Hope sang in her heart. “Will you do it?”
“I thought you’d never ask. Assuming the god will play along.”
The smile he flashed shot straight between her thighs. The way he was staring at her now was like he’d just peeled away a whole new, indescribably delectable layer of sex and was considering just how he wanted to devour it. Oh, man. What had she unleashed?
Now that she’d plunged all-ahead-full with her mouth, could she really do this? Let the god who had been playing her like a tightly strung fiddle take his fill of her? She let her gaze rake over him without the solid barrier of resistance she put up whenever he was around. Jet-black waves, burning eyes, bronzed muscle…
Could she let this exquisitely hot, ever-hard, arrogant male be the one to thrust her literally into another dimension? Hell, yeah, she could. He’d send her straight into an eternity in the arms of the man she loved. A fitting repayment for his little game on the beach.
When Lust finally tore his gaze from her, the room temperature seemed to have climbed several degrees. He looked at the male standing off sides. “What will we tell Grayel?”
“The truth,” Lexie said. She looked back and forth between them. “I can’t start a new life with lies between me and my mate.”
“What if he cancels the ritual out of anger?” Lust said.
She shrugged. “If he cannot be reasoned with and has no compassion, then perhaps he is not the right mate for me after all.”
She left Lust’s side and walked up to Love. “I’m sorry things happened this way, and I feel selfish to bring it up, but…” She paused.
“But?” he said.
“We still need a witness.” She took hold of one of his smooth hands, stroking the back of it and reveling in the silken, almost milky glow. “I feel like we developed a bond, you and I. A friendship. I trusted you enough to make me a goddess, and I trust you still. I’d be very happy if you agreed to be there when it happens, but I understand if that’s too much to ask.”
He shook his head, taking his time to find words. “I will be there if Grayel will allow it. Don’t worry about me, Lexie.” He took hold of her hand now, with both of his. “What I feel for you now is more than it should be for one who proxies in the act itself. But it is not yet something that would cause undue anguish when you ascend.” He glanced over her head. “Lust was right, though I’m sorry you had to hear it the way you did. I allowed my feelings for you to go a direction they had no right to. But I’ve been around a very long time, and I know how to let go as well as to grab hold.”
Lust cleared his throat. “I hate to break this up, but we’re running out of time. Lexie needs to have the rest of the symbols drawn so she can get dressed.” He shot her a wicked grin. “Or not. The towel is rather fetching.”
She rolled her eyes, but let him have his fun without rebuke. She would owe him more than she could repay if things worked out.
“The symbols are done,” Love said, catching her glance. “The ones on her back, anyway.”
Her heart began to pound again, and she felt her brazen desire slip. Maybe the effects of the paint didn’t last all that long. “Which one of you should do the rest?”
Love offered a sympathetic smile. “The one who will join with you should be involved in painting the secret words.”
Figured. She flicked Lust a glance. “Great. Back to the rug?”
“It’ll be easiest with you flat on your back,” he said. “Though you will be standing upright during the actual rite. So either way, I suppose.”
She glanced around. “And where will the ritual be taking place, exactly? I never had a chance to ask.”
His pearly teeth flashed. “My bedroom.”
Love stepped forward. “Lust’s room is where we planned to do the ritual all along. It’s the best equipped for something like this.”
She grunted. “I’ll bet. I’m sure there’s trapeze swings in there and everything. Okay, let’s do this.”
Once on the rug, Lexie lay back and stared at the ceiling while Lust cleaned the brushes and readied the paint. Her towel remained firmly in place. When he was ready, he sat down beside her, brush in hand, and shot a look at the towel. “You do realize, of course, that I’ve already seen your breasts?”
She sat up. “When? Did you peek in on me in the shower?”
“Calm down. And lie down, unless you want Grayel to stroll in and find you not ready and me bending over you on this rug.”
She complied, muttering under her breath.
“As it so happens,” he went on, “you were kind enough to push your bathing suit out of the way while you were giving me your sexual soul on the beach.”
She groaned. “Let’s not forget to bring that up every fifteen minutes.”
“You were the one who wanted to know who I was.”
As hard as she was biting her tongue she almost tasted blood, but she took a deep breath and loosened the towel. She closed her eyes and wriggled it down to her belly.
“Mm. Very nice.” He moved over her, and she tensed. Then he made a clucking sound of disapproval. “Surely my passion goddess isn’t going to lie there like a stiff fish during the Fere-Theo? You’ll never ascend if you don’t give yourself over.”
She opened her eyes and flashed him a look. “I’m not giving anything over until Grayel is here and the time is right. Now please, just try not to make my breasts look lopsided or anything.”
He laughed the deep, throaty growl that always sent lightning through her. He lifted the brush, but hesitated. “One more thing,” he said. “Love told you about the side effects of having the symbols painted on your back?”
She snorted. “It was more a case of experience being the best teacher.”
“The effect is magnified when the symbols are drawn onto an erogenous zone.” He leaned down close to her ear. “So hang on, baby. The wild ride starts now.”
The same cold, tickling sensation grazed her body as the brush came down on her left breast, just above the nipple. Tense as she was, she congratulated herself for not flinching like she had the first time. The brush was sensuous and artistic in Lust’s hands, and the painting went much faster this time.
“You’ve done this before,” she said, her voice coming through a tense jaw.
“Not for this ritual. But I’ve seen it done and,” he paused to dip back in the paint with a flourish and feral grin, “I’m not exactly a stranger to erotic body art.”
He’d barely gotten the last words out when two things happened. First, the symbols flared with heat, spiking hotter and stronger tingles of pleasure than the painting on her back. She sucked in a sharp gasp and fisted the rug beneath her. Lust wasn’t joking about the heightened sensation of having the symbols done on her breasts. Her nipples puckered of their own accord, and she caught herself wishing fervently that some of the paint would need to be brushed directly on them. Yet he kept painting around, but not on them.
The other thing was that her awareness of Lust’s unique aura immediately kicked into overdrive. It hit her like a hot wind, even more so than the night on the beach. This time, however, she was fairly certain he wasn’t doing it on purpose. It was more likely another by-product of the supernatural paint job. Either way, waves of his sensual power pounded her like a tumultuous sea. She stared at him, trying to determine if he was making his godly pheromones torment her, but he appeared to be focused on the work. Lexie concentrated on steadying her breathing, which seemed ragged and sensual to her own ears. She fought against wanting to arch her body up toward him, and the moan she ached to let loose from her throat. All new beads of sweat broke out over her forehead and neck, and her face felt flushed.
“How long,” she said, cursing the rather uncontrolled sound of her whisper, “does this last?”
“Does what last?” He stopped flicking his brush a moment and leaned close to her face. “The feeling that every molecule in your body is now an erogenous zone, all of which are bouncing off the others in a sexual f
renzy whose only purpose is the explosive orgasm that will render you immortal?” His smile possessed her.
She tried to swallow, but her throat had gone to ash. “Yeah. That.”
“Long enough.”
“Oh, god.”
“Right here, Lex. No need to beg.”
Her fingers grabbed the decadent fibers in the rug beneath her harder, and her eyes rolled back. Soon her entire body would be writhing and she would be begging, for his cock inside her. Any cock inside her, at this rate.
Distraction was what she needed. With the bowl of grapes upturned and its contents under the nearby chair, food wasn’t the ticket. She glanced down, trying to interest herself in what he was doing rather than what she was feeling.
The design was more than sexually electric. It was truly beautiful. The symbols looked like complicated spirals and twists and ancient stick figures of pregnant women and men with enormous, erect phalluses. Lust was bent over her while he painted, his muscles flexing invitingly under bronzed skin while he stroked the sensual ink over her flesh.
Then he began to chant some indecipherable language that intrigued and fired her need even higher. She lost control and cried out, her back arching up toward him. She couldn’t make out any of the words, but the message was clear. Each syllable fell thick and erotic from his mouth, and she found herself staring at the way his tongue and lips moved with each. She licked her lips and felt herself begin to slip over the edge of conscious control. Her body blazed with need until she quivered. When she found his eyes, the fire in them had gone out. They were blacker than night, almost alien. The air around his skin began to ripple, a mirage she had seen in both gods from time to time. Only this time, the illusion spread wider around him and pulsed with an odd rhythm.
Something on her chest caught her gaze, and she gasped. “Look!”
The symbols were throbbing and moving. Spirals were spinning, and phallic males and big-breasted females were undulating in dance. The sacred words were coming alive, and she felt every atom in her body sizzle with erotic life. The sensation was undeniably potent.
Lust grunted in satisfaction. “Your body adapts well. It sings to me of its yearning for the ritual and the change.” He leaned over her, his lips very close to hers. “Which I cannot wait to help grant.”
Her breath was ragged, and her entire body was vibrating with erotic energy. “Grayel better hurry the hell up.”
His lips curved into an erotic bow she wanted very much to capture lightly between her teeth. Then Lust was suddenly gone from her side, and the canvas bag with him. He shoved the canvas at Love and headed back to his room.
“That’s it?” she said, pushing up on her elbows.
“Don’t sound so disappointed,” he said. “I’ve a couple things to do to make ready. I’ll be back shortly.” He threw a glance at the other man. “Keep her warm for me.”
She held the towel loosely around her waist while she rose and headed for the large, gilded mirror on the wall near the bar. She stared at the pulsating symbols on her breasts, then twisted around and pulled her hair aside so she could check her back. More were in full motion there, too, dancing and writhing from her shoulder blades down to mid-waist. Everywhere they touched, her skin tingled and ached for sexual release. She watched, mesmerized, while a soft moan escaped her throat.
“You should get dressed now,” Love said from close behind.
She turned to see him holding the gown out to her. His gaze dipped to her breasts, but quickly shifted away. Lexie took the gown and considered whether to seek the privacy of her room while she put it on.
“Don’t let us stop you.”
Lust was already back, and her mouth fell open at the sight of him. He wore all white, including slacks of some buttery material that in her current madness made her want to rub the rigid bulge evident along the front. A sleeveless duster-type robe with a Chinese collar hung open, displaying plenty of rippled flesh—including a shining silver hoop ringed through one of his nipples. In his favored black he was a smoldering god of passion, but in white he was sex incarnate.
“Wow,” she forced past a suddenly thick tongue. “That was fast.”
He laughed. “Apparently time gets a bit distorted for a mortal wearing the god’s words.”
“He’s been gone twenty minutes,” Love said.
She frowned. “Really?” It only seemed like moments. Or had it been hours? The drug-like effect of the symbols made it impossible to tell. “I didn’t know you owned any white. Or were allowed to wear it.”
“Like it? I sent out for it.” He held the front panels of the long robe out farther. “This being a special occasion and all. Black absorbs energy, while white reflects. It will aid in the ritual.”
“You sent out for it just now?” she said with a wry tone. “Or were you planning on getting this reflective and fancied up just to be the witness?”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Love cross his arms.
Lust shrugged. “One never knows. Doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”
“Almost like you knew we would trade places,” Love half-hissed.
A perfect dark brow arched. “Please. With the way you’ve been eyeing her? Like I said, didn’t hurt to be prepared.”
Love strode right up to him. “I’d hate to find out you were exerting any of your unique influence to ensure your preparation would pay off.”
Lust threw his head back and laughed rather devilishly. “My influence? Falling prey to sappy emotions is your unique influence, friend.” He moved closer and slid his hand over the other man’s crotch, cupping the bulge there and stroking it. “This is mine.”
With her supernaturally heightened senses, Lexie could feel Love’s body respond, feel his cock thicken between his legs and his abdomen tense with pleasure. She licked her lips again and wondered whether Love would fall under the sway of his comrade’s seductive powers right in front of her. It would be so damned hot to watch the two of them together, witness a thousand years’ pent-up desire spend itself in a steamy rush of male fluids.
Lust’s tongue licked the other man’s outer ear, and Love groaned. She could sense his balls tighten against his body while Love continued to stroke his cock. Her thighs grew slick and her palms moist.
To her disappointment, this time it was Lust who broke contact and stepped back. Eroticism hung in the air like smoke in a pool hall, punctuated for long moments by their heavy breaths.
Finally, Lexie couldn’t stand it any longer. “Well, great,” she said. “Lust is ready, Love’s ready to watch, everyone’s ready but me. Guess I’d better get dressed.”
Lust made a sweeping gesture. “Like I said, don’t let me stop you.”
She rolled her eyes and raised her chin in defiance. “Fine.”
She’d planned to dress in her room, but her impatience and the heated, unabashed feel of the sacred words on her flesh shed her inhibitions. With a yank she pulled off her towel and let it drop to the floor. She held her breath for several moments, waiting for the inevitable embarrassment and smart-ass sexual harassment. Neither came, and silence seemed to roar as she stood naked before two gods.
When the lack of communication grew too maddening, she held out her arms and made a slow circle. Returning to her starting point facing Lust, she said, “There. Happy?”
The trademark smolder punctuated his expression. “Ecstatic.”
She swallowed and gathered up the voluminous fabric over her arm. She struggled to pull the dress over her head for a moment, then she felt Love behind her. His own warmth melted on her superheated skin. His hands brushed her arms while he helped her put on the gown, shivers coursing through her at his touch and the feel of his breath on her neck. When the lustrous material skimmed over her body, she reveled in the sinful feel. Fabric rubbed delightfully across her nipples and down over her bare ass cheeks, and a little sigh of pleasure escaped her lips.
He was still close behind her when she turned, tipping her head up to find his eyes
a rich jumble of sinuous blues.
“Well?” she said, pulling her hair out from what little there was to the back of the dress and holding out her arms.
He took a step back and let his gaze slide over her. “You’re unbelievable.”
She turned to the other male. “You’re quiet all of a sudden. How do I look?”
Lust blinked for a moment. “Like a goddess,” he said at last.
She flushed with gratitude at the genuine compliments and turned back to the mirror. Her thighs flashed in and out of the slit in the long skirts as she floated back to check out the finished effect. “Oh, my.”
“Indeed,” Lust said with half a laugh.
The dress alone seemed to transform Lexie into something more than mortal. It shimmered like diamonds possessed by gypsy fire, and she twisted back and forth to watch the colors shift. She loved the way the gown caressed her thighs with each motion, the way the colors seemed lit from within. Her nipples were visibly erect through the fabric, and her curves were barely visible under the many sheer layers that fell all the way to brush the floor around her. The skirt slit wasn’t visible when she was standing still with her legs together, but the deep plunge in front and back showed much of her torso and the mystical tattoos coiling and snaking over her. The front vee hit below her navel, ending barely above her patch of reddish pubic curls. Rounded breasts were exposed almost to the nipples. Despite the snug fit, one false move would have her popping out all over the place.
The rainbow crystal tone complemented her complexion well, and her skin looked dewy with a nice blush of color. Her eyes were clear and bold, and her lips tinged a natural glossy red. All in all, she was as ready to meet her future mate as she would ever be, and judging by her wide pupils and the damp throbbing between her legs, she was beyond ready for the ritual that would change her forever. Her gaze shifted again to the undulating symbols. Would she feel this way all the time once the “secrets of the gods” had absorbed into her flesh? If so, her husband better hope he didn’t have much in the way of godly responsibilities. She would be keeping him far too busy in the bedroom.
Allister, J. Rose - Immortal Menage [Immortal Paradise 4] (Siren Publishing PolyAmour) Page 14
