by Debra Dunbar
He knocked over his drink as he turned to see me, his golden eyes huge. “Now, that’s what I’m talking about. Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are powered up like that?” His gaze swept over me, smoldering as a sexy smile curled his lips. “Damn, I want to take you right up against this bar, with everyone watching.”
The idea did a lot toward restoring my equilibrium. Irix, driving into me from behind while I braced my hands against the oak bar. Ignoring the beer that pooled along the cocktail napkins and menus, I grabbed his shoulders and kissed him, letting the glorious contours of his mouth soothe the uneasiness caused by Cleo’s erratic behavior.
Soothe, but not erase. Irix was far more perceptive than I gave him credit for.
“You okay?” He cupped my face in his hands and eyed me with concern.
I laced my fingers in his, pulling his hands away so I could lean against his arm and rest my head on his shoulder. Should I admit there was another succubus on the island, and that in spite of our weird truce, she scared the fuck out of me?
“Yeah. I had a great afternoon with Kai, but kind of a weird evening.” I hesitated, wanting to tell him to stay out here as long as he liked, but needing him to be with me. Desperately needing him to stay with me.
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and leaned down to kiss me. “Let’s go up. You can tell me all about it, and I can drizzle warm coconut oil all over your body and give you a massage.”
Mmm, that sounded incredible.
“Or pour you a hot bath with rose petals floating on top in the candlelight. I’ll be your humble attendant, servicing your every need.”
That sounded even better. “How about both?” I was rather greedy, after all.
“As the goddess commands.” He pulled my head up for another kiss. He’d somehow managed to wedge me between his thighs as he sat on the barstool, and I noted a very promising bulge against my lower stomach.
We walked to our room, Irix’s arm around my waist as he held me tight to his side. Something sent prickles up my spine as we left the bar, and I glanced back. Cleo sat at a small table, partially hidden by the blooming Ixora. Her eyes glowed red with lust — proprietary lust.
Chapter 16
The fire elemental? It’s the servant of an old god. You need to find the magic-user that woke him or her up.”
I sat in the dark, Irix a shadowy lump under the covers. The only reason I’d answered the phone at four in the morning was because I needed answers, and I knew Kristin wouldn’t call this early unless it was important.
“Awesome. Give me his name and address, and I’ll get right on it.”
“Ha, ha. I’m working through my contacts in the magic community, ‘cause it’s not like every Tom, Dick, and Harriet knows how to awaken these things. I’m trying to narrow down a list of likely gods.”
“Wait, what? Slow down.” I dug a hand into my tangled hair. It was too early for this kind of conversation. “Are you saying that not only is there a fire elemental, or servant, or whatever, but an old god? As in Zeus and Poseidon old god?”
“Yes, although it could be from any pantheon. The fact that the god has fire beings as servants narrows it down a wee bit.”
Coffee. I really needed some coffee. And maybe bacon. Cradling the phone against my shoulder, I slipped from the warm bed and padded toward where I knew the coffeemaker to be. “Fire beings? So it’s not just one fire thing that keeps coming back over and over, but different ones? And what the hell is the god doing while all this is going on?”
“It depends.”
Damn it all. Was she a mage or a lawyer?
“Once we narrow down which old god it is, we’ll know its strengths and weaknesses, its personality, and if it’s one we can negotiate with or need to defeat with force.”
The coffee machine gurgled, filling the room with a glorious aroma. Irix stirred under the blankets. Just the scent of caffeinated beverage caused my brain to kick into gear. Finding the mage who woke this old god would take forever, and there was no guarantee he or she was still on the island. But we couldn’t keep playing Whack-a-mole with these fire spirits, wasting our energy against a seemingly endless resource. Taking out the old god seemed the most direct route to resolving the problem, but hello — old god? Young or old, I really didn’t want to face off against anything powerful enough to be called a god. Whether it was the Zeus kind of god or the Aphrodite kind of god.
“But if we find the mage that woke it — this god, I mean — then we don’t have to deal with it? Either negotiate or try to beat the snot out of it?”
Kristin’s moment of silence didn’t do much for my confidence. “Well, if we knew what the mage offered, that would help. And assuming this mage was strong enough to wake up an old god, then he or she would most likely be able to put it back to rest.”
“How do I find this mage, Kristin? And find him before half the island turns into charcoal?”
“I’m working that angle. Let’s get some basics here, in case we’re facing a worst-case scenario and you need to deal directly with the old god. What color was the fire-being?”
I eyed the coffee maker, willing it to hurry.
“It was normal fire-colored color. It resists attempts to put it out with water. It comes and goes abruptly, without any rhyme or reason that I can figure out. It’s taken out a house, a surf shack, and attempted a ranch house, so maybe it is targeting man-made structures?” I hesitated, remembering something I’d almost forgotten to tell her. “There were no fires today. What does that mean? The last fire was the one that targeted Irix and me in the hot tub, but there hasn’t been one since.”
“It means the god knows you’re delivering a smackdown on his servants and is giving you a harshly worded warning. As for the twenty-four-hour reprieve, well, it could be that the god has received his offering and returned to rest, or it’s a minor god and you’ve inconvenienced him enough that he needs to gather power for another attack.”
I liked that last possibility, although the first sounded pretty good too.
“Or it’s busy doing something else and will redouble efforts tomorrow to make up for the delay.”
That I didn’t like. A lot.
“Tell me more about the fire beings you’ve seen. Humanoid shaped or a tower of flame or just an independent grouping of flames?”
“The ones I’ve seen early on start as a wall of flame but become a humanoid shape. The one at the ranch was fluid, always remaining a cohesive unit even though it set everything it touched on fire.”
Kristin made a series of ‘mmm’ noises. “There are other causes we might need to consider as to why an old god is running around. Was there a resurgence of worship where a group of followers woke a dormant god? From my research, it seems old gods reside among us, but without an appropriate amount of worship from humans, they go to sleep.”
That was definitely a question for Kai. Even if she didn’t know of any pagan groups on the islands, she could probably put me in touch with someone who did.
“Another thought — some old gods have triggers that will awaken them — like violation of sacred spaces or an issue concerning their signature element or environment.”
“Super mage with an unknown ulterior motive. Worshipers or desecration. Got it.” Three scenarios, all of them nearly impossible for me to track down.
“I’ll text you a list of old gods in order of probability. Well, in my opinion, anyway. It’s a big list, but really anything beyond the top five is really only a remote possibility.”
“So what would cause a servant to stop? An opposing power? The original offering? I’m trying to figure out why these fire entities abruptly vanish instead of burning the entire island down.”
“It could be the god doesn’t want to destroy the island but is using the fire being as a warning, a way of insisting on receiving his offering and his due. Although, now that you mention it, if the servant came across the offering, gold or gems or whatever, then it probably would collect the
offering and return to the god.”
“So the servant would see it as an appeasement.” My head spun, but I had no time. Research would have to come hand in hand with stopping this ‘whatever’ before it caused any more damage, or killed again.
“How do I get rid of a god?” That was the million-dollar question. Kristin had mentioned negotiation and force. Hopefully whatever we were facing would be amenable to negotiation. Sex demons were diplomats. Irix had told me they were used throughout Hel to resolve conflicts between two warring parties. I could do that. Mediation. Yeah. That would be much better than trying to fight a god in hand-to-hand combat.
“I’m thinking their Greater Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram might work.”
“So, do you know any Golden Dawn folks in Maui?” Kristin wasn’t here, and I sure as heck didn’t know how to do a banishing ritual. If the fire being came back tomorrow — today actually — I needed to be prepared. I was still humming with energy, but I’d need that if Irix and I had to ‘negotiate’ with an ancient god.
“None who are willing to intervene. I can send the ritual to you and walk you through it, though. Of course, you’ve only got a short window of time to find and incapacitate the mage, or convince the old god to go back to rest.”
Holy shit, this just went from bad to worse.
“But I don’t know if we’re dealing with a mage or worshipers, or even who the fuck this god is.”
“Yeah, that. I’m working on that one.”
“Thanks, Kristin.” I hung up, feeling even more helpless, more powerless than I had before.
“Bring me a cup and come back to bed.”
My breathing turned ragged at Irix’s sleep-darkened voice. I did as commanded, smiling as I added sugar, cream, and a shot of rum to one mug. There was something so intimate about knowing how your partner took his coffee.
“I heard your side of the conversation. So we’re pretty much just waiting on further information from Kristin?”
I handed him his coffee and slid into bed beside him. Mmm, the sheets were still warm. “I’ll see what Kai knows about historic landmarks or historic places under threat. It’s Maui. I can’t imagine anything would have happened to a sacred space without a million gallons of ink being shed on it. She might also know if there are any growing pagan groups on the island.”
Irix wiggled his eyebrows at me over the rim of his coffee cup.
“What?” I poked him, wide awake at this point and ready for a little morning fun. He sat his mug on the nightstand and rolled over, wrapping an arm around my waist.
“I’m hoping you do more with Kai than quiz her about this stuff.”
“Of course. She’s attempting to teach me to surf. And although those attempts are wasted on a woman of my clearly opposing talents, I need to try my best.” I knew what he meant, but teasing Irix had lovely repercussions.
“You gonna fuck her again?” His voice purred in my ear.
I recoiled in pretend shock. “Language! Besides, what Kai and I do is no such vulgarity. Making love, dear Irix. It’s called making love.”
“Mmm. Tell me all about it and I’ll reenact the entire scene on your body.”
I rolled him over, climbing on top. “I don’t kiss and tell, at least not about Kai. If you beg very nicely, maybe I’ll tell you about the nice gentleman I enjoyed in a storeroom.”
He stretched his arms up, tucking his hands under the back of his head. My eyes roved, admiring the way the muscles stood out on his arms and chest.
“Show and tell? I would beg most sweetly for show and tell.”
I smiled, running a hand down his chest, feeling the dusting of soft, dark hair under my fingers. “Well, you don’t have any clothing for me to remove, so I’ll just fast-forward to the part where I took him in my hand like this.”
Irix’s hips jerked as I grasped him and slid my hand along his length.
“Please tell me there’s a blow job in this story.”
“Later.” I smiled, stroking him. “Then Cleo—”
Shit. Cleo. I remembered my fear over her tantrum last night, the way she’d been eyeing Irix. I’d wanted to handle the succubus myself, but I was in way over my head. Worst timing in the world, but I needed Irix to know about the other demon.
“I’m sensing there isn’t a blow job in my story. At least not this morning.” Irix’s voice was oddly gentle. He reached out and touched my thigh. “Who is Cleo?”
I told him the story, from the first meeting in the tiki bar to the succubus’s creepy behavior last night. By the time I was done, Irix’s fingers were bruising my thigh, a muscle ticking along the edge of his jaw.
“I’ll fucking kill her.”
“Which is why I didn’t tell you about her days ago. You can’t jump in to rescue me every time some demon bitch gets in my face. I need to take care of these things myself.”
His golden eyes narrowed. “Is that so? Then why are you telling me about this Cleo now?”
I opened my mouth then shut it. Because she was scaring me? Because she could easily kill me in a fight? None of those things had changed from day one. But one thing had changed. “She’s... I think she has a thing for you. Last night she kept asking about you, and the way she was looking at you was very proprietary.”
The hands at my thighs relaxed. I felt Irix’s laughter rumble through his chest before he even made a sound. “Oh, Amber. If I had a coin for every time some demon had the hots for me, wanted to have me as theirs and theirs alone, I’d own all of Hel. Being a sex demon sometimes means you have to beat other demons off with a stick.”
“I think she wants to beat you off without a stick.” I scowled. “This isn’t some demon with a boner; she’s crazy. She thinks she owns the island and every man on it, and I’m guessing she’s now including you as one of the beings she’s laying claim to.”
“Demons are crazy. I’m crazy. And you’re half crazy.” His caresses became seductive. “Did this Cleo appear when you and Kai were making love?”
“No.” Thank the heavens. In spite of Kai’s indignation, I doubted the pair of us could have done more than put a scratch on Cleo.
He picked up one of my hands and put it back between his thighs. “Then you and Kai have a lovely morning and afternoon together. We’ll go out for an early dinner then hunt together. If this Cleo shows up, I’ll let her know how I feel about demons who assault my half-elf love slave.”
Relief flooded me. As scary as Cleo was, an angry Irix was downright terrifying. “Your love slave thanks you.”
He rocked his hips, pushing himself firmly into my palm. “Then get to work thanking me. And don’t forget the blow job.”
I bit back a smile. “Yes, sir.”
Chapter 17
I awoke, Irix’s arms and legs a tangled mess over my body, which would have been nice had I not been trying to grab my chirping phone.
“Kristin?” He muttered sleepily as I looked at the text, one of his thighs still draped across my leg as if it were unwilling to let me go.
“No. Kai.” I looked at the time and swore, fighting to get out from under Irix’s leg. We’d slept late, and I needed to get going.
Irix released me, and I nearly fell from the bed. “Ah, yes. Time to surf and make love.”
I shot him a grin and hastily threw on my bathing suit. Kai had told me to meet her out front of the lobby. Which had my hopes soaring that we’d be ditching the surfing action and just making love.
Those hopes were dashed the moment I saw her jeep with two surfboards strapped on top of the roll cage bars. Kai was at the wheel looking at me, an uncertain smile on her face. Instead of the usual long braid, her hair was pulled into a loose, messy bun at the nape of her neck. Several locks had escaped the elastic and framed her face.
“Here. I brought coffee.” Her smile was shy as she extended the steaming go-cup. I could see her worry, her fear I’d discount yesterday as a mistake and deliver the just-friends speech. Instead, I hopped in and ignored the coffee
to grab the back of her head and pull her forward. Our lips crashed together, and in spite of the awkward confines of the jeep interior, I did a good job of conveying just how happy I was to see her.
I shouldn’t have wanted her again. Normally I had sex then had no interest in ever seeing my partner again. I’d take what I needed, tie them to me — there was just no need to go through it again. I still wanted Kai. I felt the heat of her body, the curl of sexual energy spiraling my way as I kissed her. Even if I had drained her of everything she had, tied her to me like a slave, I would still want her. Oddly, an action that had always been nothing but a chore had become something else with her. Kai fed far more than my succubus needs.
She made a happy murmur as I broke our kiss, keeping our lips only a few inches apart, just in case she wanted to continue.
“Is this your new way of getting out of surfing lessons?” she breathed, her eyes on my mouth.
“I’m hoping to distract you.” I kissed her again, sliding my hand down the back of her head to curl my fingers in the thick hair coiled at her neck.
This time when I broke our kiss, I felt the hard plastic of a coffee travel-mug wedged between us.
“Later,” she purred. “Surfing lessons first.”
She shoved the coffee into my hands and started the Jeep while I slumped in my seat trying to pout. It was no use. There might be a fire servant and some god-of-unknown-origin in my near future, but it was a beautiful morning in paradise. I was here with the demon I loved, and I’d made a new friend – a sexy, amazing new friend. Surfing was a small price to pay.
The morning air was cool against my skin as we ate up the miles in the Jeep, taking the circuitous route I’d become so familiar with toward the east side of the island. As we rounded the mountains and made our way past the fields of sugarcane, traffic picked up. It seemed morning rush hour on Maui was a bit later than the mainland. Remembering what Kai had said about tourism and agriculture being the major industries, I’d assumed everyone was at work before sunup, but there seemed to be enough corporate and retail types to fill the roads at eight.
