She smells really good. Kind of flowery in a subtle way that entices instead of overpowering. Everything about this woman entices.
Her sheer robe didn’t cover much to begin with, and it’s pooled in the bend of her elbows now, leaving her all but naked. All but naked and pressed against me.
“We can’t.”
She slips her hand from my jaw to the back of my neck. “Please.” To anyone else, it might sound like she’s begging, but it feels more like a command. It’s everything I can do not to hit my knees as she gently guides me down, closer and closer to her face. To her lips. “Please, M. Just a little taste. No one will ever know.”
I’m still trying to dredge up a good protest when she kisses me. Her lips are just as soft as the rest of her and she wastes no time teasing my mouth open. Or maybe I open for her on first contact. My head is spinning so intensely, I can’t be sure. She tastes of red wine, but she somehow manages to make that a good thing.
I don’t mean to move. I have every intention of breaking the kiss and putting some much-needed distance between us. But somehow my hands are in her hair and I’m kissing her back. She makes a delicious little needy noise and yanks me against her so strongly that we stumble back against the dresser.
Gods, this is a mistake. I need to stop. I need to…
Something pricks my thigh.
I jerk back and look down to find a needle sticking out of my pants. “What…” The strength goes out of my limbs in a rush. “Fuck.”
Calypso catches me, though it’s a little awkward and I get a face-full of her breasts as she eases me to the ground to lean against her bed. “Sorry, love. All’s fair in love and war and all that.” She arranges my head so it’s tilted back against the corner of the bed and I can see her clearly.
“What is…” I can’t move. No matter what commands I send to my body, it remains loose and placid and absolutely worthless. It’s everything I can do to force the mumbled words past my lips. “Killed me.”
“Don’t be dramatic.” She whisks the mask off her eyes and, gods, she’s even prettier up close. Her eyes are dark and intense and far too clever. “It’s just a light paralytic. You’ll be right as rain in about an hour.” She pulls the needle from my thigh and tosses it onto the dresser. “Just long enough for me to make my escape.”
She played me. Of course she played me. No one like her would ever be interested in someone like me, even in the best of circumstances, and my arriving at her apartment to murder her is hardly that. I can’t blame her for defending herself, but the implications of this fuckup are…a lot. “Fuck.”
Calypso disappears into her closet and comes back with a suitcase in tow. I watch helplessly as she dresses in jeans, an expensive-looking knitted sweater, and tall boots. Then she makes several trips back and forth from the closet, unloading a truly impressive amount of clothing into the suitcase. The bathroom is next, cosmetics and jewelry thrown with a startlingly lack of care.
She disappears for several long moments and comes back into the bedroom with a small black bag, which goes into the suitcase more gently than the rest. The whole packing has taken maybe ten minutes, but likely less.
“Ready for this,” I manage.
“When you’ve had a life like mine, you know the value in being ready to run at a moment’s notice. The thing with Odysseus was never going to last forever, but I didn’t expect the cowardly bastard to take out a hit on me.” She sets the suitcase by the door and returns to stand at my feet. That dark gaze coasts over me, lingering on my thighs, breasts, and finally my face, tracing my scars with her gaze. “You really are beautiful, Medusa.” She laughs when I startle. “Yes, I figured it out. It wasn’t particularly hard.”
“How?”
She ignores my question and leans down, propping one hand on the mattress next to my head. “You’re too honorable to be wasting your life as Athena’s knife hand.”
“Wha—?” Gods, my mouth won’t work properly. I can barely get the garbled question out.
“Tell them that I’m gone where they can’t reach me, and that I won’t be returning.” Her gaze drops to my mouth and I must be hallucinating, because I swear there’s genuine heat there. “But if you decide you want out, cross the River Styx and come find me. I think we could have some fun.” She brushes a light kiss to my lips.
Then she’s gone, her footsteps retreating and a door closing in the distance.