“Veils between our worlds, thin enough to allow passage,” he said. “All that remains now of the ties binding mortal and magic.”
“Where is this portal? Here on the island? Is that why he brought me here?”
Love also rose. “Yes.”
She frowned. “Wait. He was here less than forty-eight hours ago? So was I. Why didn’t he come see me?”
Love shrugged. “He intended to when he came to explain his intentions to us and enlist our aid. But he was delayed and had to return to the realm to make preparations. However, he planned to join with you as usual in your dreams.”
She shook her head. “But he hasn’t been in my dreams since I left San Diego. I thought he’d abandoned me, right when I’d finally done what he asked.”
“I am to blame for some of that,” Love said, his head bowed. “Had I not responded to the unhappiness I felt strongly from you last night, he would have come to you.”
“He would?”
“My dream bonding with you blocked his access, something for which I was promptly summoned to his side to explain. I can tell you he was most unhappy about it. I’m sorry.”
“So where is this portal?” she asked.
He nodded toward the rear of the large room.
Lexie had somewhat registered the presence of a large, open veranda, but hadn’t paid it much attention. Now she walked toward the stunning sight, her eyes widening with each step. The balcony had no doors. The marble flooring just continued out through a pair of large stone columns. A pair of gauzy white drapes blew in a lazy breeze, and a bright sun blazed in through the wide opening. Beyond a large stone railing, she could see sand and the ocean sparkling like a diamond treasure.
She blinked, staring hard at the anomaly. Love followed, close by her side. Sand and ocean were hardly a shocking sight out the window of a beachfront resort. However, they were allegedly nine stories up, but the sand and surf here struck out from just beyond the rail as though they were on the ground floor.
“How can this be?” she said, more to herself as she drew close to the double columns.
She hastened her step, intending to rush outside and check her logic. Then Love grabbed a hold of her arm.
“You can go no farther,” he said.
“Why not?”
Lust spoke up, still standing across the vast room. “You’ll die if you do.”
She turned to Love. “I can’t go to him?”
He shook his head. “To take even a single step into the portal would kill you instantly. The energies involved are not compatible with human life.”
“How can the beach be way up here?” She looked around. “We are ‘up’ here, aren’t we? I thought the elevator brought us up to the ninth floor.”
“It did.” His gaze shifted to the view off the balcony. “That is not the same beach that exists here on the island.”
She shook her head. “Where does it exist? The twelfth realm?”
“Just outside. A common portal that threads several realms together.”
Lust walked up, arms folded. “One of very few left on earth after the great battle.”
She turned to him. “Battle?”
He smiled. “Ever wonder why your ancient texts speak of gods like they walked and talked with men, yet in modern times there are no accountings of it?”
She shrugged. “It seemed weird to me that there were arks and burning bushes and miracles for thousands of years, then nothing since.”
He nodded. “Exactly. Something changed that altered interactions between humans and immortals.”
“What was it?”
“A terrible battle between immortal realms,” Love said. “Two thousand years ago. Up until that point, the veil between worlds was thin and pliable. Immortals could cross into human space almost anywhere on earth, and if they so chose, could take mortals back across without harm.”
Lust swooped in on her, suddenly animating into the role of storyteller. “Then flying monsters that are considered giants in the biggest of realms came crashing through the veil, intent on enslaving any immortals who crossed. We are momentarily weakened when we pass through the veil, you see, and they used that advantage. Many of our kind were taken or killed until several realms held a war council and came to a decision.”
She frowned. “They closed the barrier?”
His smile was not terribly pleasant. “They obliterated it, using combined powers never seen before or since.”
“The melded thunder,” Love said, his eyes haunted. “A joining of hands across realms surrounding the barrier. Imagine the joint power of ten thousand gods, forged at the same moment and directed at the veil.”
Her eyes were wide, and she shuddered at the thought of what it must have been like to witness such a thing.
“The veil exploded,” Lust said, eyes glimmering, “consuming the winged gargantuans guarding the passage, along with some of our kind and yours. A handful of immortals trapped on the earth side volunteered to fight the remaining gargantuans, and soon it was over.”
Love nodded, looking off into the distance. “Over, but not finished. Many were dead, the veil was gone, and the doorways between our worlds were destroyed forever. Or so we thought.”
“A few bits of the veil were discovered intact, areas where the energy barrier hadn’t quite been blown away,” Lust said. “Not many, but they provided ways for us to cross over. This island bears the largest single pocket of remaining entry points. However, the energies are unstable in most of them. Only a few remain on earth that are safe enough for a human to cross.” He threw her a grim glance. “This is not one of them.”
She pushed back the curls hanging in her face. “So in order to be with me, Grayel would have to stay on this side of the portal? Forsake ruling his people?”
“No.” Love walked up to her and reached for her hands. She offered hers without question. “He wants you to rule by his side.”
She stared down at his warm, creamy skin, resisting the urge to brush her thumbs over the backs of his hands. “How can I? You said the portal will kill me if I try to cross.”
His voice sounded like liquid velvet. “It will kill a mortal who tries to cross, yes.”
Something twinged in her stomach. “I don’t understand.”
Lust came up beside the other god. “We have the power to change you. He wants us to make you a goddess.”
She’d taken two steps backward before she realized she’d moved. “What are you saying?”
The two males exchanged glances. Lust spoke up first. “Oh, do let me tell her.”
“I’ll do it,” Love said. “Grayel wishes to bestow the gift of immortality on you,” he told Lexie, “so that the two of you can be together. Otherwise, the only way he can ever be with you is in your dreams.”
She frowned. “Can’t he just come through the portal to be with me?”
“He means sexually,” Lust said. “Even if he were to travel through the portal, Grayel cannot touch you if you do not become his goddess.” He arched a seductive brow. “You would not survive any of the things you’ve done together freely in dreams.”
Her eyes narrowed. “How do you know what we did in those dreams?”
He smiled. “I have quite an inventive imagination.”
She ignored the attempt to bait her. “So we can’t touch at all unless I agree to become immortal?”
Love shook his head.
“How can there be demigods, then? You said they have one mortal parent.”
Lust shrugged. “Such matings now occur between demigods and humans. We are quite capable of handling sexual contact with either side.”
“So you’re really not a god at all, then, are you? You’re only like a quarter god.”
The look he fired back was less than amused. He gestured to indicate Love and himself. “We predate the current mating issue.” To her confused look, he added, “Before the veil between worlds was all but obliterated, there was a greater compatibility between humans and
full gods. Many of us were born during that era.”
She wrinkled her brow. “How did destroying the passage change that?”
Love stepped closer. “It is not certain, other than exposure to the tremendous power of the explosion altered human structure to where they could no longer tolerate the energies of a pure god. Now, only we can survive a direct mating.”
“But humans can survive mating with a demigod,” she said.
“Barely,” Lust said. “Some of us employ such erotic skill that the human’s pleasure threshold might be exceeded. Quite dangerous.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Love said, shooting him a look. “He likes to exaggerate his prowess. Demis and humans are quite compatible as mates.”
Her eyes met his as he made the comment, and she swallowed down the heartbeat trying to pound its way into her throat.
“He only voices doubt because he hasn’t taken me out for a test drive.” Lust sent the other male a seductive look, and lowered his voice to a simmer. “He’s too afraid to find out that I’m right.”
Lexie’s eyes widened at the bold suggestion, and she felt her face burn. She’d never seen an outright sexual come-on between men, nor had she considered the sexual preference of these two. Lust obviously had great desire for women, and the way Love looked at her seemed to make his proclivities clear. Still, she supposed it made sense that the god Lust should be well versed in all manner of sexual pleasure. He swung both ways.
She ran a gaze over each of the two men before her, one tanned with hair and eyes as dark as sin itself, the other fair and gold as sunlight. An image floated into her mind of the two of them together, their bodies slicked with sweat and muscles flexing while they groped one another’s naked flesh. Her stomach did a surprising little flip.
When she returned from the brief mental side trip, her gaze landed on Lust to find him staring at her with a smug, knowing grin.
“What?” she snapped. “Don’t tell me you can read my thoughts, too.”
He shook back thick waves of ebony hair. “Your thoughts read you. As does your body.” He circled around behind her, stopping at her ear. “Your breath quickens, your skin flushes. And your pupils are wide. Need I go on?”
“Please don’t.”
He finished his circle and wandered over to Love, coming around to stand just behind him. He captured Lexie’s stare and held it while he ran his hands over the man’s shoulders. The pair had similar builds, though Lust was the larger, and both men were gifted with perfectly carved muscles that rippled in places she shouldn’t let her gaze roam. Even from her stance a good several feet away, she could see the burnished simmer in Lust’s eyes dial up to a blaze.
“You’ve never seen passion consummated between men, have you?” he said.
She swallowed, not trusting herself to answer.
“Stick around, goddess-to-be,” he went on. He pulled back strands of flaxen gold from Love’s neck and, while still staring at Lexie, pressed his full, moist lips to the creamy skin near Love’s shoulder. “You may well get your chance.”
Her eyes shifted to Love, and her heart skipped at the sight. His eyes were glazed in a bright peacock blue, and his sensual lips were parted. Further down, the front of his pants bulged with an arousal that shocked her. Lust seemed in a constant state of erection, so much so that she wondered how he managed to walk without pain. But to see Love react with such obvious desire shot heat through her belly. So, mortals weren’t the only beings affected by the power of Lust. And Lust wasn’t the only one with the endowment of a mating bull.
She tried to shake herself loose from the thoughts swirling in her already overactive imagination. Her voice quivered. “Who said I was planning on sticking around to become a goddess?”
Lust’s gaze burned into her. “You’ve been fucked so magnificently in your dreams night after night that you flew all the way here to experience the feel of his hands on your real flesh.” Her breath caught when he slid his palm over Love’s toned, rigid abs. The other god’s piercing blue eyes fluttered closed briefly. “Surely you’re not going to simply turn your back on such passion and leave just when things are getting good?”
His hand brushed lower, just near the waistband of Love’s trousers. Silence spanned between them for an awkward span of moments. The only sound was that of the blond god’s breathing growing deeper. Her eyes followed the stroke of Lust’s hand, and then traveled lower to see the cock jumping and straining in the other’s slacks. Then Love cleared his throat and sidestepped Lust’s teasing, shooting him a slightly irritated look. The dark-haired god shrugged at him.
She shook off a slight disappointment she found rather unsettling. “Assuming I decide to accept Grayel’s offer, what would I have to do?”
Love opened his mouth to reply, but Lust stepped in front of him. “Uh-uh. This part of ‘the talk’ is definitely my department.”
He gestured for Lexie to sit back down on the couch, which she did. What surprised her was when he got down on his knees in front of her and gently took her hands in his warm grasp. She started to yank back, but he gripped tighter and gave a small shake of his head.
“The process Grayel intends to use is called the Fere-Theo,” he said. “It is a marriage and mating ritual that, if done right—and only if done right—will change you into an immortal.”
A marriage ritual. “How?” Her voice cracked on the word.
The skin of his hands seemed to heat. “The ritual involves him giving you his immortal essence by claiming you as his mate—sexually.”
Her eyes widened. “But you said I couldn’t survive that.”
“Not ordinarily. But in the Fere-Theo, the mortal is shielded from the full impact of the god’s energies as they are absorbed.” He flicked a glance over at Love. “By way of a proxy.”
She frowned. “I have no idea what you mean.”
He smiled, though not his usual predatory grin. “You cannot survive direct contact with a god. But a demigod can. And a demi can also mate with a mortal.”
She fidgeted in her seat, not sure she liked where this was going. “Can you please skip the whys and just cut to the how?”
“The Fere-Theo requires a three-way mating,” he said. Now the predatory gleam simmered. “A demigod sandwich, to put it as plain as I can.”
Her eyes flew wide. “I’m not sure I can even picture how that would work.”
“I can offer you a demonstration,” he said, his usual tone of insincere banter returning. “Love can play the part of Grayel.”
Now, she yanked her hands back. “No, thanks. I just want a straight, no-bullshit explanation, not a live performance.”
His laugh raked low through her pelvis. “You want it straight? Here it is. The god cannot fuck you directly, so instead he penetrates a male demigod. That demi then enters you. So you are being fucked while the god fucks the proxy. If done right, his essence will transfer through the proxy to you safely, but powerfully enough for you to transform.”
She willed her cheeks to cool, staring at him for a full five seconds before responding. “You bastard.”
He raised a brow. “Excuse me?”
Lexie pushed him back and stood. “I knew what you were up to the minute I walked in here and saw you lounging over a chair. Both of you really had me going, didn’t you? Concocting this whole story as an excuse to get me into bed with you. I could kill you for playing me like this!”
Lust got to his feet, brushing nonexistent dust off his pants and appearing utterly unfazed by her venomous outburst. “I’m immortal, my fiery pet. You can’t kill me.”
She shook a fist at him. “I’m not your pet, and don’t be so sure. I might just be able to Google up a way to make your life hell. Tell me, do you come up with this crap any time you want a woman to fuck you? Or am I a special chump case?”
He stood there, amusement glimmering in his expression. “Who said anything about me sticking around to fuck you?” He threw a pointed glance at Love.
; Love nodded. “He’s telling the truth. He was not chosen to be the Shah-Hai ‘Na.”
She folded her arms and looked at the other man, god, whatever he really was. “Okay, I’ll bite. What the hell is a shuh-high-nuh?”
“The in-between one. The god’s proxy.” He took a step toward her, stopping at her attempt to level him with her glare. “Grayel did not select Lust to be the sexual partner. Perhaps he sensed how well the two of you would get along.”
“Got that right.” She snorted. “Okay, so if it’s not him…” Her sentence trailed off as the answer dawned on her. “You?”
He nodded.
She tipped her head back and closed her eyes. “They always say it’s the quiet, nice ones you have to watch out for. Figures.”
The men were silent as she stood that way for a moment before reopening her eyes. “I’m going to go now,” she said at last. “I realize this is the resort-o-love, and every chick here probably gets her fair share of pick-up lines. So let’s just call it even, and make it clear that I’m not interested. And damn, get a new angle. Surely good-looking guys like you can do better than, ‘Hey, wanna be our sex goddess?’”
She wandered to where her bag sat abandoned on the floor, picked it up, and was halfway to the door when he said a single word.
“Lexie.”
The voice was Love’s, and not merely spoken. It resonated throughout the suite. Throughout her very core.
She froze. Though reluctant to do so, she slowly turned around to face him.
The bag hit the floor with a thud.
The exquisitely formed blond was literally radiant as he approached her. Beams of pure white-gold light shot around him, and his eyes glowed with indigo fire. He had grown a good foot taller than she’d recalled.
Then her eyes traveled to his feet. He walked toward her, but not on the ground. He hadn’t grown. He’d elevated.
Blood drained from her head so fast she literally threw herself down on her hands and knees on the marble floor before she could faint. His power was palpable, and energy surged around them with an audible crackle in the air. The hair on her arms and head stood up and tingled with electricity.
Allister, J. Rose - Immortal Menage [Immortal Paradise 4] (Siren Publishing PolyAmour) Page 8
