Us. Again. (The Aphrodite Chronicles Book 3)

by LM Spangler

  Her arms wound around his neck and her body slanted against his, fitting perfectly. He untangled his hands, slid them down her back, and grasped her butt, pulling her core against his raging erection.

  They moaned into each other’s mouth.

  “Now,” she pled.

  "Yes, now," he agreed until the sound of geese in the distance brought him to his senses. And he realized they were outside. "Oh, gods. Not here. Ice cream shop."

  Talia giggled. “That sounds like fun.”

  He took her hand and together they ran into the building. As soon as they were inside, he pulled the blinds down on the windows and closed the curtains on the door before locking it. “Backroom,” he commanded harshly.

  ****

  She nodded, rounded the counter, and snagged an unopened bottle of chocolate sauce from the sundae station on the way.

  She’d no idea how she simply didn’t implode from need. All she had to do was be near him again. Not touch him. Or kiss him.

  When he stepped into the room, she slowly slid her hands up her thighs, under the hem of her dress, hooked her thumbs on her underwear, and pulled them off, all the while watching him watch her.

  He stepped to her, grabbing the edge of her sundress, and slowly lifted it upward, all the while softly brushing his fingers over her skin, lighting little fires in her blood. Liquid heat flooded her core. She wanted … no needed to be touched.

  When he caressed the inside of her thigh, she thought she’d explode then and there. “You’re bare. That’s so hot.”

  Talia leaned against his desk. “Inside me,” she begged. She shifted, and he got the hint. He ran his fingers between her slickened nether lips, back and forth.

  He laughed against her ear, kissed a path to her mouth, and demanded entry with his tongue. When she opened, he plundered with both his tongue in her mouth and his fingers in her core.

  She moaned and quickly matched the rhythm of his thrusting fingers with her hips. Heat built quickly, scorching her in the most exquisite way. She wanted his mouth and tongue to replace his fingers. “Use your mouth on me. Please,” she pled against his lips.

  He smiled and lifted the dress over her head, threw it over the back of his chair. “Give me the bottle of sauce.”

  A shiver raced through her and she nearly came. He opened the bottle, smiled at her as he dropped to his knees, upended the sauce, and drizzled it down her abdomen and onto her core. “Oh, gods,” she murmured. The thrill of what he was about to do raced over her and her stomach quivered.

  He snickered. “You look good enough to eat.”

  Another rush of heat washed over her. “Thank the gods. Please do.” Hell, he couldn’t do it fast enough. The thought ended when his tongue swiped over her tummy, beginning at the top of the trail of syrup.

  Her hands tangled in the silken strands of his hair, gently tugging him lower and lower—all the while following the path of chocolate. Her nerves were super sensitive, sending little licks of pleasure with each swipe of his tongue and one nuclear bomb blast of heat when he reached her nether lips. Her hips bucked forward of their own volition.

  Her head fell back and she closed her eyes when he spread her open and concentrated his attention on her clit. “Oh, damn. Right there, right there,” she said over and over as the tip of his tongue flicked the tiny bud again and again.

  Heat coiled in the pit of her stomach, winding tighter and tighter, threatening to snap. “Oh gods, I’m going to come,” she declared a split second before her white-hot pleasure exploded inside her, bursting outward.

  Niko didn’t relent. He continued his assault until he’d rung every last ripple of pleasure from her. She reached for him, but he brushed her hand aside. “I’m so amped right now that I’d probably come on the spot.”

  His muscular chest rippled as he removed his shirt. She followed the vee of his muscled torso to the waistband of his shorts. He quickly rid himself of his clothing.

  “You are still the hottest male of any species,” she admitted. In an act of dragon submission, she spun around and leaned over the desk, thrusting her backside toward him. It wasn’t an act of dominance—it was an act of trust. She trusted her heart, her life to him.

  “Nikolas, make me yours.”

  Niko stepped behind her and lined the head of his cock to the entrance of her channel.

  “I love you,” she declared.

  He drove into her with one hard thrust, nearly lifting her off her feet. “I love you, too,” he grunted. With each stroke, the pace increased. And she was okay with that. As a dragon, sex tended to be brutal, but as shifters, they tended to be more spirited when making love.

  The heat began to simmer, slowly growing hotter, until it burst, fragmented into a million points of pleasure. "Oh, gods. Oh, gods."

  Niko pounded his cock into her, the pace frantic until he shouted hoarsely as he spilled his seed deep inside her.

  She leaned on her elbows as her lungs struggled for oxygen. “Wow. Just wow,” she said as she pushed her hair out of her face. “Six month is a long time with no sex.”

  “Yes, it is,” he admitted.

  She whirled around. “You haven’t had sex since I had to walk away?” It seemed inconceivable. Niko was gorgeous. Women were always looking at him.

  He smiled softly. “I haven’t wanted to and I really haven’t had time because of Jake.”

  The mental forehead slap she gave herself almost knocked her on her ass. She laid her hand on his shoulder. “I am so sorry, Niko. That was insensitive of me.”

  He dropped a quick kiss on her hand. “No need to be sorry. You only found out a half hour ago. Why don't we get dressed? I'd like to thank the woman you were with for her cool handling of our reunion. I'll just text Jake to see where he's at," he said as he fetched his discarded shorts and fished his cell phone out of his pocket.

  “Oh, you mean Amy Herstead. She’s a guest at the bed and breakfast as well.”

  He looked sideways at her. “Ah, you’re the guest from Illinois.”

  Talia grabbed her underwear off the floor and shimmied into them before slipping into her dress. “That would be me.”

  “Jake is at Callie’s enjoying a piece of peanut butter pie with Amy, Callie, and Mike. We have been commanded to join them.”

  She grabbed the chocolate sauce from the desk. “We can bring this,” she said, shaking the bottle.

  Niko snatched her around the waist, twirling her around. “I do love you.”

  “And I love you. Let’s do get some food. This dragon is hungry.”

  You didn’t mess with a dragon in three situations.

  When they are angry, horny, or hungry.

  Chapter Four

  A half-hour later, Niko was sitting in the kitchen of the bed and breakfast with the McDermotts, a very feisty Amy Herstead, his nephew, and the love of his life. The woman he had let walk out of his life because he respected that she was a dragon and that dragon’s had certain laws they followed. Even if they were ridiculous.

  Now, she had walked back into his life and he had no intention of letting her go. She was his. Plain and simple.

  As he lifted a forkful of Callie McDermott’s homemade peanut butter pie, the Westminster chime doorbell sang into the room, startling everyone.

  Callie glanced at her watch. “I wonder who that could be. Excuse me,” she said as she rose and left the room.

  “Probably heard about your pie,” Mike, Callie’s husband, mumbled with his mouth full of the decadent dessert.

  Suddenly, voices could be heard, and Talia’s eyes widened and darkened. Not a good sign.

  “Oh, shit.” She stood so fast that the stool fell back.

  Callie walked back into the room with two people who resembled Talia. Niko knew, without a doubt, that the two strangers were her parents. That, too, was not a good sign. “This is Mr. and Mrs. Karros, Talia’s mother and father.”

  “What are you doing here?” Talia demanded.

  “Now, now. We
just came to see how you were doing,” her father said, his eyes moving from Talia to Niko, narrowing when he met Niko’s gaze.

  Dragons had a great sense of smell. Niko’s scent would be all over Talia.

  Amy rose. “Why don’t you take this outside? The McDermotts have a lovely patio.”

  “Make sure to hit the light switch on the way out,” Callie advised.

  Talia stormed toward the back of the building with Niko in tow. The elder Karroses followed calmly.

  When they were outside and the door closed behind them, Talia blasted her parents. “Why are you here?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “We’ll talk when he leaves,” her mother, Chara, answered, pointing to Niko.

  “Not going to happen,” Niko and Talia answered in unison.

  "Why would you choose this … this … human garbage over a dragon like Gannon?" her father, Andreas, spat.

  The French door opened and Amy stepped out. She glared at Andreas. “I will not allow you to speak of my half-brother that way.”

  “What?” all four questioned at once.

  Amy stepped down onto the patio. When she reached the landing, a bright light began to glow from her midsection, slowly growing brighter and bigger until it engulfed Amy.

  Niko covered his eyes, totally at a loss as to what the hell was happening. He had a brother. He’d never had contact with any other of Zeus’s children, at least that he knew of.

  When the light receded, a tall, redheaded woman stood in her place.

  Andreas and Chara dropped to their knees and motioned for Talia to do the same. “Aphrodite,” they said in unison.

  Talia gasped and kneeled. “You're the travel agent who recommended I come to Cicada Lake.”

  “I am. Please rise, child.” Aphrodite held out her hand to Talia.

  Andreas and Chara had begun to rise. “I didn’t say you could rise,” Aphrodite snapped.

  Both nodded and remained kneeling.

  “Jake?” Niko asked.

  Aphrodite offered her hand to Niko who hesitated. “Simply in a hypnotic state. As far as they know, they’ve been having a conversation in the kitchen eating pie.

  “You … you’re my half-sister?” Niko asked.

  “Yes. You and I share the same sperm donor for a father.”

  This time the gasps came from Talia’s parents. “You’re a demi-god?” Chara asked.

  “If you ever took the time to get to know Niko, you would have found out that, yes, he is a demi-god.” Talia advised as she took the Goddess’s hand.

  “May we rise, Goddess?” Andreas asked.

  Aphrodite motioned with her hand and they rose.

  “Niko has a human mother so he has no god-given powers, but he is of Zeus’s lineage and as such, he can, by the Dragon Law you value so much, mate with your daughter.” Aphrodite offered Niko her hand again.

  He slid his much larger one into hers. The familial link was immediate, like threads reaching out, binding them together. Now, he’d know her in any form as his sister, even the strong-willed Amy.

  “These two have something much stronger than a dragon’s mating. They love with their hearts, not a piece of paper. They like each other’s company, they love each other physically. The sex isn’t expected, it’s spontaneous. She isn’t with him because you willed it. She’s with him because she chooses to be.”

  “Why didn’t he stay and fight for her? Does he have no valor?” Andreas asked.

  Talia opened her mouth to answer, but Niko held up his hand to stop her. “If I could have, I would have. But I had something just as important here that needed me. My half-brother passed away and I had been granted full custody of my twelve-year-old nephew, Jacob, and ownership of my brother’s ice cream shop, both of which happen to be here in Cicada Lake.”

  “Even a dragon like yourself, Andreas, understands and admires loyalty and devotion.” Aphrodite joined Niko and Talia's hands together. “Who's to say he wouldn't have the same with your daughter?”

  Chara laid her hand on her husband’s forearm. “She is right, husband. We value loyalty. And he took on the responsibility of his nephew. That’s devotion. And they can be mated according to Dragon Law.”

  “No!” Niko and Talia said together.

  “I want to be joined in the way of the humans,” Talia began. “I want to wear a beautiful white dress and look pretty as I walk toward Niko.”

  “You'll look stunning,” Niko said as he grasped her other hand and pulled her to him. He swooped in and captured her mouth with his in a kiss that said in no uncertain terms that she was his forever. And he wanted to spend his life with her and Jake.

  Aphrodite sighed and nodded. “My gift to you will be the wedding of your dreams.”

  “Don’t our opinions matter?” Andreas asked.

  “Not in this instance,” Talia answered. “This isn’t about you and mother.”

  Her eyes met Niko’s. A man could get lost in the depth of her eyes. So expressive. So captivating. He leaned in and kissed her softly, pouring every ounce of love he felt for her into it, into her, into them.

  This wasn’t about tradition or law.

  It was about two people who loved each other and would for the rest of their lives.

  Thanks to the meddling of his half-sister, it was about them.

  Epilogue

  Two months later

  Cicada Lake, Pennsylvania

  Folding chairs lined the backyard of the McDermott’s Bed and Breakfast. Talia had decided she wanted an intimate wedding, but a big party for the reception on the shores of Cicada Lake. There’d be enough time for her and Niko to make love as husband and wife before the party.

  She stood just out of sight behind the French doors. Her father stood on the opposite side. Soon she’d be walking toward the rest of her life—to the man she loved and to the young man who already called her Aunt Talia.

  How could any woman get any luckier?

  She inhaled and exhaled as her nerves ran rampant through her system. She pictured herself in the full-length mirror only moments before, enrobed in strapless, skin-hugging white lace that left little of her luscious curves to the imagination. Her hair was braided and twisted into a bun held in place by pins studded with pearls.

  The local beauty salon had done her hair and makeup. Talia wanted the day to be perfect. And she got her wish. The sun shined bright, a soft breeze blew in from over the lake, keeping the summer temperature comfortable.

  She had a feeling a god or goddess may have had something to do with it. Hell, one of them was standing as her matron of honor. The one that had been responsible for bringing Talia and Niko back together.

  As it had turned out, Aphrodite was on a mission to bring deserving lovers back together, thanks to Aphrodite herself losing the love of her life thanks to her “dickhead father” as she had put it. Zeus had banished her lover from Olympus to the realm of earth to die as a lonely human.

  It just so happened that her half-brother had been one of those deserving people.

  And now here they were. At Talia’s dream wedding.

  The Wedding March began to play and Talia and Andreas stepped to the threshold of the door.

  Talia’s eyes watered and she thanked her lucky stars that the salon had used waterproof makeup.

  The yard was decorated with bouquets of wildflowers and roses, the scents combining and blowing in the breeze. All heads had turned her way, but she didn't see them.

  She only saw Niko, standing by the preacher, dressed in a dark gray tuxedo with a deep blue cummerbund to match his eyes. His black hair was slicked back off his forehead and secured at the nape of his neck.

  The world fell away. It was only the two of them. Their life, their dreams, their premade family. It was all she’d ever wanted.

  “Ready?” her father asked, snapping her back to the aisle she was about to walk down.

  Tears welled in her eyes so she nodded almost imperceptibly. As she and her father began to move down
the aisle, she noticed that standing by Niko as his best man was Jake, dressed in an identical tuxedo with his black hair slicked back. Standing for Talia was Aphrodite in her Amy disguise.

  In the front row were Niko's parents, who had flown in from Africa. Her parents—thanks to their dragon ability to fly invisibly—had literally flown in from Illinois, just as they had on the night two months ago when Aphrodite nearly chewed them out.

  As she reached Niko, her father lifted her veil and kissed her on the cheek. He whispered to Niko, “I give her to you. Take care of her.”

  Then the world stood still as she faced her very-soon-to-be husband. His eyes looked like the deepest ocean that had yet to reveal its secrets. Unshed tears glistened in their corners, which made her tear up again.

  He held out his hand and she slid hers into it. Together they faced the preacher.

  The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch, thanks to some waterproof makeup and the fact she knew that Niko was the right man for her. She knew there’d never be another.

  There were two hours between the ceremony and the party, which had been done on purpose.

  As Mr. and Mrs. Nikolas Bradley walked into the door of his house, they were shocked to see it had been decorated with vases of flowers and candles galore.

  “When did they do this and how the hell did they get in?” Niko asked.

  “I’m guessing half the town was in on it and I’m sure our nephew has a key.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “I’m going to give him such a noogie when I see him.”

  “How about you and I go to the bedroom and see each other … naked?”

  Niko removed his bowtie. “I love the way you think, Mrs. Bradley.”

  “I love you calling me Mrs. Bradley, Mr. Bradley.” She slid her hands under the tux vest and slid it down his arms. She hummed a tune while unbuttoning the white dress shirt that joined the vest on the floor. The belt followed suit.

  She spun around. “Unzip me, please.” As he undid the closure, the dress fell from her body. She carefully stepped free of it and draped it on the back of the couch. When she turned back around and had begun to unhook her stockings and roll them down her legs, she stopped suddenly.