“You keep doing that,” she breathed.
“I—don’t—I just didn’t want to—” Ethan didn’t finish as he felt Thea softly move herself close to him again, pressing her soft illuminated skin over his hardening male.
“It’s okay, Ethan. Don’t be embarrassed. I like feeling you next to me. It's natural. Don't fight it.”
Both embraced warmly again with Ethan’s male growing sweetly and very firmly tall between them. Thea gasped as Ethan’s feelings moved softly over hers.
“Ohhh, Ethan,” she breathed musically while holding onto him, as if needing his support to stand.
“Are you okay?” Ethan breathed, all but lost in her scent and feeling her elation growing between them.
For long moments the two of them stood tenderly embraced while their feelings moved over each other’s. Ethan could feel her heart beating more and more quickly, as his mind moved affectionately, intimately entwined with hers. Ethan was just holding her softly, moving his feelings gently through hers, but Thea was breathing deeply, sweetly repeating his name. Her feelings were on fire as his own feelings lifted hers in rapt woven movement. It was a little astonishing what the emotion of his mind appeared to be doing to Thea. But she wasn’t the only one with growing ecstatic feelings. Even though the two of them were just standing, holding each other, not even kissing, just moving their feelings over each other’s, something was happening within Ethan as well. An warm ecstatic feeling was deeply rising within his jewels and his fully hardened cock was tingling, buzzing like he wanted to erupt—but they weren’t doing anything but just holding each other.
Suddenly Thea exhaled quickly and deeply, softly calling out, her voice like a song. Ethan had to quickly take hold of her to keep her from falling as her body seemed to lose its strength. A deep warm glow spilled out brightly from within her body as Ethan held her close to himself. Her mouth partly open, she was still calling out, exhaling heavily, her feelings exploding as if she were in deep, deep rapture. Ethan was moved by Thea’s emotions as the powerful ecstatic climax poured from out of her soul. Ethan gasped repeatedly himself, feeling the deep release of what she herself felt. Thea’s emotions were powerful, filled with warmth and desire—for Ethan.
Ethan held her warmly as her hands moved sweetly over his chest. She stood weakly on her own now, but still steadied by his powerful arms. Both were breathing heavily as Ethan noticed his own skin lightly aglow with her same soft radiance where the light of her body had splashed all over him.
“Are you—are you okay?” he asked holding her. “I’m glowing like you are,” he smiled.
“I—I—” she began. “I’ve never—I’m sorry. I—”
“Shhh.” He quieted, pulling her closer. He could feel her embarrassment now, her vulnerability; like she’d spilled her emotional ecstasy all over him. He held her tight against himself. “It’s okay. Don’t worry. I think I got you wet as well.” He had. Their skin was warm and slick between them all around Ethan’s tall standing cock.
“I—I can’t believe—oohh, Ethan.” She cuddled herself warmly into his embrace as the two of them stood with their bodies and their feelings deeply, deeply entwined.
38
W here have you been all evening?” Ty found Ethan half dressed commando in long khaki shorts and stretched out on the sofa of their nice quarters. The studio apartment-sized quarters used to be Ty’s own childhood bedroom.
Ethan looked at Ty, a somewhat guilty expression crossing his face.
“Are you okay?” Ty had the two pairs of flippers in hand that they had used on their dive earlier in the day.
“Yea. Sure.”
“You don’t sound okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“You and Thea get to know each other a little better while exploring the ship?”
“You—could say that.” Ethan quipped.
“You—feel a little different. Like you’re distraught.”
“Not distraught. More like confused.”
“Oh? Thea confusing you?” Ty grinned.
“You have no idea.”
“She can be a little spontaneous sometimes.”
“Ya think?”
“It feels like your angry at her?”
“No. Not at her. Just—never mind.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Ethan. Did she say something that upset you?”
“No.”
“Something happened between you two. Tell me. What was it? Did you two have an argument? She can be a little opinionated.”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Well, now I do. What did she say?” Ty sat down on the couch while Ethan pulled his feet back and he sat up.”
“Ty. You grew up with Thea.”
“Yea.”
“Did she ever date anyone, growing up I mean?”
“No. She was never really attracted to anyone. She kissed you, didn’t she? I mean, for real. I bet she made a pass at you.”
“You—could say that.”
“I could tell she likes you.”
“Yea, she likes me.”
“What is up with you? I’ve never seen Thea kiss anyone.”
“Never?”
“Never. I was a little surprised to see her kiss you earlier, honestly.”
“That’s—interesting.”
“Did you guys make out?”
“I think we did a little more than just make out.”
Ty’s eyes widened. “Really—”
Ethan nodded slowly.
“I’m—wow—a little dumbfounded. Ethan!”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, Ty. It’s just that one thing led to another; we were all over each other’s feelings and the next thing I knew she’s glowing all over me. I really didn’t mean to do your sister. I’m sorry!”
“I’m not.” Ty was smiling widely at him.
“You’re—you’re not upset?”
“Why would I be upset?”
“Because I just has sex with your sister?” he asked.
“Ethan! I’ve never seen Thea take an interest in anyone—let alone kiss someone. And you two just fucked?”
“Well—in a manner of speaking,” he offered sheepishly.
“That’s fabulous!”
“It is?”
“Ethan. Thea likes being alone. She’s like the model introvert. I know she’s always wanted to find someone. She’s alone. She sees something in you. Feels something in you she really likes.”
“We dove really deeply, Ty. I’ve never felt someone as deeply as I did with her this evening.”
“Wow. Now I’m jealous.” Ty grinned sarcastically. He’d known Thea his entire life. To suddenly see her take an interest in someone lifted Ty’s spirits. He all but hopped off the couch.
“Where are you going?”
“To gossip, with Thea, about you.”
Ethan palmed his face, groaning.
* * * * *
“You’re watching Dominion Signs, I’m Kimberly Klein. In what has become a not so surprising announcement this afternoon, Michigan became the seventh state to announce its intention to officially break ties with the federal government, joining a growing number of states that regard the actions of the current administration and Congress illegal and unconstitutional.
“While the states of Georgia, Alabama, Texas and others have unofficially formed an alliance against what they have called a tyrannical Washington D.C., officials in Michigan have simply cut ties with Washington and declared sanctions against the government they say has no respect for the rule of law.
“Michigan officials stated that they will begin issuing passports this week for residents who wish to travel outside the state; but officials were also clear, they will begin expelling state residents who do not agree with the legislature’s new sanctions against—”
“Fabulous.” Frank scowled, clicking off the TV.
“You knew it was coming.” The president reminded.
“We had people there that were supposed to keep it from happening. Fucking empaths.”
“You mean goddesses, Frank.” Harlan corrected.
“They’re not goddesses, Harlan. They’re just people.”
“I disagree. Have you seen Lisa Kyle in a bikini? That’s a goddess.”
“Knock it off you two.” The president jumped into the banter before it could get annoying. “What do you think Diane?” he looked at his Attorney General.
“It’s interesting they didn’t go all the way, Brett. It’s like they’re trying to save face with the public on this one. I like the PR actually. It makes them look more reasonable than the neo-Confederates. I’d leave Michigan alone for right now.”
“Why?”
“Because the Dominion will kick our asses?” Harlan interjected.
“That,” Diane nodded her agreement, “and we’ll look more reasonable if people see that we’re still playing nice with some of the more moderate states.”
“Interesting. Yea. I like that.” The president nodded his approval.
“I still don’t get this.” Harlan began. “I don’t get why we’re going to war with these gods in the first place.”
“Because they’re not gods, Harlan; they’re an aberration. A freak of Nature,” Frank corrected.
“Aberration my ass. I think they’re aliens if you ask me.” Harlan flopped down into the couch of the Oval Office.
“There are no aliens, Harlan. We’re alone in the Universe. They were people who just evolved a lot faster than anyone else did. Just like the Europeans did when compared to Africa or even Native Americans. We had ships and guns, they had canoes with bows and arrows.”
“If you say so.” Harlan rolled his eyes.
“What makes me curious, gentlemen,” Diane broke in, “is how you expect to win a conflict with people who have weapons like the Dominion. They took out our advanced weapons depot in Australia. With one small ship. Going toe-to-toe with these people on the battlefield is suicide.”
“We were taking them out one at a time,” the president began, “one-by-one. Evidently that’s not possible any more, according to Rigel.”
“At this point, I don’t see us winning this one in the arena, Brett. Even with the U.N. The Wraith we might be able to handle. The Dominion,” she shook her head. “They appear to have ties to the gods of Interra. As outgunned as we are, seems to me we need to fall back on something a little more Sun Tzu rather than direct confrontation.”
“Like what?”
“We wage a PR war. Our weapons are about equal then.”
“How do we do that?”
“Right now, we’re the enemy in the minds of a lot of people. We need to shift that focus somehow. Give people something they can unite behind. Hitler did it with the Jews. What happens if we make these ‘gods’, as Harlan calls them, into ‘demons’? We need to show people these gods are dangerous. Unsafe to even be around. We need to make it look like every difficulty people have is a result of what these Ra are doing. We need to be the saviors instead of them.”
“Nice.” Frank began with a sarcastic tone. “First you have to convince people that demons exist. We had a hard enough time finding the handful of enhanced people that we do have. If we start turning them into the boogieman, making them look bad, they’re liable to turn on us. Even worse, half of the people voting for us already want to put these gods on some endangered species list to save them from extinction.”
“It’s just an idea, Frank. I never said it was a good one,” Diane defended.
“No, wait, Diane,” the president began, “we don’t have to convince people of anything. We just need to get them talking. Arguing, actually. They’ll convince themselves.
“Frank, you remember seeing that video we recovered of Kent Levi in the restaurant a few years ago?”
“I remember,” Frank nodded. “He blasted the place to smithereens. A lot of people died in the fire.”
“I think that video needs to get leaked.”
“What video is this?” Diane asked.
“Frank will show it to you. Assemble a PR team, Diane. Leak the video and make it look like we were trying to take down a demon.”
“I don’t know, Mr. President,” Frank sounded reticent. “People in Seattle are liable to start worshiping Levi if they see that kind of raw power on display. They already practically worship his wife.” Frank glared at Harlan.
“Yea, I really don’t care about them. They’ll vote for us no matter what. What I really want to do is get the religious people talking; arguing. That’s where the secessionist base is. Diane’s right. The people and the gods are united against us. Let’s see what happens when all of these religious people are suddenly united against them.”
39
T hee—ah,” Ty teased her name walking into her chamber like a younger brother about to snitch on his older sister.
“Go away,” he heard her grump. He could feel she didn’t mean it.
“Wanna know a secret—?” He was going to drag this one out as long as he could.
“What?” she appeared next to him; a pouting scowl on her face.
“I know someone who likes you.”
She smiled at him. “I think I already know that one.”
“I’m—surprised. And happy. How come you’re not?”
“I don’t know?” she pursed her lips softly.
“Whoa. That’s not exactly what I would expect from someone who just got laid.”
She slugged him—lightly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ty. We’re. We’re wrong. I lost control.”
“Yea, well Ethan wasn’t exactly in-control from what I hear. So?”
“Ty, I—got lost.”
“You got lost?”
“In the way he feels to me. I can’t explain it. I’ve been thinking about it all evening. We’re different species. It’s impossible for us to be attracted—like you and Ethan are.”
“Evidently it’s not.”
“It makes no sense.”
“You’re right; it doesn’t. And love never has.”
“So you’re lecturing me now, Mr. 800 IQ? I don’t think so.”
“Apparently you need a lecture. I saw how you looked at him the first time you met him.”
“But it can’t work.”
“Just because he’s corporeal and you’re not? You can still feel each other.”
“It’s—”
“It’s what?”
Thea frowned. Ty felt her reticence.
“You’re afraid of him.”
“I’m afraid for him.”
“Why?”
“He’s—”
“What?”
“Delicate. I can’t control myself around him.”
“Are you going to fuck him into a coma?”
“I might,” she glared.
Ty said nothing. He knew what she was capable of.
“He’s just so, deep; and perfect. Like smooth symmetry. I couldn’t help it, Ty. I’ve never had a sensual experience like this in my life.”
“You’ve been alone so long, Thea. Maybe it’s about time fate dropped someone into your life. Hmm?”
“But, he’s your friend, Ty.”
“Thea. He’s your friend as well. Let’s just let Ethan be Ethan. I’m really happy for you. Mom and Dad and the rest of the family would be throwing you a celebration right now.”
She broke a slight smile.
Ty warmly took hold of her arm as both walked slowly. “Listen, there are some things you might want to know about Ethan—” And then both faded away, shimmering into nothing.
40
R igel stood in the center of the Great Chamber. The ancient ones began entering, taking their chairs.
“What is this news that you have, Rigel,” Solis asked when all but two had finally assembled. Rigel said nothing but instead simply stared at the two empty seats.
“Rigel,” Solis began, “Hera and Hades? W
here are they?”
“They are—no more, I am afraid.” His voice was low and heavy with foreboding.
“WHAT!?” Asherah got to her feet, as did several of the other members.
“They are no more!” Rigel repeated loudly, pain written all over his face.
“HOW?!” Hermes demanded.
“An assassin.” Rigel said simply.
“An assassin?” Solis glared. “You mean our own assassin.”
“Indeed I do, Solis. I made every effort to mitigate the threat. Fate seems to have interfered with my efforts.”
“This is beyond incompetence!” Solis suddenly grew angry.
“No! Solis!” Arcus glared at him. “Rigel has served this body with flawless precision, well and long before any of us were united. We knew the liability employing such a fiend would create. Rowan has served his purpose. Perhaps a little retribution to balance the scales is in order. Did we ourselves not dispose of Sen and Arica? Procured the devices from the Kir boy that eliminated them?”
Silence filled the room.
“What are we to do?” Asherah asked.
“Let the monster alone.” Athena spoke.
“I agree.” Arcus searched the faces of the rest of them.
“I cannot believe what I am hearing!” Solis continued in his anger. “Will this Council turn tail to a—a halfblood?!”
Arcus sighed noticeably. Heavily. Patiently. “Solis. This halfblood, as you say, helped us purge, almost clean, the entire race of the remaining Sentinels from the face of the Earth. It did not matter where they hid or how well they were concealed. Eventually, he found them. He is a product of the Nature of this world. A predator. Death incarnate.”
“And now he is allied against us! Why?” Solis demanded.
“We had no choice, Solis,” Rigel offered. “He was becoming too independent. Even insolent.”
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