What a Goddess Wants (22 page)

Aurora had brought Cal back to her, after all. That had to count for something.

“I know we don’t see a lot of each other anymore, and I know—”

“Aurora.”

“—you really don’t like me that much, but—”

“Aurora!”

The other woman blinked and came to a complete stop. Tessa had the sneaking suspicion that the other goddess couldn’t listen and walk at the same time.

That’s just mean.

And, unfortunately, possibly true. The deities of the Roman pantheon were, for the most part, spoiled rotten, bitchy, egotistical, and completely self-centered. And a few were… not quite up to speed.

Tessa walked over to the other woman with a friendly smile, as if approaching a hyperactive child. The stunned look on Aurora’s face immediately blasted into a wide grin. She was like a puppy, so eager to please. If she hadn’t usurped Tessa’s beloved job, Tessa might actually have been able to like the woman.

And, really, after so many millennia, she should be over this petty jealousy shit.

“Thank you for bringing Cal back to me. I truly appreciate it.”

Aurora’s smile widened so much that Tessa thought the goddess’s face might split open. And, unlike her sister, Venus, Aurora didn’t have a mean bone in her body. That smile shone as bright as the sun on a summer day.

“Oh, you’re so welcome. When he said he needed to get back to you, I wasn’t sure if I could trust him. I mean, I know you’re not celibate or anything, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard through the grapevine that you’d taken a lover and—”

“And I’d love to spend time catching up with you,” Tessa broke in before she gave in to the fast-building urge to strangle Aurora, “but I really need to get Cal into a bed. X, could you please show Aurora the way out?”

She turned to see a look of blind panic cross X’s face just before the other goddess turned on him like an evangelist in sight of a new convert. The look X shot her should have made her blister and wither under its heat. Tessa just smiled and walked back to Cal. X was a big boy. He could take care of himself.

“Hi, X. Wow, you’re a big one too. I like that in a guy. What does the X stand for? Have you ever read the Black Dag—”

Tessa blocked out the rest of Aurora’s one-sided conversation as she sank onto the couch beside Cal. Her hands immediately reached to cup his face, their gazes linked. His moonlight gray eyes still held traces of pain but his expression lightened as he looked at her.

“Are you really okay?”

Cal didn’t want to lie to Tessa. Physically, he’d be fine. Yeah, he was a little weak right now, but that had more to do with the travel between planes than it did with any physical injuries. Still, he had to tell her his trip had been a bust, and his chest tightened to the point of pain thinking about it.

They needed to talk. He needed to figure out what to do next. Where to hide her. Cimmeria would do for now. They’d stick to the forest, away from the towns by the river—

“Cal.” Tessa’s voice drew his focus back to her, back to the blue of her eyes. “Tell me. What happened?”

She stared at him, her gaze steady. Trusting. Damn it, he really wanted to live up to that trust.

If anything happened to her…

He took a deep breath, drawing her sweet scent into his lungs. “I’m still not real sure what happened. No,” he held up a hand as she opened her mouth to speak, “I’m not putting you off. Just… give me a few seconds to clear my head.”

Giving a soft sigh, Tessa rose from the couch and stretched out her hands to him. “There’s a spare bedroom in the back of the house. Why don’t we get you somewhere away from that… woman’s manic energy. I swear it lingers for days and makes me crazy. You need a little quiet time.”

Cal’s lips twisted into a wry grin. “Sounds great. Let’s get the hell out of here before X returns and wants to wring your neck for pawning Aurora off on him.”

It took more than a little effort on her part to help him off the couch and back to his feet, which just pissed him off. At first, his legs refused to hold his weight and his knees bent in protest before he forced them to hold steady.

Damn, that’s not right.

Travel between the planes usually didn’t affect him like this. Hadn’t since he’d been a green kid learning how to slip his body through the spaces between the planes. Of course, being tossed through a couple of planes at the same time probably hadn’t done him any good.

Tessa stood by his side, her top lip caught between her teeth, watching his every move with wide eyes. She held her hands at her sides but the muscles in her arms tightened each time he moved, as if she was anticipating him falling on his face.

That just made him feel that much worse. Christ, he must look pretty fucking bad.

Forcing his feet to move, he nearly did exactly what she expected. He stumbled forward until she slipped her arm around his waist and aligned her side with his. The warmth of her body seeped into his, causing his heart to kick into a faster pace, and he sucked in a deep breath. Her sweet scent made his mouth water.

Damn.

How pathetic was it that he couldn’t walk straight but still wanted her so badly he couldn’t think straight either? And on top of the desire was the guilt. And the fear.

As they trudged down the hall to the back of the house, he tried to figure out how to tell her he hadn’t learned anything at all on his trip.

Total bust.

Gods damn it.

The knot in his gut tightened even further. What the hell did they do now? That trip had been his Hail Mary pass.

“Cal! Hey, don’t pass out on me.”

Tessa gazed up at him with worried blue eyes, but the worry wasn’t for herself. No, the worry was for him. She had no idea how badly he’d failed her.

“I’m not gonna pass out on you.” He forced the words from his mouth but bit back the curses that wanted to follow.

“Glad to hear it. But I’d feel better if you didn’t look at me like that. You’re worrying me.”

He was worrying himself. And not just because he’d failed. His lungs seized, squeezing out air in a painful rush.

“How am I looking at you?”

“Like you’re about to keel over.”

Shit
. He shook his head, trying to school his features into some semblance of… well, anything that didn’t resemble fear. Which was exactly what he was feeling. And that really sucked.

Cimmerians didn’t feel fear. That went against their whole philosophy of life. No pain, no fear. Well, he’d gotten the first part right, at least. He wasn’t in any pain. Unless you counted the agony of a constant hard-on around Tessa.

He thought about pushing her away. About not leaning on her. He didn’t really need her help to walk. But he liked the feel of her body against his more than he cared to admit. Even through the fear, her proximity made lust boil in his blood.

“Here, sit down.”

Looking up, he realized they’d come to a stop in front of a bed. Not as big as he was used to but big enough. And now that he had sex on the brain, nothing else mattered.

Tessa began to pull away, but he grabbed her arm and held her in place.

“We need to talk.”

He meant every word but the bed was too damn close.

She nodded, her expression soothing, as if she was talking to a child. “Absolutely. As soon as you’ve—”

Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he pulled her against his chest and cut off her short gasp with his mouth.

As soon as his lips touched hers, the lust that’d been boiling in his gut spilled into his blood. His need for her broke free, swamping his good intentions and better judgment in waves of searing heat.

Her body stilled against his for several seconds and he wondered if she’d push him away. Then her fingers sank into his biceps, and elation thundered through him.

Her lips opened for his tongue, and when he sank inside her mouth, she moaned low and deep in her throat. The sound forced an answering groan from him as he twisted them and propelled her backwards onto the bed.

They landed in a tangle of arms and legs, hands reaching for buttons and hems.

He tasted her desire for him in the urgency of her movements and the heat of her breath. His tongue plunged into her mouth, lapping at her spicy flavor. Her tongue slid against his, enticing as she shoved her hands beneath his shirt and scraped her nails up his back, hard enough to leave marks.

Damn, if he wasn’t careful, he’d become addicted to the burn he felt only with her.

His fingers wrapped around the hem of her dress and yanked it up, out of his way. The tiny scrap of lace she called underwear gave way with a tear. He had a brief second to wonder how many pairs of her panties he’d ruined before she moaned into his mouth and arched into his hand as he cupped her mound.

Warm, silky skin, wet with her desire, slid beneath his fingers. Groaning, he coated his fingers in her juices, spreading them over her clit and the lips of her sex.

“Cal.” His name sounded like a plea on her lips. “Hurry.”

She didn’t need to tell him twice, but the heat of her distracted him. He didn’t think he’d ever
not
be distracted by her heat.

With a rough snarl, he kneeled on the bed between her legs and ripped at the button on his pants. The zipper nearly broke as he yanked it open and then shoved his pants down his legs. Somewhere along the line, he’d lost his shoes. Two less things to take off.

As soon as he was naked she reached for him, wrapping her hand around his shaft, and proceeded to pump him.

His breath caught in his throat and he stilled. Her touch mesmerized and seduced. His blood flowed hot and heavy, and he had to force his lungs to breathe.

He stared at her face as she watched her hand work his cock with a steady motion. The smoothness of her palm slid over the skin of his shaft, which ached for her to stroke him harder.

His hips thrust forward, wanting more pressure, a faster pace. But Tessa had her own agenda, which seemed to be to make him crazy.

Her hand slowed to a glacial pace, and she used her free hand to reach between his legs and cup his balls. His head fell back on a rough sigh as she stroked and tormented. His balls drew up tight, the blood pumping thick and fast, and he let himself melt under her touch.

How long could he let her touch him like this? How long could he withstand her torment without ravaging her like a beast?

Not fucking long, it turned out.

His cock twitched and swelled in her hand, and he knew if he didn’t get inside her soon, he’d come all over her hands. Not a bad way to go, but not what he wanted.

He wanted to be wrapped inside her warmth when he finally blew. Reaching for her hips, he lifted her until her entrance was on a level with his groin.

Arching her back, she rubbed her pussy on his shaft, spreading her warmth, her moisture to his cock. Their breathing rasped in the silence of the room as she angled the tip of his cock until it brushed against the swollen lips of her sex.

“Put it in, Tessa. Come on, baby. I can’t wait any longer.”

He barely recognized his voice, so deep and hungry.

Her lips curved in a purely wicked smile at the sound, and she stretched one finger from his balls along his perineum and scratched the skin there, not hard enough to hurt. But enough to make his cock threaten an explosion.

“I have faith in you, Cal.”

And she did. He saw it in the soft light of her eyes.

Fuck, he wished he deserved it.

Before he lost himself in the truth of that, he took matters into his own hands. Putting one hand over hers, he aligned the tip of his cock with her slit and thrust until just the tip of him was lodged within her.

Her hands fell away so he could go deeper, and with both hands on her hips, he withdrew then plunged again, harder this time.

“Wrap your legs around my waist, Tess. That’s good, so damn good.”

She did what he told her, and each movement worked him deeper. His cock felt larger with each thrust. The tight fit of her pussy squeezed him as tightly as her fist and he lost all desire to think. Instead, he let sensation sweep him away.

With their gazes locked, he felt caught in a spell, every motion heightening his pleasure. And hers, if her expression was anything to go by.

She stared up at him, her eyes half-lidded, her teeth caught in her bottom lip. A pink flush covered her cheeks, and he let his gaze slide down her body to where they were joined.

He watched his cock disappear into her body then reappear, slick and ruddy red. Each time he thrust inside, the need grew to do it again. And again. His gaze traveled back up, over the slight swell of her belly to her breasts. He wanted to feel those soft mounds pressed against his chest.

Pulling out of her tight sheath made Tessa cry out and reach for him, but he had to move her, had to shift her so he could lie on top of her, covering her completely. The hardened tips of her breasts dug into his chest as he set his elbows into the mattress on either side of her shoulders and burrowed back into her body.