What a Goddess Wants (23 page)

Deeper this way, especially when she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. Her low moan made him shift, go deeper.

Her eyes drifted shut as he lowered his head to kiss her, letting his hips take up a rhythm of their own. She opened her mouth to him, spread her legs just the tiniest bit further, and gave herself up to him.

Yes.
As if that was what he’d been waiting for, he let himself go, driven by the need to conquer.

She was his. Lifting his mouth from hers, he wanted to hear her cry out his name in ecstasy, to see her eyes go dark with lust and her body respond to his every move. His hips drove him deep, speed increasing on every thrust in time with her every gasping breath.

He heard himself saying, “Come on, baby. Come on. That’s right. Let go.” Felt the deep-seated tension in his lower body coil even tighter as his orgasm approached. Felt her body tighten in anticipation, the arch of her neck, the tightening of her pussy.

And finally the keening cry that signaled her release and the tight clench of her muscles around his cock, squeezing him, milking his response.

He tried to hold out, but she controlled the action now. Each movement of her body dictated his. She demanded he join her and he did with a harsh grunt, pumping his seed into her and collapsing over her with nothing but bliss on his mind.

Chapter 9

“I can practically hear you thinking, Cal. Whatever it is, whatever happened, it’ll be best if you just spit it out.”

As Cal slipped to her side, Tessa rose up on one elbow so she could stare down into his eyes. He wanted to look away but kept his gaze locked on hers.

As his lungs still tried to breathe normally, Cal knew he couldn’t put off telling her any longer. The fear he’d managed to keep at bay while he’d been inside her body began to tear at his stomach.

But, damn, he loved her eyes. They reminded him of the bright noon sky he hadn’t seen in eight decades.

She smiled when he didn’t say anything right away and ran one finger down his cheek, as if coaxing the words out of him. “Come on, Cal. It can’t be that bad.”

Yeah, it could. Hell, it could be worse.

“Tess—”

Bang, bang, bang.

“Hey, guys, you gotta get up.” X’s voice barely carried through the thick oak door. “The doc’s looking for you, Lady. I think Flavia’s finally ready.”

Tessa’s smile spread as she pressed a kiss to Cal’s lips and then scrambled off the bed to gather her clothes.

Cal shook his head when he realized he still had no idea where he was or what she was doing here.

“Who’s Flavia and what is she ready for?”

Tessa tossed his pants at him, nearly hitting him in the face before he grabbed them out of the air. “To have her babies.”

“And you’re here… why?” Sliding off the bed, he pulled on his pants and then enjoyed the show as she shimmied into the underwear he could have sworn he’d ripped but that now looked whole. Her breasts jiggled just enough to have his cock twitch in response. “I told you to stay at Sal’s, Tessa. What if someone had followed you here?”

With a breath-stealing shake, she tugged the sundress she’d been wearing over her head. “I couldn’t. I promised Flavia I would be here for the birth of her children, and when she summoned me just after you left, I couldn’t refuse. And don’t blame X. I gave him no option but to come with me.”

The fear cranked up a notch but he tried not to let it show. “And where exactly are we?”

“Well, right now we’re in Dr. Eric Frentani’s home on Hawk Mountain.” She stopped at a mirror to check her reflection, tried to finger comb her hair into behaving, and then gave up with a little shrug. “Below us is the medical facility he runs for the
Fata
.”

“Hey, guys.” X’s voice came through the door a little bit louder this time. “Why don’t we discuss this on the way downstairs. Frentani said it’s gonna happen in, like, minutes.”

Tessa hurried to the door, hopping from one foot to the next as she pulled on her sandals, and opened it as Cal yanked a T-shirt over his head.

She turned back to wave at him as she hurried through the door, giving X a quick once-over as she passed him. “You don’t look any worse for wear. You got rid of Aurora nicely, I hope.”

“My brain’s bleeding, trust me.” X shook his head. “That one never shuts up. And I don’t think Aurora would’ve noticed if I told her to fuck off. Hell, I barely got a word in edgewise.”

Cal caught his brother’s gaze and held it as he attempted to keep up with Tessa. “You and I need to have a talk about what I mean when I say, ‘Don’t leave.’”

X just rolled his eyes. “Try the tough guy act on someone else, big brother. And you know there was no way I could’ve kept her at Sal’s.”

“Fuck me, X—”

“If you two are going to resort to name calling, I’m going to go downstairs and lock the door so you can’t follow me.” Tessa paused in the doorway midway up the hall. “Don’t be angry at X. It’s not his fault. I’m irresistible. You would’ve given me what I wanted, too.”

Knowing she was right but still figuring he should punch X for the principle of it, Cal settled for a quick jab to X’s shoulder as Tessa rolled her eyes and pushed through the door. Cal nearly didn’t get his foot in the crack before the door closed and automatically locked him and X up there.

X gave him a brotherly shove through the door, and they followed Tessa down a bright stairwell to another bright hallway. No harsh fluorescent lighting down here. Recessed lights gave the illusion of sunshine, even though he knew this entire place was underground.

And though it smelled mainly like a hospital—that disinfected, sterile, chemical scent—he also smelled flowers. And not a fake, perfume scent, either. It smelled like—

The unmistakable sounds of a woman in pain came from down the hall. He and X froze as Tessa picked up her pace and disappeared into the room at the end of the hall.

“Shit.” Cal looked at X, whose face had paled just the slightest bit. “There really is a woman about to give birth down there.”

“Yeah, there is. But trust me when I say that you want to get your ass into that room.” X leaned closer and spoke in a tone barely above a whisper. “Frentani’s got a thing for Tessa. I’m warning you now so you don’t go off the deep end when you meet him.”

He shook his head. “Son of a bitch, I don’t need this now.”

“Cal, what happened? Were you able to talk to anyone in Invol?”

“Yeah, for all the good it did. I haven’t told Tessa yet. Hell, I don’t know
what
the hell to tell her. It was fucked up.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, something wasn’t right with the person I spoke to. It was… almost like they didn’t know who they were or where they were. Just fucking weird.”

“Well, shit.” X’s expression screwed up into a frown. “Now what?”

From the end of the hall, the woman moaned again.

Gods-freaking-damn. He hadn’t signed on for any of this shit. Not for blue-skinned demons or trips to Invol. And definitely
not
for pregnant women.

“Cal?”

But he wanted his woman. A real-life goddess. He wanted her more than was healthy, considering he’d nearly been burned to a crisp.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going.”

Taking a deep breath, he started down the hall, pausing as he got to the door before he walked through.

“Push, Flavia,” Tessa said. “You’re so close to meeting your first child. You just need to push.”

The woman on the bed barely noticed Cal’s entrance, but Tessa, standing by her head, her arms around the woman’s shoulders, gave him a quick glance and a smile before her attention returned to the action.

The man sitting in front of the woman on the bed—which actually looked more like some funky huge chair with no actual seat that he could see—had time for a scowl before turning back to the laboring woman.

Cal moved to stand behind Tessa, careful not to move too fast. He wasn’t squeamish about childbirth. At least he didn’t think he was. He’d never actually seen a baby being born, but he’d seen men die in bloody, awful ways. He’d killed some of those men with his own hands. Surely the birth of a baby couldn’t be that bad.

Cal couldn’t help himself. He looked down.

Maybe he needed to revise his opinion. Holy fuck, that looked painful as all hell.

Tessa’s calm voice soothed the other woman. Hell, it soothed him and he wasn’t the one giving birth.

“Okay, here comes another one. Push, Flavia. The baby’s crowning.” The doctor smiled down at the sweaty, pale-faced female on the bed.

Cal had watched enough
ER
repeats to know this meant the baby was close to being born. He found himself moving closer to Tessa and the bed so he could see the baby. Just not close enough to really see what was going on down there.

Hell, the woman should have some privacy.

Tessa stood next to Flavia, her body supporting the smaller woman, and breathed in rhythm with her. Frentani said something that Cal didn’t catch because he was fascinated by Tessa. She wore the most peaceful expression, damn near beatific. She was completely in her element, her voice a low, comforting hum.

The little
gianes
had a death grip on Tessa’s hands. She breathed when Tessa told her to breathe, pushed when Tessa told her to push, and relaxed when Tessa told her to relax. Actually, she looked more relaxed than Cal would have ever imagined possible.

He knew a lot of that was Tessa’s doing. Cal felt some kind of power flowing between the two women, something that must have acted like a sedative on Flavia.

“Okay, Flavia,” Frentani said. “Push now.”

Cal kept his gaze on Tessa. He saw her smile grow wider, and then he saw that flash in her eyes, the glow he’d seen earlier when they’d made love. Her goddess powers had kicked in.

A thin, high wail jerked him out of his thoughts, and his gaze shot to the end of the bed where Frentani held a tiny, wriggly infant in his hands.

“A girl, Flavia.” The doctor smiled up at her. “A true beauty, like her mother.”

With a choked little cry, Flavia reached for the child and Frentani laid her in her mother’s arms.

Damn, the baby looked really… gross. All white and red and splotchy. Thin arms and legs waving and a little round belly. The baby had no hair at all, and with its mouth open and screaming like it was, it looked like one of those alien babies from
The X-Files
.

Flavia stared at it with the most amazing smile on her face, as if it were the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. After seeing what she’d gone through, Cal would’ve thought she’d want to rage against that little bit of flesh that had given her so much trouble.

Instead, Flavia crooned something under her breath. It sounded like a lullaby. Or a prayer. Then he realized Tessa had joined her. He knew enough Etruscan to realize that’s what they were speaking but not enough to know what they were saying. But he did feel the emotion behind the words.

Then Flavia gasped.

“Tessa, take the baby.” Frentani positioned himself at the end of the bed. “All right, here we go again, Flavia.”

Cal’s eyes flew open as he looked at the guy.

Again? What the hell?

“Here.” Tessa turned to him, and before he could protest, placed the now blanket-wrapped baby in his arms. “Hold her for a few minutes. Don’t drop her.”

He looked down into the tiny face of the baby in his arms.

“Ah, Tess, I’m not sure—”

Flavia cried out as her contractions began again and Tessa returned to her position next to her. He looked back at the baby, its little face screwed into a scowl before it let out an ear-piercing howl.

Oh shit.

***

Cal stood over the bassinets next to Flavia’s bed, hands in his pockets, his gaze locked on the two babies.

Tessa had been watching him for the past few minutes while Eric finished up with Flavia. The second birth had been more difficult than the first, and Tessa’s leg muscles ached, as did her arms and shoulders.

All worth it.

She walked over to stand next to Cal. “How’re you holding up, big guy?”

Cal looked up, his gaze locking onto hers. “Are you okay?”

She tried to dredge up a smile for him, but weariness hung on her like an ill-fitting coat, heavy and uncomfortable. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” His gaze cut toward the bed. “How’s Flavia?”

“She’ll be fine.”

“Thanks to you.”

Oh, this man was way too observant. “She’s young and strong. I just helped her along.”

“No, it was more than that. This little guy,” he lowered his voice as he nodded toward the baby boy who’d given his mother so much trouble, “probably wouldn’t have made it if not for you.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s not true. Eric is a wonderful doctor—”