Giving It Up for the Gods

by Kryssie Fortune

  He stared at his feet. ”There’s more.”

  How much worse could this get? Lindy pursed her lips and shook her head. “Tell me.”

  He blushed and looked away. “Here’s the thing, princess. I need to drink your blood while we’re at it.”

  “Like you would if you spirit-bonded with me?” Lindy’s heart beat faster at the thought.

  Jase stood motionless, his face as still as his body. “You don’t have to claim me back. Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to complete the ritual.”

  And wasn’t that just the icing on her cake? No love. No finished ritual. No claiming. Nothing except her broken dreams.

  * * * *

  Lindy couldn’t believe she’d agreed to this. The night air was cold on her bare legs as they proceeded through the ancient streets. Saul had tried to leave Merc back at their hotel, but the teen had sworn he could control himself this time. When he threatened to flash to Aldborough anyway, Saul relented. Despite her fierce Siren’s nature, Lindy was glad of her bodyguards, but she still worried something could go wrong.

  Finally she got to give up her virginity, but she’d hoped for a little spontaneity along with scorching-hot sex. Now, everything seemed unromantic and vaguely clinical, but the sex with Jase would still be mind-blowing. Soul-shattering even. Okay, her guards had promised to keep their distance, but just knowing they were close by meant she’d have to screw in silence. And they needed to do it fast. The last thing she wanted was Neptune to learn how they planned to bring him down.

  Ten minutes to midnight, and Saul dragged Merc off into the dark. Alone with Jase, she slid her coat down her bare arms. Lindy shivered and glanced all around. She’d never known that she had a prudish streak. Sirens were exhibitionists with bodies that drove men wild, but she wanted no one but Jase staring at she uncovered her curves.

  Rope bracelets already encircled her ankles and her wrists. Hidden by darkness, Saul uttered an incantation in ancient Latin. No lightning this time. No thunder. Instead, the night fell silent and still. The hairs on her neck rose like hackles as a stone slab grew out of the earth. She shuddered as overhead the clouds parted. The full moon hung like a silver specter in the sky. Saul and Jase formed a telepathic link and joined their much-weakened powers into something strong and pure. The wind dropped, and the local wildlife sensed something mystic in the air. An owl hooted and flew off in a huff. Two rabbits crept out of a burrow and scampered off. A solitary badger waddled away, and close by, a small herd of deer stopped grazing and ran. The air sparked with power, but Lindy felt alone and abandoned—so scared she almost wept.

  Lindy swallowed hard, and while her instincts told her to run too, she took three slow steps toward the altar. Jase pulled her into his arms. His kiss promised wild passion, safety, and warmth, but he still draped her carefully across the slab of cold stone.

  Her titian curls splayed out like a halo, a bright contrast to the gray altar. Jase rested his hand on her thigh; then he stroked his way down her left leg. When he found the rope bracelet, he moved her foot to the edge of the altar and tethered it to an iron ring set in the stone. She shuddered, excited and eager for his touch, but her pulse still beat a fast, fearful rhythm in her neck.

  Jase spread her legs wide, his movements gentle and deliberate as he tied down her other ankle. Lindy whimpered. She hated this place. The altar chilled her spine. She couldn’t move her legs, but for Jase, her body was willing. Writhing for him even.

  His demon’s eyes glowed red as it tried to break free. Lindy watched him frown as if fighting an internal battle for control of his body. She knew he’d do whatever it took to stay sane and in control. She trusted Jase completely, but she still shuddered as he bound her right wrist to the altar. After a touch of his lips to her free wrist, he gently fastened that down too. Spread-eagled, helpless, and eager, she kept her gaze fixed on his face. A jolt of desire brushed aside her fears. Her hips rotated, and her back arched, but she couldn’t move to pull him closer.

  Away in the distance, the church clock struck midnight. Jase rasped his tongue over each of her nipples before he kissed his way down to her cunt. She gasped when he laved her clit. She shuddered with pleasure, but tied down and helpless, she couldn’t respond. She ached to sink her tiny fangs in his flesh—to bind their spirits and their souls. Her heartsong bubbled up inside her, and for him, she’d sing it. And what had he told her? “You don’t have to claim me back.”

  Like I’ll ever get over a rejection as final as that.

  With Jase, she forgot her surroundings, even forgot the clock was ticking and Neptune was on her tail. She inhaled sharply. Her body trembled. She longed. She craved. She lusted, and finally he was going to screw her.

  Within seconds, he was as naked as her, his warm flesh pressed against Lindy’s, sheltering her from the chill of the night. His hair flowed loose about his shoulders, and as he crawled up her body, it tickled her breasts. His growl was possessive and primal, filled with feral longing. A wriggle of flesh against flesh, and the broad head of his cock teased her vagina.

  A sharp rip. A fleeting pain. Her hymen stretched and tore. He rocked his groin against her cunt as he fed his dick inside her until he filled her wet pussy. She gasped and thrust her hips forward so he inched a little farther. Hips bucking, head thrashing, she forgot everything but the way she needed him buried balls-deep inside her. He pushed deeper, and she felt she could reach up and touch the stars. Her body burned with delicious heat, and she willingly offered her virginity to the man she loved.

  Thunder rumbled. A bolt of lightning zigzagged through the sky. Jase’s back arched as renewed power shot through him. Eyes closed, he thrust inside her—a delicious friction that made her tremble and moan. She wanted to bury her hands in his hair and wrap her legs around his waist, but the ropes pinned her too firmly in place. Another thrust, and her eyes glazed. Pleasure hit her in waves, intense and wonderful, like a slow simmer in her blood that caught hold and boiled over.

  His hips bucked again, driving him deeper inside her. Sparks like tiny splinters of delight spread out from her womb. Her head thrashed against the stone slab. Her hips writhed, and her blood overheated. With Jase, she’d happily burn. Her orgasm crashed through her, and her world shattered into a universe of shimmering silver stars.

  Jase shuddered above her, and he sank his teeth into her neck.

  Neptune’s balls, she needed to bite him back so badly, but how could she when he didn’t want to bond like that? Need burned inside her, and she bit her cheek rather than give in to her compulsion to taste Jase’s blood. The copper tang of her own blood flooded her mouth as her fangs extended. Much as she wanted to bite him, he’d as good as told her no. She kept her jaw clamped shut, but her urges… Her needs… Do it. Bite him back. Her body steamed with passion, but her soul was a wasteland of loneliness and rejection. Sure, she could sing her heartsong and bind him to her, but she wanted her soul mate willing—not carrying the torch for some stupid nymph.

  Finally she couldn’t fight it. Her lips parted. Her tongue crept out, and her head angled to one side. She ached to sink her fangs into his flesh. A moan welled up inside her, and she laved a target on his neck. So near. So close. Jase threw back his head and roared as another orgasm shuddered through him. Her fangs clicked together around empty air. Missed? How can I have missed? Fate perhaps? Much as I can’t live without him, he’s not destined to be mine.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Lindy’s orgasm flowed through her womb, then sizzled into a river of liquid fire that warmed her cunt. Heat. Burning. Boiling. Damn, she hadn’t known full-on sex would be as momentous and huge. Overwhelming even. No wonder her sister Sirens loved it. Her shuddering climax left her totally satisfied, totally drained. Then Jase stroked her hair back from her face and withdrew slowly. Body sated, soul empty, she lay on the altar—his muscular body draped around her like a warm blanket.

  The slab of stone chilled her spine and froze her blood. Not that she was complaining. S
he craved the intimate skin-on-skin contact more than she wanted warm clothes and a seat by the fire. Every muscle and sinew in her body ached. She lacked the will to move. Beneath her, she felt every bump and fissure in the stone slab, but despite everything, physically, she’d never felt so relaxed and content.

  Mentally, she was a mess.

  Somewhere in the darkness, Merc giggled, but as long as he wasn’t watching, she didn’t care. A barrage of thunderbolts crashed around them. Lightning flickered like strobe lights. She choked as sulfur fumes wafted up. Jase swore under his breath, leaped off her, and tried to unfasten the ropes that bound her in place.

  A portal opened. Pluto helped an aged and feeble Neptune through it. A stream of merwarriors waited just on the other side. Neptune trembled. His limbs were palsied with age, his face as wrinkled as a prune. He leaned heavily on his trident. “Janus Bifrons, you’ve taken what should have been mine.”

  He lowered the trident until the prongs pointed at Jase, but it slipped from his grip and dropped to the ground. Pluto scooped it up and dragged Neptune aside. When a whole school of mermen marched through the portal, sour bile welled up in Lindy’s throat. Sirens were warriors who never gave up, but tied down, naked, and helpless, she was a spectator in a fight for her life.

  Jase stopped fumbling at her bonds. His horns jutted upward like ebony spikes. His muscles stretched and bulged. The moonlight made his skin glow like crushed rubies, and his battle cry sent chills down Lindy’s spine. But she felt bereft when he turned to face the enemy.

  She blinked, lethargic and disbelieving. When she looked again, Saul stood at her beautiful demon’s side. Adrenaline hit, and, desperate to get free and fight, she tugged and strained at the ropes. They chafed her flesh until her blood flowed, and she refused to lie still. And, shit, the massed ranks of mermen marched toward her.

  Over his shoulder, Jase yelled, “Merc, cut Lindy loose! Then you keep your eyes off her until she puts on her coat. Understand?”

  Head lowered, Jase attacked. Mermen screamed as he tore into the first rank with his horns and claws. Saul charged in a flurry of martial kicks and karate chops. And Merc… Where the hell was he? Jase had told him to untie her, but she was still lashed to Mercury’s altar.

  Lindy moved her head slowly, scanning for signs of the teenage god. When she couldn’t see him, she called, “Merc? Come and untie me. Please.”

  He staggered into view, drunk on the power emanating from the altar dedicated to his worship. He took his time, studying Lindy’s curves. “You look pretty.”

  If she could move, she’d shake some sense into him. Instead, she pleaded, “Come on, kid. Hold it together and get me loose.”

  He meandered toward her, but a fit of giggles overtook him as Jase roared again. More lightning bolts flashed around them. Another portal flickered opened. Demons poured through, black-skinned and sulfurous, all bound to do Pluto’s bidding.

  Jase bellowed like a furious bull, opened his own portal, and summoned his foremost legion. More demons—red of tooth and claw—marched into battle and joined the fray. Screams echoed through the night. Demon blood flowed like poison onto the ground. Jase’s red army swarmed over the black, tearing off limbs or beating Pluto’s forces into a green-blooded pulp.

  Behind them, Lindy still struggled with her bonds. Battle raged around her, but she couldn’t move. She hated being tied down and naked. Panic rolled through her and settled like an avalanche on her stomach. Bile pumped into her throat. Blood oozed from her wrists and ankles, staining the rope and pooling on the altar. Furious that Merc just lay on the ground and giggled, she barely kept the terror from her voice. “Hey, kid, get it together and cut me loose. Please.”

  He tried to stand, fell over, and giggled again. Useless. The stupid kid is useless. And me, spread-eagled over his freaking altar. Her frantic shouts carried over the battle and alerted Pluto to her peril. He shoved his brother Neptune through the portal, then edged around the sea of violence and bloody corpses until he reached her. He drew a bone-handled knife, ready to strike.

  Lindy screamed out a Siren’s highest note. Blood poured from the nearest mermen’s ears. Farther afield, others shook their heads to clear the ringing in their ears and returned to the fight. Pluto looked startled as her song hit him like a wall of sound. Moonlight glinted off his knife as he raised it over Lindy’s head. He struck quickly, slashing through the bonds at Lindy’s wrists. Another two cuts, and she could move her legs. Before she could skedaddle off the altar, he reversed his weapon and smashed the hilt down on her temple. Her scream died in her throat, and her world went black.

  JASE’S SPINE PRICKLED. When he glanced over his shoulder, he spotted Lindy still bound to the altar. Demons’ breath, that dumb-ass kid still hasn’t untied her. His demon rolled and rattled inside him, desperate to fight his way to her side. With a bellow that echoed over the screams and cries of the battle, he forged a path toward her. Too late. Pluto hoisted Lindy over one shoulder and ducked back through a new portal. Like the gateway he’d dragged Neptune through, it flashed as though the summer sun blazed through it, and closed.

  He took Lindy and abandoned his demon army.

  Jase’s legion swamped Pluto’s demons, but even as his red-skinned army won the battle, he lost Lindy. Fury unfurled inside him, and for the first time ever, he surrendered fully to his demon. His chest expanded still farther, and his horns curled forward in razor-sharp curves. His strength increased a hundredfold, and he dominated the killing field.

  Bodies piled up around him. Kill. Destroy. Maim. Save Lindy. Green blood flowed from Pluto’s demons, thick and viscous, spreading in puddles across the ground. He waded through torn-off limbs and gore. Too late. The one woman he should have protected and cherished was gone, taken by Pluto. He’d failed her. Freaking failed her. Merc was dead meat when they got out of this.

  Together, they’d weakened Neptune, but it was a pointless exercise if Jase lost Lindy. Finally he fought his way to the empty altar. Merc cowered behind it, but he rocked with hysterical laughter. Drunk again. The kid had sworn he could keep it together. Jase lifted his huge hand, ready to smash it down on Merc’s head, but even his demon knew Lindy wouldn’t want the teenager mauled like that. Except, when Jase thought of how Pluto had carried Lindy off, he roared with fury. Killing rage swept through him. Heads would roll for this. Literally. And if that dumb-ass kid didn’t stop laughing, Jase’s demon would forget everything in its need to tear Merc limb from limb.

  Jase finished with Pluto’s demons. The rest wouldn’t take him long. His legion had all but decimated the black-skinned horde, and the merwarriors were next on the list. Saul fought like a tiger—his specially designed blades honing his martial art skills into a killing spree. None of it compared to Jase’s deadly path through the battle. More bodies fell. His demon demanded blood, the green, slimy sort, and for once he gave it free rein. And when he finished with Pluto’s minions, he’d damn well start on Merc.

  Jase’s demon was violence, death, and destruction. He lost track of time as he tore merwarriors to shreds. As the last one fell, he came back to himself. Saul was shaking Jase’s arm. “Jase. Jase. Come back to us. The fight’s over, and we won. Lindy’s in trouble, and if we’re going to save her, you have to think clearly.”

  At the sound of his woman’s name, Jase froze. His bloodlust receded, but his demon fought for freedom. It was faster, stronger, and a million times more deadly. Its thoughts were a murky pool of pain and torment. Even his demon understood that rescuing Lindy would take careful planning and cool logic. Jase usually struggled to stuff his monster back inside him, but for Lindy, it went willingly.

  His muscles still bulged like a bodybuilder’s, but they lost the demonic size. Slowly, his horns shrank down to tiny points hidden beneath his flowing black hair; he felt the heat in his eyes and knew they still glowed red. His legion yipped and yowled at their victory. Some sloped off into the shadows.

  “Return to me,” Jase commanded.
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br />   His demons slunk closer—even the stragglers that didn’t want to return to hell. Jase stood tall, dominating them by sheer force of will. “You fought well, and once we’ve rescued Lindy, I will grant you a year’s leave. For now, return home and await my summons.”

  He opened a portal, and his legion vanished through it. Saul, a god of agriculture, raised his hand, and the dead bodies dissolved to dust. “The land’s just got a dose of demon fertilizer. There’ll be good crops next year.”

  Jase ignored him and stalked toward Merc, murder on his mind.

  * * * *

  Lindy woke in pitch darkness. Her stomach heaved, and fear closed cruel fingers over her heart. Darkness and Sirens didn’t mix. Why was it so quiet? And most of all, where was the damn light switch? She didn’t remember, but from the way her forehead throbbed, someone had hit her. If she hadn’t been shaking from being shut in the dark, she’d worry about there being a bruise. She stood up to explore her surroundings, but a weight dragged on her ankle. Where was Jase when she needed him? Hell, forget Jase. Right now, she’d sell her soul for a torch.

  The cold was so intense she thought her bones would shatter. Goose bumps covered her arms, and her nipples puckered from the air’s damp chill. Naked and frozen, she fumbled around for a light or her clothes. All she found were ice-covered walls that stretched up like a tall cylinder around her. She rested her right hand on the frozen stone and followed it in a tight circle. Even though she couldn’t see, she knew she was soon back where she started.

  Every time she moved, something rattled. She bent and ran her hand over her ankle. Fettered! She was naked in the dark, her ankle fettered to the floor. She could move no more than three feet in any direction, but wherever she stood, when she stretched out her hand, she touched the wall of ice that surrounded her. Even if she’d fallen into a dark pit, why hadn’t Jase pulled her out? And what was with the chains?