by Cate Masters
Now she really didn’t know what to say. “Thank you. So much.”
Persephone pulled her into her embrace, and then eased back. “Will you come back to visit us?”
“Yes, of course.” Not for awhile, maybe. Absence might make her miss them, crazy as they were. Everyone had some crazies in their family. Why should Lily be an exception?
Persephone kissed her cheek. “When you’re ready, I’ll see you out.”
To the portal. “Thanks.”
Her grandmother closed the door, leaving Lily alone with Hades.
“I’m sorry if I ruined things.”
Hades rocked back in his chair and bit his pen. “Change is the nature of the world. It’s no different in the Underworld. Adapt, or be left behind. I prefer to stay a step ahead.”
“Then you don’t hate me for upsetting your plans?”
“I don’t mind duping an employee not clever enough to figure out something so simple. No one should make a deal with the Devil and expect it to be what he really wants. Where’s the fun in that? The challenge? The scintillating sizzle that makes it all worthwhile?” He laughed, and sat forward. “To maintain control, I will announce the change as if it were my idea. And some good came of it. Your actions revealed a disgruntled goddess – or two. Veronica aligned against me with Lilith, who’s still hungry for revenge. I will be prepared for next time.”
Now Lily knew where she got her hard-headedness from: good old Granddad. “What will happen to Veronica? And Zeveriah?”
“They’ll share some quality time in prison, no doubt whiling away the time like most prisoners.”
“I’m sure they’ll appreciate the opportunity.”
He leaned forward, nose wrinkled. “Don’t tell anyone I said this, but even the worst things have a way of working out for the best.”
“I’m glad I visited. Thanks again for everything.”
“If you ever need any financial advice…”
Right. She wouldn’t be asking him. Another thing she learned from Hades: trust no one. Especially her family in the Underworld.
***
Outside the elevator, Persephone hugged Lily. “I’ll miss you.”
Lily glanced at Bodie, braced in her father’s arms. How had he managed to enter the Underworld? She had so many questions. First things first.
She withdrew from her grandmother’s embrace. “Will you be all right?”
“Your grandfather’s an intelligent man. He’ll know better than to anger one goddess, let alone three. Especially when one is his wife. Goddesses deserve to be treated as such. Always remember that.”
“You really do love him.”
“Yes, and I’ll make it up to him. He may have lost a CFO, but he gained a granddaughter.” She patted her tummy. “And he’ll be thrilled when I tell him I’m expecting.”
“I’m going to be… a niece?”
“It’s time for breaking tradition, apparently.” Persephone touched Illiana’s cheek. “Isn’t it?”
Illiana took her mother’s hand. “Yes.”
“Demeter would be thrilled if you visited. She’ll be moving into a new house soon. There’s a large guesthouse on the property, and fertile fields. And stables,” she added, looking pointedly at Zacharel.
Her parents exchanged a hopeful glance.
“Our daughters have begged us to move from The Neutral Zone,” Illiana said.
“Daughters? I have sisters?” I knew it. “When can I meet them?”
“Soon.”
Lily couldn’t wait. “You’ll bring the baby to visit, won’t you?”
“Of course, darling. You can teach her to dance.”
Nothing like another goddess to fortify the family tree. This one would be able to make her own decisions. Like Lily.
At the ding of the elevator, she followed the others inside the car. Though questions swirled through Lily’s head, they rode in silence. There would be time to catch up, to know all there was to know about her parents. Later.
Once outside, Lily walked to the waiting limo, slowing when she realized Bodie and her parents hung back. “You’re coming, aren’t you?”
Illiana held Zacharel’s hand. “Not now.”
“Bodie?”
“I wish I could.” He hobbled forward and kissed her cheek. “I’ll come when I can.”
“I don’t understand. You risked your lives entering the Underworld for me, and now you’re leaving me?”
Her father grasped her shoulder. “We must return another way.”
She couldn’t let him go. “Then let me come with you.”
“You’ve been through so much. You should go home and rest. You’ll be safe.”
“I must tend Bodie’s wounds,” her mother said. “The medicines I prepare aren’t available in this world.”
It seemed she had no choice anyway. “All right.”
Her father kissed her forehead.
Lily hugged each in turn, and climbed into the limo. Before closing the door, she said, “See you soon.”
Then why did this feel like goodbye?
Chapter Fifteen
From her loft window, Lily stared out into the night. How strange to know the world held so much more than she’d ever guessed. Demons. Angels. Her hand instinctively went to the pendant, the only thing she wore besides a tank top and panties.
What’s Bodie doing right now? She’d been home for two weeks. Why hadn’t he come back, too? A thought chilled her: what if he’d become weaker? The last she saw him, he’d been pale, wounded…
“Bodie,” she whispered without thinking.
At the rev of a motorcycle engine, she searched the street. A single headlight cut through the darkness, and the cyclist halted in front of her building, and his head tilted up.
She pressed her hand to the glass. “Bodie?”
He stood astride the bike.
She hastily threw on a short robe and ran down the stairs and outside, and threw her arms around him.
“Bodie.” He felt so real, so good.
“Hey, welcome home.” He looked at her with a sheepish expression.
“What’s wrong?” Hadn’t he missed her? Oh God, what if he’d changed his mind?
He winced. “A lot’s happened.”
Sadness welled in her heart. She stepped back, and stared at the ground. “I see.” Why hadn’t it occurred to her before? If she embraced her family of demons, he couldn’t be with her any longer. Why wouldn’t he have told her this before?
“Can we go somewhere to talk?”
If he suggested coffee, she’d know for sure, and wouldn’t trouble him to take her anywhere. “Like where? The mountain?”
“No, not there.”
Right. She’d sully it with her demonic presence. “Listen, you don’t have to do this.”
“Do what?”
Closing her robe, she stepped back. “The whole ‘let her down easy’ thing. I’m a big girl. If you’ve moved on, well then, move on. Go.”
“That’s not it. Not at all.” He swung his leg over the bike, rose and took her hands. “What made you think that?”
“You don’t seem exactly overjoyed to see me.” For starters.
“I am.” He clasped her arms.
Skepticism must have shown in her face.
He sighed, releasing her. “I’m not expressing myself well. I’m still adjusting to…”
She gripped his arms. “To what?” Had they done something terrible to him?
He glanced up the street and down. “Not here.”
“Come inside.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him up the stairs. The door still open, she’d left in such a hurry.
Again, she noticed something seemed different about him, though she couldn’t pinpoint what. Gorgeous as ever, he moved with a wariness he never had.
Once inside, she halted and linked her arms around his neck. “Aren’t you going to kiss me? I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” He said it with such sadness.
“Then what the hell’s wrong with you?” She wanted him back, all of him.
“I’m not who I used to be. What I used to be.”
“Tell me.”
He took her hand and led her to the sofa, sat down and tugged her beside him. “You already know. I see it in the way you look at me.”
“You’re not an angel anymore.” It explained his wounds, how he could withstand entering the Underworld.
He stared at nothing. “I’ve lost my title, my status. I can never go back.”
Now she understood. “It’s my fault. And you hate me.”
He snapped his focus to her. “Of course not. I’ve been banished, Lily. I am not the same. Everything that made me who I was – the one you knew – has been stripped from me.”
“I’m sorry, Bodie. I never meant for that to happen.” What did he expect her to say?
He smoothed her hair. “Sorry’s the last thing I want you to be.”
“Fine, then I’m glad they didn’t kill you, or banish you to some remote corner of the Universe where I’d never see you again.”
He studied her with skeptical eyes, and seemed to wait for her to say more.
“So are you human now?”
“No, more like a demigod. Definitely not indestructible, or infallible.”
“Ah, you might make a mistake?” she teased.
He flinched. “Possibly.”
“And you’re obviously more emotional.” Not a bad thing, unless he had trouble controlling them.
“I’m adapting.”
Not very well, judging by the pulse in his jaw. “Then what’s the problem?”
“I had to make sure…” He searched her eyes as if looking for reassurance. “You had to know, that’s all.”
“Bodie, nothing can change the way I feel about you.” If she had to, she’d repeat it until she convinced him.
“You say that now, but wait till you spend some time with the new me. You might change your mind.”
“True.” At his glare, she added, “Just as you might change yours. That’s where trust comes in.”
“Trust.”
“Exactly.”
“For instance, when you perform your dances, I have to trust you do it for the love of dancing, not because you want any of the men who come to see you?”
Ah, jealousy. “Bad example.”
“Why?”
Oo, and a bit of anger. “Because I quit my job. I’m moving to a new place soon, too.”
“Where?”
“In a nicer part of town. I bought a studio where I can teach dance.”
His thin smile flashed quicker than lightning. “That’s great. Sounds like you’ve planned everything out.”
“Not everything. I want you to come with me.”
He shook his head. “It wouldn’t be right.”
Maybe she’d guessed right; maybe he’d changed his mind about wanting her. “I see.”
“I couldn’t take advantage of you that way.”
“It’s not taking advantage.” Not if you love me.
He stared at his empty hands. “I have nothing to offer you.”
She rose, eased onto his lap and linked her arms around his neck. “Offer yourself. But only if you love me.”
His nostrils flared. “I love you more than I thought possible. I gave up everything for you.”
The weight of it hit her – his sacrifice. Yes, he’d changed his entire existence. All for her.
She’d do the same for him. “Then let me give you everything I have.” She touched her lips to his, a simple offering, and drew away, stroking his hair.
The way he gazed up at her melted her heart. He might not be an angel anymore, but he looked angelic as ever. He radiated love.
He reached his mouth toward hers, lips moving against hers in a whisper. “Lily.” His strong arms tightened around her, his hands caressing everywhere.
The explosion of emotion overwhelmed her. His hushed voice sounded in her head: I want you so much.
She shifted on his lap until she straddled him, and thought: Not as much as I want you.
He broke the kiss and stared in alarm.
“How are you still in my head?” she asked breathlessly.
“I forged a connection when we first met, but it should have dissolved after the tribunal took away everything else. Unless…”
She lifted his tee shirt over his head and ran her hands across his chest. “We have something more powerful than anyone knew.”
“It’s the only explanation. I knew all along.” Mischief gleamed in his eyes as he leaned to nip her breast through her knit tank top.
“You did, huh?”
His teeth grazed her nipple, and she arched her back with a sharp intake of breath as something like lightning seared through her. Powerful, definitely.
“Before the first time we touched,” he said, inching her tank top, and his kisses, higher. “I knew how amazing it would be.” Maybe he whispered in her ear, or maybe she heard his thought. It didn’t matter; she pressed him back against the sofa.
Her fingers grazed a rough spot on his side. A scar. It hit her again. “I could have lost you.”
He squeezed her thigh. “No chance.”
From now on, she would make sure of it. “We need our own story dance.”
Heat lit his eyes. “Show me.”
What had Veronica said? The dance was meant to tantalize the warriors, enflame their lust? Then she’d make it a real show for Bodie.
She pushed the coffee table back with her bare foot, then braced her feet alongside his thighs and rose, lightly brushing her body against his. She summoned music to her mind, and let it guide her movements. Swaying her hips, she fluttered her hands over her head, and down into his hair. One foot planted beside his shoulder, she arched backward and forward, undulating in a wave as she lowered herself until she felt his breath across her panties. She crawled backward, grazing her chest down his.
Once on the floor, she whirled, robe swirling around her. At a sudden halt, she threw back her head and let the robe fall to the floor. She dropped as fast, collapsing atop her outstretched leg. She removed Bodie’s boots, and grasped his calves. He sat unmoving, his tense muscles straining against his jeans.
Her fingers scraped the denim, and across his groin. Oh yeah, she had his full attention. The bulge beneath begged for hers.
With careful strokes, she freed his erection, and helped him pulled off his jeans. He kicked them away, body taut as a drawn bow. He scrambled forward but she nudged him back down. Slowly, she teased her tank top over her head, hair cascading down. Hips swaying, she eased her panties down and tossed them.
He heaved a ragged breath and reached for her. “Come here.” Please.
Not yet. She slid her hands along the inside of his thighs and knelt, tongue exploring his erection from head to base.
Ahhh, more, he urged, clutching the edge of the sofa.
Fingers and tongue teased until his groans sounded too tortured. Still stroking, she rose up to straddle him again and guided him inside. He nuzzled her neck, and bent to suckle her breast. Time and the world fell away; all that mattered was their bodies moving against each other, utter bliss driving her faster until neither could hold back any longer. Shudders wracked her body, and they collapsed onto the cushion.
Nothing could be more heavenly than being cradled in Bodie’s arms.
He lay quietly, only their soft breaths mingling until he asked, “You gave up pole dancing? Really?”
The light tease in his voice made her grin.
“From now on, I’ll only dance for you.”
He arched a brow. “Do you still have the dancing silks and those little cymbal thingies?”
Oh yeah. He was definitely human. And she loved it.
###
About the Author
Cate Masters loves romance with a dash of magic and mayhem! Multipublished in contemporary to historical, sweet to erotic, fantasy/dark fantasy to speculative, she sometimes ma
shes genres. Reviewers have described her stories as “so compelling, I did not want to put it down,” and “such romantic tales that really touch your soul.”
For 2012, her re-release of Sixties-era short, Seventh Heaven, is an EPIC finalist. In 2011, three stories placed in the Top Ten Finishers at the Preditors & Editors Poll and four stories finaled in the EPIC competition, including Soul for Sale.
In 2010, The Pearl S. Buck Foundation awarded first place to her short literary story, Christmas Eve at the Diner on Rathole Street. Her short literary story, All is Calm, All is Bright, was awarded second place in the annual Pennwriters Short Story contest in 2005.
Most days, she can be found in her lair, concocting a magical brew of fantasy/paranormal, contemporary and historical stories with her cat, Chairman Maiow, and dog Lily as company. Look for her at http://catemasters.blogspot.com, Facebook, Goodreads, and in strange nooks and far-flung corners of the web.
Cate loves to hear from readers. Email her at: cate.masters AT gmail.com.
