Jesus, what other powers did Lucy possess? And where the hell was Cimmeria? He thought Robert E. Howard had made up those stories about Conan. He’d devoured those books as a kid.
What did that make Hard-Ass? Was he human? Or something else? He looked human. Hell, Lucy and Tessa looked human, too, but they claimed to be goddesses.
Questions. Too many damn questions.
And that crack about him not being able to protect Lucy—and Lucy’s obvious belief that he couldn’t—had hit a little too close to his manhood. He took a fucking beating three nights a week on the ice. His body was rock solid with muscle and able to withstand more physical pain than most of his fellow players.
But if they were talking about actual demons with superpowers… Well, hell, could they be right? Maybe he wouldn’t be able to protect Lucy from whatever this demon threat was.
And that would suck. Big time.
Christ, he was getting a headache. Did he even want to try to figure out what the hell they were talking about?
“Brandon, are you okay?”
He turned his head to find Lucy staring at him, concern evident in the tightness of her expression. But he saw something else in her eyes. Pity?
Fuck that. And fuck thinking he didn’t want to ask questions. Lucy hadn’t sent him away to deal with this herself. She’d invited him to listen in.
“I’m fine. Just a little lost.” He ignored Hard-Ass’s snort, though it made his hands curl into fists. “Who’s Charun?”
“God of Aitás, our Underworld,” Lucy answered, her expression loosening a little. “FoGEs are what we,” she nodded toward Tessa, “call ourselves. The Forgotten Goddesses of Etruria.”
Forgotten goddesses. That’s not something that came up in conversation every day, now was it? “How many are there?”
“Well, there were twenty-four at one time, in addition to several minor deities,” Lucy continued. “Over the years, we’ve lost touch with some and others have disappeared completely. We don’t know what happened to them. After so many centuries, some of us couldn’t find a new purpose to support our existence. It was… an untenable position for some. The world has changed so much over the centuries that some couldn’t keep up.
“Tessa used to control the rising and setting of the sun—”
“Until that bitch Aurora took my job,” Tessa cut in, her mouth screwed up in an adorable frown. Even angry, the woman lost none of her appeal.
Lucy… Lucy only got more beautiful with each passing second.
“There’s no love lost between our pantheon and the Romans’, as you might be able to tell.” Lucy smiled at Tessa and Brand thought he’d melt into a puddle at her feet. Damn, he had to be off the deep end. “When the Romans assimilated the Etruscans, many of our people adopted the Roman culture and religion. Some of our people remained true to us, but worship had to be conducted in small, secret groups. Though the Romans were surprisingly tolerant of those who practiced other religions, the Roman deities tend to be… jealous.”
“Try psychopathic,” Tessa muttered.
“And when the Roman Empire fell,” Lucy continued, “the Etruscans’ ability to control the elements and harness that power made them feared and persecuted by the Christians. The Catholic Church hunted our people and forced them into hiding in the ever-shrinking forests and hidden places of the world.
“For centuries, we remained in Etruria, until many began to scatter across the ocean to the Americas. Most settled along the eastern seaboard, but there are four main cities that house a large number of Etruscans. The largest of those is Reading. This village is a tiny offshoot of those who settled here. Everyone who lives here is Enu or Fata.”
“Enu? Fata? What are those?”
Lucy didn’t bat an eye. “The magical races of the Etruscans. The Enu are humans who control power and wield what you call magic. The Fata… Well, the Fata are the elemental races. The fairies.”
Fairies. Right. “So you’re telling me Reading, Pennsylvania, is home to an entire race of magical beings from Italy?”
“Yes,” Lucy and Tessa answered in unison.
Hard-Ass just shook his head and rolled his eyes, like Brand was a lost cause. And maybe he was because, Jesus, this just got more fucked up.
“And no one knows about this?”
“Well,” Lucy said, “obviously we know about it. Not many of the eteri do, though.”
“And that means regular humans, right?”
Lucy smiled and he felt like he’d just aced a test for his favorite teacher. “That’s right.”
Okay. Okay, he could deal with this. Yeah, it was a lot to absorb in a short amount of time. But he’d memorized entire playbooks in one night after being traded the same morning. He’d get up to speed.
So does that mean you believe all this?
Brand looked at Hard-Ass, knowing the guy had a plan. A guy like him always had a plan. “So, what are you doing about Charun?”
“You don’t need to worry about that, Brand,” Lucy said. “You aren’t in any danger.”
“But you are.” Brand didn’t even glance her way, just kept his eyes on Hard-Ass. “What happened to Tessa?”
“Charun sent a demon here to capture her and take her back to Aitás.” Hard-Ass’s voice had dropped another octave. “The demon got her as far as Cimmeria before I caught up. We both almost didn’t make it out.”
There was a hell of a lot more to that story, but the color had drained from Tessa’s face, so Brand decided not to push. He’d get the guy alone later and get the full story.
“So where’s Cimmeria?”
“Cimmeria is the border between the planes of existence.” Hard-Ass said each word as if they wouldn’t rock any sane person’s world. “You have to go through Cimmeria to get to Aitás or any of the other planes beyond this one.”
Yeah, that was probably another one of those pieces of information Brand didn’t want to think about right now, because if he stopped to ask questions, he’d have so many others they’d never move forward.
Brand turned to Lucy. “You need to lie low for a while, disappear. You can come stay with me—”
“He’ll find her wherever she goes and you can’t stop his demons,” Hard-Ass said. “I had a rough time and I don’t feel pain.”
“You’re kidding. Like, no pain at all?”
The guy shrugged, like it was no big deal. Huh. Brand had an unusually high tolerance for pain but he still felt it.
“I’m not leaving my home.” Lucy’s voice had an edge to it that left no doubt as to her sincerity. “And I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. I do appreciate the warning and the concern, but I’m fine. And I’ll continue to be fine.”
“But Lucy—”
“Tessa. I’ll be fine.”
The two women stared at each other until Tessa sighed, rising from the chaise. She’d given up. Obviously, she’d known Lucy a lot longer than Brand and knew when to throw in the towel. “Alright, we’ll leave, though I hope you’ll keep your eyes open.” Lucy rose and gave Tessa a hug. “Keep safe, Sister.”
“You do the same, Tessa.”
As the women said their good-byes, Hard-Ass pinned him with a look he didn’t have any trouble interpreting. Lucy was in trouble, no matter what she thought. And Brand was supposed to keep her safe.
“Tess and I will be around if you need us,” Hard-Ass said as he tugged his goddess toward him. “Just contact Sal if you want to take me up on my offer. I can have a man here in minutes.”
Lucy just shook her head as Brand stiffened at the thought of another man keeping her safe. Jealousy didn’t suit him but he’d be damned if she cut him out now.
With a final wave and a sweet grin, Tessa wrapped her arms around Cal’s waist as his went around her shoulders. Then the guy spoke a few words Brand didn’t understand and they were gone.
And not like walk-out-the-door gone. They were disappear-into-thin-air gone. Brand’s mouth literally fell open as he stared at the p
lace the other couple had stood only seconds ago.
Vaguely, he felt Lucy rise and begin to pace but he was still trying to digest this latest development.
Holy shit.
They’d fucking disappeared. Even after everything he’d heard, everything he’d seen, that one took the cake.
Closing his mouth, because he gaped like a fish out of water, he shook his head and caught Lucy staring at him.
“Can you do that, too?” he asked.
She shook her head, “No, I can’t. Not any longer.”
“But you used to be able to do that?”
“Yes.”
She’d lowered herself back onto the chaise and stared up at him with a look he really didn’t like.
That look said she’d come to a conclusion about something. And he wasn’t going to like whatever decisions she’d made. Damn, how had he come to be able to read her so well in so short a time? “So why can’t you now? I mean, you’re a goddess, right?”
“Yes, I am. And I can still do parlor tricks…”
She disappeared and he didn’t realize until she spoke that she’d reappeared on the chaise behind him. “Like shield myself from your view for a short period of time. But I no longer have the ability to travel great distances. And much of my power is siphoned off to protect my people.”
“Your people? You mean the Etruscans?”
She paused and he had the feeling she was going to lay something new on him. But she only nodded.
They fell silent as she got that look again, the one he knew meant she was thinking about him. Hell, he didn’t have to be a mind reader to know she was thinking about wiping his memories again.
Fuck that.
Bending, he reached for her, grabbed her by the arms and dropped his mouth on hers. He’d thought to take her by surprise. But she’d been ready for him. She remained still under his hand, her mouth unmoving under his. She made him work for what he wanted. And what he wanted was her surrender.
His mouth moved over hers, sealing their lips together before he teased his tongue along the seam of her mouth. Her taste seeped into his, into his bloodstream, where it ignited a firestorm of desire.
His cock twitched, more than willing to join the battle for her desire. And this was a battle. One he had to win. Because if he didn’t… If he didn’t win, she’d strip his memories and this time he wouldn’t remember a Goddamn thing about their time together.
So he played with her, let his lips work over hers until she finally opened to him. Just a centimeter but he took what she offered and slipped his tongue between her lips, into the warm, moist cavern of her mouth. His tongue slid against hers, coaxing her to play.
She didn’t respond right away. He felt her restraint in the tenseness of her muscles, the stillness of her body. He wanted her hands on his body, needed to feel her touch. But she continued to hold back.
Hell, maybe she was done with him. Maybe she’d had her fun, and now that it was morning she’d decided it was time for him to go.
Shit. Maybe he’d worn out his welcome. He pulled back to stare down at her.
“Lucy.” Shit, what the hell should he say? He wanted her again. He hadn’t wanted another woman like this in years. Maybe ever. “Do you want me to leave?”
She didn’t say anything right away and a chill swept through him. Her expression gave no clue to what she was thinking; her gaze was inscrutable.
Damn it, he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to pin her to the wall, against that mural, and get so deep inside her she’d be able to feel him in her throat. He wanted to fuck her brains out, as crude as that sounded.
But he wanted her to want it just as much. She had last night. She’d been just as hot for him as he had been for her.
Finally she sighed, lowering her gaze as she shook her head. But he had no idea what the hell that meant.
“Come on, babe, just tell me. Do you want me to go? You only have to say the word and I’m out of here.”
Lucy shook her head again, though she didn’t have a clue what to do.
She knew she should erase his memories and get him home, back to his life. Without her.
But… she couldn’t do it. She literally couldn’t force herself to whisper the spell that would erase her from his mind.
She wanted him again, like she’d never wanted anyone, god or man. She couldn’t look into his eyes but her gaze had dropped no lower than his chest. So broad, so powerful.
She wanted to lean forward and lick those six-pack abs, before she let her mouth follow that sexy-as-hell line of muscle down his stomach to his cock.
The thick outline of it pressed against his zipper, the ridge in his jeans pronounced. Beckoning her, begging for her hands to release him so she could suck him off and feel him explode in her mouth.
Blessed Goddess. She could barely breathe, lust roiling in her gut like a wild animal, stealing her capacity for rational thought.
“Lucy.”
Damn it. Every time he said her name, her clit tightened and pulsed as if he’d reached between her legs and stroked her.
She wanted him to do that. Wanted him to take the decision away from her. Every day of her very long life, she’d had to make choices. Life and death. Choices that kept her people safe, kept her lucani free from the torment of the Malandante, those evil bastards.
That she’d failed several times before only made her more determined not to again. And this man was one huge, raging distraction just waiting to completely destroy her.
Why? She lifted her gaze, determined to tell him he had to leave. But her breath caught at the intensity of emotion written all over his face. His desire, his absolute craving for her made her resolve quiver and fall to pieces at her feet.
And when she opened her mouth to tell him he had to go, she couldn’t get the words out.
Because Brandon grabbed her by the shoulders, pulled her up against that gorgeous chest and slammed his mouth down on hers again, kissing her with a need just short of violence.
Her mouth opened under the onslaught, her body bowing under the force. Her hands grasped at his waist, as if she’d fall over if she didn’t have something to anchor her.
Oh, Gods, the man could kiss. His lips, firm and hot, moved over hers with purpose, coaxing a response she wasn’t sure she wanted to give. And didn’t think she could deny.
His tongue forged into her mouth, sliding against hers and making her shiver. She opened farther, letting him in deeper and gave up all pretense of pushing him away.
He groaned and she knew he’d correctly read her actions as surrender.
Her breath caught in her throat as she expected him to take the intensity down a notch, which she so did not want.
She wanted—
With a growl, he slanted his mouth so he could get deeper and his hands shot down her back to her waist. No, not her waist. To the front of her robe. He practically ripped the fabric off her body, causing her breath to hitch in her throat.
Gods, yes.
Naked now, her nipples peaked and aching, she tried to pull him closer, to rub her breasts against the soft cotton of his T-shirt and get a little relief.
He wouldn’t let her. He held her away from his body, his hands and lips her only contact with him.
Her need grew, clawing at her gut. She moaned a low, desperate sound that caught her off guard.
So embarrassing, and yet Brandon clutched her tighter, and she swore she felt heat blast from his skin, drenching her.
His hands left her abruptly, as did his mouth, but she had no time to protest because he grabbed her off her feet, walked a few steps, then her back hit the wall with a breath-stealing jolt.
She had a second to catch her breath as he lifted her against the wall, the muscles in his arms bulging and his gaze hot enough to peel paint. He practically dared her to tell him to stop.
Tinia’s teat, she was drowning in so much lust she didn’t think she could speak. And she certainly didn’t want him to stop. Instead, she wrap
ped her legs around his waist and drew his hips into hers.
His thick, hot cock rode up against her clit, the denim of his jeans rough enough to provide good friction as she moved against him.
His gaze dropped to watch her for several breathless moments until he leaned just far enough away that she couldn’t reach his mouth.
“Brandon…”
“No way do you get to get off yet.” His voice had lowered to a feral growl that made her pussy clench. “Not until you pay for even thinking about taking away my memories again. You’re going to be screaming my name before I shove my cock in you.”
“I don’t scream.” She had to force the words out of her mouth, barely able to get enough air to speak.
“You will. Now shut your mouth before I put you on your knees and stuff my cock in it.”
Blessed Mother Goddess. She shivered even as her blood flowed like lava through her veins and her muscles tightened in painful need. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll bite it off?”
His lips curved into a sharp smile. “You like what it can do too much to hurt it, babe. Hell, you’re practically begging for it now.”
Damn him, he was right. She wanted to whisper the words of the spell to remove his clothing but she was too caught up in the moment to want to change the dynamics now.
So she watched as he lifted her just high enough to get his mouth on her breasts. She’d wondered if he’d slow down, now that he had her under his control. Torment her with slow, teasing licks.
No, he fell on her like a starving animal, attacking her breasts with his mouth and teeth. His lips circled one nipple, sucking it into the heated cavern of his mouth and rasping his tongue over the hardening tip. Her head fell back against the wall, hitting with an audible thump and sending an instant of sharp, shooting pain through her head, quickly replaced by lust.
When he’d made that nipple rosy and so hard it hurt, he switched to the other, giving it the same treatment.
Air became a scarce commodity. Her lungs burned for the lack of it. Still, she’d suffocate before she told him to stop. Not that she thought he would.
He feasted on her, teeth and tongue working her breasts while her hips arched, trying to connect with the erection he kept so selfishly in his jeans.
How to Worship a Goddess Page 9
