Archipellus: God of Samhain (A Sons of Herne romance)

by J. Rose Allister

  “Perhaps she is rejecting his demon blood,” Jorandil said.

  What little remained in Archipellus’s veins went ice cold.

  “Somebody do something,” Bethany said.

  Then just like that, the seizures stopped. The group waited, but she remained still.

  Bethany slapped at Melissa’s face. “Come on, Sis. You have to wake up.”

  “Wait,” Jorandil said. “Look. Her color returns.”

  Archipellus, who was drifting into nothingness, managed to turn his head. Jorandil was right. Her color had gone from ashen gray to pale. Not great, but an improvement.

  “Melissa,” he whispered, for it was all he could manage. His fingers sought hers, and while he lacked strength to lace them together, he was grateful for the touch as he slipped away from consciousness.

  His vision went dark, but just before then he saw her eyes pop open. As he went under, he realized there was something wrong. Her irises were no longer a glorious blue-green.

  They glowed red.

  ***

  Something was wrong, very wrong. The world was off somehow.

  As Melissa returned to consciousness, her mind struggled to remember what was going on and why she felt so different. She had been with Archipellus, giving him her body and her strength. She was determined to spare him from poison, but she had let things go too far.

  The memory of riding him, plunging his shaft deep, made her hunger for more. Lust became a physical ache in her belly that could only be sated by one thing. His cock inside her.

  She had given him too much now, she realized. He had taken it all, and she was dying. Or dead already, maybe. Her eyes focused on the room, on the face of the god who, despite his stubborn flaws, had captivated her. He was sleeping. Or was he?

  A sticky, metallic taste lingered on her tongue, and when she dabbed at her lips, she came away with blood.

  Melissa gasped and pushed herself upright.

  “Melissa!” Bethany exclaimed. “You’re all right.”

  She turned her head toward her sister, and both she and Andero, who stood beside her, recoiled in shock.

  “What’s wrong?” Melissa asked.

  “Your eyes,” Jorandil, who stood beside the bed, replied. “They are no longer your own.”

  They were all staring at her as though she were a monster. That taste, the blood on her lips...the aching hunger while Archipellus laid unconscious and twisted in the sheets. Which, as she glanced down again, had drips of blood smeared on them.

  “Oh my god,” she said. “I’m a vampire. I bit him.” She shook his limp body. “Arch? Archie! Wake up.”

  “You aren’t a vampire,” Bethany said. “He’s the one who fed you his blood. We all did.”

  Melissa gaped at her. “Why?”

  “He drained too much of your energy when you tried to spare him,” Jorandil said. “You were fading, nearing your time of passing.”

  “He was determined to save you,” Andero added. “He went to the underworld to find a cure.”

  “His blood?” She stared down at him in shock. “Is that why my eyes aren’t...normal? What’s wrong with them?”

  “See for yourself,” Bethany said, grabbing a silver tray off the nearby chest.

  Melissa saw her distorted reflection in the mirrored finish, the gleaming red gaze. “Is this temporary?”

  “I have no idea,” Jorandil said. “As far as I know, this cure of his has only been used once before. On our father, a god.”

  The ache in her belly sharpened and spread, flaring in her chest and dipping between her legs. She set the tray aside and found her gaze traveling Archipellus’s body, his broad chest, powerful shoulders, the flat abdomen with the thin, barely there trail of dark hair that traveled in a thin line from his lower abdomen down to the thatch between his thighs. That part of him was covered by the bedding, but she pictured it in her mind, imagining that long shaft throbbing for her. He’d worn a disguise the first time he’d had her, a sexy, carved leather mask that hid much of his face except for his piercing eyes and those full, sensual lips. She reached her hand out and ran it over that chest, the rise and fall too shallow, weak. She slid down to his stomach, then lower, slipping her fingers beneath the sheets to seek out his cock. Even while unconscious, when she gripped his organ, it gave a twitch of desire.

  Somewhere deep inside her, a demon roared.

  “Uh, Sis, what the hell are you doing?” Bethany asked. “He’s out of it, and we’re all standing right here.”

  Melissa whipped her head toward her sister. “Then feel free to get out.”

  Andero’s brows knitted. “What’s going on?”

  “What’s it look like?” she spat back. She covered his thigh with one of hers. “An energy exchange.”

  “Okay, that’s it,” Bethany said, marching up and taking her arm. “I think you need a break from that bed.”

  Melissa pushed at her, and to her shock, the girl flew back into Jorandil, who barely caught her.

  Melissa blinked, gasping in horror. “I’m so sorry!” she cried. “I didn’t mean to.” She shut her eyes and fought down the rising swell of lust. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just...need him.”

  “She’s apparently taken on one of his more interesting traits,” Andero said.

  He and Jorandil came forward when she tried surreptitiously sliding her body over Archipellus.

  “Let go of me!” she cried as the two men grabbed her forearms and pulled her off the bed.

  Melissa struggled, acting on pure instinct, her eyes fastened on the prone body of the lover who was waiting for her touch. She needed him. Didn’t they get that?

  “Jesus, you’re naked and acting like this in front of two guys?” Bethany asked, grabbing a blanket off a nearby chair and wrapping it around Melissa. “What’s gotten into you?”

  Melissa grinned. “It’s what’s not getting into me that’s the problem. Go wait outside and let us be alone. Or stay and watch.” The smile faded, and she yanked her arms hard. “Just get your hands off.”

  Bethany gave her a disgusted expression. “Why is she acting like this?”

  A good question, one Melissa had no answer for. Part of her saw herself through the freaked-out eyes of her sister, knew she was behaving like a dirty tramp. But she had no control over it.

  “She is becoming succubus,” came a weak voice.

  She saw Archipellus pushing himself up with a shaky arm, the bedding twisted around his waist as he sat on the edge of the bed.

  Her lips curved into a less than innocent smile. “Lover. You’re awake.” And mine, she wanted to add. But wait, what had he just said about her?

  “What do you mean she’s a succubus?” Bethany asked. “You mean she’s like you now?”

  “Permanently?” Andero added, his fingers digging into Melissa’s arm as she tried to jerk herself free.

  “Mother said there could be complications,” Archipellus replied. “Although I did not foresee this. But it appears that Melissa is...awakening.”

  Jorandil shot him a suspicious look. “Father had to chain you up during your time of awakening.”

  “And I can see why,” Andero said. “I’m glad I wasn’t around for this part of the incubus family history.”

  With a groan, Archipellus got to his feet, somewhat unsteadily, and wrapped the sheet around him. He approached Melissa, her heart pounding, a fever rising hotter in her veins with each step closer that he got. “I do not think that will be necessary. You will behave yourself, will you not?”

  “Don’t bet on it,” she said.

  One side of his mouth twisted up in a grin that made her want to tear herself free and shove him on the bed. “Release her,” he said.

  “Are you serious?” Andero asked. “She’s acting like a starving woman who’s decided you’re her last meal.”

  “And you were weakened into unconsciousness,” Jorandil added.

  “I think I can handle her.” He moved closer, and without a t
hought, she breathed on him, feeling a swell of satisfaction when she heard his growl. Her succubus breath was sweet and full of pheromones.

  “Hold my horns,” he said.

  She grinned. “That sounds dirty.”

  “As will most everything you hear for some time to come.” He nodded to the men, who let go of her and stepped back.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Andero pulling Bethany away, and her heightened senses picked up the release of hormones between them. They could easily become lovers. But her focus wasn’t on her sister. She was staring at Archipellus, incubus god of Samhain. Seducer of women. Enthralling demon. Now he would become her prey. He would be seduced.

  He lifted her hands and placed them on his head.

  “It didn’t work before,” she said.

  “You were human then.”

  His fingers slid erotically between hers as they gripped his horns together. She let out a tiny gasp, but he cut it off when he clamped his mouth on hers. God, the power. She felt his arousal streaming into her, even before he drew close enough to feel an erection pressed between their bodies. Her senses awakened to everything all at once, the beat of his heart, the damp, fetid swamp outside, and beyond that through veils between worlds, so many worlds. She was aware of it all, growing stronger, her body heating with power.

  That heat flooded out of her as fast as it drew in, sucked into Archipellus, flowing into his horns. They warmed to the touch, and that tingling sensation of energy rushed back through her palms and up her arms. It was like an electric current, a closed circuit flowing between them. She drained and filled, over and again. So long as they kept the circuit closed, one of them would not succeed in draining the other.

  He broke off the kiss and smiled at her. “The rest of you will want to leave,” he said. “Now.”

  “But if you grow weakened again,”Jorandil said.

  “We cannot harm each other anymore. At least, not unpleasantly.”

  The others had barely filed out when she let out a growl that was far from human. The sheet fell from her as she shoved him backward, pushing him onto the bed. The demon inside flared up, shooting lust through every inch of her, and all she craved was his cock buried deep.

  “Drain me,” he said, pulling her on top of him. “Sate the demon.”

  She settled herself on the erection that was stiff and throbbing. She let out a shudder of relief when she plunged down, feeling that connection, taking in his essence. She rode him much like before, and she wondered at that. How much of her need and desperation came from the succubus and how much had been there all along? She’d wanted him from the moment she’d first agreed to take her sister’s place, eying his seductive body and full lips. He had turned her into a beast before she had taken his blood.

  He took hold of her breasts and squeezed, and she cried out in anguish. Pain and pleasure flooded her belly, and now she understood it all. She saw him shoving her against the rock out in the swamp, and she pictured the same in reverse. She could warn him of her hunger, but he already knew.

  She felt his energy flow faster, and his hands fell away, rising up to his horns. She felt the power rush into him, back through her, and around again. His eyes opened with a fire even brighter than the normal red glow, and he flipped them over to change positions.

  They went on that way for a while, her draining him, him draining her, until they could take no more. With them both sitting upright and her in his lap, cradled against his chest, they rocked into orgasm. Archipellus buried his face between her breasts and cried out her name as they rode out their climax together, and at last, he laid her down gently, breathing hard as he stroked her chin.

  “More,” she said.

  He gave a small laugh and slid out of bed. Melissa, naked and more nimble than she’d ever remembered being, leaped up and grabbed him while he was bent over to retrieve his pants from the floor. She pushed him against the wall and bit into his ear, breathing her seductive will onto him, and his cock flared to life. She took him right there, standing, until he turned her around and pushed her against the wall, hooking her ankles around his back.

  “You will be a challenge, even for the insatiable nature of an incubus,” he growled, and with one final thrust, he completed them both.

  He released her, letting her feet sink to the floor, and slapped her on the bottom. “Clothing, woman. Dawn approaches, and we must make our way back to the portal.”

  “Where I recall a large and welcoming bed awaits,” she said, slipping her tank top over her breasts. Just the act of pulling the fabric across her nipples hardened them unmercifully.

  His expression shifted. “I am sorry that my cure affected you this way. I would not wish my fate on another.”

  “You’re sorry that I’m insatiable?” She sauntered up, zipping her jeans. “That happened the minute I first let you touch me. Only now, you can’t hurt me anymore. Unless you persist in telling me how sorry you are that we can be together after all.”

  He pulled her to him. “I am not sorry for that. How can I be, when I have fallen for you so readily?”

  “I think I love you too,” she murmured against his chest. “I guess we’ll see if you can still stand me after I ravage you for weeks on end.”

  ***

  In the time of the Thousand Seasons, eight sons of Herne, all keepers of the pagan sabbats, found love in the arms of their ritual partners. The last, who had believed himself immune from this twist of fate, fell with abandon. With his succubus lover at his side, the Samhain ritual took on a new focus. On the night of All Souls Eve, the keeper of the veil would cross into the earth realm. Drawn by the cries of one who was nearing death, he would go to her bedside and remain concealed. There, instead of claiming her life, he joined himself to the woman he loved, draining her own power into his horns. At the last, he would spear the veil and seal it while using the other to restore life to the sick and weakened soul. In this, a sabbat that celebrated the dead became a ritual honoring life, a time of restoration and healing. While many across the realms were shaken by this turn of events, the god of Samhain embraced the role of healer with the greatest joy.

  For if love could be found by a demon, truly all things had become possible.

  ✯ ☆҉‿➹⁀☆҉☆ ✯ ☆҉‿➹⁀☆҉☆

  Thank you for reading this tale of Samhain romance between a god and his feisty human lover. As a self-published author, I rely largely on reader reviews to spread the word about my books. If you enjoyed the tale, would you take a moment to leave a review?

  Have you read the first book in the series?

  Check out Dominus: God of Yule for free! And be sure to look inside to find out how to get the second book, Eradimus: God of Imbolc, for free as well.

  Loving Lorayna could cost him his sacred power...

  Months of visiting Lorayna in secret has sparked a yearning that Dominus, god of Yule, cannot shake. Lorayna is ready for any sabbat ritual he wants, even though his intentions are strictly hands-off. When something goes wrong, Dominus is forced to break the rules and give into his urges before the Yule power consumes her. Their passion will alter many sabbats to come—but not before Dominus must defy his father, Herne, to follow his desires and prove to Lorayna that she was not merely another light bearer. READ IT NOW

  Titles in the Sons of Herne Series:

  Book 1-Dominus: God of Yule (Nov 2015)

  Book 2-Eradimus: God of Imbolc (Jan 2016)

  Book 3- Tallisun: God of Ostara (Mar 2016)

  Book 4- Jorandil: God of Beltane (Apr 2016)

  Book 5- Devinmar: God of Litha (May 2016)

  Book 6- Feillor: God of Lammas (Jul 2016)

  Book 7- Anduron: God of Mabon (Aug 2016)

  Book 8- Archipellus: God of Samhain (Sept 2016)

  VISIT THE SERIES SITE:

  HTTP://TINY.CC/SONSOFHERNESERIES

  AUTHOR SITE:

  HTTP://JROSEALLISTER.COM

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  J. Rose Allister has pe
nned over thirty novels and numerous short stories from her home in Southern California. She is a TV and movie buff, enjoys the bittersweet discord between the pursuit of chocolaty goodness and the benefits of a fresh, organically-influenced diet, and is a firm believer that daydreaming, people watching, coffee and chocolate (preferably combined) are the greatest fuel for the writing imagination. She has more books in her to-be-read pile than she can ever hope to find time to sit and enjoy, but this never stops her from adding more.