The Brazen Amazon

by Sandy James

  Zach tersely nodded.

  Johann frowned. “But was it operational?”

  “No. We’d only run a few simulations. Neither was hooked up to real nuclear weapons, but—”

  “Oh, my God,” Gina said, her voice a harsh whisper. “Sekhmet could start a fucking nuclear war.”

  Zach squeezed her hand. “Theoretically, yes, but...the Toys weren’t quite ready.” He inclined his head to the one on the table. “And now that one’s broken. The one she has is useless without its twin.”

  “Ah,” Freyjr interrupted, “but Sekhmet has built another—a match to the one she stole.”

  “Wouldn’t matter,” Zach replied. “She can have all the new Toys in the world and they won’t work.”

  “Why?” Gina asked.

  “No operating system,” Johann replied, clearly getting all the techno-chatter that tended to fly right over Gina’s head. “Zach’s been explaining all of this to me, and I think I understand. Sekhmet can have the hardware, but she doesn’t have the encrypted language the Toy speaks. Only Zach knows how to program that.”

  Freyjr scoffed. “You humans—so terribly arrogant. There is nothing an Ancient cannot do. You, wise man, are nothing and will be but a worm-ridden corpse while the Ancients go on forever.”

  Gina rose to the bait. “Zach has a right to be arrogant. He’s one of the smartest people in the world.”

  “His shrouded body will still rot in his grave. Even geniuses can die and be wrapped in winding sheets.” Freyjr’s gaze scanned Gina as a frown settled on his lips. “And what care I for the opinions of a woman who prefers the love of her sisters to all others? What care I for a woman who desires only other women?”

  Gina froze, standing still as a statue. Freyjr had found her Achilles heel, her biggest fear of what people believed about her if they didn’t know her.

  He wasn’t done with the insults. “Such a shame a body with that much power is wasted on women. Perhaps you need a man to tame you, Gina Himmel.” He put a hand on Sarita’s shoulder. “Yet I understand why you love someone as beautiful as Water. She is a temptation to all men—” he looked to Gina, “—and clearly some women as well.”

  Zach took a protective step in front of her, which was probably a good thing. If she could get her hands around Freyjr’s throat, Ancient or not, she would choke the life right out of him.

  “If you’re implying that Gina isn’t feminine, you’re an idiot,” Zach said with a clenched jaw. “She’s one of the sexiest women I’ve ever known.”

  Freyjr ignored Zach’s defense and sighed as if tired of the brewing fight. “Perhaps if she dressed as a woman, someone might someday mistake her for one.”

  Gina couldn’t even look at Zach as she blinked against the angry tears that threatened to fall. No way would she let Freyjr know how bad the barbs he’d tossed had wounded her.

  She had to leave before she lost what few threads of control she had left. One leap allowed her to swing from a wooden rafter like a monkey. One swing from that rafter put her at the door, and she ran from the hall as if her clothes had caught fire.

  * * *

  “Something I said?” Freyjr asked with a chuckle.

  “You’re an asshole.” Zach wanted to deck him. He would have if Sarita hadn’t come to stand at his side and lay her hand on his arm.

  “Don’t, Zach. He’s not worth it.”

  “But—”

  “Just wait,” she whispered. She inclined her head at Ix Chel.

  The goddess held her palm out, and a bolt of lightning shot at Freyjr, catching him in the chest.

  He took a couple of stumbling steps back before shrugging his shoulders and straightening his scorched jacket. A wave of his hand and the burn hole repaired itself. “It would appear I have worn out my welcome at Avalon.”

  “Aye,” Rhiannon replied, giving Ix Chel a nod. “You truly have.”

  Ix Chel returned the gesture.

  “Does my sister agree?” he asked.

  “I fear I do, brother,” Freya replied. “We shall meet another time.”

  “You may leave now, Freyjr,” Rhiannon commanded. “We need no more of your mischief.”

  The god smirked, snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light.

  Zach turned to Sarita. “I need to go after Gina. Where would she go? Her cabin?”

  “No, she’ll be at her tower.”

  “Tower?”

  “In the woods.” She gave him a sympathetic smile. “You’re right. You should go to her. Freyjr humiliated her. She got teased her whole life because she could beat the guys at any sport she tried. Some of them called her a dyke.”

  “Idiots,” he muttered.

  “She’ll pout a good long time over what Freyjr said, especially since he said it in front of you. You need to soothe her.”

  “But no one can find her,” Megan added. “Not if she’s at her tower.”

  He was tired of feeling ignorant. “Why not? Isn’t it in the woods?”

  “Usually, but it doesn’t stay in the same place,” Sarita said.

  Avalon just got weirder and weirder.

  Ix Chel stared at him hard as if trying to delve into his character.

  He didn’t know why he was so concerned because the goddess had already declared he was Gina’s mate. Ix Chel surely knew how much he loved Gina.

  She finally spoke. “I protect her privacy in this place where there is often too much...camaraderie. My Gina has always been alone. Always. Despite her love for her sisters and Avalon, she has never truly known a home and its comforts. Sometimes she needs to be in a place to commune with the night sky, to pull her strength from my moon. I have gifted her with a place she can go where she can trust that she is always alone. I gave her a sanctuary—a home of her own—within this realm.”

  Rhiannon arched a blond eyebrow. “You dare spin your magicks in my Avalon?”

  “I dare all where my Amazon is concerned.”

  Zach didn’t want to wait around for a divine cat fight. Gina needed him. “I’d like to go to her, m’lady.” He showed the goddess the same respect Artair and Johann showed by thumping his pec with his clenched fist. “Can you help me find her?”

  “I cannot find her unless she calls me.” Ix Chel’s frown changed to a knowing smile. “You are her mate, Zachary Hanson. If you follow your heart, it will lead you to Gina.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “If you follow your heart, it will lead you to Gina.”

  Ix Chel had to have been pulling his leg. But Zach followed her instructions, closed his eyes and pictured Gina. He started walking as something drew him, tugging like a rope wrapped around his waist, before he opened his eyes.

  He found himself in a maze of trees so deep in the fragrant woods he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to find his way out again. Still he walked, feeling her hurt and fear in his heart as if they were his own.

  This magicks stuff’s fucking creepy.

  He found the clearing and stopped to stare. Sarita hadn’t been kidding. Gina really did have a tower, although the word hardly did the place justice.

  About three stories tall, the platform looked a lot like the band director’s perch at his old high school. The tower rose from four support beams that held a large deck on the top. There was no ladder, and had he not known Gina’s ability to defy gravity, he would have figured there was no way to the top.

  Could she really leap that high?

  Yep. This magicks stuff was really creepy.

  He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted. “Gina? You up there?”

  Her groan was loud enough for him to hear.

  Zach waited for her to answer.

  She didn’t.

  “Gina? Are you okay?”

  “Go away, Zach.”

  “Can I come up?” She’d come here to be alone, but something told him she would welcome his company. Why else would he have been able to find her so easily? She could always tell him to buzz off. Not that he’d pay a
ttention to that. She needed him, and he needed to be with her. “I want to come up.”

  The stubborn woman didn’t reply.

  “Rapunzel, Rapunzel. Let down your long, golden hair.”

  At least she chuckled.

  “C’mon, love. I need to hold you.”

  Zach was about to figure out whether he would ever be strong enough to shimmy up one of the support beams when her exaggerated huff reached him.

  “Fine. Whatever.”

  Not the invitation he’d hoped for, but after all the nonsense of the day, he would cut her some slack. His fingers brushed the cold metal support, but he couldn’t find any way to climb up to her. He made a circle all the way around the enormous tower before he admitted defeat.

  He sure as hell couldn’t jump up there like his spiked-haired Rapunzel could. “Where’s the ladder?”

  Another loud groan. “Why can’t you leave me alone?”

  “Gina, please. I need to see you. I need to know you’re okay.”

  Zach had to spring out of the way when a knotted rope came tumbling over the side. He had a bad flashback to gym classes in high school. He’d been a beanpole who couldn’t climb the rope and ring the damn bell at the top. Gym was the only class he didn’t get an A in.

  That was then.

  This was now. He’d climb that blasted rope even if it killed him, because Gina was waiting at the top.

  Rubbing his hands together, he grabbed the knotted line and climbed. A bit amazed at how easy it was compared to when he’d been a kid, he took satisfaction in scaling Gina’s tower.

  She grasped his hand when he made it to the platform and helped him haul himself the rest of the way up.

  “I’m impressed.” She pulled the rope back up and dropped it in a big pile next to her feet.

  “Yeah? Well, so am I. I wasn’t sure I could make it to the top.”

  “Artair and Johann would be impressed too. Not many people could make that climb.”

  “You did.”

  “I jumped.”

  “Seriously? All the way up here?”

  At least she was smiling now, albeit a hesitant smile that quickly faded.

  Smooth wood planks made up the platform surface, and huge throw pillows covered in velvet and tapestry were scattered about. “Wow. Nice place you’ve got here. Doesn’t all this stuff get wet when it rains?”

  She gave him an exasperated sigh. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

  “Get what?”

  “Magicks. My goddess controls the sky. My tower never gets rained on.”

  “Never?”

  She pointed heavenward. “Look up. No clouds. I can always see her moon and all the stars.”

  Zach glanced up to ascertain the truth. Not that he doubted her, but he was tired of making chit-chat, especially about things like magicks he was having a hard time swallowing. “You didn’t need to run away.”

  Gina stared at the toe of her shoe she was dragging along a wooden plank. “I was embarrassed.”

  “Why?”

  Her gaze found his and he could read the hurt there in her eyes. “Because of Freyjr—you know—what he said.”

  “Freyjr is a horse’s ass.”

  At least the remark got a twitch of a smile to cross her lips. It quickly faded. “You don’t think I’m too...masculine? Freyjr always says I am.” She stared at her shoes again. “I was always playing sports. I ran faster than anyone, even the guys. I’m just...a tomboy. Haven’t changed much. Lots of people think I’m not very...feminine. That I’m a...a...” She never finished her thought.

  Zach understood.

  He reached for her hand, glad he didn’t have to play tug of war to hold onto it. After he raised her knuckles to his lips, he kissed them one by one. “Gina, love, there’s not a single thing about you that’s masculine.”

  Her head shot up as she gaped at him. “Really? But Freyjr says—”

  “I told you, he’s a horse’s ass—an idiot. I’d rather talk about us.”

  “So you really don’t care?”

  “Care? About Freyjr? Hardly. He’s a spoiled rotten pretty boy who has special powers that make him think he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.”

  “Oh, so you’ve met him before.”

  When she smiled, she stole the breath from his lungs. “How could you think anything Freyjr would say would change how I feel about you?”

  A blush colored her cheeks. “No guy wants to date a girl like me. Especially someone as—um—someone like you.”

  “I don’t want to date you. I want to rip your clothes off, toss you on those pillows and make love to you in the moonlight.”

  “We should be looking for Sekhmet.”

  “Your sisters and the guys can keep looking until we get back,” he said. “Right now, I want you.”

  “But Freyjr said—”

  Zach tugged her into his arms. “Fuck Freyjr.”

  He settled his mouth on hers, kissing her slowly until he broke down the stiff resistance in her. His tongue lazily stroked hers and he savored how she responded, melting against him and looping her arms around his neck. They were both breathless when he pulled away.

  “Fuck Freyjr?” she asked with a seductive smile. “How about fuck me instead?” Gina buried her lips against his neck, nibbling and licking and sending fire sweeping through his veins. “Right here,” she whispered before blowing in his ear. “In the night air, in the moonlight.” Her teeth tugged on his earlobe as her hands trailed down his chest to his pants.

  “We’ll roll off the tower.”

  No way he could pay attention to how close they were to the edge when he was making love to her. She made him lose all conscious thought. All he could do when he loved Gina was revel in the feelings she sent ripping through him.

  “I’ll protect you.” She unzipped his fly.

  “Amazon Security?” he said with a wink.

  When she smiled, her white teeth gleamed in the moonlight. “Yeah. Your own private Amazon. Up close and very, very personal protection.”

  He tugged his shirt off and dropped it on the planks as she slipped her hands over his hips and dragged his jeans and briefs off. She followed them down and knelt in front of him. Then she reached out and wrapped her long fingers around his erection.

  “It’s so...cute.”

  He groaned. “Cute? You can’t say it’s huge or it’s daunting or it’s sexy? You have to call it cute?”

  All she did was laugh before she ran her tongue up the length of his shaft.

  He quit caring about her choice of vocabulary. “Gina, you don’t have to—”

  She stopped long enough to glance up at him, her beautiful eyes full of desire. “I know I don’t have to. I want to.” With a grin, she turned her attention back to his cock.

  When she took him into her warm mouth, all Zach could do was hiss his approval. He threaded his fingers through her purple hair and savored each caress her lips, tongue and mouth gave him. His control, tenuous at best around her, was ready to snap.

  “Gina...” He hauled her up by her arms. “I have to be inside you.”

  He yanked her shirt off and tossed it on the platform. It was closely followed by her sports bra. A quick pull on the drawstring of her workout pants and they puddled around her feet. He eased her panties down until they dropped on top of her pants.

  They knelt together, and Zach kissed Gina as he lowered her to her back. Those gorgeous breasts couldn’t go untended, so he kissed each before pulling a hardened nipple into his mouth.

  Gina writhed beneath him, her hands against the back of his head, holding him in place. “Zach...please.”

  He pushed her legs apart with his knee and settled himself between her thighs. “Is this what you want?” Stopping right before he entered her, he rubbed his erection against her core.

  “Yes, oh, yes. Please, Zach.”

  He didn’t make her ask again. Surging into her body, he found all he’d ever looked for in life. This woman was
his, would always be his. He’d never want another, not when she was exactly what Ix Chel had claimed. His mate. Buried deep inside Gina, with her silken heat squeezing him tight, felt too perfect to doubt the goddess’s claim.

  The words in his heart spilled from his lips. “I love you.”

  Saying it aloud was easier and easier, but she didn’t reciprocate. He vowed to find a way to pull the words he needed from her, because he knew she loved him, even if she couldn’t say it.

  Gina’s back arched as her hips rose to greet him. Her palms covered his backside, pressing him deeper inside her.

  Leaning in, he kissed her, letting his tongue play across hers and enjoying her uninhibited response. He gave her the same measure—no plotting or planning how he would make love to her. Just raw passion and need. She gave him the freedom to let go and love her. He pulled back until he almost slid out of her before thrusting back inside. Her moan urged him to do it again.

  She tugged on his hair and locked her legs around his hips, which meant the time to tease had ended. He caught a fast, hard rhythm that made her come apart in his arms. Rearing her head back she shouted his name as her body clenched around his cock.

  Hearing her pleasure was enough to rush Zach to his own orgasm. One last, glorious thrust, and he buried his head against her neck, whispering how much he loved her.

  Gina said nothing in return.

  * * *

  Sekhmet shot to her feet the moment she spotted the man she most wanted to destroy strolling into her throne room like some conquering gladiator of old. Cocky. Self-assured. And, despite the fact he should be nothing but dust, very much alive.

  The Destructor narrowed her eyes at his audacity. “You dare much. I should take your head from your shoulders and mount it on a pike as a trophy. You took my secrets to those women—those Amazons.”

  Richard didn’t bow his head. Of course, he’d never given her the proper signs of respect she received from the other Sons of Gaia. His arrogance had been what made her lure him to her bed. She needed a lover who would not cower at her strength.

  Richard never cowered—he commanded. And he’d pleased her more than any other lover.