He pulled the bike off the road at a spot that indicated cars frequented the area, and turned his head to the side to converse with her. “This is it,” he told her. “I think you’ll like it.” They got off of the bike, and he went on to briefly explain the history of Conway Station.
As much as Glory appreciated the history lesson, she nodded, grinning. Any place would be lovely as long as Enten escorted her.
They stripped out of their jackets and helmets. She stood back as Enten lifted the saddlebag containing their food and headed to an overgrown path. She eyed it suspiciously. Mountain goating was not her forte.
“Watch your step. There’s a bit of a drop down to the water.” Total understatement. A path that wouldn’t normally bother her in her ever-steady canvas sneakers looked daunting in heeled boots.
Glory followed Enten with care, shooting out a hand once or twice to grab his shoulder for balance. Shale and new boots made the path a challenge, but in the end, only a root or two beneath her feet had her skidding.
For his part, Enten was like a solid wall and didn’t stumble once.
“High or low?” he asked once they emerged at stream level. Glory saw what he meant. Some lovely flat slabs of rock could be used as a picnic table by the water, or they could scale the old bridge footings and eat high up. She eyed the pillars, and her gaze immediately sought the best route.
“Are you afraid of heights?” It was a logical question. Enten probably figured since she’d been cautious on the path, she wasn’t daring.
“Certainly not,” she answered quickly. She walked forward and grasped her first hand hold. “I love the rock wall at my gym, and I’m really good at it.” New leather soles or not, this was a piece of cake, with large ledges as footholds. Enten’s mouth dropped open at her bravado. Glory smirked. She wasn’t all arms and legs for nothing.
Enten hitched the saddlebag onto his shoulder and followed her up. By the time he hauled himself over the top, she stood with legs spread, looking out over the scenery.
“This has a much better view than my gym,” she quipped.
Enten laughed and stood still with her for several minutes, enjoying a companionable silence as they took in the countryside. Glory wanted to lean back into him, but since he wasn’t moving toward her, she worried about making the first move. Besides, she’d promised herself that she’d give him her fucked-up story before things went any further between them. He might just run, fast and far away once he heard, but she owed him that chance.
“Shall we eat? I’m starving.” At his nod, Glory removed the pack from his shoulders.
She worried her bottom lip. How to begin? Glory bit back a sigh. Much easier to busy herself with food and save the tough stuff for later.
“Roast beef or ham?” she asked, unwrapping the large sandwiches on marbled rye that looked mouthwatering.
“I’m not particular.” Enten sat, dangling his feet over the edge. He reached in the bag and took out a water, drinking long and hard, quenching his thirst. She gazed at him from under lowered lashes and smoldered as the muscles in his throat rose and fell with each swallow. She itched with need to run her tongue over the cool, rough surface of the skin exposed there. He offered the bottle to Glory, and she pulled her eyes away.
“Uh, sorry. No thanks. I’m not fond of warm water.” She rolled her eyes at the bottle that had been in the saddlebag next to the exhaust cowling.
“It’s still cold.” Enten told her, and she watched, incredulous as frost gathered on the plastic.
“How…” Glory took the beverage and was amazed at the refreshingly cool temperature.
Enten shrugged. “The leather of the saddlebag must have kept it insulated.”
Glory had her doubts. The sandwiches she’d just unwrapped hadn’t been all that cold. However, who was she to argue? There certainly didn’t seem to be a better explanation.
Once she’d joined Enten at the edge of the pillar, they quietly chewed their sandwiches. It was the second time since they’d climbed that a silence descended between them, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, despite the things she wanted to reveal, Glory didn’t feel compelled to speak during their whole meal.
When Enten eventually crumpled the paper from his food and turned to put it back into the bag, he must have been feeling confident. He ran his nose across the side of her face, inhaling as he nudged, and nuzzled her neck. Was he aware of the goosebumps he caused? Or the state of her hard, puckered nipples? She couldn’t tell him, but maybe later, if he still wanted a relationship after he found out how screwed up she was, she’d dare to let him rest his hand over those needy points.
She leaned into Enten, loving the contact and marveling at the cool breath that tickled her skin. Her leg also remained chilled where it rested up against his, and she wondered at his natural body temperature. It could be some genetic abnormality, but she wasn’t going to ask. She could wait until he felt comfortable enough to tell her himself. A disquieting thought came into her head that his low temperature might indicate some serious disease, but Glory doubted it. Looking at Enten, he had to be the epitome of good health.
She sighed and pulled away, dragging up her courage. She’d put off the inevitable long enough. “Enten,” she began tentatively. “I think I should tell you more about myself if we plan on dating.” She saw the lift of his brow and wondered if she’d misread him. “We do plan on dating, don’t we?” she squeaked.
“Glory.” He looked down into her eyes with a cold confidence and a sincerity that had her heart thumping. “We are going to be doing so much more than dating,” he assured her.
Glory shivered. His statement bordered on a command, and being told what to do made her extremely nervous, but he couldn’t know that. He tread a fine line that Glory chose to ignore as she began her tell-all with a short bio of her dear old dad.
“Ookaay. You might change your mind when you hear about my family. This is like a…warning of sorts, that I’m a little…screwed up in the head. Should I continue?” Glory sent him a penetrating look and he didn’t hesitate.
“There’s nothing you can say that will discourage me.” His crystalline eyes sparkled.
“Okay. You asked for it.” She gulped. “Let me start by saying my dad was the most controlling bastard you could ever meet.” Glory took a deep breath, but Enten interrupted.
“Was?” he questioned.
“Yeah. He died a few years back, and it still ranks as the happiest day of my entire life.” She checked his face for horror, but he remained completely impassive, so she continued.
“My mother and I were eating supper with him, and as usual, he was in the middle of one of his tirades. He got a little too excited and inhaled a large piece of steak.” Glory shrugged, still watching Enten carefully. “He choked to death.” Still no reaction. “And I have to tell you, even if we’d known the Heimlich maneuver, neither one of us would have tried to save him.” There. She’d said it. Glory waited.
When Enten didn’t comment, she relentlessly kept on. “That all happened five years ago, just as my mother showed the first signs of early onset Alzheimer’s, and eleven years after my brother died in a mental institution.” She spread her whole dirty history out before him. Well…except the part about the husband her father had given her to, and she needed way more time to share that. Right now, Glory waited to see how fast Enten would pack up and get out of Dodge because of her potentially genetic, sketchy mental problems. What she didn’t expect was his chuckle.
“Interesting how we can’t choose our families.” He gave her a knowing look. “My parents are both consummate alcoholics who, once they found out about my brother being gay, disowned him. No discussion. I subsequently flipped them off, went ballistic on our home, and ruined a few priceless heirlooms. Due to their high standing in our…community…my brother and I became ostracized and sent…away. Shortly after that, we met up with the guys in our group, and they were the ones who saved us. If it wasn’t for them, who know
s what depths Emesh and I might have sunk to. My brother and I haven’t spoken to our parents in thousands of years.” Enten looked momentarily horrified, but quickly recovered. “Metaphorically speaking, of course.” He coughed.
Wow. Glory hadn’t expected any of that from a guy who held himself with such confidence. Could his coolness be an act, like hers? She digested what he’d said, and realized his situation had been just about as fucked up as what she’d grown up with. But what had he said about his brother?
“Wait. I thought your brother is Lahar?” she questioned. “The way he messed with my models, he didn’t seem gay.” She remembered the bearded hunk playing in the waves. He had made no bones about his attraction to the females.
“My mistake.” Enten tipped his head. “Lahar isn’t my brother by relation,” he explained. “Our group…our acrobatic group, has been together for so long, we consider ourselves brothers. My blood brother’s name is Emesh and he was, uh, not there that day.”
Why did Enten hesitate? Did he have more to share about his gay brother, but decided against it? Again. She wouldn’t push.
Enten looped an arm over Glory’s shoulder, drawing her close.
“I’m just letting you know I’m not afraid of what’s in your closet, if you’re not afraid of what’s in mine.” His dark eyes lightened and sparkled with icy shards when she turned her incredulous gaze toward his. No one had ever dismissed her baggage so quickly and easily before. Maybe the life she’d thought was totally screwed up wasn’t so out of the ordinary, and everyone before Enten had been intolerant jerks for not accepting her. What a freeing thought. She brought her lips to his and shyly brushed across them.
Enten responded instantly by surrounding her with the steel band of his arms, crushing her body into his. He captured her lips and drew his tongue across the seam of her mouth. “Open your mouth for me,” he said.
It sounded like a command, but Glory complied anyway. It was what she wanted too.
He dove into her mouth, pressing and teasing, before retreating to nip at her bottom lip. It felt wrong and right at the same time. Wrong because his whole presence overpowered her, but right because her libido sped up under his ministrations like a run-away train. She couldn’t stop the groans of pleasure rumbling from her throat, and knew they spurred him on. Somewhere in the back of her head, Glory couldn’t help but hear a warning bell. This would end badly. He’d take total control, stripping her of free will and sending her psyche into a downward spiral. She should stop it now, before her past caught up with her, but dammit, she deserved this little slice of heaven, didn’t she? He wouldn’t try to take things any further than kisses. Not all men were controlling assholes, she told herself, allowing him more access and going with her gut.
Enten lowered her backward onto the rock, dragging her underneath him and pressed down with a hard bulge he couldn’t hide. Okay. A little rubbing to go with the kissing? She could do that. Her long-neglected pussy grew moist at the contact. She relaxed her legs even more and cradled his stiffness.
Enten lifted his head. “Glory. I need to tell you something.”
She shook her head mutely, loathe to bring reason back into the equation. “I don’t want to know anything else.” Being carried away with passion was good. It kept evil memories at bay. She would be okay as long as Enten took things slowly, didn’t make demands. So far his unhurried, cold approach had her crazy with desire. “This is good, Enten. I like kissing you.”
He captured her mouth again and reached for the button to her jeans, brushing against her hot belly.
Glory tensed. Wait. She was good with them both fully clothed, but… She grabbed for his hand but he pushed it away, lowering her zipper. What the hell? No. She began to struggle. Horrifying memories of her ex-husband exploded in her head, taking over, filling her with dread. This couldn’t be happening. With the last vestige of her sanity, Glory cried out.
“Enten. Please. Stop,” she sobbed.
He pulled back is if slapped, and scrambled away. “Shit, Glory. I didn’t mean to scare you.” If anything, he looked appalled. Contrite. “I am so sorry.” Enten propped himself into a sitting position, not meeting her eyes. “I’m such an asshole.”
Glory only agreed with him fleetingly. Before she could consign him to hell, she shuddered, took a deep breath, and replayed what had just happened. It was okay. Enten had stopped the minute he knew she didn’t want to go any further. And she wasn’t imagining the terrible, insecure look that, at this very instant, flashed across his face. He had insecurities of his own, apparently.
Did Enten think she didn’t want him? Nothing could be further from the truth, but she was scared. She needed to take things slowly. He was the first guy with whom she’d dared let down barriers since her asshole, manipulative father and husband…and she’d panicked.
Glory hoped she hadn’t blown it altogether. Enten had so easily accepted her family’s shortcomings, but he might turn his back at her unexplained withdrawal. She quickly rolled to her knees and stood up.
“You’re not an asshole, Enten. You’re about the most wonderful… This was my fault. My past, and my mistakes. Nothing to do with you.” She choked back a sob. “I’m sorry. Maybe you should take me home.”
Before Enten could respond, Glory sent herself back over the edge, rapidly working her way down the rocks. By the time he joined her, she had the leather jacket and helmet safely in place, shielding her teary eyes, and her battered self-confidence.
****
Shit. What a crappy situation. He’d scared her. His Glory…his Chosen, whom he, in his delusional ardor had thought might be okay with his temperature. At this very minute, she still looked frozen with fear. His cold hand on her stomach must have woken her to the fact he was irreconcilably different.
What had he been thinking? He closed his eyes against the stark horror that had manifested from a single touch to her bare skin. What if he had lost all control and plunged into her with his icicle of a cock? She would never have forgiven him. Ever. His Chosen. He would never have a chance to explain who he was, what he was, and why she was so important to him. His heart seized. The revelations about being the god of winter had to come first if anything physical were to follow. And it tore him apart that Marduk prevented him from telling all.
The silence sucked, but Enten didn’t know what to say. He sent a leg over the bike, and indicated with a jerk of his head that she should join him. Their connection was such that he could feel how much Glory ached, and dammit, he was shaken up too. When she’d left him so abruptly, he’d felt her surge of emotions. Terror unlike any he’d ever experienced. His own lungs had seized at her pain, and he ceased to breathe that he was the one responsible. He had heard about this from the other mated gods, but never knew how gut-wrenching it could be.
Enten looked to the heavens as Glory got on behind him, wanting to beat his chest as she held herself cautiously away from his body. The tremendous burn in his belly made its way up to his heart, and … What the fuck? It blazed into his left shoulder.
He was on fire as he started the bike. He wanted to roar out his joy, his pain, but because of his leather jacket, he couldn’t be sure. One small, unstoppable tear drop crystalized to ice at the corner of his eye. If the burn truly came from within, Glory was his Chosen. A glowing amulet never lied.
Chapter Eleven
“How was your visit to the Overworld?” Nergal was happy to see Ereshkigal back from her visit to her sister. He’d been lonely, but he wouldn’t let her know that. He had lusted after her every moment she’d been gone.
“I had the most glorious time.” She stretched like a contented cat, inadvertently lifting her heavy breasts with the gesture. “It was just so nice getting away from all my problems and enjoying myself without any restrictions.” She gave him a pouty-lipped look. “Ish-Din says hi, and she’s glad you’re in hell.”
Nergel knew exactly what that meant. He had put the nix on any fucking with his wife, and it drove him cra
zy. Despite the fact—or perhaps because of it—that hands and mouths had come back into play, Nergal hovered in a perpetual state of blue-balls-hell from not being able to plunge inside his willing wife. It nearly killed him, but dammit, one of them had to take the responsible role.
“And how is your dear sister faring?” Nergal inquired, forcing his mind away from sex and back to Ish-Din. He smirked, amused, at the idea his wife’s sister had hooked up with Erra at Dagon and Holly’s amulet ceremony.
“She’s sorting through a few things,” Ereshkigal admitted, coming close to Nergal and running one delicate hand down his arm.
Nergal didn’t want to leave the subject. If he did, he’d have to concentrate on the hand. “She left Dagon’s party to go above stairs with Erra at the gods’ compound. Did they have carnal knowledge of each other?” Nergal swallowed hard around the dry spot in his throat.
“You mean, did they fuck?” Ereshkigal moved a little closer to his needy body, and he almost groaned.
Nergal loved when dirty words dripped from his wife’s tongue, and pictured his own dick pushing hard into her waiting warmth. His voice turned gruff. “Yes, wife. Did they fuck?” He couldn’t help it. He grabbed Eresh around the waist and pulled her up against his hardness.
“No, they didn’t,” she said, a little breathlessly. “Erra’s being terribly old fashioned and said he won’t take advantage of her without getting to know her again after all their years apart.” She tore herself—it seemed, reluctantly—from his embrace. “Which is something I wanted to talk to you about.” She brushed invisible dirt off her dress. “You know it was impossible for them to see each other when you had Erra confined to the Underworld, and even though he has the freedom of the human realm now, it is difficult for Ishtar to get away from her duties far above to visit him on Earth.”
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