Deer in Headlights (Hearts and Arrows 1) (Good god series) by Staci Hart Read Free Book Online

dozens of times, never reaching an understanding. In his short existence, he didn’t have the experience to understand mortality, and she found the sentiment that immortality changed what he could, or would, experience ridiculous on the best days and enraging on the worst.
    She plucked the petals off the flower one by one and dropped them, watching as they spiraled into her lap in an attempt to bite her tongue, not wanting to say anything to anger him. But she couldn’t help but stew.
    “Do you realize that you could be in danger?” She kept her eyes on the flower.
    “Hunting is dangerous, and I realize that.”
    “Yes, but what is more dangerous is the attention that you’ve called upon yourself. Your hunting prowess is unmatched by any human—“
    “And this is a bad thing?’
    “No,” she answered, using the patience she reserved for small children and the very old. “Not on its own merit. But if you anger Artemis, you know that she will not forgive. You challenge her as the goddess of the hunt. I’ve seen the jealousy in her eyes and have heard it in her voice. She would not hesitate to harm you.”
    He laughed, which only frustrated her more. “I do not threaten Artemis, and I never claim to be more skilled than any other man or god. Why should she wish to punish me?”
    She sighed. So sure he is of himself. There was no convincing him as he stood before her, leaning on a tree with his big arms folded across his broad chest, smiling as if he’d live forever without being smart enough to ensure that he would.
    Her thoughts drifted to Ares, and her fears burned even brighter. They had been lovers for hundreds of years, and Ares was insanely jealous, particularly of Adonis. She pushed the worry away, hoping that she had secured his safety from Ares, at least.
    Aphrodite stood, and the petals fell from her robes and into the grass as she moved to him, threading her arms through his. She laid her cheek against his chest and took a breath.
    “Please, be safe,” she said, and he wrapped his arms around her.
    “I will.”
    After a moment, she unwound herself and pushed up on her toes to cradle his face in her elegant hands. He bent to brush his lips to hers, soft and tender against her own. Her fingers roamed down his chest and over the ridges of his stomach as he leaned into her.  
    Their kiss burned hot, and he broke away to sweep her off her feet. He carried her to the wide shade of the tree, lying her down in the cool grass, his hand on her thigh as he kissed her neck.
    “You are mine,” she breathed into his ear, her arms around his neck as his fingers nimbly loosened the belt that kept her robes in place.
    “Yours,” he said into her neck before laying kisses down her collarbone, then along the neckline of her robe. He slipped the fabric off her shoulders. “As you are mine.”
    “Always yours,” she whispered back and pulled him close.
    He kissed her again, his lips charged with want as he cupped her breast, then pulled away, his eyes hungry as he pulled her robes to the side, exposing her body to him. She reached for his belt, dropped his robes, and wrapped her fingers around his length.  
    His hands pressed into the grass on either side of her as he tilted his head back and moved into her palms. He bent down to kiss her, and she brought her hand to his lips to slip her thumb into his mouth when he broke from her. She skimmed her hand down his torso and ran her slick thumb over his crown, already beading, rolling it around in circles. He bucked with a soft moan, then pulled away from her to kiss frantically down her chest.
    He paused over her breasts to kiss them, squeezing gently with his strong hand as his thumb brushed her nipple. One arm lay under the small of her back, and his free hand moved down her body to her thigh, then trailed back up to touch her. The pads of his fingers rolled in circles, and she gasped. Her hips tilted to him and her head hung back, her golden hair a blanket around