“You too?”
He glanced over.
“I came out here to clear my head, try to get back in the swing of things. But I can’t even seem to eat meat anymore, let alone kill it myself.”
He nodded. “It is the same for me as well. I have no idea why.”
“I think I do. In my case, at least.” She gestured around the clearing. “Here is all this beauty, and for a brief moment, I was part of creating it. I tapped into something that’s hard to explain. It was like the power of creation. The life the tree had lived, still vibrant and aware, the flowers blooming, it was surreal. And it affected me more than I realized in the heat of the moment.” She let out a breath. “I guess what I mean is, I connected with the essence of life during your ritual. Now I can’t find it in myself to destroy that kind of essence by taking a life.”
“You have found a deeper meaning and reverence for the power of spring,” he said. “I confess that I, too, discovered something new in our time together. That ritual opened my eyes to a new strength in my calling, one that does not lie in the skill of my bow.”
“I think I understand.”
“I am not certain you do entirely. My desire, my personal calling, has long differed from the duty to which I was appointed. In fact, they were at cross purposes, the sabbat god and he who aspired to become god of the hunt. Now I see I no longer wish to be pulled between the two.”
“I get it. Being both a hunter and a god who is supposed to revere life, well, it’s problematic at best.”
“A problem, yes. But while I have made peace with my duty as god of the sabbat, I find there is a whole new problem.”
“What’s that? Do you feel guilty?”
He tried to say, even if she wouldn’t care. Still, the words got stuck in his throat.
“I feel guilty,” she said, kicking at the eggshells with the toe of her boot. “I have regrets.”
He looked at her. “About the animals you hunted?”
She shook her head. “I don’t mean that. Well, yes, I do have some regrets about that, I suppose. But I meant that I’ve been thinking about the way we parted, and I didn’t want you to think I was chasing you off.”
“Weren’t you?”
“No.” She was looking at her hands, and he watched while she plucked idly at her fingers. “I was afraid that I should hurry up and say goodbye before you had the chance. Maybe so I wouldn’t get any ideas.”
“What sort of ideas?”
“About us. About there even being an ‘us’.” She sat straighter. “I mean, I knew what I was getting into. It was just going to be a quickie. Not that I’ve had a lot of them, but I am an adult. And not the clingy, high-maintenance type.”
He was looking at her, certain that his confusion showed in his expression.
She must have seen, for she folded her arms. “There, I’ve done it. I’ve started babbling, and you have no idea what I’m talking about.”
“You are trying to talk about us.”
“I’m trying to say I understand that there isn’t an ‘us’.”
His fingernails dug into the stump beneath him. “Then I suppose there isn’t.”
“Isn’t what?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”
She chuffed out a breath and stood up. “I guess this doesn’t really happen to you, since the women you pick for the ritual aren’t conscious.” Her eyes widened. “Is that the real reason you join with them that way? So they won’t want anything when it’s over?”
“What would they want?”
“You. Them. Together. Not just a wham-bam ritual. They might expect you to start a relationship.”
His eyes widened now. Her words, confusing as they were, crystallized for him. His heart began a drum beat as he rose.
“You want us to be together.”
Her eyes widened too. “Me? No. I was just saying that I understand why that isn’t possible.”
“And why isn’t it?”
She blinked. “Wait. Now you’re confusing me.”
“Then let me make it clear.”
He rose and bridged the space between them, taking her by the upper arms. Her eyes had gone wide, and yet they fluttered closed when he crushed his lips to hers. She was stiff with apparent shock for a moment, but when his tongue pushed in, demanding entrance, she melted and responded. Whatever comprehension they had lacked in conversation, his kiss had broken through the barrier.
***
Tallisun’s kiss stole her breath, quite literally, for he was pressed so tight against her lips that her airway was blocked completely. Harper could have cared less, for she was too busy putting her arms around his neck in order to pull him even closer.
She shuddered when his hands swept down over her shoulders, hungry and seeking. She wasn’t sure what any of it meant, not in the long term. But in the short term, he wanted her. If that had been enough last time, maybe it could be enough now.
And it was very nearly enough, if she followed her instinct to focus only on the hard bulge of his muscles, the way his warmth seared her, and the need to pull his head down so his eager tongue and demanding lips could find new places to inflame. Her body and mind were of one accord, which was to get Tallisun to pleasure her to the same heights as before. Her heart, on the other hand, wobbled and skipped and pounded, not just with the thrill of his touch, but with a warning. She could kid herself that even the second time they had made love, it was still just part of the ritual. Maybe they had needed a second release in order to fully expend the vast and potent power they had invoked. If she gave herself to him again, however, there could be no pretense of their passion being a one-time thing. They were no longer engaged in an act that would serve some lofty, greater purpose in the realm of immortals.
Could she manage a friends-with-bennies arrangement with a god? He could pop in at will, enjoy her body, and then go back to his own world—and his actual life. And come next Ostara, if he hadn’t grown tired of her already, would the next spring maiden prove enough of a distraction for him to stop coming around?
Could she deal with there being a next spring maiden?
Her desire cooled, and her hold on his neck relaxed. It took Tallisun a moment to figure out that she was no longer in tune with him, but when he did, he slowly pulled back and looked at her.
“What is wrong?” he asked. “Do you not want this?”
“I do.” She took a step back and hugged her upper arms to steady herself. “I want it too much. That’s the problem.”
“How is that a problem when I am right here to help you correct it?”
“And then what? Disappear back to a realm I can’t see, with no way to contact you? Do I just sit around and wait until the next time you decide to drop by?”
He stared at her with his jaw slack. “Harper, I...”
She held up a hand to cut him off. “I know. You can’t say anything I haven’t already told myself. I’m just being stupid and selfish.” She shrugged and let out a deep sigh. “I guess that’s the truth of it. I don’t want to be fuck buddies with a guy I can’t even text when I’m in the mood for a booty call.”
His quizzical expression, with glazed golden eyes and open mouth, was almost enough to make her laugh. If only she didn’t feel like she’d just tossed away the golden goose because it wouldn’t lay on her command.
The thought made her laugh.
“I do not understand,” he said.
“Hardly surprising, because I don’t understand, either.” She tipped her head back and dragged a hand through her hair. “Oh, Tallisun, what am I doing?”
“I fear you are doing something I am about to regret very much.”
“I’m already regretting it.” She looked at him. “Call me a jealous fool, but I don’t want to have sex with you for a while and then send you off to lift the skirts of a new spring maiden next year. Knowing that day is coming would put a real damper on our relationship.”
“You want
a relationship.”
“Yep. Go ahead.” She waggled her fingers in beckoning motion. “Tell me how far out of my league I am.”
He was grinning. “We have a relationship.”
She stopped waggling. “Don’t you start making fun of me again. Not about this. I already feel stupid enough.”
The smile evaporated. “You misunderstand. I mean we already have a relationship. We have been together, are together now, and you wish for us to stay that way.”
“And I told you, I can’t do that with a new spring maiden just eleven and a half months away.”
“I don’t want another. You are my spring maiden.”
“Yeah, this year’s model. What happens next time?”
“You will be next year’s maiden as well.” He stepped closer and took her hands in his. “There is no rule that says the Ostara maiden must be a new selection each year. You will be she who helps me call forth the power of spring for years to come.”
His thumbs traced the backs of her hands, lighting off little sparks that shot up her arms. He wanted her to be with him. She almost couldn’t believe she’d heard the words. Year in and year out, together with an immortal.
She frowned when that reality sank in. “There’s one big problem with this plan of yours.”
“And what is that?”
“You will want a new spring maiden eventually. Maybe not next year, maybe not even in five. But when I start getting old and unattractive, you won’t want me shuffling over to the altar with a cane and my granny shawl.”
He let out a clear, ringing laugh that set the birds overhead into an excited twitter. “And is my immortality your only concern?”
“A rather large and insurmountable one, I’d say.”
He shook his head. “Then allow me to ease your mind. There is an...effect that humans experience when they become the consort of a god. It is little known these days in the earth realm, for gods and mortals do not intercourse as much as they once did.”
She cocked her head. “What sort of effect?”
“My life essence, when shared with you as matter of course, will alter your state of health. It will extend your life span.”
“Being with you would make me immortal?” she whispered.
“Not as such. But very well preserved.”
“Talk about friends with benefits,” she said.
She tried to process what he was offering, the monumental life change she was feeling highly inclined to agree to.
He made a face. “Friends? I think not. I have other plans for you, consort of the spring god, that will lie well beyond the realm of friendship.”
She blinked. “And I really won’t age at all?”
“You will, as do I. It will simply happen much more slowly.”
“Now there’s a beauty tip I’m betting my roommate doesn’t know about.”
His expression sobered. “Nor should you tell her. Many humans could not be trusted with the knowledge of what we can offer.”
A flicker of guilt hit. “I’m not supposed to tell Jessica about you? Because I sort of already did.”
“She is aware that you have joined with a god of the sabbat?”
“Well, no. I didn’t put it that way. She would have thought I was crazy if I tried to tell her I was part of a sex ritual with a pagan god.”
He grunted. “And we shall keep it that way.”
“It would take a long time for her to see how well preserved I am, anyway. But she is the queen of nosy, and she will want to meet you.”
“If that is necessary, I am prepared.” He reached into his vest.
She laughed. “Sunglasses?”
“I am told they block the color of my eyes.”
That they did—and they gave him a very human, sexy god-of-rock look to boot.
“Great,” she said. “What will you do when you come inside?”
He frowned and peered at her over the top of the lenses. “They do not work indoors?”
“Only if you’re a Fed or a celebrity. Plus there’s the matter of your antlers. Didn’t you say they’ll start growing back?”
“Within a few weeks.”
“Then we’ll work fast.” Her brain was spinning. “You can come meet her before then. There’s an outdoor cafe we like. You can keep the glasses on.”
“And later, when the antlers have returned?”
“I already told her you live far away. She won’t expect to see you around much if you’re a long distance thing.”
“A long distance thing. I do not like the sound of that.” He swept an arm around her waist, dragging her up against him. “I prefer you much closer, within easy reach.”
Talk of semantics in human-immortal relations ceased when he kissed her this time. She pulled his sunglasses off, dropping them in the flowers at their feet, and held his face while she explored his hot mouth. Hunger flared, silencing all her earlier worries, and she opened herself to the entirety of the experience—his scent, his warm skin, the energy palpable from the clearing around them.
He pulled her toward the stump, but she stopped. “I’d like something a bit more padded beneath me this time.”
She tugged on him then, urging him down, and he took the hint by laying her among the flowers. He caressed her face, smiling down at her until she grew giddy from gazing into those golden, searing eyes, and then clothes were melting away, hands were groping, stroking, his hard erection pressing into her hip while her clit throbbed for attention.
“Harper,” he murmured into her hair.
She didn’t need an explanation. “Yes. Now.”
He shifted his body on top of hers, and she spread wide for him. When he pushed in, both of them groaned, and the sound of relief as well as pleasure was evident. They rocked together, Harper sliding her hands into his hair, feeling the slight nubs that would sprout horns soon, grabbing hanks of his long, silvery locks instead while they made love on the ground of a living forest. The power of the spring ritual swelled all over again, even though there was no sound of the sabbat horn to intoxicate the senses. Tallisun was more than enough, driving into her, slowly making her go mad, digging in harder as she held him until, with a shout, they both came.
He laid there, his cock still throbbing inside her, for a short while before rolling away. She turned to face him, watching his drowsy, pleased expression. She draped an arm over him while he traced the dips and curves of her waist and hip.
Tallisun’s smile faded to something different. He froze, staring at something behind her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Shh,” he said in a whisper. “Look behind you. Slowly.”
She felt a pang of alarm at that, wondering why she had to be quiet and cautious, but she did as she was told. Then she sucked in a happy little breath.
“Oh!” she said. “Hello there.”
The rabbit stood on its hind legs, his ears tall and perked forward. The pale brown fur quivered, and his pink nose twitched with interest at the god who had come to his forest.
“I am not accustomed to visitors who do not run as soon as they are aware of me,” Tallisun said.
“Probably because you would have had an arrow aimed at them.”
“True. Perhaps he senses my change of heart.”
The rabbit lowered himself like a furry little ball close to the ground, pretending to sniff something among the white blossoms while keeping his round eyes focused on Tallisun. Then he stiffened, turned, and hopped away.
Tallisun let out a booming laugh that sounded like every bit of the immortal god he was. He got to his feet and wandered over to pick up his leggings and tunic. She sat herself up, watching while he pulled the garments over his lean, toned body.
Her clothes had landed in a pile beside his, and after a moment, she stretched and sighed. “I suppose I should get dressed too.”
He gave her a wicked grin. “I do not think so.”
He snatched her clothing and backed away.
“What are
you doing?” she asked, making a grab for them.
He jerked them aside and held the items aloft while he continued to move back.
“Stealing my clothes again, god of spring?” she asked, hands on her hips. “This is getting to be a habit with you.”
“Staying naked around me should be a habit you never break.”
He headed straight into the forest in the direction of her old camp, jogging away with her clothes held up like a prize. She knew where he was going, and with a grin, she followed him toward the lake.
In the times that followed beyond the Thousand Seasons, local folklore claimed that if one encountered a rabbit or crushed eggshells in the woods near the sabbat of Ostara, they should stop and listen. Chances are they will hear the faint echoes of laughter and feel the spring come alive in the woods, an energy more powerful than the might of an immortal hunter. It is the spirit of spring. The spirit of love.
*The End*
✯ ☆҉‿➹⁀☆҉☆ ✯ ☆҉‿➹⁀☆҉☆
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Read on for a look at the next tale- Jorandil: God of Beltane:
ABOUT JORANDIL: GOD OF BELTANE:
A woman is in danger because she surrendered to his passion...
It is the time of Beltane, and Jorandil, half angel and god of the sabbat, knows that the fate of worlds rests on his wings alone. He must find a virgin for the ritual of Beltane, an act that will seal the dangerously thinning veil between realms. But he secretly longs for a woman who will feel his touch. And when he finds Cadence, she stirs something deep inside him—even before she responds with a passion he will never forget.
Cadence is so stressed out with college studies that she wonders whether she hallucinated giving her virginity to a dazzling, erotic angel. When she can’t put aside her feelings over the hot, but all-too-brief encounter, she decides to do something crazy to see Jorandil again. But she has no idea she’ll be putting her life in jeopardy to do it.
Jorandil learns his lover is in grave danger, but his father refuses him passage to the mortal realm. He must risk everything to make a deal with an old enemy, crossing the veil to save the woman he cannot deny he wants for far more than a sabbat fling.
Tallisun: God of Ostara (Sons of Herne, #3) Page 10
