What a Goddess Wants (17 page)

No time for more of that. Threading one hand through her hair, he lifted her head away from his shoulder as gently as he could and nearly collapsed in relief when she sighed and tightened her arms around his neck and laid her head back down.

“Fuck, Tessa, are you okay?”

She answered with another breathy sigh and tucked her head into the side of his neck. Her lips brushed against the sensitive skin below his ear, and lust attacked again. With an effort of will, he pushed it aside.

“Come on, babe. You gotta help me here. We need to get back to Sal’s.”

“Mmm, don’t wanna move.” She slurred her words like a drunk on a ten-hour bender. “Wanna sleep.”

“You can sleep all you want when we get back to Sal’s.”

She sighed, her warm breath raising goose bumps. “You’re lying. Can’t sleep. Know that. What happened?”

She sounded tired but thinking straight. A small relief. “Not sure.” Though he had his suspicions.

With one arm still wrapped around her to hold her up, he tucked himself back in his pants and zipped up.

“Loosen your legs, babe.”

With a grumpy sounding sigh, she did as he asked so he could pull her skirt down to keep her decent. He had no idea where her panties were. He seemed to remember ripping them off.

From behind him, he heard another groan and realized he’d forgotten about X.

Swinging Tessa into his arms, where she settled against his chest with a sigh, he turned to find his brother sprawled on the floor, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

And sporting a hard-on.

“Holy shit.” X blinked a few times before he finally held Cal’s gaze. “I feel like I’m crawling out of my skin and I’m horny as hell. What the fuck?”

Cal covered a sigh of relief. X seemed no worse for wear. Heading out, he helped X to his feet, watching to make sure his brother was steady. “We’ll figure it out later. Come on, we gotta get back to Sal’s.”

He needed to get Tessa somewhere safe. His leg muscles felt like wet noodles and his arms weren’t much better. If someone attacked them now, he didn’t think he’d be able to fend them off. And knowing that scared the crap out of him. Not only did that put Tessa in danger but X, too.

And if anything happened to either of them…

“Let’s go.”

Chapter 7

Tessa woke with a hangover. That was really strange because deities didn’t get hangovers. At least not from alcohol and drugs created by mortals. Only those created by the gods themselves had the power to affect their chemistry.

Except for chocolate, of course. She loved chocolate, loved its calming properties. She wondered if it would help with this blasted headache.

Where the hell had she gotten her hands on some of Fufluns’s wine? The God of the Vines guarded his stash like it was priceless, which, of course, it was. The grapes he used to make it only ripened once every hundred years and grew only in a specific and magically hidden vineyard in Tuscany.

She hadn’t had a bottle in more than two centuries. So what had she been doing last night?

Groaning, she tried to open her eyes but only managed a squint into the brightness of the room. Blessed Goddess, her beloved sun had it in for her today. Covering her eyes with her hands, she rolled over and pressed her face into the cool pillow.

Drawing in a breath, she caught Cal’s masculine scent on the sheets.

Cal.

She gasped and sat straight up in bed, causing her head to throb mercilessly.

Where was Cal?

The previous night’s memories flooded her brain. The temple. The amazing sex. Downbelow… Those memories were a little hazy, but she knew there’d been more amazing sex there, as well.

What the hell had happened at Downbelow that had given her such a headache? Frowning, she ran through her memories. She remembered dancing. She loved to dance. Dilby, the lead singer, had played her favorite songs and then…

Then what?

The
strega,
Gemma, had started to draw power for the euphoria spell that was Downbelow’s featured attraction. That spell gave pleasure to the patrons, and that pleasure, in turn, fueled the wards that kept Downbelow safe and hidden.

Last night, though… Something strange had happened.

“Hey. How’re you feeling?”

Her head shot up to see Cal leaning on the doorjamb. And her temples protested with a massive jolt of pain. With a groan, she lifted her hand to her head to rub at her temples.

“I feel like I drank an entire bottle of Fufluns’s wine. My head is killing me.”

He nodded, his expression carefully blank. “Since I’ve never had Fufluns’s wine, I’m just gonna assume the hangover’s pretty bad. You want some pills for that?”

She tried to smile for him but was fairly sure it looked more like a grimace. “Won’t help, but thanks.”

He nodded again but didn’t move, just continued to stare at her.

Her smile died. “Is something wrong?”

Did she have bedhead? Something on her face? Why wasn’t he coming into the room to kiss her good morning? Her gaze narrowed, as much from being perplexed as from the brightness of the sun seeping through the cracks around the window shades.

“Cal, is everything okay?”

He drew in a breath and released it on a sigh before answering. “Not sure yet.”

She huffed and swung her legs off the bed so she could walk over to him. His gaze dropped immediately to take in her nudity. That brought out a bit of a true smile on those gorgeous lips, but almost immediately he dragged his gaze back to her face.

Okay, something had happened. Something that had put him off.

Hands on her hips, she stopped only a foot away from him and glared into his eyes. “All right, Cal. Just spit it out. What’s going on?”

He blinked twice, the only sign that he was having trouble holding her stare. “I thought maybe you could tell me.”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “Since I’m not exactly sure what happened last night…”

His focus on her became a pinpoint beam. “What do you mean, you’re not sure what happened?”

“I mean, what happened at Downbelow is a little fuzzy.”

“That ever happen before?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, but not for about fifteen hundred years.”

And that was no exaggeration. She hadn’t experienced anything like that since she’d still had power.

He nodded, as if he’d known what she was going to say. “Put some clothes on and come downstairs. We need to talk, and when you’re naked, I can’t think straight.”

Her smile took her off guard and eased some of the pain in her head. “Nice to know.”

She’d hoped for a return smile. No such luck. If anything his expression tightened even more.

“I’ll be downstairs. Don’t be long, Tessa.”

He turned and stalked away, leaving her to stare after him, feeling worse than she had when she’d woken.

What had changed while she slept? What had she done last night to make him look at her like that? She guessed the only way to find out was to get her butt downstairs.

In the closet, she found clothes she knew would fit her. Jeans, T-shirts, shorts, skirts, blouses, and dresses. Sal had a selection to rival the most exclusive boutique. All designer labels. All from the current season’s collection.

She had no idea if Sal chose the clothing himself or if he just ordered one of everything in a few sizes. She wouldn’t put it past him to simply call the designers himself.

She chose a bright blue sundress with tiny little straps, a tight bodice, and a skirt that flared at her knees. It was a Valentino. Her favorite Italian designer. It made her feel feminine. Pretty. Confident.

She needed a bit of that. Okay, maybe more than a bit.

The look on Cal’s face…

Sliding on a pair of bright red strappy flat sandals to go with the sundress, she took a deep breath and headed for the stairs, trying to figure out why she felt like a naughty schoolgirl who’d been called to the principal’s office.

Her mouth quirked at the image. She wondered if Cal had any interest in role-playing. She’d get him a dark suit and a paddle and let him bend her over his desk…

Hey, after however many millennia, you did what you could to spice up your sex life.

She still wore the smile as she went downstairs, though she slowed as she heard a third male voice, in addition to Salvatorus and Cal. She didn’t recognize the man, but their voices were hushed, not raised as if angry.

Who would Cal be discussing her situation with?

She picked up her pace until she stood in the entryway to the kitchen at the back of the house.

“Good morning, Lady.” Salvatorus hopped off his chair, hooves clicking on the linoleum floor as he went to the counter to reach for a mug and then poured her thick, fragrant hot chocolate from a pot on the stove.

Her mouth watered as he set the mug in her hands and waved her into a seat at the small table next to Cal. “Salvatorus, you are a god among men.”

“I do my best, sweetheart.” He gave her a smile that would have melted the coldest heart and coaxed a laugh out of her when he bowed with a flourish.

“Well, hell, Sal. You’re making the rest of us look like uncouth savages. And while Caligo might fit the bill, I don’t.”

She knew immediately that the man who smiled at her from across the table was related to Cal. She saw the resemblance in the shape of his handsome face and the curve of his mouth. His eyes were the dark blue of a stormy sea and held only a few of the shadows that Cal’s did.

The man stood, bowing at the waist. “Very nice to meet you, Lady. My name is Extasis, but everyone calls me X.”

She held out her hand and was charmed again when he kissed it. “I’m very pleased to meet you, X, though I have the feeling I should apologize for not remembering you from last night.”

“No apologies necessary, Lady.” His smile turned rueful. “You’re not the only one with a faulty memory of everything that happened last night.”

She directed her gaze at Cal, who still had that shielded look on his face. “Then maybe you’d like to refresh my memory. I’d really like to know what put that look on your face.”

Cal’s eyebrows lifted the slightest bit. “What look?”

X let out an amused snort that made Cal give him a brief glare. “That look. He comes by it honestly, though. Our father has the exact same one.”

“Your father must be an extremely handsome man to have produced such gorgeous sons.”

X’s face lit up with a smile. “Ah, Lady Tessa, you have just made my day.”

Returning her gaze to Cal’s, she saw a look in his eyes that made her flush from head to toe. She’d never met a man who could do that, not in all her long years. And she absolutely adored it.

“X, I’m gonna send you back to our parents in pieces if you don’t knock it off,” Cal practically growled.

“What? What’d I do?” X’s expression was all innocence, making Tessa laugh.

Cal sighed and shook his head, his expression not lightening at all, and Tessa knew this probably wasn’t the time for laughter. Whatever had happened last night, it’d freaked out Cal. So she should probably be doubly worried.

She sighed. “Talk to me, Cal. Tell me what’s going on.”

He looked her straight in the eyes, his expression dead serious. “I think your powers are starting to strengthen, and I think that’s going to make Charun come after you even harder.”

For a few seconds, Tessa just sat there blinking at Cal. Her brain stuttered to a stop before it started to spin in circles. Cal thought her powers were starting to strengthen.

Her heart began to pound in excitement. But although that would seem like good news, Cal didn’t look at all happy about it. Because of the second part of his statement.

Well, fudge. He was probably right. Charun would most likely believe this was great news for him because when he caught her and consumed her powers, it would make him even stronger.

That should terrify her. But all she felt was giddy happiness.

For how many centuries had she been mourning the loss of her powers? It seemed like forever, and she felt their loss every day like a dull ache in her chest. To hear they were strengthening was like waking to a beautiful sunrise on a warm summer day.

She took a deep breath, trying not to let the feeling run away with her. This wasn’t a good thing. And maybe if she told herself that a few more times, she’d actually believe it.

“Tessa, you still with me?”

A dark mass moved into her eyesight, and she refocused her attention on Cal. Worry drew lines at the corners of his gorgeous mouth, and she reached out to smooth them away with her fingers before she realized she’d done it.

Had another man ever worried about her like this?

Men worshipped her. They didn’t
care
for her, at least not in the way this man did. He
took
care of her. The difference was… Well, the difference made all the difference in the world to her.