Goddess of Love (Goddess Summoning #5)(43)

Not that she wasn't capable of orgasm. Please - she was Goddess of Love - an orgasm was as natural as breathing to her. What had shocked her beyond words was the fact that the orgasm had been uncontrolled. She hadn't planned it. He had made it happen. Then another thought hit her and she cursed aloud. Pea was obsessed with him! So she'd just fornicated against a tree with the mortal her friend, and charge, desired above all others.

She should follow him inside the restaurant and smote him with a swift blast of her divine power. She could do it quickly. None of the other mortals would even have to know. She could reprimand him. Put him in his place. And then wipe his memory clean of their encounter and plant within it a desire for Pea.

But she didn't move.

For one thing, Griffin had said he had no interest in Pea. And Pea had already made it clear that she didn't want magic to be the reason Griffin desired her. So if Venus meddled with his mind, filling it with passion for Pea, she would actually be creating something her friend didn't want. Wouldn't she?

For another thing, it was hypocritical for her to smite him for manhandling her when it was that very thing - the blasphemous way he treated her - that she found so exciting. Venus scoffed and took another long drink from her martini. She could hardly believe that her knees felt weak and she was still flushed and breathing entirely too hard. Clearly it had been too long since she had sipped from passion's cup and her own lust had become an insistent burning heat simmering dangerously within her, until the least little touch of a man had caused her to ignite. Really! She should be ashamed of herself. Venus tapped her martini stem and tried to remember the last time she'd masturbated.

It certainly hadn't been anything like getting ravished beneath that tree by that delectably irreverent man, her errant thoughts whispered.

"Waiter!" She lifted her arm and the young, tattooed man hurried over to her. "I'd like another martini and something sweet. Something sweet and very chocolate."

"Lola has an excellent chocolate mousse on the menu tonight."

"I'll take it. Actually bring me two." At the waiter's surprised look, she added absently, "I'm meeting someone." He nodded and rushed off.

"Well, it's true," she muttered at her half empty martini. Or at least it was supposed to be true. He'd asked her to wait for him. He said he would return. But if he didn't...if he didn't...

If he didn't she didn't know what she would do. The Goddess of Love had no experience with rejection.

Pea was having the time of her life! She'd never danced so much (except in ballet class), and she certainly had never felt this beautiful. She was actually flirting. So far there hadn't been one man who stood out from the others. Unfortunately she hadn't found Griffin. And it wasn't as if she hadn't been looking for him - she definitely had! But between dancing song after song and trying to peer through the masks everyone was wearing...well...Griffin could practically be standing right beside her and she might not know it.

Full Flava Kings belted out the conclusion of "Do You Love Me" and, laughing breathlessly, Pea thanked the Roman soldier with whom she'd danced the last two songs.

"How about the next one?" he asked, grabbing her hand and trying to keep her on the dance floor as Full Flava's female lead began singing, "You Can't Hurry Love."

"Thanks, but I need a break. I'm dying of thirst."

He still didn't let go of her hand. "Come on, just one more."

"Thanks, but no." Pea repeated as she tried to pull her hand from his, not liking his too tight, too insistent grip.

"You can't just walk out on a guy like that. Not after the way you dance."

"Sorry, I don't know what you mean. It was just a dance," Pea said, frowning at him and trying not to let him mess up her good mood.

His voice lowered and through the eyeholes in his mask his gaze looked narrow and pissed off.

"Not the way you move, it's not just a dance. Don't even try to pretend something else."

Pea stared at him, not sure if she should laugh or scream. Having a man too interested in her wasn't a problem she was used to. Maybe she should belch on him....

"A goddess is only touched when she gives her permission, otherwise you will evoke her wrath, and the wrath of a goddess is a terrible thing to behold. Even the gods themselves tremble at the thought."

The deep voice rumbled from somewhere behind and above her. Pea started to turn around to see who was speaking, but she found herself mesmerized by the look on her ex-partner's face. Under his beige mask his face had blanched white, and through the eyeholes she could see that fear had replaced the anger in his gaze.

"Hey, man. I didn't mean anything."

"Then you should apologize," Pea said, feeling the need to stand up for herself - by herself. "But not because I'm a goddess. You should apologize because you were rude and pushy. Hello -

when a woman says no, she means no."

"I'm sorry," he said hastily, and then he retreated into the dance floor crowd. Still frowning, Pea watched the terrified man scuttle away. Then she started to turn to confront whoever it was who thought he was her savior. "I appreciate you being a gentleman and stepping in, but it was really no big deal. I could have handled it my - " Pea's words choked in her throat. The man standing behind her was magnificent! It wasn't his size that took her breath, although he was tall, probably at least six foot four. It wasn't his thick black hair that was somehow utterly untamed by his short, military-looking haircut. It wasn't the great costume he was wearing with the molded breastplate that looked so authentic and the leather-pleated tunic that left much of his long legs bare. No, it was none of those things that struck her speechless. It was the look in his dark, expressive blue eyes. His gaze seemed to shine through his flaming gold mask, touching her with such incredible longing that it made her tremble.