arms snaking around my waist, holding me flush against him.

“Emily,” he whispers, his voice barely audible over the crackling fire. “I remember you.” He presses his face into my neck and inhales deeply. “I can’t stop.”

“You can, my love,” I whisper soothingly, pulling away and forking my fingers through his messy blond hair. Abruptly, he takes a step away from me and begins to shed his clothes. His jacket. His white dress shirt. His black pants. And then his boxer briefs. It isn’t long until I’m looking at an entirely naked Arsin, his cock long and proud and steadily getting harder under my attention.

“I remember,” he repeats, wonderment emanating from his eyes. Before I can respond, the fire diminishes as if it had never appeared in the first place, and his eyes roll into the back of his head. I release a startled yelp as he falls to the floor in a heap of naked flesh and sinewy muscles.

Helio stands behind him, fist raised, and shrugs unrepentantly when he notices my glare.

“I think it’s time we talked,” I manage to bite out through gritted teeth. “And figure out what the hell happened to us.”

I place Sin’s head on my lap as I sit on the still smoking couch. His breathing is peaceful, his chest rising and falling steadily.

Almost absently, I rub my thumb back and forth across his high cheekbone. Sin is quite literally beauty and strength personified. I have no doubt that if he wasn’t already the God of Flames—not to be confused with the Goddess of Fire—he would be something like the God of Beauty.

But there’s a darkness behind his angelic features. Something inhuman and almost malevolent.

Helio, grunting, grabs a charred blanket from the ground and drapes it over Sin’s naked lower half.

“It’s not like you’ve never seen his cock before,” I quip, and he merely glares at me in response.

For a long moment, we’re both silent. The only sound is the intermittent pounding of my heart against my rib cage.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Helio stands against the single unburnt wall, his muscular arms crossed over his chest as he regards me with tenderness…and Arsin with unparalleled fury.

“What happened to us?” I whisper softly, glancing once more at Arsin’s sleeping face. He shifts, releasing a whimper, and I immediately begin playing with his silky hair.

He used to have nightmares in the Realm of the Gods. When I asked what they were about, he answered, “You.” That was it. That was all he ever said on the matter, and I didn’t dare press.

“Did we have our…memories wiped?” I query numbly. “Replaced? Fuck, I don’t even know what I’m saying.” I scrub a hand down my face as question after question swirls through my head. It’s a whirlpool in there, and I’m genuinely afraid I’m going to be swept away by a particularly damaging wave.

Helio scrunches his face in consideration, but he remains predictably silent.

“I’m still missing some things,” I admit.

A lot of fucking things.

I remember the Realm of the Gods, my identity, and my mates’ identities. But the days leading up to…this? Whatever this is? It’s nothing but a blank slate. It feels intrusive, almost, as if someone had dug their spindly fingers into the deepest recesses of my mind, rooting around until they found what they wanted. It’s eerie to know that you lost time, to know that anything could have transpired during those precious days.

Who did this to us?

And why?

“Don’t tell me it was that bitch Athena,” I gripe immediately. Because, yeah, my memories came with the realization that I have a mortal nemesis. Athena is a grade-A bitch. I’m pretty sure she masturbates to the lost dreams and tears of children everywhere.

Ugh. And now I’m thinking about Athena masturbating.

“I was paid to kill you.” Arsin’s quiet voice has my gaze wrenching away from Helio to focus entirely on my other lover. His eyes are wide open, a decidedly malicious grin on his handsome face. “I chose flames. For you, baby.” Maintaining eye contact, he shoves the blanket off of his body and begins to stroke his rigid cock.

Helio makes a disgruntled noise but wisely chooses to remain silent.

“I think a part of me knew it was you who I was tasked to kill,” Sin continues, stroking faster. My eyes are automatically drawn to the