Neon Gods (Dark Olympus #1) - Katee Robert Page 0,60

she resists, but when I give her a significant look, she allows me to arrange her so that she’s leaning against my chest. “The show’s starting soon.” And then she’ll be too distracted to worry about everyone else in the room.

“What show?”

I allow myself a smile and loosely wrap an arm around her waist. Throughout the room, the lights dim the tiniest amount, and the ones aimed at the center dais brighten a little. “Do you remember being on display?”

“Of course. It happened yesterday.”

I settle her more firmly on my lap. Another night, it would serve my interests to keep her off-center, but I want her at ease. “You won’t be up there tonight.”

I don’t miss the way her muscles subtly loosen. I know the idea of being watched turns her on, but she’s also new to this. Being thrust into the center would be too much, too soon, and I can’t deny that I very much want her to enjoy this time with me. “I won’t?”

“No. Now relax and enjoy the show,” I murmur in her ear. “It’s just for you.”

Chapter 14

Persephone

How am I supposed to focus on the “show” when Hades is touching me everywhere? His thighs are hard beneath mine, his chest solid at my back, his arm an iron band across my hips that I don’t mind in the least. I shift a little just to feel the tension of him holding me down without holding me down.

“Be still.”

I shift again just to be contrary and then live to regret my decision when I feel his hard cock against my ass. A temptation I am not allowed to indulge in, at least not yet. I thought I could entice him into changing his mind in the shower, but I should have known better. Hades hasn’t wavered. If I couldn’t convince him to take me while naked and wet, I certainly don’t have a shot now, intricate lingerie or no.

I’m temporarily distracted by two people stepping onto the dais. A white man and plus-sized white woman I don’t recognize. He’s wearing a pair of low-slung leather pants and she’s got on nothing at all. There have to be nearly fifty people in the room, but he’s only got eyes for her. I can’t hear what they say to each other from here, but she sinks gracefully to her knees as if the motion is pure muscle memory.

An answering pulse goes through me, a deep recognition. I relax back against Hades and turn my head slightly. “Who are they?”

“Does it matter? Eyes forward. Pay attention.”

I huff out a breath and turn back to the dais. The man presses his finger beneath the woman’s chin and tilts her head up. Whatever he says has a beatific smile pulling at her lips. He hasn’t done anything yet, but I’m enraptured despite myself. He moves a few steps away, and that’s when I notice there’s a bag at the edge of the dais. The man grabs a corded length of rope and begins to bind his partner.

It’s almost enough to miss the fact that heads are still turning in our direction. I can’t see most of the audience clearly because of the shadows, but there’s no mistaking a low murmur that started when we arrived and hasn’t abated. I catch my name spoken and have to fight not to tense.

There’s no going back now.

There never was.

I close my eyes for a long moment, fighting against the fluttering feeling in my chest. I chose this. I will continue to choose this. And a small, forbidden part of me enjoys the attention, enjoys the shock I know some of these people are experiencing. I want to keep shocking them.

I take a slow breath and refocus on the couple on the dais. He’s halfway through binding his partner already. Every twist, every line he visually cuts across her curvy body, has tension winding tighter and tighter through me. It’s like watching an artist create a masterpiece except the masterpiece is another person and the obvious desire between the two of them pulses with each minute that ticks past. My breath gets choppy, and I have to fight my body’s urge to shift against Hades.

His lips touch the curve of my ear. “Is it the bondage or the exhibition making you all hot and jealous?”

“Everyone is watching,” I whisper back. “We can see all of her.” At least we can now that he’s bound her legs wide and is working on a series of knots