Awake (7 page)
He gripped her hips and held her tightly. “Just go.”
She nodded and with him guiding her, she moved on him, the flared head of his cock dragging and plunging into her as she rose and fell endlessly. His hands tensed on her, and she gasped when he let out a low, agonizing groan, and she felt a spurt inside her.
Blinking, she paused, but he gripped her and moved her hard until she screamed and bucked against him. The moment that she came, he released her, and Kali draped herself over his chest, catching her breath.
She felt a wet trickle between her thighs and told herself that she would shower later, for now, she was ready for a nice nap against the perfect man for her.
Kali was lowered into warm water, and Odin settled her on his lap. “Why are we in the tub?”
“You achieved your goal, and I thought it would be nice to have a soak so that your muscles weren’t wobbly when you woke.” Odin’s hands were massaging her back and outer thigh.
“You are serious.”
“I am. As host of the Orb, you cannot be out of commission due to a sex sprain, so while I enjoy sharing this time with you, I will keep in mind that you have a duty to the Orb and the rest of the Nameless.”
Kali found the Orb in her thoughts,
Is he serious?
He is. Xeric and Orphia had a problem when their bondage play caused a pause in their ability to answer my call.
Interesting…and creepy. More than I need to know.
The Orb was amused, but Kali turned her attention to helping Odin remove the marks she had left on his chest. “Sorry about that.”
He looked down, and his starry eyes were close to supernova. “I enjoyed it.”
She licked her lips, and his gaze tracked the small move. “Good to know. Now, if you will give me your hand, you missed a spot.”
Sex in the tub was out of the question, but there was nothing like a quick orgasm to start one’s day with the right frame of mind.
Chapter Eleven
The first distress call from a Sentinel came to her while she was eating breakfast.
Kali? It’s Aura. Randr has been captured, and I need help.
Kali sat up and concentrated,
Send me your coordinates.
That won’t do much good, I am trapped in a seraglio, and I am not getting out of here any time soon. They have attached some sort of collar to me, and I can’t transport.
Just a moment, I will get Orphia on the line.
Kali paused and linked Orphia’s mind to hers and from there, Aura’s.
It was decided that Orphia and Xeric would join Aura and break her free. In a delightful twist, Xeric was going in as Orphia in case someone was trying to capture the Sentinels.
I will await an update.
The ladies promised to give an update, and they ended their
call
.
“What was that?”
She looked up, and smiled at Odin and the cup of tea he was handing her, “My first conference call. I hope I picked the correct one to help.”
She bit her lip and sipped at her tea, pausing in her worry to meet with the councillors in her living room. Ravikka, Toril, Mavish, Rehnara, Elorak, Nir and Gwetho sat in her home and shared their concerns for the population of Home.
“I don’t have any intention of interfering in the day-to-day running of this city.” Kali raised her hands in surrender. “I do as the Orb bids and welcome it to speak through me.”
Ravikka sighed at the others, “I told you. She is not here to replace the council. She has other duties that the Orb will call her to.”
Kali grinned, “Precisely.”
Gwetho nodded, “I can feel that. The Orb knows us and what we can and will do for the others. It would not double up when the council has served so well.”
Nir leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “What purpose does Odin serve? He has been an active Nameless for centuries.”
Kali arched an eyebrow. “Odin has been assigned here by the Orb. If you wish to know what purpose he serves, ask the Orb and be satisfied with the answer.”
Her skin darkened and she was suddenly shoved back to look through her own eyes at a distance. “Nir, what would you ask me?”
The man swallowed, “I would ask why you have taken one of our greatest warriors and assigned him to a Home-bound Terran?”
The Orb lifted one of Kali’s hands, and Nir’s eyes glowed white hot. “I will commune with you for a while, and we will see if you can find an answer within.”
Gwetho winced. “As you will it, Orb.”
“Thank you, Gwetho. You have gained wisdom.” The Orb smiled politely. “Anything else?”
Ravikka inclined her head. “No, thank you. You have been most generous with your time.”
The Orb smiled again. “Then, you had best get back to the council hall. There is a new recruit on the way as I speak.”
The councillors’ widened their eyes in unison, and with inclinations of their heads, they disappeared, one by one, until the last one next to Nir took his arm and took him along.
Odin smiled and poured her fresh tea. “What is Nir learning?”
Kali took over her body again. “That some things are none of his business. He is being given a history lesson of all the times that the Orb has been questioned and what the results have been.”
Odin winced. “Not pleasant.”
“No, most of them are lying on that plateau.” She sighed and drank her tea. In one moment, she went from being relaxed and cheerful to being pensive once again.
A knock on the door filled her with relief, but Odin went to answer it, tendrils of fog floating behind him.
Aura was standing there with her arm around Orphia. Orphia was lifting her companion, and behind them, Randr and Xeric were in the same shape.
With a bit of bustling, Kali managed to accelerate Xeric’s healing, and he, in turn, healed Aura and Randr.
Once everyone was in fairly stable condition, they had a meal, and Kali asked the question, “What the hell happened?”
Orphia grinned, Aura chuckled and Randr just looked embarrassed.
Xeric straightened, “The Yassoo people have dealt with Nameless before, and they sacrifice them to their king and their god depending on the gender of the Nameless. When I went in as Orphia, I was able to find the key to the collar that Aura was wearing, and the same key opened Randr’s chains.”
“Who provided them with the chains and collar?”
Xeric inclined his horned head, “We are guessing that it is a hand-me-down from the Firsts. It makes sense that they would make their children aware of what was coming after them and teach them how to deal with it.”
Kali groaned. “Fantastic. Were the shackles bound to a strange black rock?” She was getting images from the Orb, and she knew what the rocks were. They were pieces of Home.
Aura winced, “How did you know?”
“It is the rock that is dangerous, not the shackles. The rock is a piece of Home stolen by the Firsts. The awkward part is that to reclaim the rock, we need a descendant of the Firsts, and they are not trustworthy.”
Orphia sent her a thought from their first Sentinel meeting.
Kali sat back, “Now, how would I send a message to Hardcore and Green?”
Odin chuckled, “I believe that one of the Sentinels could make the call.”
Orphia leaned heavily against Xeric. “I think he needs a bit of a rest.”
Kali grinned, “Thankfully, I can ask another to make the query.”
With little else to say, she dismissed the ladies and their partners for the day.
Odin sat next to her with a thud. “Are you making the request?”
“Not quite yet. The time isn’t right, Odin, but it is coming soon. I will know when it is time to act.” She sighed and smiled softly as he lifted her hand to his lips.
They sat in companionable silence for several hours until another call got Kali’s attention. The Sentinels needed her right now, but more than that, they needed a greater population. Someone was going to be catching an influx of new recruits, but that was a moment for another day.
When one mastered time, it was better to take it moment by moment. For now, it was Idara, and in the evening, she planned to devote a moment to Odin. She was wondering what he tasted like, and as she had discovered, they did not have all the time in the worlds, no matter how much she twisted it.
Embrace the moment and then work on the future. The past took care of itself.
Author’s Note
Fine, so I have way too much fun with names. Having the character named Kali was appropriate as it means “the black one,” and she is the entity of “time” or “beyond time” in Hindu tradition. Odin symbolized magic, wisdom, mystery and prophecy. It is all part and parcel of being a Nameless.
The Nameless are going to be working in the background for a few books, but they will return, and the Sentinels will grow their ranks.
I hope you have enjoyed
Avenge, Avert, Avoid, Await
and
Awake.
Thank you for reading,
Viola Grace
About the Author
Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.
Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.