The Eighth House by Eris Adderly EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
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- Author: Eris Adderly
- Language: English
- Genre: Mythology
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- Price: Free
I FULCRUM
AMID PURPLING DUSK AND the late summer breeze and brine of a secluded
stretch of beach just southwest of Smyrna, Persephone wore a false face.
And, as she had for ages now, she offered a smile of false satisfaction to the
world.
Or at least to Klaudios, her lover for the afternoon.
She turned blue eyes that weren’t hers, and blonde locks that weren’t hers,
to gaze at the sated mortal man, gracing him with a stretch and a little groan
of contentment that were not hers, either.
“You see?” he said with a chuckle. “There are real men to be found here
in the Eastern ports, Euthalia.”
The handsome—and still quite nude—sailor gave his manhood a selfaggrandizing tug to illustrate his point. One of his bare feet pushed out to
smooth their rumpled blanket atop the sand into some semblance of order.
In her mortal guise as ‘Euthalia’, she could wound him, if she were cruel.
As well-formed as his body was, she could prick his pride by pointing out
how utterly forgettable his lovemaking had been. How bland and barely
distinguishable from the trail of discarded men just like him stretching back
an age.
The faces changed. The languages. The climes. What did not, ever, was
the handling. So solicitous, eyes on her face as they kneaded and poked,
intent on gauging their own prowess. Secretly worried about the size and
performance of their cocks. Their endearments, whether sincere or
calculated, so soft, so toothless.
It was enough to bore an immortal to tears, and yet what alternatives did
she have?
“Real men, indeed,” she said, running absent fingertips along the lines of
Klaudios’s chest.
They lay propped up on elbows now, facing each other, though she made a
mental note of where she’d laid her sandals, preparing to take her leave.
This was the last time Klaudios would be enjoying the company of the
enigmatic Euthalia.
“Will you be gone from the port long this time, my wandering pearl?” He
reached out to toy with her nipple while she suppressed a roll of her eyes at
the name.
“I’m not sure,” she lied. “I never can predict these things.”
The shush of waves beyond their extended legs repeated to him the truth,
but the mortal man was too blinded by pride to listen.
Persephone came to her feet and reached for his chiton, slipping the toolarge garment over her head, fibulae still in place.
“What are you doing?”
“My peplos has washed out to sea,” she said, her smile too innocent.
“And what do you expect me to wear?” He grinned up at her, waiting for
her to admit the jest.
She tied the second sandal in place, repressing a chuckle. “Will you not go
naked before the gods?”
“Euthalia, wait.”
She was already on the narrow path up and away from the sand.
“Euthalia!”
The corners of her eyes crinkled in mirth. Sailors were adaptable. He’d
figure it out.
Poor Klaudios, she thought later, as she made her unhurried way back
through the busy streets of Smyrna. He’d never see his fair-haired, eager
lover again.
Poor him? Poor me. He’ll be disappointed for a few weeks. I’ll enjoy my
disappointment for an eternity.
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