by Amy Sumida
“You don't know who they were sleeping with?” Artemis asked in surprise.
“Why would I care about that?” Apollo huffed. “It's none of my business.”
“What about you?” Mrs. E asked gently. “Who else were you seeing?”
I was grateful she had been the one to ask the delicate question. The Navajo Goddess has a calming way about her and her interest seemed kind instead of invasive.
“None of my other lovers would have done this,” Apollo protested.
“How many other women do you have?” Brahma asked eagerly; winning him another slap from his wife. “Ow! What? We need to know.”
Apollo seemed to think about it; his lips moving a little as he murmured names beneath his breath and counted them on his fingers. “Twelve.”
“Twelve?” I asked him in shock. “How the hell do you keep twelve women happy and find time to sleep with the Muses?”
“Having trouble with your men, Godhunter?” Apollo smirked.
“No; because I don't have twelve of them,” I shot back.
“Nor will you ever,” Arach declared with a tone of finality.
“How did this get back to me?” I whined.
“I believe that happened when you asked Apollo how to keep your men satisfied,” Pan offered.
“That is not what I asked!” I snapped while Apollo hooted with laughter.
“Enough!” Thor roared. “Why do our meetings always devolve into these idiotic debates?”
“I was just wondering that myself,” Eztli, Blue's wife, grumbled.
“Because we're normal people and not stoic thunder gods with lightning bolts stuck up our asses,” Pan answered Thor merrily.
Thor turned red.
“Okay, Apollo,” I hurried on before the Thunder God with a lightning bolt up his ass exploded, “you and Artemis need to visit all of your girlfriends and verify their whereabouts on the night the Muses disappeared.”
“They'll be pissed,” Apollo protested. “I can't do that.”
“Do you want to find the Muses or not?” I growled.
“Fine,” he muttered.
“Before you get started on that, someone needs to go with you to look through the Muses' bedrooms for clues on their lovers or anything else that might be helpful.”
“I'll go,” Finn offered.
“Me too,” Pan added. “I'm good at discovering hidden love affairs.”
“Good; go do that,” Thor rumbled. “The rest of us need to get back to finding the War Goddess behind this latest threat to all the Gods.”
“So sorry to interrupt your plans to save the world,” Apollo muttered as he got up.
“Hey!” Artemis snapped at her brother. “They put those plans on hold to help you. We're still helping you so watch your lip.”
“Yeah, okay.” Apollo shambled out of the room with his sister, Torrent, Pan, and Finn following him.
“I'll text if we find anything,” Finn said on his way out.
The rest of the meeting went by rather quickly. Several goddesses had been investigated but none had ties to me that would warrant such hostility nor had any showed signs of being behind a god conspiracy. Not that anyone knew what such signs were.
In the end, we decided to start looking into the disappearances of the gods. At least some of them had to be victims of the murdering, magic-stealing gods. If we couldn't track the War Goddess herself, perhaps we could find a trail that led to her. We limited our search to the gods who had disappeared after we killed Disani and Gish. We needed to find the new killers and, hopefully, they would lead us to their mentor.
Over half the names of the missing were Greek.
“How did we not notice this?” Hades snarled as he looked over the most recent list Pan had brought us from Hermes.
“It was a mixture before,” Blue reminded him. “It looks as if these new killers aren't so concerned about keeping their activities hidden.”
“Or perhaps they've realized that the Gods know about the disappearances and there's no need to employ subterfuge anymore,” Teharon suggested.
“I think you're all missing the point.” I looked around the table. “Apollo's missing Muses may not be a separate incident at all. They're Greeks, and they're missing.”
Everyone went quiet.
“Well, we already have people investigating their disappearance, and Apollo says that they aren't dead,” Thor pointed out. “Let's move on to the others.”
We split the list of names up among ourselves and then most of the Squad headed out. My husbands, Toby, and I took three of the names to investigate, possibly with some help from my Intare. My men didn't want me leaving Pride Palace without a serious escort, and I didn't want them to either. So, if there was any grunt work to be done in the Human Realm, we'd be sending the Lions.
For now, though, we were all heading to bed. It had been a long day. The Apocalypse could wait until morning.
Chapter Twelve
Vero was still awake when I got upstairs. I took the opportunity to feed him while the men worked out who'd be spending the night with me. Giving birth hadn't changed much as far as my sex life went. I'd healed immediately and, if I'm being completely honest, my libido had only increased. Despite the long day, I was looking forward to an equally active night.
Arach was already in his suite with our boys; he'd had recent time with me so he was okay with spending the night alone. The other men finally figured out that it was Toby's turn. Re tried to convince him to share, but Toby stubbornly held out for some one-on-one time with me. I was relieved. A threesome can be awesome, especially when you're the one the other two are focused on, but it can also mean more effort.
We had Vero's bassinet by the bed. When I was done feeding him, and he had passed out in my arms, I laid him in the bassinet, and Trevor took the whole thing up to his bedroom with him.
“Thank you, Honey-Eyes.” I kissed him goodnight before he left, and then kissed the others.
As they left, I headed into the bathroom with Toby. Toby is the Navajo God of Water and Darkness, and his favorite kind of foreplay involves water. So, he smiled brilliantly as he followed me into the bathroom and shut the door behind us.
“It feels as if we haven't been alone together in months,” Toby declared as he turned on the faucets.
Water began to pour into the massive tub from several narrow openings hidden under the rim.
“We're taking a bath?” I asked in surprise.
My bathtub is large enough to fit all of my husbands and me with room to spare. It's more of a pool than a tub; a circular, sunken thing with a ledge halfway down the side for lounging on. Normally, I just use the shower instead of wasting so much water on filling the tub. But I suppose, in the God Realm, it didn't matter. I could make it rain whenever I wished. Hell, Toby could too. In fact, he didn't even need the faucets to fill the tub.
“I want to be fully submerged with you.” Toby stood up as the tub rapidly filled; one of the magically wonderful things about it.
“Mmm. Floating in hot water with you? Sounds good,” I agreed as I stripped.
We tossed our clothes aside, and he helped me down the steps that led down into the tub. The water was already up to my thighs. I trailed a hand through the wet warmth as I headed toward a ledge with Toby. We needed to stay near the handles or we might not get to them in time to prevent a bathroom flood. Yes; it's happened before.
I admired Toby as we waded to the edge. I loved the way his deep, golden brown skin made the blue of his eyes seem even more brilliant. But there was more to Toby than his gorgeous eyes and skin. He sat on the tiled ledge near the handles, and I straddled him. His hands immediately went to my ass; kneading my flesh as I trailed my hands over his smooth, muscular chest and rubbed myself over his hardening sex.
The water level rose, lifting our hair to swirl around our bodies, and Toby leaned back to switch off the faucets. I smiled; now, we could focus fully on each other. I leaned forward to kiss him; my hands sinking in
to the hair at his temples and my body pressed tightly against his. Toby's fresh taste cleared my mind of the long day but made it foggy in other ways. My thoughts zeroed in on him; the feel of his lips moving eagerly beneath mine, the slide of his hands up my back, the heat of his tongue, and the press of his shaft nestled against me intimately.
I was about to help him slide inside me when Toby lifted me and pushed me back; falling with me. I automatically took a deep breath, but it wasn't necessary. Toby pushed the water away from our faces just enough to give us each a pocket of air with a spiraling shaft leading to the surface. I groaned as the water took my weight while Toby's magic made it possible for us to continue to breathe freely while submerged. I pulled back—my hair billowing around me—and grinned as I glanced up at my air shaft.
“You're amazing,” I declared; my voice echoing hollowly through the water.
“I've only begun,” Toby said mischievously.
Tobadzistsini moved down my body as he pushed me up. When he settled between my legs, his thin coating of air spread over my sex. I arched backward as Toby licked and flicked and thrust me into an orgasm. The hot tip of his tongue continued to circle that special spot as I shook violently within the water's embrace. But my magical connection to the surface didn't break; it simply moved with me.
When Toby slid up to my breasts, a thin layer of air remained behind over my sex. I frowned as I wondered if maybe I was mistaking the sensations, but when he rubbed his hard shaft over me there, I understood. Water would have removed all that lovely lubrication he'd just drawn out of me, and we didn't want that. Toby parted my sex and slid into me with slick ease, starting a gentle rhythm that moved us through the water in an acrobatic dance that felt beautiful as well as erotic.
Our long hair undulated around us like silk ribbons and our limbs moved gracefully in the liquid suspension. Rolling together, top and bottom became insignificant; we were simply one. His body moved in mine languorously; a slow, deep delving that brought us both steadily toward completion. Then Toby grabbed my hips and pulled me tightly against him; grinding his pelvis against my sex to send me over the edge. I screamed into our kiss, going into a final roll with him as he emptied into me. A death roll, but only that little death.
We surfaced as we came; breaking free of the water and our kiss to cry out as ecstasy rocked through us.
Toby eased us back onto the ledge and cradled me against his chest as we panted and shivered through the aftershocks together. His face nestled into the curve of my throat; lips brushing my wet skin. I held him to me tightly. My beautiful darkness; night to my moon.
“Now, for something a little faster,” Toby purred as he lifted me and sat me on the edge of the tub.
I leaned back on my hands as Toby spread my legs and shoved home once more. I had ceased to be amazed by the quick recovery of Gods long ago. But Toby started a wild tempo that began to amaze me in other ways.
We didn't leave the tub for hours.
Chapter Thirteen
The next morning, I woke to a pile of children and the smell of breakfast. Toby was already up and dressed; helping Kirill cook while Trevor stood nearby, bouncing Vero in his arms. Re, Az, and Odin sat around the dining table drinking coffee while Arach lounged beside me, gleefully encouraging Brevyn, Rian, and Lesya to attack me viciously. Damn, Dragons.
And by attack, I, of course, meant; tickle.
“No!” I cried. “I give up. Mercy! Uncle! Uncle Mercy! Someone free me from these fiends!”
The children giggled maniacally, and I started grabbing them and tossing them at Arach in self-defense.
“All right.” Arach chuckled as he caught Rian and set him down on the floor. “I think it's time for breakfast. All of you wild ones head for the kitchen.”
With a whoop of delight, the children ran toward the kitchen table. The men sitting there grabbed their cups of coffee and fled; backing away with a speed and grace that only Gods can manage. My trio of hellions scrambled up onto the vacated seats and started pounding their fists on the wood, demanding to be fed. I was about to handle the situation when Arach stood up with a roar.
The children cringed and went silent.
“Who taught you this barbaric behavior?” Arach growled as he stalked over to the table. I don't think he caught the irony. “We are not animals.”
A couple of the other men had to cough to hide their laughter.
“You are royal children and will compose yourselves as such,” Arach went on as he crossed his arms and stared them down. “Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Father,” Brevyn and Rian said together.
“Yes, Uncle Air-Rock,” Lesya said solemnly.
“Arach,” he corrected her. “Cease separating my name, Lesya or I shall do it to yours.”
Lesya blinked her blue eyes up at Arach.
“Your lioness eyes won't work on me today, Lay-Sha,” Arach chided her.
Lesya pouted. “Yes, Uncle Arach.”
“Perfect!” Arach declared in approval. “Now, what shall we have to drink? Shall we try coffee like the others?”
“No!” All of the other men and I shouted together.
Arach blinked slowly. “Very well; the orange juice it is.”
“They can have water or milk,” I said as I walked up in my robe. “Orange juice has too much sugar.”
It was a good thing that I always kept a robe by the bed. Otherwise, I would have had to wrap myself in a sheet and that would have definitely inspired another round of giggling from my merciless offspring.
“What's wrong with sugar?” Arach asked the question that every child has wondered.
“It will make them hyper,” I explained. “They'll be bouncing around like tuporins.”
Tuporins are squirrel-like creatures in the Faerie Realm. They have strong hind legs which they use to propel themselves from tree to tree; sort of the way rabbits hop around on the ground but with more grace.
“I love Tuporins!” Rian exclaimed. “I want sugar!”
“No,” I said sternly before kissing his forehead. “At least not in your juice. You'll have enough in the maple syrup that you'll doubtless drown your pancakes in.”
I headed off to my dressing room to the sound of cheers for maple syrup.
I emerged a few minutes later in a light cotton dress and a pair of Croc heels. Yes, Croc makes heels, and they happen to be awesome. They're also perfect if you think you might get wet or dirty. We were heading to Olympus after breakfast and although the God sub-territory is on top of a mountain, that mountain is in the middle of Oceanus—the ocean in the Greek Collective Territory—and you never know what might happen up there.
“Can we go swimming today?” Lesya asked me as I came out of the dressing room.
Lesya had syrup all over her face. I don't even know how she manages it, much less manages to do it so quickly. The only other person I've ever seen end up as sticky as Lesya gets when they eat is my friend Tristan but only when he eats chicken wings. He winds up with a face full of barbecue sauce every time. Lesya winds up with a face full of any kind of sauce that accompanies her meal; sometimes it doesn't even have to be sauce.
“You'll have to ask Uncle Trevor,” I told her. “I'm going with Daddy and your other uncles to investigate something important on Olympus.”
“Can I in vest a gate?” Lesya asked hopefully.
“No, but well done with your pronunciation.” I turned to look at Arach. “That's how she learns her words; she separates them.”
Arach grimaced. “Then she's been learning my name for over a year. Do not try to guilt me into allowing her to call me an air rock, A Thaisce. I know your tricks, and your daughter has inherited them.”
“I'm just like Mommy!” Lesya declared proudly.
“That's my girl.” I grinned at her.
“I rest my cases,” Arach huffed.
The adults chuckled.
“What is it now?” Arach growled.
“You only rest one case,” I wh
ispered to him. “You don't have multiple cases to rest.”
“But I was dealing with you and Lesya; that makes two cases,” Arach pointed out.
“Is he right?” I asked Odin.
“No,” Odin said dryly.
“There you go.” I shrugged at Arach.
“And Odin is the expert and final say on all things grammatical?” Arach asked.
I thought about it, looked at the other men, and we nodded together.
“Yep,” I said.
“I reserve judgment,” Arach said imperiously.
