by Mayburn, Ann
“Yeah, well, she's also my ex-girlfriend. I don't want to go all Lifetime movie–of-the-week on you, but Michelle is a jealous girl. Even if she no longer wants to be with a guy because she wants to date other people over the summer.” His lips thinned out with anger. “It doesn't mean she won't talk shit about him to keep other girls away.”
“It's really none of my business what happened with you two,” she said quickly as she wished the elevator would hurry the hell up. She was feeling more sweaty and nauseous by the second, and the Jungle Juice that had tasted so yummy going down was threatening to come back up. “Besides, I try to judge people for their own character, not what others say.”
“Oh good.” Kyle looked relieved and grabbed her hand. “I would like to hang out with you sometime. Nothing too fancy. Maybe grab a coffee and hang out at the cafe.”
She hesitated, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but also not wanting to incur the wrath of a jealous Michelle. “That sounds fun, but I'm really busy with work and classes. I'm sure we will see each other around.”
The elevator doors opened, and new people poured out as more shoved their way in. “I've gotta go, nice meeting you!”
She dashed into the elevator as the doors were closing, not wanting to be stuck with Kyle. He’d looked really pissed at her rejection and she let out a silent sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was boyfriend drama. The elevator started its descent, and her stomach lurched with it. Someone next to her made a gagging noise.
Oh crap, please do not let anyone puke. If they puke, I'm going to puke, and this is going to become a moving puke bucket. The doors opened to the fourth floor, and a couple students stumbled out.
She was grateful to make it to her room without getting sick. Flicking on the lights, she squinted at their glare. They seemed so bright, and she longingly eyed her bed. Standing in the foyer for a minute, she debated washing her face before she passed out or just going to the bathroom so she didn't pee her bed.
Too bad I didn't grab my grandmother's adult diapers before I left home. Then I could have passed out and peed myself in peace.
After using the bathroom and scrubbing her mouth out with her toothbrush, she tossed on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and managed to climb the ladder to her bed, only almost falling three times before she reached the safety of her mattress. Each bed was an elevated loft, which gave their tiny bedroom more floor space. With a grateful sigh, she pulled the soft down comforter around her shoulders and snuggled into her pillow from home.
A talking owl arguing with a lion over a cup of coffee starred in her dream. She couldn't make out what they were saying, so she gave up, drank her dream espresso, and watched the clouds float by overhead. Professor Klemenson was having coffee at the table across from hers, and they kept exchanging flirtatious glances filled with a delicious heat. She could have happily spent the rest of her life looking at his perfection.
At one point, she thought she woke to a dwarf floating next to her bed and looking at her. Still drunk and mostly asleep, she said, “Unless you have a puke bucket, I suggest you move out of the line of fire, Mini-Me.” Chrissy groaned in her bed across the room and muttered something that sounded akin to “Shutddupup.” The dwarf appeared to laugh without making any noise. Eliana closed her eyes and was in a deep, drunken slumber in seconds.
****
Aiden Klemenson strode across the dark wood floor of his devotional room and stopped before the altar to his patron god, Odin. A family heirloom, the altar had been passed down on his mother's side for generations. Moonlight streaming in the tall leaded glass windows made the room bright enough for him to light the pillar candles on either side to brighten the granite statue of Odin. He took a moment to press his fingers to the stone base, trying to gather his scattered thoughts. The statue was around four feet high and showed an older man with a long, flowing beard dressed as a Viking warrior. He stood with a spear in his hand and a battle-ax at his side.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, Aiden struggled to get into the right headspace for communing with his god, but all his body could focus on was the beautiful young woman in his class earlier today. He tried to push the image of her full lips, her wide silver eyes, and her impressive breasts out of his mind but it was next to impossible. To make matters worse he’d been almost constantly hard since he’d laid eyes on Eliana Shay and no amount of jerking off had relieved the need to possess her, to touch her deep tan skin and see if it was as soft as it looked, to kiss her until her eyes glazed over with pleasure and she whispered his name with those pouty lips of hers. Lips that would look perfect wrapped around his cock.
He’d been around plenty of beautiful women and not lost his mind like this. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how he looked at it, his attraction to his student wasn’t just physical. Her psychic signature, her spiritual scent had slammed into him like a potent aphrodisiac once he’d gotten his first hint of her scent. That delicious mix of orange blossoms, vanilla, and hot woman had gone straight to his cock even as his shocked brain realized she was a potential Chosen of the Gods. There had been no mention of her among the local Chosen so he was pretty sure she’d just entered her time of Choice, a danger fraught period where the Chosen of the Destruction Gods would be doing everything they could to either turn her to their side, or kill her.
Anger, no rage filled him at the thought of anyone harming that innocent girl and he removed his hand from the statue, not wanting to offend his god. No, he needed to clear his mind, calm his thoughts if he was going to help Eliana. He needed guidance, in this case divine guidance, and he needed to put his personal shit to the side.
Which would be a hell of a lot easier if her silver eyes didn’t haunt him.
Kneeling before the statue, Aiden closed his eyes and began to take in long, measured breaths before releasing them, focusing only on his breathing, and the slow beat of his heart. Gradually his training took over and he began his descent into the Spirit Realm, a place outside reality where gods and their Chosen could meet.
As he spiraled deeper, he kept on flashing to the image of Eliana looking at him from her seat, with her tilted eyes and her wide, sensuous mouth. Arousal stiffened his cock, and he shifted on his heels, not struggling to banish the images, but letting them fill his mind as he drifted every deeper, towards the invisible spiritual boundary between the world of men and that of the gods.
The fierce brightness of her aura had caught him by surprise, the intensity of the sky blue color indicating a potentially powerful Chosen. How she’d slipped beneath the radar was beyond him. The first high priest or priestess for whatever god or goddess she worshiped should have identified her long ago. To him she blazed like a jewel in the sunlight, and the hidden sensuality in her energy, the pure sexual power she unknowingly wielded had struck him like a physical blow, making him lose control of his own aura in front of a room full of students. The psychic caresses he’d given her had been an accidental, instinctual need to touch her, to taste her even if it was with his aura rather than his body. He’d gotten caught up in the seductive nature of her energy and lost control. Thankfully his friend, Murphy, who was teaching the class with him had managed to shield Aiden enough so that any gifted students in the class wouldn’t have seen him psychically molesting the young woman.
Not that she seemed to mind. If he’d thought her energy was intense when he’d first seen her, he’d been blown away when her aura had responded to his caress, filling his body with a heady lust that nearly destroyed his self-control. Thank the gods Murphy had been there to snap Aiden out of it, otherwise he might have given the watching students a lesson on seduction they’d never forget.
He’d watched her during the rest of the class and laughed to himself when he caught her smelling his psychic scent on the papers he passed out.
A rush of cold air blew over his body, ruffling his hair and chilling his skin. When he opened his eyes he found himself in the Spirit Realm, the physical home of the gods. Rough gran
ite rock walls surrounded him as he knelt in a grotto with a small pool of clear mountain water. The same altar that sat in the private sanctuary of his home rested against the sheer face of the cliff across from him. A tremendous stone throne, three times the size of a normal chair, sat empty before him, and tiny white flowers grew out of cracks in the rocks. Mounds of gray clouds streaked across the sky and raced toward the north in a dizzying stream.
He was dressed in a long, white, homespun tunic embroidered with Nordic runes done in blue and gold silk thread. A thick belt of woven leather secured the tunic, and soft leather pants and boots encased his legs and feet. Gods often clad their Chosen in the clothes of their priests and priestesses when they were at their height of power, whatever century that may have been. In Aiden’s case, during the time of the Vikings.
The sound of the iron-tipped end of a spear striking the earth made him want to turn his head, but careful training kept his eyes on the ground as the clank of metal came closer.
A deep voice echoed through the grotto. “Rise, My Chosen, and tell me what brings you before Me.”
“My Lord, I have come across a potential Chosen, a young woman with an enormous amount promise of strength. I'm unsure if she's mentored yet and would ask how you would like me to continue.” He kept his eyes to the ground even as his heart beat faster.
In front of him, the edge of leather boots filled his vision, and next to the boots, the tip of an iron staff inscrolled with silver images that seemed to shift and transform. He glanced away to the staff so he didn't become distracted and felt the light touch of the god looking through his memories.
Embarrassment filled him as Oden looked through his memories and laughed. “She is rather beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is.”
Moments passed, and he tried to remain patient.
“Here is my judgment. You will mentor this woman-child and teach her what she needs to know to survive. You will obey the rules of mentoring, and you will do your best to prepare her for the time of Choice ahead.”
“Your will is my life, my Lord.”
Excitement filled him as he fought a smile. It was a great honor to be a mentor and this would be his first time being picked to help train a potential Chosen. On a more personal level he rejoiced at having an excuse to be around this young woman, to figure out why he was so attracted to her, and to keep her safe. The time of Choice was very dangerous and a fierce protective instinct rose within him. As long as he lived he would make sure no harm ever came to her. Now he just had to figure out how to train her properly while keeping his hands to himself. The last thing she needed was the distraction of a sexual relationship with her mentor, so though it pained him, he would have to try to control himself.
Yeah, right. He’d be lucky if he managed to make it through their first meeting without falling on her like a rutting beast. Maybe Odin could fashion some kind of magical chastity belt for him. Then again his cock was so hard at just the thought of touching her that it could probably break free of any kind of restraint.
A laugh resembling rolling boulders shook the ground as Odin read his mind. “We're aware of the charms of this particular woman. She calls to you and intrigues you, and your fascination with her will only grow stronger. But you must not let your attraction to her cloud your judgment. Your job is to keep her alive long enough to survive her time of Choice, to give her the knowledge and skills she will need to fight. Take care of her, Aiden. She is a very special young woman and I am trusting her to your care.”
Aiden nodded in agreement his mind racing as he began to plan her training. “I will, my lord.”
Chapter
Even with her shaded sunglasses on, the bright light of the day seared into Eliana's brain like a baseball bat studded with nails. Rusty nails. With a groan, she picked up the bottle on the ground next to her, chugged more water, and leaned back against the tree trunk. Both she and Chrissy were hung over, and Chrissy's way to combat her hangover involved going to McDonald’s and getting a big, greasy breakfast to bring back to their room. The food quickly drove Eliana outside in search of air that didn't smell like deep-fried pork and cheap syrup. Drinking excessive amounts of water helped, but she kept having these nasty, fruity burps that made her want to throw up.
Fluffy white clouds floated across a surreal blue sky, and a soft breeze stirred the leaves of the trees. The open grassy area, called The Green, stood in the shadow of the philosophy building. A popular place for students to relax in-between classes, it was a great spot for people watching. To the west, a small man-made pond with a bridge lead to the religious studies hall. She shoved another cracker into her mouth and chewed it, forcing herself to swallow it down.
Crossing her legs, she groaned and drank more water. Doing anything with her hair, other than putting it in a long braid, had been beyond her this morning. In a perfect world she’d still be in bed, sleeping it off. Instead she had to be a responsible adult and get on with her day, which meant reviewing materials for her religious studies for her religious studies class even though she’d read the same page about nine times now without remembering a single word. Being hungover sucked, but being hungover and having to go to a class that she really needed to pay attention sucked even more.
She glanced at her watch and decided to take a break. It was forty minutes until class started, and her muzzy brain didn't understand a word about the prehistoric earth goddesses. At least she had the yummy eye candy that was Professor Klemenson to distract her, though she didn’t know if that was a good thing. Just like every other female student on campus, she’d been nearly obsessed with him since she’d seen him yesterday. He’d been the last thing on her mind when she went to sleep and the first thing when she woke up. She was afraid she’d drool all over herself in class today and wondered what he’d be wearing. In a perfect world he’d be naked, but she didn’t think she’d be that lucky. She stared at the book in her lap, not seeing a single word as various very naughty images came to mind of all the ways she’d like to see Professor Klemenson naked.
Something tickled at her senses, a feeling of warmth from her right that made her look up. Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed Professor Klemenson setting his laptop on a bench not too far from her tree. She blinked hard, wondering if she was hallucinating, but the image of him remained solid and her heart raced as she realized he was really here.
Well, there went any chance she had of studying. Her brain and body were once again totally focused on the breathtakingly handsome man no more than a dozen steps away from her. He looked even more amazing than she’d remembered, if that was even possible. The sun caught the red highlights in his brown hair and accented the angle of his sharp cheekbones. He removed his jacket and set it on the bench while her hormones went into overdrive. Underneath, he wore a form-fitting white shirt, which showed off the impressive muscles of his arms and the glint of a thick gold band on his wrist. He must work out because his body was big and tight all over. Dark glasses hid his eyes, and he didn't seem to notice her admiring him as he sat on the bench and began typing.
She adjusted the book on her lap, turning slightly to the side so she could peek at the professor from beneath her sunglasses. Gods, he was hot, and every once in a while, the wind shifted and brought the scent of his cologne to her. It made her want to rub her cheek against his chest like a cat and purr.
Good lord, girlie, keep your pants on. You need to worry more about passing this class and less about that yummy-amazing-too-old-for-you-and-doesn't-know-you-exist man. She blew a strand of hair off her forehead with a sigh.
“That's right, woman-child, you should be brushing up on your Greek mythology rather than ogling a man like some drunken harlot,” said a sharp and high-pitched voice from above her head.
Eliana gasped and looked up in the direction that the voice came from. A quick scan of branches revealed a little gray owl. No one else. Had someone spiked her drink last night?
Looking around to m
ake sure no one was watching her talk to a tree, she whispered, “Who's there?”
“I am here to see you, woman-child. You're looking at me right now. I'm a messenger of my goddess sent to evaluate you.” The owl turned its head to look at her and hopped down a branch.
She shrieked and scrambled back from the tree, falling on her butt. Two times falling on her ass in fewer than twenty-four hours must be a record. Her thoughts fled as she stared at the talking bird, a scream caught in her throat.
The owl managed to look confused as it turned its head toward her. “What's the matter with you? Why are you creating such a public spectacle?” Hopping onto another lower limb, the owl snapped its yellow beak in irritation. “Come now. You're attracting attention.” The owl ruffled its feathers and managed to appear annoyed.
Professor Klemenson was suddenly at her side, pulling her to her feet. She was momentarily distracted from her panic by being so close to him. When she turned to look, his gaze captured hers even as part of her mind was shrieking that a fucking bird was talking to her. She hadn’t been close enough to notice it before, but Professor Klemenson had small flecks of amber in his green eyes. Even the presence of the yapping owl couldn't distract her from the tingle that went through her hand and straight to juncture of her thighs at his touch.
“What happened? Are you hurt?” Professor Klemenson asked in a low voice. Noticing the crowd watching them, he added loudly, “It's okay. She saw a rat in the tree, and it scared her.”
A few of the guys laughed and returned to their football game. The other students went back to their studying once they realized there wouldn't be any drama. Just a girl scared of a rat. Didn’t he hear the owl? Was she going crazy?”
With a shaking hand, she pointed to the tree. “Talking owl in the tree. Am I losing my mind? I swear an owl talked to me from that tree.”
