How to Worship a Goddess

by Stephanie Julian

  Fuck, too hard. He felt out of control, his body reacting without conscious thought. But he couldn’t stop. He had to take her. She was his.

  He tried to slow down, to lengthen each thrust. To draw this out.

  Each inward thrust drew his orgasm closer to the fore. Each retreat made him long to be thrusting back in.

  Her arms curled around his back, her fingers digging into his skin before sliding down his back to grab his ass.

  Yes. God, yes. He wanted her to reach between his legs and stroke his balls. He widened his legs and moved his mouth to her ear, about to tell her what he wanted. She didn’t need to be told. Her fingers slid between his thighs, sending shivers up his spine and making his balls draw up even tighter.

  His orgasm gathered in the base of his spine, making him struggle to hold it off. Lucy teased and tormented, her hips moving with his, forcing him into her harder.

  Lacing the fingers of one hand through her hair, he pulled her head back, until her throat arched in a slim column and he could reach her mouth. He fitted his lips to hers as he felt his cock pulse wildly, pumping his seed into her. Groaning into her mouth, he kissed her until he could barely breathe.

  And when he finally felt his orgasm fade, he slumped over her like he’d taken a crosscheck shot into the boards.

  ***

  Lucy could barely breathe.

  Brandon felt like a ton of bricks but there was no way she would tell him to move. She basked in his body heat like a cat in the sun and reveled in the feel of his cum seeping from her sex.

  Blessed Goddess, she’d never thought to have him again. Had told herself she couldn’t. It wasn’t smart. It didn’t matter one damn bit.

  Her arms tightened around him and she felt his head turn toward her, felt his lips caress her cheek. When he made a move to slide to her side, she tightened her arms around him.

  “No, don’t.”

  “I must have a hundred pounds on you, babe. I’m gonna crush you.”

  “No, you won’t.” She didn’t tell him she could withstand much more weight than he could ever put on her. She was stronger than he’d ever know. “Stay.”

  “Do you mean for the night? Because if I do, I wanna wake up in the morning knowing I was here. Knowing what we did.”

  How did she answer that? Well, she knew how she wanted to answer him. She wanted him to remember, to want, to ache for her. But she knew it was too dangerous. He couldn’t leave here with his memories.

  “I want you to stay.”

  He must have understood what she’d left unspoken. With a sigh, he rolled to a seated position, then stood before reaching down for her.

  He gathered her in his arms and headed for the kitchen and the stairs he knew would take them up to her bedroom. He eased onto the bed with her and they ended up on their sides, face to face, those dark eyes staring relentlessly into hers.

  “Then I’ll stay.”

  He sealed his mouth over hers and kissed her long and deep until she felt like she was about to pass out.

  “Go to sleep, Lucy.”

  And she did, with Brandon wrapped tight around her.

  ***

  Brand woke with a start, his eyes flashing open to stare at the wall across from the bed.

  Lucy’s bed.

  He knew exactly where he was. He felt none of the brief disorientation he sometimes experienced on a road trip. And he still had his memories.

  Yeah, but for how long?

  He glanced down at the woman in his arms. Lucy lay with her back to his front, his body curled around hers. Her head lay pillowed on his arm, his other arm wrapped around her waist like a vise, as if he was afraid she’d try to get away. She continued to sleep, out cold.

  It was still pitch black in her room and he turned his head to see if she had a clock on the bedside table. He didn’t want to wake her but he had the sudden awareness that something wasn’t right—

  “Holy shit!” Brand sat up, pulling the covers over Lucy’s naked body and coming up onto his knees, fists up. “Who the hell are you?”

  Two people stood at the bottom of the bed. At least, he saw two human-sized outlines at the bottom of the bed. Damn it, he needed light.

  “Oh dear,” a female voice said. “I am so sorry to barge in like this. I do apologize, but I need to talk to Lucy.”

  What the fuck?

  “Tessa?” Lucy’s sleepy voice sounded beside him as light flicked on from somewhere overhead and her warm hand landed on his shoulder. “Tessa, is that you?”

  As his eyes adjusted to the light, he realized a pretty blonde bombshell smiled at him from the bottom of the bed. She winked at him before turning her sky-blue gaze to Lucy. “Yes, it’s me. I’m so sorry to arrive unannounced in the middle of the night, but I need to talk to you.”

  Yawning, Lucy sat up, letting the covers fall away as she stretched. Completely naked.

  Brand had the almost uncontrollable urge to throw a sheet over her because the other person at the end of the bed was male. But the hard-ass standing next to the blonde never glanced at Lucy. He was too busy staring at Brand.

  Good thing for him or Brand would’ve had to punch the guy. As it was, the guy looked ready to pound him, so maybe—

  Lucy started to slide off the bed, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back behind him.

  “Wow, he’s a cutie.” The blonde tilted her head and let her smile widen as she gave Lucy a thumbs up. “I highly approve.”

  Lucy sighed as she laid a hand on Brand’s shoulder. But she made no move to leave his side.

  “What’s wrong, Tess? What’s happened?”

  The blonde’s smiled dimmed as her gaze skated over Brand again. “Maybe you’d like to talk alone?”

  Lucy paused, her hand tightening on his shoulder. “Whatever you need to say, you can say in front of Brandon.”

  Well, damn if that didn’t stroke his ego. And since he was naked, he’d better try not to get a hard-on. He glanced over his shoulder and got caught in Lucy’s warm smile. The woman lit him up like a firecracker.

  Fuck, he really needed to get his mind off sex because he didn’t want to be kneeling here on the bed with an erection in front of two other people. So he went back to staring at Hard-Ass.

  Dark hair cut military short except for the front fringe that hung nearly to his eyes, the guy’s glacial gray gaze bored into his. He wasn’t tall, but he was built like a fighter, broad through the chest, lean through the hips and clearly not happy to see him.

  Yeah, well, the feeling was mutual.

  “Who’re you?” Hard-Ass asked.

  “Maybe you want to answer that question first,” Brand threw back at him.

  “Boys, boys.” Lucy’s tone held a hint of amusement that made Brand’s back straighten. “Play nice, please. There’s no need for macho posturing, at least not unless Cal’s naked too. Tessa, what’s going on?”

  Tessa giggled, her features becoming even more beautiful as she did, but she stopped after too short a time and sighed. “It’s a long story.” Tessa glanced at him again, her gaze making a thorough inventory before she glanced up at Hard-Ass. When she reached for him, her hand landing on his forearm, Brand watched the guy relax. And when Hard-Ass looked at Tessa, Brand knew Hard-Ass would do anything for his woman.

  Brand lowered his fists and felt Lucy’s breast brush against one of them.

  Yeah, really not helping keep the dick in line.

  Tessa’s mouth twitched again. “Maybe you want to, ah, put some clothes on, and we’ll meet you downstairs. I really need to talk to you.”

  Lucy stiffened, her expression screwing into a frown. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think you’re going to want to do this downstairs. I’m Tessa, by the way.” She smiled at Brand again before putting her hand on Hard-Ass’s shoulder and squeezing. “And this is Cal. We’ll wait downstairs. For however long it takes.”

  Brand caught the blonde’s raised eyebrows and bright grin aimed at Lucy before she turned a
nd dragged Cal out of the room.

  Lucy’s frown worried him as she reached for a silky blue robe lying on a chair in the corner, then tossed his jeans and T-shirt on the bed.

  “You okay?” he asked as he pulled on his clothes.

  She stood in the doorway, watching him with a look he couldn’t decipher.

  “Yes, I’m fine.” She gave him a smile before she turned and walked through the doors, probably headed for the stairs. “We’ll be in the living room when you’re dressed.”

  Throwing on his clothes, he dragged his hands through his hair then flat-out ran for the stairs.

  Lucy was worried. What the hell would a goddess have to be worried about? Jesus, did he really believe she was a goddess? He stopped at the top of the stairs, weight settling on his chest.

  All the doubts and questions he’d forced himself not to think about last night barreled through his brain now like a runaway train.

  Common sense told him there was no such thing as gods or goddesses. He should be running for the nearest exit, not running to her. Not worried that she’d take his memories for good this time.

  So how the hell do you explain that?

  He couldn’t. He didn’t have one Goddamn rational explanation for his jumbled memories of the night they’d spent together before last night. Drugs? He’d never heard of a drug that would do that except in TV shows. Electroshock therapy? Hypnosis? What?

  Maybe she’s just telling you the truth?

  Shit.

  At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if she told him the sky was falling and that there was a goddess to fix that.

  The oceans overflowing? Surely Poseidon—wait, Poseidon was Greek, right? Was there an Etruscan Poseidon? Oh, hell, were there Greek and Roman gods and goddesses?

  He forced himself to take a deep breath, bending over until he felt the need to hyperventilate pass.

  He’d have to go to college to study ancient mythology just to date this woman. Goddess. Lucy. To him, couldn’t she just be Lucy? Because if he continued to think about the rest of it, he might not think about anything else. And that was one fucking awful migraine just waiting to happen.

  After a deep breath, he took the stairs to the second floor and followed the sound of voices to that amazing living room.

  Tessa sat on a chaise, Hard-Ass standing behind her, one hand stroking through her golden hair.

  In here, with the lights shining, he saw how beautiful Tessa was. Her blonde hair was the exact color of the sun and her blue eyes recalled clear fall skies.

  “Are you a goddess too?” Tessa’s smile broke out again. Shit, he’d said that aloud.

  “You’re just too darn cute,” Tessa said. “And yes, Thesan, Etruscan Goddess of the Sun, at your service. Well, not really, but you get the meaning. But you can call me Tessa. And this is Caligo, but you can call him Cal.”

  Caligo, huh? Sounded foreign, though he had no discernible accent.

  “Brandon, why don’t you have a seat?”

  His gaze shifted to Lucy, sitting on the chaise opposite Tessa. She stared at him, an inscrutable expression on her face. So fucking beautiful.

  She held out her hand and he moved to take it before he realized he’d done so. When she tugged on his hand, he let her pull him down onto the seat beside her.

  Lucy’s gaze tangled with his for several seconds. She was searching for something… acceptance, fear, confusion. Whatever it was, she finally took a deep breath and turned back to Tessa.

  “Alright, Tess. Spill it. What’s going on? Where have you been?”

  After a quick glance up at Cal, who nodded, his hand squeezing her shoulder, she started. “Lying low. We know Charun is attempting to break free of Aitás by consuming deities. Namely, those of us who no longer serve much of our original purpose. After our meeting at Salvatorus’s a few months ago, he nearly caught me. I was this close,” she held her hand up, thumb and forefinger pinched together, “to being taken to Aitás by a tukhulkha demon.”

  “Blessed Goddess, Tessa, why am I just hearing about this now?” Shock rasped through Lucy’s voice. “What happened? Why didn’t you come to me? How did you get away?”

  “Well, I had some help getting away.” Tessa sent Hard-Ass an adoring smile that actually made the guy’s mouth quirk. “Cal and his father killed the demon before it got me into Aitás, but there were… complications and I spent some time, um, recuperating before I could get back to Cal.”

  “Recuperating from what? Tessa, were you injured?”

  “A little, yes, but…” She turned to Hard-Ass, who pulled her back against his thighs. Tessa didn’t seem to be able to complete what she was going to say.

  “We’ve been keeping off the radar,” Hard-Ass picked up the story, “making sure Tessa isn’t targeted again. So far, she hasn’t been.”

  “So we’re here to warn you. When I was,” Tessa slid a quick glance at Brand, “being healed…”

  “Tessa, just say whatever you want to say.” Lucy sighed. “Brandon knows what I am, what we are.”

  “Yeah, but does he know what that means?” Cal shook his head. “Eteri don’t handle this stuff well, Lady. You know that.”

  “Brandon’s handling himself just fine.” Lucy’s voice had a note of haughty control Brand had never heard from her before. He liked it. Especially since it made Hard-Ass nod and shut up.

  “I bet that’s not all he’s been handling well.” Tessa wiggled her eyebrows at him and Brand felt his lips curve in an answering smile. “How did you and Lucy meet, anyway?”

  “I’ve been watching her all season so I finally decided to track her down.” He didn’t mention the fact that he’d done it twice.

  “Season?” Tessa shook her head. “What do you mean?”

  “I play for the Reading Railers. So I asked the ticket office for her address.”

  Tessa’s eyes rounded in shock. “You gave out your real address for season tickets to a hockey team? Anyone could track you down. Oh, Lucy—”

  “I’m not that stupid, Sister.” Lucy sighed. “Brandon tracked me down through the County Recorder of Deeds. Apparently he’s resourceful.”

  “Yeah, well, he’s gonna need to be if one of those demons comes after you, Lady.” Hard-Ass scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Look, we’re not positive, but Tessa thinks she might have overheard something while she was… recuperating that makes her think Charun might be coming after you next.”

  Tessa nodded. “I would have come sooner but I only had this memory tonight. We came as soon as I woke. You haven’t been having any weird dreams lately, or thought about killing yourself? No visits from any tukhulkha demons?”

  Brand blinked, his mouth dropping open before he could stop it.

  Demon? Had she actually used the word demon? He needed a fucking glossary to keep up.

  Lucy shook her head. “No. No dreams, no demons.”

  “Well, maybe you better be on the lookout, Lady.” Cal gave him a critical look. “And maybe you want to get yourself some guards. Maybe have a few of your wo—uh, a few friends stay with you. I could arrange for my brother to stay with you for a while. He’s not a Sentinel but he’s damn handy with a sword.”

  “You’re kidding? A sword?” Brand snorted as the image of Hard-Ass in a kilt swinging a sword around popped into his head. “What the fuck—”

  “You have to separate a tukhulkha demon’s head from its body to kill it.” Hard-Ass looked straight into his eyes. “You either rip it off or you slice it off.”

  Okay. This conversation had just stepped over into the land of Bigfoot and ancient aliens, both of which Brand loved to watch on cheesy TV shows but neither of which he believed to be real.

  And yet the woman he’d spent the night having sex with thought she was a goddess.

  “So what does that make you? Captain Jack Harkness?”

  Did he actually see amusement glint in Hard-Ass’s gaze at Brand’s reference to Torchwood?

  “Oh!” Tess clapped her
hands, just once. “I love that TV show. That guy is just too cute. But no, Cal is Cimmerian.”

  Cimmerian. Where the hell had he heard that name before…

  Oh, no way. No fucking way. “Wait. Are you seriously telling me he’s Conan the fucking Barbarian?”

  Tessa laughed in a sunny burst of sound, while Lucy’s husky chuckle played over his skin like smoke.

  Hard-Ass rolled his eyes. “Fuck you, jackwad. Who the hell is this guy, anyway?”

  Brand stood, noting that he had at least two or three inches and probably twenty pounds of muscle on the other guy. “Brand Stevenson.”

  Cal shrugged. “Okay, so who the hell cares?”

  “Well, I think Lucy cares.” Tessa laid her hand on the guy’s arm and squeezed. “No harming the pretty eteri, Cal. You’re a hockey player, right, Brand?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ooh, I love athletes.” Tessa smiled and raised her eyebrows at Lucy, which made Brand smile at her. And made Hard-Ass the Barbarian scowl that much harder at him.

  “Fuck, at least you’re not a pansy-ass baseball player.” Hard-Ass turned and shook his head at Lucy. “Seriously, my lady, you can’t keep him. You gotta throw him back. He’s in no way prepared for what’s coming. I was barely able to protect Tessa and, yeah,” he glared at Brand, “I’m Conan the fucking Barbarian.”

  “Then I guess it’s a good thing I don’t need protection.” Lucy shook her head. “I don’t believe Charun would be so stupid as to attack me. I retain too much power for him or one of his demons to get the jump on me.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Tessa gnawed at her bottom lip. “I know over the years I… I lost most of my abilities and that made me vulnerable to attack. But just because you have some of your powers doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be worried. He’s sending his demons to do his dirty work, and they’re powerful, possibly more powerful than you. They’ve not been fading away on his plane for more than two millennia. They’ve been gaining strength in Aitás.”

  As the room fell silent, Brand’s head swam with an overload of information. Were the pretty blonde goddess and Hard-Ass the Fucking Barbarian really talking about demons? Probably not demons in the Christian sense of the word, which was all Brand—whose parents had never attended church in his lifetime—knew about.