Page 88 of Hercules

Her.

She was all of it and more. So much more.

He set the three words free before realizing it—or maybe not. Getting Lois’s questioning stare for it was exactly what he wanted—needed—for this moment. The sign he was looking for, urging his hand around her waist and his posture an inch higher.

That was what a guy was supposed to do, right? When preparing to clear up the confusion of the woman he worshiped by saying the words that were deepest in his heart?

Though from the extended crunch of Lois’s expression, she had no idea what that was. “Herc? So much more…what? Oh, no. It’s not Nat again, right? Now that we’re back in here?”

“Back in here? Meaning where?” her father inserted, surprisingly unfazed when his kid reacted as if he’d declared that ice cream had been outlawed.

“Oh, shit. Ohhh, shit-shit-sh—”

“Yamaneko!” There was the stuff that got his teeth gritting and eyes flaring. “Your mother and I taught you better than—”

She flinched so sternly it wasn’t just an interruption to him. Her own thoughts seemed disrupted and disturbed—and racing a thousand miles an hour.

“Rizon,” she declared, pulling away enough to swing a full look at Herc too. “It has to be him again, right? He already knows we’re back and—”

“Hey.” Apollo strode closer, still clutching Wen’s hand but stowing his string into the front pocket of his black jeans. “Rizon has already been handled. None of us has to worry about that little dickh—” He colored beneath Maita’s new glower. “I mean, he’s being punished. For at least the next six centuries.”

A relieved whoosh shot out of Lois. Herc already knew it wouldn’t be the same happy gummy bear for her father. The man’s narrowed gaze said it all. He was wise enough to grasp the dearth of sarcasm about Polo Pony’s comment.

“Eh? Centuries?”

Lois swung around, popped on tiptoes, and affectionately bussed the guy’s cheek. “Otousan. Daijobu, eh? Don’t worry. I promise we’ll figure this out. For the time being, we’re somewhere even Oje Ito can’t find us.” She threw a sheepish glance over her shoulder at Herc. “At least…for now?”

As soon as she added a new bite to her inner lip, he craved to command her to stop. Not just now. He’d give his left nut to wipe the stress and fear from of her world forever.

For the moment, he had to settle for scooping up one of her hands and, in a growl that said he meant it, replied, “How about for now…and a long time after that?”

Like maybe a few hundred years?

He could make it happen. He’d been doing some huge favors for Apollo over the last decade. Now that he was done feeling guilty about it all, his brother owed him a favor or twelve.

Well, great. The thought was so enticing, its hope must’ve splashed across his whole face. Lois newly canted head and freshly focused gaze were saying as much. Was the enchantress reading every syllable in his soul?

And wouldn’t that be completely, wonderfully, okay?

Anyway, she was obviously enjoying the blurb. Perhaps enough to plunk down for the whole volume.

Enough to buy off on a gamble like him?

His blood pressure soared, almost pushing him to risk a kiss in convincing her about the offer—but Maita Senior was still here, scuffling behind her. Though they were all fairly isolated in this narrow alley off the main part of town, the man hadn’t missed the whole popup-portal-in-the-middle-of-Haneda part of their evening. Herc didn’t blame him for the bewildered stares and discomfited posture.

“Sir.” He stepped around Lois and dipped another bow to her father. “Maita-sama. I apologize for the confusion. But I echo Yamaneko-san’s reassurance and promise your safety in my world with my whole body and mind. The vow will applies once you decide to return to your own realm, as well.”

“My own realm,” the man gruffly repeated. “So…Neko-chan and I…are not dead?”

The urge to bark a laugh was born solely from the unadulterated honesty in the question. He was officially clear about which parent had donated the DNA for Lois’s similar strength.

“Hades doesn’t usually loop me in on his daily briefs in that regard, but if that really were the case, I’m sure he’d already be sounding the All Aboard in our faces.”

Thankfully Lois balanced her dad’s blanch with one of her most melodic laughs. “There’s a lot to explain, Otousan.” She gently patted his shoulder. “But something tells me you’ll have no trouble with this wild ride.”

Herc jerked up his brows, dealing with a new balancing act: the one between his manners and his libido, freshly flared from her choice words. Not that she’d known what havoc they’d whip for him…

Did she?