Eros

Chapter Forty

When Angie's feet touched the ground of the island, her nerves hit her like a sack of bricks.

Suddenly, everything felt so much more real than it did a few minutes ago. Because now they were on the island that housed the portal leading to his realm. Which meant soon this whole thing would be over, meaning she and Eros would part ways for good.

Angie wasn't ready for that to happen.

As she peered at him in dread, she had a sinking feeling about those feelings she'd developed and what exactly they meant.

This is not good.

If that sinking suspicion was right then, emotionally, Angie was screwed.

She took in the setting, sighing wistfully at the beauty. A cloudless sky spanned above them, kissing the horizon beyond the boating docks. Opposite her, a mountainous terrain stretched out of dried, cracked muds and yellowed grass. Buildings crept towards them, fashioned from thick, white concrete.

As she mused, hands snaked around her waist, drawing her back into a strong chest. Eros' lips came in towards her ear. "You don't really think I'm going to let this fucker hurt you, do you?"

"I don't see what you can do to stop it from happening."

"Didn't you learn anything from those dreams? You've seen so much of my life play out. Angie, I'm a God. If I say you're safe, it means you're fucking safe. Do you understand?"

He was right. She'd seen the dreams. Eros almost always triumphed. But that almost was the key part.

Angie didn't want to gamble her life.

"Yeah, and the difference is you were alive in all of those dreams."

"Dead or alive, I can keep my word. And I'm telling you that I won't let any adversary get to you. We should be making the most of our limited time together rather than debating this. Starting right now."

He placed a long kiss against her cheek, hands raking over her abdomen. Angie bit back a breathy moan, unconsciously leaning into his hold.

"You're just horny."

"Is it so bad that I want you? It's your fault for being so attractive."

"Horny."

"Well trained," He quipped.

"Horny." She sighed, twisting some in his hold. "So this is the island."

"This is the one."

The one where everything was going to change. The one that led to the end of their journey. The one that would lead to the end of their time together.

Angie tried not to dwell on that for too long.

"Has it changed much since you were here last?"

"Not as much as I thought it would've. They've just modernised the buildings. The rest of it looks the same."

She supposed that made sense. The island was steepled in nature. She doubted anything would be able to move those mountains. Not even time.

"That's where we need to get to," He said, pointing to the very top of the mountain. "My portal's up there. That'll take us directly into my realm."

"Can't we just use one of those portal jumper things and quit the walking?"

Angie's feet hurt. She didn't do this whole walking thing.

"Do you want that exhaustion back again? We need you to be alert for this Ange. If a threat does come, we don't want you in that state."

She'd be even more vulnerable than normal was what he meant to say.