“But this works in my favor—his belief of your impending doom. As long as you don’t believe he loves you, and he won’t admit it to himself, you’ll just die when I kill you. BAM!”
The shouted word made her jump. Tears of fear pricked her eyelids. He was insane. A mad god held her captive in her own living room. Her heart threatened to hammer out of her chest. “If he doesn’t believe it, you don’t have to kill me.”
Loki smirked and winked at her. “Nice try. Thing is, even if he won’t admit it, it’s true. He almost burst a blood vessel just watching me flirt with you, and sweetheart, you’re not close to worth my time. Watching you die…that’s going to devastate him. It’ll be centuries before he even looks at another woman the way he looks at you. And that’s plenty of time to make sure he’s not the heir.”
She licked her lips. It was the only thing she could do, besides talk. “But he doesn’t love me. I promise.” It hurt to say, but she was certain. “And I’m never going to see him again.”
“You’re right again about that second point.” He rested a palm on her bare chest, directly over her hammering heart. “But this time, he won’t be able to bring you back. I know how to stop that from happening.”
*
Eli sank back against his door, frustration pumping through him. He needed to keep his thoughts busy. He needed to not think about Marley. And he needed to find Loki. He could fly, but he didn’t have his brother’s ability to teleport. So he’d spent the last several hours calling everyone he knew—every place Loki might be—trying to track the fucker down.
Nothing.
He had to find him. Had to make sure Marley was safe. His phone buzzed in his hand, and he looked at it in an instant. The text from a blocked number made his heart sink and every inch of him ache in frustration and fury.
You should have stayed away.
No. Bile rose in his throat. It wasn’t real. The message was a joke.
His toes twitched in his shoes. Except he couldn’t take that chance. He burst through the front door, flying toward Marley’s apartment for the second time that day. He reached her apartment within ten minutes, the longest of his existence. His heart sank when she didn’t answer his knocks. He tried the doorknob. It was unlocked.
He rushed into the apartment, and froze just a few steps in. Marley sat in an easy chair, bathrobe spilling open, empty prescription and vodka bottles on the table in front of her. No.
He closed the distance between them without another thought, and pressed his fingers to her throat for a pulse.
Her skin was cold. She wasn’t breathing. She didn’t have a heartbeat. He closed his eyes, and repeated the gesture that was all too familiar after the last week. Hands at the back of her neck to hold her head steady. Thumbs against her throat, near the veins.
He reached inside her, looking for the spark he needed to pull her back. She can’t be gone. This isn’t real.
He couldn’t find what he needed. That tiny warmth that would indicate she was still connected to her life, however tentatively.
He dove deeper. It had to be there. He had to pull her out. He rested his forehead against hers, despair sinking into him. “Please wake up, Marley.” The words spilled out without him processing them. “Please. I love you so much. You can’t do this. I’m not worth it.” He pressed his lips to hers. But there was nothing there. She was gone.
“Wow. You’re a real romantic, aren’t you? Too little too late, eh bro?” Loki’s taunt shoved Eli’s grief aside, and replaced it with rage.
Of course his brother was here. Eli knew surrender wasn’t Marley. That she’d never have done something like this to herself.
Something inside Eli snapped. Eons of fury, frustration, and putting up with Loki’s shit tore through him. He lunged at Loki, unfiltered rage driving him. He wrapped a hand around Loki’s throat, pouring all of his power into the grip, and slammed him in into the nearest wall. He wanted to threaten his brother, but was too furious to find his voice.
For the first time in their existence, he swore he saw fear in Loki’s eyes. Good. Loki needed to pay. Marley’s was the last life he would destroy.
“Eli.” Marley’s familiar voice speared through his haze, and he swore his heart stopped. Some of his fury evaporated in confusion. His grip loosened, but he didn’t let go of Loki.
Loki’s fear vanished, and was replaced with irritation. “Ancestors damn it.” His body flickered into the ethereal, and then re-solidified under Eli’s touch.
“You’re not leaving. Not yet.” Marley’s voice was cold.
Eli didn’t know what was happening, but he knew Loki wasn’t going to live through it. He tightened his grip again.
“Stop.” Marley’s hand rested on his arm, her skin soft against his, calling to his heart. A familiar, but foreign electricity seeped into him. Why did she feel powerful? Marley didn’t have that kind of touch. “Eli. You and I need to talk.” To Loki, she said, “And I really should let him kill you. Not that I could stop him.”
Loki shrugged. “It doesn’t really work that way.”
“I didn’t think immortality was an actual thing until today,” Marley said. “I was wrong. Maybe you are, too.”
Was this confusion what Marley had felt like in the clearing? Except the pieces were clicking in Eli’s head. The things Loki had said about the curse being more than it seemed, the specificity of the words last mortal breath, it was all starting to make sense. He’d revel in Marley not only being alive, but possibly being immortal in a moment. First he had to get rid of the immediate threat. “Explain after I destroy him.”
Her attention never left Loki. “If you come near me again. Or my family. Or anyone I’ve ever said hello to on the street. You’ll regret it.” Her voice was low and threatening when she spoke. Emanating a kind of confidence Eli had never heard from her. He was used to self-assurance, but not like this.
Loki didn’t even flinch. “You’re not that kind of powerful, hon. You’re just a baby in the grand scheme of things.”
Eli squeezed his neck again. Loki’s taunt ended in a strangled, choking gag.
Marley frowned. “Try me and find out. Or I can let you two fight it out now.”
Eli smirked at the implication she wouldn’t ask him to stop.
“You’d kill your own brother?” Loki asked him.
He still wasn’t sure he believed it, but Eli had the upper hand—the woman he wanted was by his side. Smiling at Loki, Eli dropped his grip on his brother’s neck. He balled his hand into a fist, pulled back, and let the punch fly.
Loki’s head bounced off the wall with a satisfying thunk. He raised his fingers to his split lip, and brought them away covered in blood. Shock and disbelief marred his expression. “How did you…?”
Eli didn’t know. He shouldn’t have been able to draw blood so easily. When they were younger, Helblindi had been able to keep Loki from vanishing, and that had was the only way Eli had ever been able to hurt Loki. Helblindi wasn’t stronger; it was just a different gift.
Did this instance have to do with Marley? Eli would ask for answers later. Right now, he knew she was safe. He growled, and Loki vanished.
Eli spun to face Marley, not sure what to say. He couldn’t lose her again. Especially now that he’d figured things out. She was here. Safe. And in his arms. He tunneled his hands in her hair.
She pressed a single finger to his lips, before he could kiss her. “You’re an ass. You never stopped to think falling in love might not mean death and eternal misery?”
Loki had known. Apparently for a long time. That’s why he’d worked so hard to drive Eli and Marley together, to make sure Eli fell but didn’t admit it before trying to take Marley out of the picture. It was an idea intricate and twisted enough it had to belong to Loki.
But that also meant Marley really was Eli’s for eternity. “I’m a little slow sometimes.”
“As long as it’s only sometimes.” She brushed her lips over his. “And I love you too.”
Relief coursed through him, rapidly joined by lust when she shifted her weight against him. “You heard that?”
“Only kind of. I think whatever this magic, voodoo…whatever it is, was still sinking in. I wasn’t completely back from the dead yet.”
He didn’t need to hear anymore. He crushed his mouth to hers, memorizing every taste and sensation. His cock hardened, straining to get closer to her. This was incredible. He still wasn’t sure what to do with the knowledge Marley might be like him now—immortal, destined to be by his side.
Chapter Eleven
The new sensations coursing through Marley were incredible. She’d actually been able to stop Loki from leaving the room. Had the power to take that kind of control. Electricity filled her veins, whispering promises of what she was capable of. Showing her new layers of color she’d never seen in the world.
And none of it compared to Eli’s hungry, demanding kiss. She dove into the attention, and returned his intensity. Her skin hummed to be closer to him. A giggle slipped out when he shifted to abruptly sweep her off her feet. He pressed his lips to hers again, as he cradled her. His eyes were soft, but that same domination she remembered from the night before hid behind his compassion.
“This time, you’re not leaving in the morning.” In a few short strides, he’d crossed her apartment to the bedroom, and sat her gently at the edge of the mattress.
She snaked a hand up the front of his jeans. “I wouldn’t give you a choice.”
His entire body jerked, when she caressed his bulge. She teased through fabric, arousal growing with his every response.
“Ancestors, Marley, you’re killing me.”
She took the hint, and slid down his zipper. When she wrapped her fingers around his shaft, he sighed and swayed closer. Her gaze met his, as she glided her tongue over the head of his cock, light and teasing. He shuddered when she took his length in her mouth. She wanted to fuck him again. To feel him inside her. But she wanted to taste him first. Eternity meant they had time.
She moaned, letting the vibrations run along his cock. He rocked against her. When she caressed his sack, he inhaled sharply. She sucked and licked, slowly letting him increase the rhythm.
He pulled out abruptly, and dropped to his knees, so he was eye level with her. “Your mouth is amazing.” He kissed her hard, tongue diving in and owning her. He pushed her bathrobe off her shoulders without interrupting the kiss. One palm cupped her breast, kneading and sending daggers of want through her.
Going down on him had already made her wet, and the new attention amplified it.
He broke away, breathless, and rested his forehead against hers. “But I need to be inside you again. I want to watch you as you come. See that incredible expression of pleasure, when you reach the brink and I push you over the edge.”
“You have too many clothes in the way for that.”
He gave her a wicked grin, and shed everything. He nudged her back on the bed, knee between her legs and brushing her swollen sex. “Problem solved.”
She wasn’t sure how he managed it, but seconds later, he was on his back with her straddling him. His hands rested on her hips, and his cock poised at her opening.
She grabbed his shaft and stroked, letting his head bump her clit. His grunts matched her heavy breathing, letting her know he enjoyed this as much as she did.
He covered her hand with his. “I was serious.” He glided his dick over her slit and thrust inside her hard and fast.
She sank into the pleasure, rocking against him. He set the frantic pace. His groans grew shallower, and she could tell he was close. She cried out in surprise when his thumb found her clit. He pressed tiny, hard circles around the engorged nub. Orgasm washed over her suddenly, stealing her breath. She clenched around his cock, milking him.
He pounded inside her, not letting up on her button until he came, filling her and thrusting, until he was spent.
She rested against his chest, memorizing every sensation. His heartbeat. The warmth of his skin against hers. His cock softening but not sliding out yet. His hands on the small of her back, holding her close and wrapping her in a familiar and incredible safety.
“You’re amazing.” His soft words melted into the peaceful aura around them.
She smiled against his chest. “I’m pretty fond of you, too.”
They both lay there for a while, not talking. Marley wrapped herself in the soothing rhythm of his chest rising and falling. She could get used to this. Who was she kidding? She already was. It felt like she’d been missing this for ages.
“Are you asleep?” Eli’s question rumbled through her ear.
She rolled off him, and rested her head on his shoulder. “No. Just enjoying the moment. I’m not really…like you now. Am I?”
“Hard to say. I’ve found you electrifying since I met you.”
She laughed and draped a hand over his chest. “That’s corny, and I’m serious.”
“I thought it was clever.” He rested a hand on her cheek, thumb stroking her skin.
A current raced between them, like a pulsing wave of static electricity. It only lasted a few seconds, but she knew she hadn’t imagined it. “What was that?”
“You’re definitely not mortal anymore.” He tilted his head up enough to kiss her on the forehead.
She should be more surprised. In the last few hours, she’d discovered gods were real, one wanted to kill her, and one had been keeping his distance to keep her alive. Oh, and then there was the one who signed her paycheck.
It all still sounded ludicrous. But knowing she was one of them now somehow felt right. She snuggled closer to Eli. Or at least, knowing it was because he was her eternity felt right.
She’d adjust to the rest as time went on. Apparently she had a lot of that in her future.
The End
~*~
If you enjoyed Courting Mortality, Seducing Destiny (Brothers of Fate Book 2) will be available in February, as part of the Operation: Cupid box set.
Surrendering Her Christmas
For the first time in fourteen years, Vivian has Christmas plans with Damon, the man she never expected to end up with. When a blizzard cancels her travel plans, she faces her biggest holiday disappointment since finding out Santa isn't real.
Chapter One
Every few seconds, Vivian’s gaze wandered to the airport terminal windows. She’d have liked to look past them, but snowfall made it impossible to see even the noses of the planes parked at the gates. They knew how to deal with weather like this in Salt Lake City, right? Skiing was a tourist industry here, they had to have a means of keeping runways clear.
The loudspeaker crackled to life, and she strained her ears for the millionth time in the last five minutes.
Ladies and gentlemen, due to severe weather conditions, all flights have been grounded for the next several—
The abrupt onslaught of groans and angry shouts drown out whatever else the voice had to say. Vivian’s gut twisted, but she shoved the disappointment aside. It was more important right now to focus on what was happening. Fortunately, years of adults turning into children during tense business negotiations, and working in upper management, gave her the skills to do exactly that.
She sifted through the chatter, and raised voices, and people yelling at the poor guy working the terminal counter, to hear the important things.
“I’m sorry, sir, you need to wait your turn. We’re helping platinum members first.” That was the airline employee.
“We’ll get something out tomorrow.” The voice belonged to guy next to her. Vivian knew after the last hour or so of trying not to overhear them whisper excitedly, they were taking their baby to meet her grandparents for the first time. The wife finally had four days in a row off for the Christmas holiday, and with his bonus, they’d saved enough for the plane tickets.
The reminder of family resummoned the sadness she tried to ignore. Over the years, she’d grown used to spending holidays alone. Or at least, m
ostly. She had her friends, but the day was for relatives, leaving her alone—contently so—Christmas day.
“You can’t treat me like shit because I don’t fly every fucking day of the year.” That was one of the yelling men.
Vivian’s skin prickled with irritation. It wasn’t that she agreed or disagreed with his logic, but the guy behind the counter hadn’t made it snow or cancelled flights. He didn’t deserve to be berated.
The loudspeaker crackled to life again, and Vivian strained to make out the announcement. Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the delays. Anyone willing to take an after Christmas flight, will receive a plane ticket voucher, and our representatives will help you find lodging.
She hadn’t wanted to take this trip. After fourteen years apart, she finally had holiday plans with the man she loved. Damon was back in Atlanta, waiting for her. This was the day before Christmas Eve, though. She should have been back in plenty of time to make brand new memories.
“Get me on the next fucking flight out of here.” Yelling became belligerent rage.
“A voucher means we can take two trips,” the husband next to her said.
“I guess.” His wife didn’t sound so certain.
“Then let me talk to a manager.”
“I’m sorry sir, there’s no one available right now.” The airline employee had turned red, and stammered through his apology.
“Let’s just go.” The husband handed his wife the diaper bag, and stood. “I’ll see what we need to do to swap out our flight.”
“I won’t have time off again for months.”
All the noise crashed and clattered in Vivian’s skull, until it reached a crescendo and she thought she might join the frustrated screaming. Damon would understand. Vivian rose, and turned to the couple. “May I borrow your husband for a few moments?”
“I, uh…?”
“I promise, not for anything nefarious.” Vivian gave the wife a friendly smile, and gestured toward the airline counter. She stepped in front of the yelling man.
Operation: Santa's Elf: 3 Sweet & Spicy Christmas Novellas (Operation: Holiday Cheer Book 1) Page 7
