Poseidon (Contemporary Mythos Book 5)

“Your threats are as empty as your hands. Because I keep taking the sword from them.” Poseidon roared with laughter.

I peeked over my shoulder at my husband. We’d outfitted him with a corner of my apartment to situate his own gaming setup, complete with a monitor, console, controller, chair, and better headset.

“You’re really getting into this, aren’t you?” I spoke through my headset’s mic since we were in a party chat through the game.

“It’s crazy, Cor. I live this life and yet playing it through the game gives it a whole other angle. Does that make sense?” His controller’s triggers made clacking sounds as he feverishly worked the buttons.

“I’m sure your prowess against the AI players and consistently high scores has nothing to do with it, hm?” In the game, I swung my trident around my head before stabbing it into the next approaching enemy.

“You know me so well.” Poseidon chuckled as his character, whom he created to look as close to himself as possible, threw the trident across the map like a javelin, skewering the enemy into a nearby stone wall.

“Think you’ve had enough practice? Ready to take this live and play against other gamers?” Pausing the game, I turned in my seat, letting one arm dangle off the back of the chair.

“We did promise your audience. I’d hate to disappoint them. But first—” Poseidon hooked his foot under my chair and pulled me toward him as he took his headset off.

The armrests of our chairs bumped together, and Poseidon widened his legs, encouraging me to shimmy between them. Pressing my palms on the seat, my fingertips a breath away from his crotch, I bent forward to kiss him.

“I appreciate you doing this, Seid.”

When I leaned, it made my shirt billow open. Smiling, he slid a finger inside and trailed his touch between both breasts. “How appreciative?” A growl laced his words.

“You’re bad.” I slapped him in the shoulder with a grin. “Very appreciative, but we do that now, and I’ll be all forms of distracted. I need complete focus.”

He frowned, still lazily running his finger over my chest. “I’d hate to be the reason you lose subscribers. You’d never let me live it down.”

“And eternity is a long time, Seid.” Combing my fingers through his hair, I smiled wide.

He jutted his head at the monitor. “Let’s spin this up. The sooner we own enemy players, the sooner we can get to the ‘appreciation’ portion of the evening.” After kissing the tip of my nose, he spun in his chair, scooting himself closer to the desk and sliding the headset back on.

After pulling everything up, I drummed my fingers on my desk, waiting for the moderator to start the chat. It didn’t take long for several familiar names to join, and after taking a deep breath, I started the webcam.

“Hey, Sea Farers! I know I primarily stick to free for all mode in Tides of Atlantis, but tonight I thought we’d switch it up for a bit of Team Deathmatch.” I grinned, waiting for comments to flood the screen.

FriskeeBizkit: Does this mean what I think it means?

“If you haven’t guessed, this Wednesday, as will be every third Wednesday of the month, I will have a guest gamer. Everyone, please flap your fins for Simon Thalassa.” Clicking into the webcam situated on Simon’s monitor, I brought our faces side by side in the corner of the screen.

Poseidon waved, his green eyes popping like gleaming emeralds. “Hey there.”

MissTacoX: Sultry, I know he’s your soon-to-be husband but pardon me for saying…he’s HAWT.

Poseidon chuckled, and my cheeks warmed.

“I couldn’t agree with you more, MissTaco. You all ready to see double trident team action?”

HufflePufflenz: This is going to be epic!

My heart raced as a surprising bout of nerves fluttered in my stomach. I’d always played alone. This would be the first time live with a partner—in more ways than one. When the first map loaded, I grinned. I knew it well.

“Simon, head right, and I’ll take left. There’s a wall some players always climb on top and try to snipe with arrows. We’ll beat them to the punch.”

Poseidon smiled at me through the camera. “I like your style.”

MissTacoX: I can’t even with these two.

Just as predicted, another player waited at the top, bow aimed, waiting for the first sap to run below.

“On my count, charge your trident, so it makes a sound and gets their attention, then crouch.” I had my character waiting around a corner, careful not to show myself too early.

Still grinning, Poseidon did as I asked, his gold trident bursting with white light as it charged. The opposing player’s character turned its back on me, launching an arrow at Poseidon, but he crouched in time, avoiding it.

Holding down the right trigger button, I charged the trident for a heavy attack knowing it’d take several seconds for their bow to reload. As the opposing player turned around, I hurled the prongs of my trident into their chest, and they dematerialized to respawn elsewhere in the map.

FriskeeBizkit: You say epic, I say legendary.

We’d spent the next hour double-teaming other players and dominating the scoreboard with every passing match. We worked like a well-oiled machine, the cogs aligning with every strategy and fighting combination we tried. It made me miss the days we battled together in real-time, but I appreciated the safety which accompanied the silence of the seas.

After saying goodbye and signing off, my arms were around Poseidon’s neck before his headset hit the desk, my mouth covering his. He chuckled against my lips as he pulled me against him.

“I truly didn’t believe you could get any more attractive,” I said through heavy breaths.

“I strive to keep you guessing, Starfish.”

In a swirl of shimmering spray, I ported us to Atlantis. A massive bed outfitted with gold embossed sheets rested in the center of a room surrounded by windows of blue holographic hexagon walls. I created it for privacy with a clear view of the surrounding ocean waters, including the marine life.

“This is new,” Poseidon mumbled as he scanned the room.

“I thought I’d do a little redecorating.” I held my palm up, wiggling my fingers, creating interlacing tendrils of water. They spiraled around Poseidon, coiling around his arms, his neck, and through his hair.

“Mm. I’d forgotten how good this feels.” He closed his eyes, his muscles tensing with each swipe I made with the water.

“The water?”

He returned his heavy-lidded gaze to me. “Your magic.”

“Intertwine with me, Seid,” I whispered in his ear.

His nose brushed my cheekbone, a low purr vibrating in the back of his throat. As he trailed his fingers down my arm, his magic bubbled from his palm, turning our limbs into water. I kept swirling my power around us, the spray misting against our cheeks. Our bodies continuously morphed from water to flesh when we kissed, causing my insides to writhe. Like falling back into an awaiting pool, I pulled him toward me, porting us to the bed and landing on my back naked.

He landed on top of me, caging my head with his arms, his blonde tendrils skirting my forehead. “Welcome home, Queen.”

As if cementing the declaration through action after his words, he plunged into me, rocking his hips against mine. Our water powers had their own reunion, making patterns in the air—figure eights, helixes, sunbeams. Light spilling from the ocean waters around us cast blue shadows through the holographic windows, a manta ray darkening the room for the few moments it took to pass with each flap.

Pinching my knees against his sides, I arched into the sheets, turning the bed beneath me into water, cushioning me, and tantalizing my skin. I flashed my eyes open, staring up at the King of the Seas—my equal. Morphing my fingertips into water, I traced over his lips, leaving a sparkly trail that disappeared with one lap of his tongue. I dragged my fingers down his chest, making goosebumps sprout with each passing touch.

He furrowed his brow with a grunt. “You keep doing that, and I’m going to come undone, Cory.”

“Come undone with me then.” Sucking his earlobe, I continued my torturous liquid touch, circling right at the base of his shaft.

His lips became a liquid stream as he dipped to kiss my neck, shooting vibrations through my skin and straight to my core. Gasping, I willed my fingernails to return, digging them into his back as I cried out, tensing around him. As I’d asked, he joined me, shaking and rattling through his release. After trailing a feather-like kiss over my lips, he slid behind me to his side, pulling my ass against him.

Smiling, I watched a family of sea turtles swim past and cooed within Poseidon’s arms. “Do you think the shield will hold now against the sea monsters?”

“One could only hope. Though I wouldn’t mind battling off one or two with you again.” He nibbled my shoulder.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish the same.” I laughed and trailed my finger over the hair on the back of his hand.

His nose rubbed behind my ear. “Now that Hypnos has allowed you to control your past memories, is there one that sticks out the most to you?”

“The Viking Age.” It took only a passing thought to recall it—the smells of blood and sweat, the weight of my shield in my grasp, longhouses in the distance with moss growing on the roofs.

“Shit, really?” Poseidon sat up on one elbow. “Tell me.”

I turned on my back, peering up at my husband with a small smile. “I was a shieldmaiden.”

“Not surprised by that in the least.”

“The memory that keeps rolling through my head is us leaving our village to conquer land. I had a husband—a blacksmith. He’d spend the entire time I was gone forging weapons and would be the first on the shoreline when our boats docked, ready to greet me.” Cutting my glance to Poseidon’s eyes, the glare I’d expected cut through his gaze.

“I hope we do find someone who can port us to different times so I can kick this guy’s ass.” Poseidon hugged me to him tighter.

Laughing, I nudged him with my shoulder. “Very long time ago. We didn’t know each other existed. Remember?”

“I know, I know. Still.” Poseidon kissed the side of my head. “Did you die in battle in that life?”

My heart grew heavy, remembering the distance I’d felt on my deathbed. “No. I got sick. My husband put a sword in my hands, but I remember shoving it back at him because I didn’t want to go to Valhalla without him. And he wasn’t a fighter.”

“That’s—wow,” Poseidon mumbled.

“I’d do the same for you, Seid. If there were such a place gods would go—Chaos, perhaps? I’d want to make sure we ended up there together. I married you for eternity.” I cupped his cheek in my palm.

He kissed me—delicate and sweet before brushing our noses together. “I’d follow you to the stars now, Cor.”

A blue portal appeared at the foot of the bed, making us both jolt to attention. A dark-haired man with a full beard sporting a duster jacket toppled out of it. We both sat up straight, Poseidon snapping his fingers to make a white flowing dress appear over my body.

The man’s arms flew up in an “X.” “Bloody hell. Were you two—?”

“Take a wild guess, Heph,” Poseidon grumbled, not bothering to clothe himself as he moved from the bed.

“Hephaistos?” My brow shot up. “I haven’t seen you in ages. Even before I was banished.”

Heph clicked his teeth. “Can’t say I’ve been around the ‘ol stomping grounds enough to socialize with the pantheon elite. So, no offense taken.”

“I wasn’t—” Poseidon shot me a look that suggested I’d be wasting my breath if I continued that sentence.

“What are you doing here?” Poseidon folded his arms.

Heph took one step forward and dropped his gaze to Poseidon’s bare lower half. “You know, this is the second time I’ve been in this situation in less than a year. I severely question my life choices.” Wiggling his fingers, Heph produced a square device from a jacket pocket.

Sliding from the bed, I clutched my hands to my chest, hope tingling my skin, giving me goosebumps.

“Word on the waves is—” Heph spun the device in his palm, making another portal appear behind him. “—you two need to do a tick of time travel.”

Poseidon and I exchanged glances, a glint sparking in our gazes.

“We better grab Triton.” Poseidon took my hand.

Hang on, Rhode. Your family is on their way.