She stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked up at the gods. Steeled herself for the inevitable. “My king.” She bowed, then nodded toward his companion. “My lady Athena. You called for me?”
Zeus, every bit as handsome and muscular and intimidating as always, rested his enormous hands on his hips and peered down at her. “She’s not been altered.”
“No,” Athena replied. “This one did not require any special enhancements.”
Heat rushed to Daphne’s cheeks as Zeus’s gaze rolled over her breasts, slid down her waist to the flare of her hips, then followed the line of her legs to her feet. She wondered if he remembered her. Doubted that he did. Though Zeus occasionally came to the training fields, he rarely paid her any attention. In fact, she’d bet he didn’t even remember meeting her as a child.
Slowly, as if he could see through her clothing to her nakedness beneath, he raked his eyes back up her body until every inch of her skin was hot and trembling. “This is even her natural hair color?”
“Yes,” Athena answered. “She was born with the dark mahogany locks. No makeover necessary.”
“Hm….” The king of the gods moved down the three stone steps and circled Daphne. Her pulse shot into the stratosphere and her stomach caved in as he examined her from every angle. “Curvy. I like that. Nice ass, small waist.” He stopped in front of her and stared at her tits, desire flaring hot in his black as sin eyes. “And these. Enticing.”
Daphne kept her arms at her sides. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t show any response. But her nerves kicked up even higher. It was normal for her to react to an attractive male. All nymphs did. But this wasn’t a male she was even the least bit interested in, and not for the first time she cursed her overly sexual lineage.
“Ahem.” Athena cleared her throat. “The matter at hand?”
Scowling, Zeus turned to look up at the goddess. “Seduction training?”
“Completed,” Athena answered. “She received high marks from her instructor.”
Zeus looked back at Daphne, and once again, his lusty gaze scalded her body. “I’m sure she did. She’s a purebred Naiad. The spitting image of her mother.”
So he did remember her. Images of her mother and the day Daphne had lost her filled Daphne’s mind and tugged at the heart she kept carefully closed off.
“Marksmanship has proven to be a limitation for her.” Athena moved to stand at Zeus’s side and crossed her arms over her chest in a clearly perturbed manner. “If you’d rather see some of the others—”
“No.” Zeus held up a hand but didn’t once look away from Daphne. “This one will do. Tell me, female, have you taken a new name since being on Olympus?”
They were finally talking to her. Daphne had no idea what was going on, but so far it didn’t sound as if they were going to kick her out of the training class. And as much as she hated the mention of her mother, especially in combination with Zeus’s lusty looks, she knew the probability of the god-king propositioning her was slim. She wasn’t her mother, even if she did resemble her. And Sirens, thanks to Athena, were the only females that were off limits to Zeus. “No, my king. I go by my given name, Daphne.”
“Ah, named after the nymph who was rescued from my son Apollo’s unwanted advances and changed into a laurel tree. Tell me, Daphne, do you wish to become a laurel tree like your namesake?”
“No, my king.”
“I should hope not. Your skills would be extremely wasted in tree form.” He clasped his hands behind his back and eyed her carefully. “Sappheire has had nothing but good things to say about you, and so far your training scores have been stellar. Aside from marksmanship, that is.”
“I’m improving,” Daphne said quickly. “I’m working very hard. If you just give me a little more time—”
“Relax.” Zeus held up a hand. “What we need from you does not involve marksmanship.”
Daphne’s gaze darted between Zeus and Athena. “What you need from me?”
Athena shot a frustrated look at Zeus, but he didn’t bother to glance her way. “We’re in need of a Siren with your talents for a special mission. Are you interested?”
She had no idea what kind of mission they were talking about, but something in her gut said never to say no to the king of the gods. “Yes, of course.”
“She’s too na?ve,” Athena mumbled.
“That’s exactly why we’re going to use her.” Zeus’s eyes flashed. “You’ve heard of the rogue Argonaut loose in the human realm? The one they call Ari?”
Daphne’s mind skipped over snippets of gossip she’d heard from her Siren sisters. “We all have. He’s a monster.”
“Yes, he is.” Zeus’s jaw clenched. “A very dangerous monster that needs to be stopped. Unfortunately, our conventional attempts at dealing with him have not worked. Which is where you come in. We want to send you in undercover for the Order.”