by Amy Sumida
“Someone tell him, I'm too tired,” I flopped back down onto Kirill's thigh. Something twitched beside my cheek, but I steadfastly ignored it.
My husbands explained the sex situation to Re. Re bitched. Re whined. Re snarled. And finally, Re got a good whiff.
We didn't surface for air until nearly midnight.
Chapter Eight
“Wow,” Re flopped onto his back and panted happily. “I haven't done anything like that since the sixties.”
“You? In the sixties?” Trevor laughed as he made a valiant attempt at putting on some pants. “Re as a hippie. Now there's something I'd like to see. Did you wear daisies in your hair?”
“Not the nineteen-sixties,” Re rolled his eyes. “Please, how gauche. Free love made things too easy. Where's the pride in sleeping with several women if anyone can? No, I'm talking about the sixteen-sixties. There was this pagan ceremony I attended in Russia. Those Russian women are spectacular.”
“Da, very beautiful,” Kirill agreed.
“Hey, I'm lying right here,” I whined.
“Yes, after we just showed you how much more beautiful you are to us, more than any other woman in all the worlds,” Re said smoothly, pulling me into his side.
“Sweet Satan,” Azrael rolled his eyes as he crawled across the floor, picking up pieces of his clothing as he went. “Even your romance sounds smarmy. Aha!” Azrael held his cell phone aloft triumphantly, as Re gave me a pouty look. “I need to text Michael and ask him to take over my Death duties for a couple of days.”
“You don't have to do that,” I protested after giving Re a kiss on his golden nose. “You can go.”
“And miss all this?” Azrael sent me a horrified look, his sin-black, feathered wings shivering. “Are you out of your mind? Hell no. And I mean Hell no.”
“Yeah, we get it,” Re rolled his metallic eyes, “your daddy's the Devil. Big deal.”
“You're only saying that because he isn't here,” Azrael smirked.
“Fair enough,” Re said in such a serious tone that we all laughed.
“That man would beat your ass, and then bake you cookies,” I added and we laughed harder. Because it was true. Then I remembered something. “Um, Re?”
“What is it, Lala?” Re smiled sweetly at me. “You need a little more liquid sunshine?”
“Gross. Don't ever say zhat again,” Kirill mumbled.
“We ran into Sekhmet at my doctor's appointment,” I said, and all the men went still. Yeah, we'd kind of forgotten about that amid our other activities.
“Oh, gods!” Re laid a palm to his forehead. “I've been meaning to tell you. It all happened so fast. I guess now you know that Sekhmet and Ptah are expecting their second child... wait. You went to a doctor's appointment without me?”
“I didn't think you'd be interested in going,” I blinked at him.
“Of course I'm interested in going,” Re huffed. “I love you, and I love this baby. I want to be a part of this pregnancy.”
“That's sweet,” I kissed him. “Thank you. I'll remember to include you next time. But there's something else we need to talk about. There was a bit of an incident when I came out of my appointment. Ptah and Sekhmet were there, some things were said, and Hygieia kicked Ptah and Sekhmet out. Hygieia has refused service to Sekhmet.”
“Oh fuck me,” Re blew out an exasperated breath. “I assume the things that were said were quite horrible, and mostly said by Sekhmet?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“I'm sorry, Lala,” Re hugged me. “My daughter can be difficult, but she acts out of love for her family.”
“I'm the one who's sorry. Sekhmet won't have Hygieia's care because of what happened,” I shook my head.
“She'll be fine, don't worry about Sekhmet,” Re gave my butt a pat. “My daughter is strong.”
“Tima?” a hesitant knock came at the door.
“Oh no,” I whispered, “not again.”
“Go away!” Trevor shouted.
“But I have a message from the Formorians,” Aidan whined. “Come on, what's going on in there? You guys haven't come out for hours.”
“Lots of wild and crazy sex!” Re shouted.
“Aw man,” Aidan whined more. “Tima, I'm very talented, I promise.”
“Aidan!” I snarled.
“Okay, okay,” something slid beneath the door. “But I thought you'd want to say hello to your friend.”
“Which friend?” I sat up.
“Cernunnos,” Aidan's smugness had no trouble making it through the closed door.
“Son of a flying saucer,” I swore.
“That's not even possible,” Re shook his head.
“Cernunnos knows the ward chant, it's very possible,” I scowled at Re. “I told him he was welcome here anytime.”
“No, the 'son of a flying saucer' bit,” Re grimaced. “Inanimate objects can't have children.”
“If it flies, is it still considered inanimate?” Trevor mused.
“Oh, good question,” Re sat up too, his regal face creasing into thoughtful lines.
The golden shimmer over Re's deeply tanned skin made him look more Caucasian than Egyptian, albeit a Caucasian stripper, but Re's face bore the strong nose and brow of an Egyptian monarch. It was a stunning combination. He angled his athletic legs into a casual pose, and flung his golden brown hair back, his gold eyes narrowing in thought.
“Dude, cover that up,” Trevor waved a hand to the impressive package Re had just put on display. And yes, he was even golden there.
“Why?” Re was completely baffled. “We've all just been intimate. I think you actually brushed my golden rod a few times.”
Agh!” Trevor made a horrified face as he lifted his hands in a warding gesture. “No! Do not ever mention that again. Whatever happens here, stays here. This room is Vegas for the next twenty-four hours.”
“Absolutely,” Azrael agreed, then added to Re, “And please don't ever use the words 'golden rod' in my presence again.”
Re waved a hand at his manhood, as if the name were not only obvious but beyond his control, “It is what it is.”
“Is someone going to come out and talk to Cernunnos?” Aidan was still standing outside the door. “As amusing as it is to listen to you talk about your foursome... fivesome... however many somes you got in there... Cernunnos is waiting.”
“You go, Trevor,” I waved him away. “Cern likes you.”
“He likes me as well,” Odin got to his feet and stretched, his massive muscles rippling with the movement. “And I wanted to talk to him about the Formorians anyway.”
Odin slipped on his shirt (his slacks were already on), and his muscles strained against the fabric for a second. I was fascinated, like a cat with a new toy, watching the way the T-shirt stretched over bulging biceps, the way his oak brown hair was streaked with sunlight blonde, the way his ass looked in those slacks, the way-
“Vervain?” Re snapped a finger in front of my face.
“Oh damn,” I whispered. “It's affecting me too.”
“Of course it is,” Azrael chuckled, “it's stemming from you, Carus.” He leaned down and kissed me, then straightened and headed over to Odin, “I'll go with you, I'd like to say hello to the Horned God.”
“Have fun,” Re waved gaily as he rolled his body over mine.
“Re!” I pushed at him, “what are you doing?”
“I'm covering your nudity so that they may exit without Aidan catching sight of your beautiful body,” Re smiled innocently. “I know how shy you are, Lala.”
I shook my head and laughed. Lala. The nickname seemed so silly now, just as silly as Re was being, and that's why I'd chosen it... in the future. A future that would never happen, now that I'd fixed things. But, in a mind blowing twist, it was where I'd started my relationship with Re. He had tried all sorts of nicknames on me, until I'd finally asked what the Egyptian word for the Moon was. Lah, but it was already the name of an old, forgotten god. So I told Re to call me Lala.
All of my other nicknames were so serious. Minn Elska meant “my love” in Old Norse, “Tima” was my title with the Intare, Carus translated to “Beloved” in Latin, and A Thaisce was “My Treasure” in Gaelic. Actually, Odin was the only one who didn't have a pet name for me. I kind of liked that about him. That and his big-
“Lala,” Re shook his head at me, “I'm losing you again.”
“Sorry,” I muttered.
“Whoa,” Aidan got a three-second glimpse before he was pushed far away from the room. “Damn, it smells like...oh wow.”
Aidan started to growl.
“The smelling salts!” I pointed to the box on the kitchen table.
Kirill ran over, pulled out a tube, and rushed over to Aidan. A snap, and then I heard Aidan whimper.
“Fuck man, what the hell did you do?” Aidan sounded like himself again.
“Smelling salts, Now move it, Aidan,” Odin growled, “before I have to hurt you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Aidan grumbled, “I'm going. Hey, don't forget the invitation,” he waved at the envelope Odin was currently standing on.
“Oh,” Odin frowned and picked it up. “Here,” he gave it to Trevor, and then headed out with Azrael.
The door closed behind them, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Um, Re?” I pushed at him. “You can move now.”
“I don't think Trevor or Kirill would like it if I did,” Re grinned.
“Damn it, Re,” Trevor shook his head.
“Well, it is my date day,” Re started nibbling my neck. “I think I deserve some alone time with Vervain.”
“No fucking way,” Trevor growled.
“I hardly think it's an unreasonable request,” Re huffed.
“No, not that,” Trevor waved off Re. “This invitation,” he looked over to me. “It's from King Elatha. He wants us to go to a feast in Tara.”
“In Tara?” I pushed Re off me, and the other men both turned away in irritation. “What?” I asked. Then I spotted Re's massive hard-on. “Oh,” I grabbed Re's discarded pants and shoved them at him. “Here, honey, We'll take care of that in a few minutes, but wrap it up for now, okay?”
“I suppose I can wait,” Re sighed deeply, pulled on his pants, and stood.
Frankly, I don't know how he was able to walk with that thing, but somehow, Re followed me over to the kitchen table, where Trevor stood, holding out the calligraphed invitation. Kirill joined us and we all stared down at the parchment.
“He wants to offer me a treaty,” I said in shock.
“Smart of him,” Re nodded. “You're a strong ally to have.”
“He's not asking for an alliance, just a truce,” Trevor corrected. “And there's no harm in that. In fact, that's the point.”
“So you think I should go talk to him?” I asked Trevor.
“I do,” Trevor nodded.
“I agree,” Kirill agreed. “Peace is never bad zing.”
“Be nice to not have to worry about them attacking you,” Re observed. “Especially at such a vulnerable time,” his hand strayed to my belly.
“Okay,” I sighed. “Can one of you take our answer down to Cernunnos?”
“Da, I vill,” Kirill headed to the door.
“So, about this issue in my pants,” Re rubbed up against me.
Trevor started shaking his head, but he inhaled as he did so, breathing in some of my scent. As soon as it hit him, his whole demeanor changed, his eyes going from soft to predatory. His arms flexed a second before they reached for me. Then I was looking at my bedroom from another perspective. Upside down. Trevor had me over his shoulder and was racing to the bed with me.
“Hey, I was supposed to be next,” Re whined as he chased after us.
“Don't vear her out,” Kirill chided as he shut the door behind him.
Chapter Nine
Hygieia was right, the heat cooled in two days. Two days in which I never left my bedroom. My husbands and Re stayed most of the time too, though there were a couple of incidents which needed to be handled outside of the suite. For the most part, we ate, slept, and had sex, with bath time in our enormous tub thrown in between. It was incredible, but on the third day, I was relieved to wake up to normality.
Well, as normal as it gets for me.
“Is it done?” Trevor asked sleepily as I tried to disengage myself from the tangle of limbs taking over our massive bed.
“Take a sniff,” I leaned towards him, and he inhaled deep.
“Hmmm,” he relaxed back into the bed. “You smell fantastic, but that's it.”
“What?” Re's head poked out of the sheet at the foot of the bed. “It's over already?”
“It's been four days,” I huffed, and headed to my walk-in closet.
“I only got to experience two of them,” Re pouted, and then flopped back miserably onto someone's leg.
“Hey,” Odin growled, pulling away from Re. “Get off me, you golden pervert.”
Odin moaned his way out of bed, obviously relieved to be free of the call of my heat, and stumbled to the bathroom muttering something about the things he put up with for love. I yanked on some underwear and then a dress. Oh how I had missed being clothed. I sighed, sliding my hands over the silk. My lioness was curled up, purring inside me, as satisfied as she could get.
“You'd better be happy,” I grumbled to her as I headed to the kitchen to make some breakfast. “Even my lust magic doesn't require so much sex.”
“Vhat time is it?” Kirill mumbled from beneath a black, feathered wing. “And vhy is it so dark?”
“Oh, sorry,” Azrael's wings disappeared, he just magicked them away. It was a pretty cool trick. “I must have released my wings while I was sleeping.”
Azrael slid out of bed gracefully, and padded over to me. He didn't bother with clothing, all the piles of jeans and shirts scattered around the room were probably dirty anyway. He just strode up to me naked, and slipped his arms around my waist while I filled the coffee pot with water.
“Good morning, goddess of mine,” he kissed my cheek.
“Good morning, angel of mine,” I said back. “You hungry?”
“Famished,” he nipped at my neck, and I stiffened. “I was just teasing,” he laughed, and headed for the stairs. “I'm going to get dressed. I'll be back in a few, then I need to head over to Shehaquim to check on Michael.”
“Okay,” I sighed in relief, and went to get some eggs and bacon out of the fridge. “Anyone else want food?”
They all said yes, even Odin, who came out of the bathroom to do so. He was wet and soapy, obviously in the middle of a shower, but also famished enough not to care, and rightly so. It had been a hell of a ride.
I smirked to myself as I began to cook. The remaining two men started climbing out of bed, and getting dressed, though Re took the longest. I think he was holding out for a relapse. As much as I knew how sexual Re was, I was kind of surprised by his wholehearted enjoyment of our little orgy. Re enjoyed having private dates with me, where he could pretend I was entirely his.
But he was technically part of the Pride. He'd spent a night with me and my husbands once before, solely to allow the Intare magic to bond with him. It required a full night with all of us together, to connect the men in a sort of brotherly camaraderie. Basically, it was self-preservation on the magic's part. You couldn't have a lot of lovers if they kept killing each other. The magic made them okay with sharing. So even though Re preferred to have me alone, he was also happy to share. Especially when it meant he was included in a two day, sexual marathon.
“When was that thing at Tara?” I asked the men as they started to gather around the table.
Odin was out from his shower, and Kirill had gone in to have his. The other men had all thrown some clothes on before coming to the table. All except Re, who sat his naked, golden butt down on one of the chairs as if it were completely natural to eat breakfast in the buff.
“Go put some clothes on,” Trevor shook his head at Re. “The party's over.”
>
“So?” Re shrugged. “I don't need hormones to get me in the mood.”
“Put on some clothes, Re,” I growled. “I am not up for it.”
“Fine, Lala,” he sighed and stood. “But don't think all that counted as our date. I intend to take you out later.”
Re started searching the piles of discarded clothing for his pants.
“We'll see,” I rolled my eyes. “But none of you answered my question. When are we supposed to go to Tara?”
“Oh,” Azrael frowned in thought. “Where did I put that invitation?” He got up and started sliding his hand over the top of the fridge. “Here we go. Oh wow, it's for tonight.”
“Sorry, Re,” I said over my shoulder as I flipped the bacon. “Looks like we'll have to postpone.”
“I will accompany you to Tara as well,” Re nodded. “Then at least I'll get some extra time with you in exchange for having to wait.”
“How magnanimous,” Azrael chuckled.
“Yes, it is,” Re agreed. “But I think I'll head home after breakfast and change,” he gave his wrinkled linen shirt a sniff and a scowl.
“Take your time,” Odin smiled sweetly.
“Don't you dare leave without me, Lala,” Re said to me, after casting Odin a glare.
“I won't,” I gave Odin a chiding look.
“What did I say?” Odin tried to look innocent, but that was a feat the Oathbreaker just couldn't manage.
Chapter Ten
The last time we went to Tara, we had traveled by boat, sailing there from Nuada's palace. The Celtic portion of the God Realm was a shared territory, with several islands, housing all sorts of gods, with nary a tracing point in sight. The Celts liked to keep it old school, having entrances linked to the Human Realm directly, as the faeries used to do. You could literally step off a cliff in HR (the Human Realm) and end up face to face with a Celtic god. It has to be a particular cliff, and you have to be granted access by the guardian of that portal, so don't go stepping off cliffs willy nilly. You won't get anywhere but dead.
The Formorians had decided to change it up a bit. They'd made themselves a tracing chamber in Tara. Perhaps they were just lazy, and didn't want to walk down to wherever the portal was on the Blessed Isle, every time they wanted to leave. Though it probably had nothing to do with laziness. Having a collective territory could be unsafe. You had to rely on all of your neighbors, aka the other gods in your pantheon, to keep their areas secure. Most did protect their borders with strong wards, which wouldn't allow anyone in without permission.