by Azod, Shara
Standing in the middle of the cavernous marbled bathroom bigger than some apartments, Nimah felt a sharp pang of longing so intense it almost knocked her to her knees. Her legs shook as the bubbling cauldron of need threatened to overwhelm her sanity. This wasn’t normal. Though she’d never wanted any other man, she knew this couldn’t be what women felt simply from desiring a man.
It occurred to her how weird this all was. She’d never been normal, living in fear her entire life of being found to be different. Ukko had lived many lifetimes over. Neither of them should exist at all. Perhaps this odd physical attraction was because of that.
Whatever it was, wave after wave of sexual longing knocked the breath from her body. Gripping the counter, she tried desperately to pull herself together. She could get over this. Mind over matter. Nothing had ever affected her physically for long.
She managed to pull herself upright, taking a deep breath to try to release the tension seizing her limbs. But then another pang hit her, this one harder than the last. Her head spun as she gasped for air. She needed him, oh, God, she needed him badly. This time Nimah did fall to her knees, a one-word prayer on her lips.
“Ukko.”
Chapter Four
Ukko left the king’s mountain none the wiser. Cyrus had pumped him for every tiny molecule of information, having no explanation in the end. Neither of them could think how she came to be, but they were both equally sure she had to be some new form of female Spentas. That or she was created for them. There weren’t a lot of things the king didn’t know and this was apparently one of them, which scared the shit out of Ukko.
Instead of heading back to his home, he went to San Diego to find the man Nimah had been healing last night. Maybe there were answers to be had there. According to Nimah, she didn’t know what had drawn her to the man, though she wasn’t certain he’d been a man at all.
“So glad you could tear yourself away from your woman.”
Not many could ever sneak up on him, so Ukko wasn’t at all surprised to see a cherub perched on a brick wall at the end of the alley he had lain in less than twenty-four hours ago.
“Don’t think I won’t pluck your wings, cherub.” No wonder Ukko hadn’t been able to sense the “man” Nimah had healed. He was one of the lowest caste of angels. Cherubs didn’t have much power and could be easily bespelled. Anyone could have fogged his mind for any number of reasons. Probably seducing a woman he had no business seducing, getting his little angelic self cursed in the process. They were perpetually horny little troublemakers. “Why are you here? And what do you know of my woman?”
Claiming her out loud, even in front of a pesky cherub, gave Ukko immense joy. His chest swelled a little, as if he had won his first battle.
“Seth sent me to find her and bring her to him before she found you.” The cherub grinned, a lock of golden hair falling over sky blue eyes. “I don’t remember a thing after the lovely redhead with the glowing bronze skin.”
Yep, messed with the wrong woman. Cherubs never learned. Thankfully they couldn’t produce children. Nothing could be more annoying than thousands of little half cherub brats running around. But what was this about Seth?
“You have no idea what she is, do you? That’s why you came to find me.” The cherub jumped from his perch, landing a little too close. “Ah, how lucky you are I decided to wait for you to answer your questions, for a price.”
Ukko gritted his teeth as he took a step back from the creature he very much wanted to pummel, just on general principle. The creature was tall, wiry but too girlish-looking by half. His soft hands had probably never held a weapon. If he served Seth, the cherub had probably never been threatened before this errand.
“Who cast a spell on you?” Ukko decided to ignore the bait. If the cherub knew he desperately wanted the answers the creature dangled in front of his face, he would only drag it out that much longer.
The cherub sneered, his formerly joyful face clouding with anger. “One of those women, like yours. Neither Spentas nor Mainya, they are dangerous. You’re very lucky you got to her before the Mainyas did. If they had gotten to her first…” The cherub shuddered as if afraid. That was not unusual. It was very easy to frighten one with so little power. “Those women are unstoppable. Now that you are almost mated, you’ll likely increase in power, too. Maybe be as powerful as your king. Won’t Seth be pissed he didn’t collect her first?”
Ukko’s hand was around the cherub’s throat before he could process his own actions. “You will not ever speak of her with another man.” The thought of Seth touching Nimah -- of anyone touching Nimah -- caused a red mist to settle over his vision. “Why does Seth want what is mine?”
The cherub’s eyes bulged out of his head, his face turning several shades of red. Choking the cherub wouldn’t kill him, but it would hurt like hell. Unfortunately, Ukko wanted answers. Opening his grip finger by finger, he let the other male slide down slowly.
“Seth doesn’t want to touch your woman. He wants to train her, and those like her.”
Damn it. There were more. That meant another trip to that damn mountain. The king had to be informed of this.
“What are they? What is Seth training them for?” Ukko demanded, needing as much information as possible. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, though. Nimah was his; whatever else she might be was secondary. “Where does she -- they -- come from?”
“I have no idea where they come from. They are born, just like everyone else. I just know they could be Spentas, they could be Mainya. The choice is theirs. Seth merely wishes to help them make that choice. He wants to make sure they have the strength and command of their abilities to live with their choice. I’ve heard it whispered Lilith has been hiding them away, though for whom I cannot say.”
Shit, that told him absolutely nothing. This was getting more and more complicated. There were only two beings on Earth older than the king and his brother, or more powerful. Seth was one, Lilith the other. They took no sides in the constant war that had defined the majority of Ukko’s adult life. They never revealed more than they had to, and they both were in a personal battle that had lasted since the beginning of time.
“Go back and tell your master Nimah is taken, and I do not choose to give her up.”
He would, however, have to go see Cyrus, no matter how much his cock ached for Nimah, how his arms felt guilty not holding her close.
Then he heard it -- his name whispered on the breeze. Nimah! As soon as he acknowledged what he was hearing, he felt her. She needed him. He could feel her desire blazing out of control. Cyrus was just going to have to wait -- his woman was in need.
* * *
Nimah was afraid she might be dreaming. As soon as his name had left her lips, Ukko was there, gathering her in his arms and placing her carefully in the middle of a bed that had surely been made for at least five.
“Ah, kulta, I can smell your need.” It wasn’t the growling, sensual threat it had been last night, but his words excited her no less. “Spread your legs for me, Nimah. I find I am suddenly famished.”
Oh, fuck, that sounded deliciously hot. And man, was she ever grateful she hadn’t managed to get any clothing despite her valiant attempts. Her legs fell open immediately upon demand, her hips canting upward in invitation. She wanted this, needed it desperately.
This time Ukko didn’t fall on her pussy like a starving man. With one long, leisurely swipe of his tongue he relieved her ache in one sense, but increased her need a hundredfold.
“Please, please, please!” Begging was becoming a habit with this man. She wasn’t even sure exactly what she was begging for.
“Patience, rakas, I will give you what you need,” he murmured against the folds of her pussy.
The vibration of his deep voice against her clit made her buck, but none of her frantic movements made him move any faster. His tongue slid inside her slowly, before pulling out before fully penetrating, curling up at the last moment to flicker against the pearl of h
er sex. Nimah groaned in helpless frustration, burying her fingers in the silky blond locks on his head.
“More, I need more!”
Apparently he wasn’t listening, or maybe he just wasn’t into taking direction. With control that seemed unreal, Ukko took his time tasting her completely. His tongue ran up and down the seam of her slit, penetrating her as if he were fucking her with it before moving upward to torment her clit. Over and over again, he repeated this process until Nimah’s chest was heaving, her words no more than hoarse, broken cries for mercy.
When she thought she was going to die, he stopped, flipping them over so that she hovered over his face.
“Ride my face, kulta. Take what you need.”
Had she been able to think clearly, she probably never would’ve done anything so bold. She had no experience with men. By all rights she should’ve been unsure, hesitant even to participate in the sinfully erotic things Ukko was doing to her body. As it was, she needed release. She lowered her cunt to his waiting mouth without a second thought, rotating her hips over his greedy mouth.
God, that felt so damn good. Her movements began to get faster as she braced her hands against the wall. The tension built in the base of her womb, bolts of sensual lightning burning through her veins. So good, too good.
“Fuck!” Her orgasm blindsided her, causing her body to shake so hard she was afraid she might be smothering him.
She tried to move, but he clasped an arm around her hips, holding her immobile, attached to his mouth. Even while she was deep in the throes of release, he thrust his tongue inside her over and over and over until one orgasm melded with another, shameful amounts of her essence being sucked eagerly from her core.
Before she could catch her breath, Ukko had managed to move behind her while she was in the same position, legs spread wide, on her knees, her hands flat against the wall.
“Don’t move. Not an inch.” The warning was growled this time, causing her to shiver with anticipation.
She wanted him like this. Wild, untamed. The thought of him taking her without mercy caused a fresh wave of honey to flow from her pussy. Despite the warning, she lifted her hips a little, as if she were presenting herself for him. Three sharp smacks against her upturned ass were his only reply, right before he powered into her with one sure stroke. If she’d been able to scream, she would have. As it was, she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but feel.
“You feel like heaven.” Nimah wondered if Ukko even realized he was speaking. His voice was low, a sense of wonderment coloring his words. “I’ve waited an eternity for you.”
She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t. Not with his thick cock gliding inside her so breathtakingly. So much pleasure! He filled her so full she felt the ridges of his shaft against her walls. His hands dug into the flesh of her hips, but even that felt so right. She was being possessed, and she loved every second of it.
“Take me.” A plea, a prayer, her deepest wish put into words. How would she ever be able to walk away from this? From him?
“You will come for me, Nimah.” It wasn’t a request. “You will come for me often, and only for me for the rest of your existence.”
From any other man it would’ve been a threat. From Ukko, it was the most delicious of promises. It was one she wanted desperately to hold him to but knew better. If she thought for one moment she meant anything to him other than a vessel to sate his body, perhaps she’d try to believe. As it was, she was willing to take what he offered in this moment. She’d hold it to her for the rest of her days, no matter what happened in the time to come. This moment, this man, would always have a place in her heart.
“Yes.” There was no other answer, and for right now, she really meant it.
He must have been waiting for her compliance. With a muted roar, his movements became more possessive, more frantic, his hips slamming into her without mercy. Nimah’s fingers curled against the wall as her body tightened unbearably, her womb quivering. There was no holding back even if she wanted to.
“Now, Nimah!”
She might’ve screamed, or maybe it was just a whimper. Nimah didn’t know which as her body flew apart completely, coming so hard she lost consciousness.
* * *
“You are the same as me.”
Nimah wasn’t surprised at Ukko’s words. She lay silently watching the sky change from a deep lavender, slowly lightening to the pink of dawn over the mountains through the window. She didn’t say anything, but waited. There was more, she could feel it.
“You are also the same as the males who tried to take you.” Ukko pulled her closer as he spoke, perhaps an unconscious move, but she loved it. “I have a suspicion why, but I don’t have any confirmation.”
As much as she would’ve loved to just listen to him speak, questions poured out before she could stop them. “But if you are a Spen -- whatever, and they are your opposite, how can I be both?” Did that make her good? Evil? Neither… Both? And she’d definitely not been around for thousands of millennia, as both those like Ukko and those like the men who had tried to jump her had. “I was born in this century. Twenty-eight years ago, in fact.”
“You’re only twenty-eight? I feel as if I should be pilloried.” Though he chuckled when he said it, Nimah heard the uneasiness in his voice.
In a huff, she sat straight up, poking him in the chest. “Hey, I am legal. I may not be an old fart like you, but I’m no child.”
“To me you’re an infant.” The sadness in those icy blue eyes knocked all the anger right out of her. How was this going to work? He was positively ancient. To him she really was an infant, if that. More like a zygote.
“Look --”
“You will not even think about leaving. Dismiss that idea from your head.”
Nimah found herself roughly pulled back into his arms, locked in an embrace that was a touch too tight, but she wasn’t complaining.
Thank God he’d said what he had. She had been planning to leave, but even the momentary thought had filled her with such desolation she had wanted to cry in that mere instant.
“So what does all this mean?” She settled back into his arms, placing her cheek against his chest.
For a woman who had lived her entire life in a kind of solitary confinement, she was amazingly comfortable cuddling with a man she’d just met. Still, it was possible she knew him better than any other person.
“We will have to see the king.” It was said matter-of-factly, carefully devoid of any emotion. However, Nimah knew immediately there were things Ukko wasn’t telling her. What was more, she didn’t relish the idea of going to see this king of his.
“Can’t you go without me?” Hell, he didn’t want to go see this king either.
“Would that I could. He will want to meet you.”
“Because of the bad guys? You said I was one of them too, right? How is that possible?”
“I don’t know.” Ukko stroked her back as he spoke. He was scared of something. A big, bad, immortal warrior, afraid. And that itself frightened the shit out of Nimah.
Epilogue
Ukko’s woman was beautiful, but not in the way of modern women. She was a throwback to a time before countries, when men and women mixed freely without labels or petty prejudice. Interesting.
“And you have no knowledge who your mother was?” Cyrus didn’t ask about her father, because he already knew. It just shouldn’t be possible. Not with the Elders, anyway.
Oh, Father, your minions are running amok.
There was no way he could share this information, not even with one of his most trusted generals. Not yet. Meeting this woman, Nimah, had provided more questions than answers. He wouldn’t be sharing this with anyone other than Netjer until he had all the answers. Cruel? Perhaps.
“I have no idea who my mother was,” Nimah answered, though he sensed she was defensive.
Cyrus found he couldn’t look inside her mind. A curiosity, that. “I see.”
The couple be
fore him didn’t want to be here, but he didn’t have to read that from their body language. Ukko had made it perfectly clear she was his, and he wouldn’t tolerate much from Cyrus, king or no. They wanted to be away. To work things out themselves. Being king, Cyrus couldn’t allow that. He needed information from Nimah whether she was able to give it or not.
“You will stay in the palace while I visit Seth.” Cyrus stood, walking down the three steps of his throne. Ukko opened his mouth to speak, probably to protest, but at one look from Cyrus, he said nothing. Cyrus felt the weight of his stare nonetheless. He hated that damn throne, but it served its purpose. No one should ever be allowed to forget he was the king.
Cyrus was first among their kind, followed a few seconds later by his brother. His rule could never be questioned, especially given the circumstances of his own birth, regardless of his and Netjer’s adoption by the Elders. Unlike his generals, he could kill a Spentas. Or a Mainya. The only other beings that came close to what he could do were Seth… and Lilith.
Although Cyrus genuinely liked Ukko, he couldn’t understand his possessiveness over this female. Women were a pleasant enough pastime, but using one more than a few times caused them to become… clingy. Cyrus couldn’t tolerate that.
“I shall return in a few days.”
As soon as he walked from the nauseatingly ostentatious throne room, Cyrus appeared in Shambala, the mythical home of Seth.
“Took you long enough.” Seth was an odd creature. His body was lean and wiry, tall and youthful. In human years he could easily be mistaken for someone in their late twenties, early thirties perhaps. Yet Seth eschewed anything modern, wearing intricately woven silken robes, his jet-and-silver hair hanging straight down to his waist. “I had hoped to collect Nimah before Ukko found her, or more accurately, before she found him. She could have used a little training before being introduced to the man she is tied to for eternity.”
