Jos swallowed hard as she held the cold stare of Hypnos's hypnotizing eyes. "Y-you don't have to do that. I promise I'll not say anything to him… to anyone. I promised to help you, and I will."
He studied her in silence for several long moments. "Why do I find your words so hard to believe?" A smirk curved his lips as he shook his head. "No, I think not. We'll be sticking to my plan for this one."
Jos furrowed her brows. "What plan is that?"
He gave a huffed laugh. "You will stay here until Wednesday." He gave a shrug. "Or however long it takes your dearly beloved to feel betrayed enough to return back to whichever island he crawled from."
Jos set forward pressing her hands against his. "You don't have to do this! Just tell me what you want?! I've already agreed to help you all. You haven't even given me the time to come up with a plan OR helped me develop one! Instead, you're too busy coming up with new ways of torturing me!"
He narrowed his eyes at her as he tugged his hands out from under her grip and sat on the chair perpendicular to hers. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I could care less as to how you plan to do it. Use your connections with the sea god, barter your freedom with Zeus, make a deal with Hades himself… I could care less…" He sat forward. "You're a smart girl." A smile curved his lips. "And you owe me, several times over in fact. I have helped you countless times over the past several months. It is now your time to return the favor."
Jos leaned forward and cupped her hand over one of his resting on the chair arm. "I just want a second's peace to talk to the man I love. You have to understand some part of that… right?" She hesitated for a brief moment as her eyes pleaded with his. "You were married once, after all…"
He gritted his teeth as he shoved her hands away. He stood and walked toward a cabinet on the other side of the room. "That is precisely the reason I've been so impatient."
Jos realized she'd struck a nerve with the primordial god and pushed on. "Because you were separated from her? Is that it?"
"Separated? Taken more like it…" He continued to mutter as he poured himself a drink. He glanced over his shoulder. "Would you like one?"
Jos shook her head. "No, thank you."
He chuckled, his astute gaze studying her once again. "Why not? I assure you the alcohol will not affect your mortal body."
Jos tilted her head studying him as he brought over the drink and set it on the table in front of her. "No… maybe not… but if I consume anything here, I'll not be able to return… will I?"
A smirk curved his lips as he took a sip. "Did Thanatos warn you the first time he brought you down, or has the little kitten been doing her research?"
A muscle in her jaw twitched at the nickname. "Why have you chosen to torment me? What do you hope to gain from it?"
He arched a brow. "Torment you? I'm simply bringing your dreams to life. I'm bringing forth those things you struggle most with." A wicked smile curved his lips. "Am I enjoying watching you squirm throughout your procrastination of our release… oh yes, indeed!"
"You know well that is not all you're doing. You have all but raped me while pretending to be Arei." Jos frowned as she shook her head in anger. "If you drive me crazy, I'll be little use to you."
He chuckled as he sipped his drink. "Madness isn't my specialty, I assure you… nor is rape. I'll leave that one to Zeus."
"I'm sure you saw what happened tonight… You've made it almost impossible for me to even be around him. I reacted almost traumatically to his presence. At least you can do is release me so I can see if that fear is still there when I know I'm awake."
He clenched and unclenched his jaw as he rolled his glass between his hands. "I can... I've caused you a particular level of… stress, and I apologize for that. I see now it may not have been the best way to get the results I wanted… But I'd hoped you would tire of it quickly enough that it would speed up your efforts." He studied her for a few moments before adding, "You are here now because I see no solution for either of our problems."
She frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"
He let out a heavy sigh. "I mean if you go to him, you'll either have to lie and convince him you meant your words toward him directly… or you'd have no choice but mention my involvement. I can't have the latter happening, and even if you were willing to do the first… you, my dear, are a shitty liar…" He shrugged when she sent him an offended huff. "How do you think I know you have no intention of honoring your agreement? Subconsciously, you spend a large chunk of your waking and sleeping time thinking of a way around it."
Jos's frown deepened. "I-"
He shook his head. "Don't bother denying it. I've been in every dark recess of your mind." He silently studied her.
Jos swallowed hard. "Then give me a reason to want to help you! Make me understand." She blew out a frustrated breath. "Right now, all I can see is the worst of the worst creatures being released onto earth. How will that do anyone any good?!"
He arched a brow. "Released on to earth? I had a home once on the island of Lemnos." He smiled wistfully. "A lovely home overlooking the clear waters of north Aegean Sea." He held up his free hand as if to frame out his own memories. "My house was built into the tough rock of the cliffs surrounded by fields of poppies." His eye met hers, a new warmness reflecting in them. "It was amazing, even you would agree if given the chance to see it." His warm smile faded. "You want to know how I became a prisoner here?"
Jos nodded. "Yes, please."
His eyes narrowed. "Hera… it was all her doing." He let out a sigh as he sat his glass on the table and stood once again. He began pacing the room. "I chose you because you and I have similar goals and nearly the same people blocking that path." He turned back to her. "We both want freedom."
Jos nodded. "And Zeus stands in both our ways."
Hypnos's gaze became distant. "You're only half right in that. Zeus was the one who banished my siblings and I to this place… but he is not the driving force behind the action." His cold eyes turned to her. "That would be Hera. It was her betrayal that put me here, and it will be vengeance against her that I shall seek upon my release." He stepped in front of her and leaned over the chair, holding her gaze more directly. "She is the one who ripped my wife from me. I have never seen nor held my own children because of her. Surely you of all people can understand that pain."
Jos swallowed hard, her eyes wide, as she pressed back into the cushions. "I… I do but…"
"But you still can't find a good enough benefit for yourself, though I've saved your life multiple times now?" He stood and walked over to the cabinet and refilled his glass. He turned back toward her. "Are you sure you don't want one?"
"I'm sure. I don't intend to spend more time here than I have to."
He scoffed at her reply. "Drink or not, you'll be here until I deem it safe to release you."
Jos frowned as she watched him pour the drink. Her mind played through all her options but could only come to one possibility. "I understand why you want free, and I can't fault you for it… But what if I was only willing to help you?"
He arched a brow quizzically as he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Go on, I'm listening."
She sat forward. "As you said, you were once free… and you have a wife and kids…"
"Had a wife and children who barely know my name… let along who I am personally." He interrupted with a low mutter.
She swallowed hard as she pushed herself up from the chair and walked over to him. When he turned to her with a questioning lift of the brow, she took the drink from his hand and set it on the counter under the cabinet. "Keep me here for the next three days then… You've said you know all there is to know about the inter-workings of my mind, then you know I still have no plan of getting back with Arei. I simply want to talk with him… I don't want him to think those reactions earlier were my true feelings… I want him to know how I really feel. How you know I really feel." She grabbed his hands and squeezed them. "Please, just let me have a few hours with him… even just a few minutes."
He studied her calculatedly. "And what shall I get in exchange for those moments with him?"
Jos swallowed hard again. Her hand trembled slightly as she reached out for his face. She cupped his cheek as she studied him. "What is it that you'd want? Y-you said earlier that you wanted another child… that we could have a child… what if I agreed to that?"
He arched a brow, a doubtful frown curving his lips. "You would trade your body, your womb for mere moments with Areion, just to remain separated from him?" He pushed her hands away from his face and turned back to the cabinet. "Surely you can see how your story can be found lacking… rather easily might I add." He took a sip of the drink as he turned back to face her, leaning his back against the counter as he did.
She tried to fake indifference. "I've read enough of his journals by now to know, he'll never change his mind. This may very well be the only opportunity I'll ever get…"
"And you've decided you want that to be with me." He sent her a dubious frown. "After accusing me of all but raping you just minutes ago?" He shook his head. "I realize women are fickle and tend to change their minds often, but not this dramatically. Sorry, I'm not buying it."
"But I've thought about it… and I'm… I'm serious." She stepped closer and pressed her palms to his chest. She tilted her head as she studied him slowly, taking in the glimpse of pale muscles just past the thin silk robe. "You should really use your true form more often… you are mesmerizingly good-looking." She bit into her lower lip as her eyes traveled up his body. She had to mask her own smile as confusion flickered across his face.
Hypnos quickly recovered his composure and grinned down at her. "Had I known you'd be so amicable, I would have." He carefully clamped his hand over one of the hands she had pressed against his chest and brought it up to his lips. He tilted his head as he studied her from over her hand. "Are you really this afraid I'll keep you here? This desperate for a few minutes with him?"
Jos frowned. "If I answer you honestly, will you find a way to use it against me?"
He placed a kiss to her hand. "It all depends… If your honesty can be believed, that is." He said as he let her hand drop to her side.
Jos took another step forward, closing the distance between them. She brought her hand back up to his chest to meet the other and pressed her forehead against his chest. "Whether you believe me or not… I've made up my mind…"
He arched a brow, his attention focused on the top of her head. "You're extra touchy-feely today…" He muttered under his breath. He pushed her gently away and stepped out from the counter. He didn't say anything else as he walked back over to the seating area and sat down.
Her brows knitted as she followed him over. "What? Now that I offer myself to you in exchange for my own freedoms you turn me down? What the hell are you playing at now? Has this all been a game or act for you?"
He huffed out an irritated breath as he met her angry gaze. "Unfortunately, whether my actions to this point were no more than a sick joke or whether I have a true attraction to you will make no difference in the end. I have only one goal in mind, and I'll reach it regardless of your help."
"Then why ask for any of it at all?" Jos bit out. When he just stared back at her without answering she swallowed, a new thought accruing to her. "Then were you joking earlier about… about…"
He arched a brow. "About the benefits of a child with you? A child of ours could tear down the world." The corner of his lip curved upward. "And it wouldn't be the worst of tasks." He stood coming toe to toe with her. He reached out and caressed her cheek. "I've spent the better part of a millennia contemplating my revenge. I've all but forgotten my beloved's face and most likely she mine…" He leaned down closer to her letting his lips hover over hers as he studied the emotions flitting across her eyes. "You think seduction will get you released from here? Not hardly, my dear. If anything, it will only trap you longer."
Jos stifled a gasp, her eyes widening as she realized he was calling her bluff.