Holly's Pledge

by Anh Leod

  Holly surveyed her juice. “I guess we could.” With a sigh, she pulled a sack of sugar from a cabinet and poured some into the juice. Then she used a whisk to combine the two ingredients. It was a good thing her brother was a cook so all this stuff was simply lying around ready to be used.

  “Of course, I don’t know what is in one.”

  Holly laughed. “Me neither. I’m more of a strawberry margarita or daiquiri girl.”

  “Beer for me,” Greg said cheerfully. “But I have an idea.”

  “Oh?” Holly looked at her concoction and pulled a wooden spoon from the drying rack. She dipped it in and took a cautious sip. Tart and sweet. She kind of liked it.

  “Lie down on the kitchen table.”

  “Excuse me?” Holly glanced at Greg, who had a cheerful, leering expression on his face. “Don’t you want to try this?”

  “I will. Take your jeans off.”

  She squinted at him. “Dylan could walk in.”

  “That will make it more interesting. But I doubt he’ll be coming home from Cherokee’s tonight if he and Brandi have tomorrow off.”

  Brandi had left a message to that effect on her voice mail, which was why Holly wasn’t at Brandi’s condo tonight. “I suppose.” Greg was her boyfriend—she needed to trust him. Slowly, she shimmied out of her jeans.

  “Now your shirt.” Greg turned to a glass-front cabinet that held a variety of barware.

  Holly took off her shirt. When she shivered, she went to the wall and turned up the heat. Only then did she spread herself across the table. Did he want her flat or in some kind of gynecological-exam posture? Her nipples had hardened when she took her clothes off. She toyed with them and her clit tingled in response. Though they’d made love less than an hour before, she was aching for sex again. Insatiable Holly, that was her!

  He walked over to her and Holly saw he held a shot glass full of pomegranate juice. “What are you planning to do with that?”

  Greg stared at her pointed nipples. “I’m going to drink it out of your navel.”

  She couldn’t help laughing. “Okay.”

  But first, he had to kiss her breasts until she was gasping and her legs moved restlessly on the cold wood. When Greg poured, she couldn’t help writhing a little. The juice was cold on her stomach. She was glad she hadn’t pierced her bellybutton.

  His tentative licks felt soft and sweet. The sensation wasn’t just good on her skin, she was starting to feel warm all over. Heat licked at her nipples and pussy even though he wasn’t touching her in either spot. When he poured more juice, she spread her legs a little, wondering if he’d sup from her there next.

  Like any good boyfriend, Greg read her mind. After he finished his second helping of juice, he pulled her candy cane bikini panties down her legs and tossed them on a chair.

  “I can’t believe it’s only two weeks until Christmas,” Greg said. “It’s like the holidays came early this year and haven’t stopped giving.”

  “Glaukos will be our present,” Holly told him. “You know what sounds good right now? Hot buttered rum.”

  “I don’t know about that. Hot juicy pussy sounds just perfect to me at the moment.”

  Holly laughed and by the time she stopped her feet were perched on the edge of the table and Greg was letting droplets of cold juice fall from his glass to the top of her pussy lips. The sensation of cold made her hips jerk. She felt such a longing to be touched, penetrated. Then his mouth followed the droplets and she lost her ability to think.

  “Forget the juice, I want to taste you,” Greg said. His tongue and lips spread her wide as they chased her cream. Greg lifted his head to smile at her. “Now this is the drink of the gods,” he said hoarsely.

  She heard metal jangling. He drank from her again. Her flesh pushed against his tongue as she tried to get him to focus on her clit. Instead, he speared inside her channel. With a free hand he dropped his belt then pushed down his pants.

  He pulled her legs wide apart. She cried out, unable to help herself, trembling with excitement. Greg lapped at her pussy then thrust three fingers into her channel, but only for a moment.

  He focused on her clit. She moaned her pleasure as he licked and teased her nub. Her hips found a trembling rhythm and her knees were bent outward almost to the table as she tried to get Greg to touch as much of her pussy as he could.

  He lifted his head for a moment and she heard him groan.

  “Oh god, are you touching yourself?” she asked, wondering where his hand had gone.

  “Can’t help it,” he gasped then fell upon her body again like a starving man, using his free hand on her, rubbing and teasing while he licked and nipped at her inner thighs and the lips of her pussy.

  She wanted to touch his cock but she was crazed by the sensations rocketing through every cell in her. Her entire body vibrated, her head thrashing on the table. “Now,” she begged. “I have to come now.”

  Greg squeezed her leg with his hand and thrust his tongue hard against her clit. Her torso left the table as she came with an explosive intensity she wasn’t sure she’d ever felt before. When she came down she collapsed, overheated and panting.

  Greg straightened, his cock straining in his hand. He pumped furiously, adding an extra squeeze to the head as his hand worked. His eyes were desperate, his mouth open with exertion. Holly watched but couldn’t move.

  “Pour your cum all over me,” she begged. “Show me how hot you think I am.”

  “You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Greg said, jerking his hand up and down his shaft.

  Holly licked her lips. She’d take him in her mouth but she couldn’t move. “Now,” she said. “Come for me now.”

  Greg’s gaze caught hers as he stepped as close to her as he could. “Yes, it’s coming,” he said, shuddering. “Okay, now.” He arched back as the hot fluid spurted from his body onto hers.

  Her fingers found her clit and she instantly came again as the warmth hit her abdomen and breasts. They gasped together as Greg grabbed her free hand in his.

  Then he half collapsed into the chair he’d pushed aside to get to her and put his head on her leg. “That was intense.”

  “Mmmm,” Holly said, feeling a half-smile flower across her dazed, flushed face. “We have to get together more often.”

  “Any more will kill me,” Greg groaned, kissing her leg. “I am supposed to be at rehearsal. I only meant to stop by for a minute.”

  Chapter Nine

  The alley behind Torc’s was even colder than it had been the last time her friends gathered there.

  “It’s showtime.” Holly straightened her silvery outfit, a bridesmaid dress from a twenties-style wedding she’d participated in. She’d chosen it because it had a slit up one side and came with a matching silver garter, tight enough to hold the flask that had been her bridesmaid gift.

  In that flask was the pomegranate juice, freshly made two hours before from the pomegranate Glaukos had brought her. Her plan was to pull it out and have everyone take a slug, including Cherokee. Hopefully Hades would drink too. If not, Dylan had an old spice jar with some of the juice in his jacket pocket and they’d try to find a way to slip it into Hades’ drink.

  As a last resort, Brandi had a baggie with a few of the seeds in her cleavage. Holly wasn’t sure what she could do with them but she’d think of something. She wished she could have made ice cubes from the juice and dropped them into drinks or even powdered it but couldn’t figure out how to keep the former frozen or create the latter. Her three options would have to do.

  Her pledge to save Glaukos depended on it. She doubted Cherokee could entice Hades to visit more than once.

  “Any idea when or where he’ll show?” Joe asked. Tonight he was wearing a lime green topcoat and matching hat.

  Oddly enough, he looked good in it, and Holly supposed lead singers were supposed to be eccentric.

  Cherokee responded, “Not at all. But I said you were on at eleven.”

  “It’s ten-t
hirty now,” Greg said after a glance at his watch. “We’d better go in.”

  “Was everything the same inside when you went for the sound check earlier?” Holly asked.

  “Exactly the same,” Sam said. “Pretty creepy. Our instruments were on stage.”

  “No burns or nothing. Even my sticks were there and I could have sworn I dropped them backstage when we escaped the fire,” Niall added.

  “Nos must have magic,” Brandi said.

  Holly was simultaneously horrified and impressed by Brandi’s outfit. The Alexander McQueen creation wasn’t new this season but the crystal-studded bronze bodysuit made a statement. And it showed off her insanely rocking body. Yes, plastic surgery had played a role in Brandi’s slim but curvy perfection, but in Hollywood, what else was new? Dylan couldn’t keep his eyes off her but there was no easy way to have sex in that outfit. It would have to come off completely. Holly was reasonably sure Brandi would be available if she needed her, not off having sex in a backroom the way Holly had with Glaukos.

  Brandi was bronze, Holly was silver and Claudia was gold. Her fluffed-out hair already had gold highlights but she had matched them with gold short shorts and a tank. Holly recognized them from one of their movies, but Claudia had accessorized herself. The paper-bag shorts were pulled together with a studded black belt, emphasizing her small waist, and she wore black high-heeled boots that showed her gold-painted toenails. She’d insisted on being there that night, confiding to Holly at work that not only was she looking for revenge for her sister but also she wanted to keep an eye on the band. On stage, they had no way of knowing what was going on around them.

  Holly noticed Sam’s shoulder-length brown locks had been highlighted with the same gold tones. The couple must have had fun playing with hair dye. Claudia had also made her own perfume and mixed up an aftershave for Sam that complemented her current signature scent. They were such a great couple. Holly hoped to find some of that long-term happiness with her men.

  As if Greg sensed her thoughts, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. Nearly a foot taller than she, it was easy for him to do so.

  “The last time we were back here, Ellery was with us.” Joe didn’t meet anyone’s eyes as he straightened the lapels of his jacket.

  “It sounds like she’ll be in the hospital about two months. Depending on how things heal, she’ll either need follow-up surgery later or some outpatient procedures,” Claudia said.

  Joe nodded, still looking down.

  Sam cleared his throat. “We’d better go in.”

  Claudia took his arm and they vanished inside. Holly went in just before Cherokee, Brandi and Dylan.

  It was eerie how similar everything looked despite the fire. They crowded into Rotten Tomatoes’ dressing room, which had been decorated by someone in red-chili lights. Holly had made sure not to look for the storeroom door where she’d last made love with Glaukos. Even if they somehow talked Hades into letting him go, what was going to happen next? She couldn’t fathom what the future held.

  “There’s a curtain on stage now,” Sam said, “so we can go on and get ready before we’re announced.”

  “Are we still opening with Up on the Rooftop?” Niall asked.

  “Yeah. Every second song in the set is our rocked-out Christmas songs.”

  “I’ll throw out the mini candy canes when you give me the signal,” Claudia said.

  “Or we can use them as weapons,” Dylan said.

  Claudia fished one out of the red Santa sack in the dressing room. “I don’t think these are much good.”

  “Do you really think Hades will show?” Niall asked.

  “If you’d seen the messenger he sent you wouldn’t doubt it,” Joe told him. “Hell, if you smelled the messenger. She was enough to make anyone believe in things beyond our comprehension.”

  “Was she hot?” Niall asked.

  “I don’t even know how to answer that,” Joe said.

  “If you had to guess,” Holly asked Cherokee, “would you think Hades would come in from the front, the back, or just materialize next to you?”

  “You ask me to predict the gods?” he said.

  “You’re half god,” she said.

  “He is a debonair kind of man, very stylish,” he said. “If I had to guess, he’ll appear somewhere near the entrance. He is not only the Lord of the Underworld but the God of Wealth. He will want to display himself.”

  Brandi raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t know that.”

  Dylan smirked. “I did. I read a book about Greek mythology on the airplane ride home.”

  Brandi hooked her arm into his. “Then you can tell me all about it while we go up front.”

  “What did it say about Glaukos?” Greg asked.

  “He’s the son of King Minos of Crete. Minos’ wife gave birth to the Minotaur. Long story.”

  “I see.”

  “Let’s let you guys get ready. The rest of us can walk around the outside of the building,” Dylan suggested. “We don’t know who this Nos is or what his game is. I didn’t find anyone with that name in the mythology book. I don’t want us to be trapped in another burning building.”

  Cherokee bared his fangs. “He will know Hades is coming and won’t make his move now.”

  “Did you know Torc well enough to guess if Nos is his friend or enforcer or anything?” Holly asked.

  Cherokee shook his head. “Torc is much older than I am and I never spent time in the Underworld.”

  “Then how did you meet Glaukos?” she asked, confused.

  “He attended Persephone at parties on Olympus. She likes to have handsome young men around her.”

  “Okay. So how did you and Torc become enemies?”

  Dylan grabbed Holly’s arm while she was still speaking and pulled her toward the back door of the club. Cherokee and Brandi followed close behind.

  When they were outside, Cherokee spoke. “A simple tale. I slept with his favorite demoness when she also was attending Hades at an Olympus party.”

  “I can understand being tempted after seeing Desdemona,” Dylan said as they rounded the building. “But didn’t you know there’d be consequences?”

  “It was more than fifty years ago, when I was a horny young demi-god with little discernment in sexual matters,” Cherokee said.

  Holly rolled her eyes. From what Claudia had told her about Cherokee’s antics before he’d met her brother, his discernment was only a couple of months old.

  A line about fifty people strong was behind velvet ropes at the front of the club. Word must have gone out about the reopening. Greg said Joe always put the word out on their shows through the popular social networking sites and she did see a few Rotten Tomatoes t-shirts among the crowd. The rest looked like young Hollywood types, smokers with too few clothes on and really high heels for the girls.

  She took a deep breath and walked past the crowd directly up to the bouncers. They were huge men with shaved heads and tattoos, very intimidating. The men hadn’t been there on Halloween. They must be Nos’ employees. She screwed up her courage.

  “Hi, I’m Holly,” she said to one bouncer. “I’m the bass player’s girlfriend. We just settled the band in their dressing room and came around front to get in.”

  “The other three?” the bouncer asked in a bored voice. His gaze was piercing, however.

  “My brother and his partners.”

  The bouncer delayed a moment before speaking as if listening to an order on an earpiece. “You know there’s a stage door to the right of the stage. You can get in the club that way.”

  “I wasn’t sure what was fire damaged,” Holly said, “and what had been repaired. We were here that night and got caught in the fire. One of my friends is still in the hospital.”

  The bouncer bared his teeth. One of his front teeth had a ruby inset. She had the feeling they wanted to pretend the fire never happened.

  “Stay safe tonight.” He unhooked the rope and let the four in. The othe
r bouncer opened the door for them.

  The door shut behind them with a bang and they were in the front room of the club.

  “Good evening,” said a voice behind them.

  Cherokee crouched and whipped around. Holly saw him visibly relax when he noticed a tall, thin, bearded man dressed in a black suit with a subtle shimmer. His pure white shirt was open at the collar. He was overdressed for Torc’s, but the brightness of the shirt enhanced his black-as-night hair and onyx eyes. Diamond earrings large enough to suit a professional football player glittered in his ears.

  “Invisible One,” Cherokee said, bowing.

  The god nodded. “You received my messenger?”

  Cherokee nodded again. “Desdemona was lovely and charming. Allow me to introduce my companions, Holly and Dylan Bowles. This is my lover, Brandi D’Angelo.”

  Hades bowed. “My pleasure.”

  Holly swallowed, suddenly faced with the horror of how to best an actual god. She hadn’t thought about how to offer the drink. How could she make her pledge a reality?

  Dylan bowed in return. “Thank you for joining us. The band tonight is exceptional.”

  Hades raised a thick, dark eyebrow. “How pleasant to hear.”

  Frantic, Holly did the first thing that came to mind. She fanned her face with her hand. “Hot in here, isn’t it?”

  Cherokee regarded her solemnly. “Yes.”

  “I could use a drink.” There was no time like the present to achieve her goals. She reached through the slit in her dress for her garter, but before she could get a grasp on the flask Cherokee took her by the arm.

  “Let’s get a drink at the bar,” he suggested.

  Holly, confused, allowed him to take her by the arm.

  “You haven’t even mentioned Glaukos yet,” Cherokee hissed. “Pace yourself.”

  She supposed he had a point they all made their way to the bar. Hades was a dark presence behind them.

  “I’ll make the order,” Dylan offered. He turned to Hades. “Ummm, sir, what would you like?”

  “Bourbon on the rocks,” Hades said promptly.

  Dylan nodded and walked toward Dante, the closest bartender. Brandi stayed close to Cherokee.