He tried to withdraw but laughed instead. Lenore had picked up on what he was thinking and, in defiance, she had clenched her inner muscles around him, refusing to let him go. Anshar was pretty sure no mortal woman would have such power. But what did he know?
In the face of her resistance, the god let himself momentarily relax. He shone brightly. Lenore shone back. It was a hell of an afterglow, but it would, by necessity, be short. As reluctant as he was to leave her body, they had a lot to talk about.
Chapter Twenty-One
“So this serpent…” Lenore began, slowly caressing Anshar’s stomach a half hour later. His muscles contracted under her hand. “You don’t let him out—ever—if you can help it?”
Anshar snorted. “You might want to talk to Dagon about this. He’s always been more in tune with his serpent-side.”
Lenore snorted right back. “I never want to talk to that tool again.” She glanced up at Anshar. “No offense or anything. I know he’s your cousin, but—”
“He wasn’t always such a bastard, you know,” Anshar reminisced. “When we were young, we hung out together all the time. In those days, we thought it was great fun to turn into our serpents. He was dark, I was golden, and everyone thought it was cute the way we’d stomp around and—”
“Bright serpent, not dark!” Lenore jerked upright and Anshar loved the look of her long, platinum hair curling around her full breasts. She turned knowing eyes to him. “Like my slip of paper in the divination roll.”
“Yup,” Anshar acknowledged sheepishly. “I kind of already figured that out.”
“So apparently I’ve chosen properly.” Lenore looked smug and, without warning, rolled on top of him. “I got the good serpent.” Anshar growled his pleasure.
“There’s another thing.” His arms went around her, and he suffered no hesitation. Anshar knew the time was right to reveal to Lenore her true status; to let her know what she really was to him. Because of the incredible physical bond they’d just shared, the simultaneous lighting of their amulets, and because he’d finally opened up his heart to Lenore, he was no longer under Dagon’s collar’s control.
“I want you to know something about the amulet we share.” He took her hands between his. “There’s a reason that it lights up.”
Lenore grinned down at him. “I’ll tell you what I was sure it was after the first time I saw mine bling-bling.”
Anshar studied her face. “So you weren’t just posturing for Marduk and Tess. It really…today wasn’t the first time?”
Lenore scrambled off of him to sit up. “No,” she admitted, folding her arms under her tits and making them even more prominent. “After you played that little medley of lick and suck songs, I was like the Christmas tree in Times Square!”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Anshar groaned. By the gods! They could have spared themselves so much heartache. Lenore didn’t look upset, just amused. Of course, she hadn’t been privy to his torment.
“That’s the funny part,” she reassured him. “I thought it was triggered by having an orgasm! I even accused Marduk and Tess of getting each other off in the kitchen that morning when they both had a glow on.”
A burst of laughter finally loosened Anshar’s tense belly. Then he gently explained what had been his dilemma. “I wasn’t…and they weren’t…none of the gods were allowed to tell you what the light really means. Dagon ordered us all not to talk.” He briefly changed the subject. “I bet Marduk was mortified.” The thunder god had a reputation for circumspect behavior.
“He did look a little embarrassed, but he steered the conversation back to neutral territory pretty quickly.” Lenore slapped Anshar’s chest in mock anger. “So now that I know the light isn’t ‘cum’ induced, are you going to tell me the real reason for our incandescence?”
“Settle down and try not to get angry.” Anshar pulled her naked body back next to his and snuggled her under one armpit, her chin resting on his chest, and his nestling on top of her head.
“We have Dagon to thank…or to blame.” He dropped a kiss on her hair. “I myself think that a thank you is more in order.”
Lenore rolled her eyes.
“Well, he did, inadvertently, put us together,” Anshar continued. He took a deep breath. He could do this.
“Gods have, in the whole expanse of earth and time, only one Chosen.” Hey! No pain! He’d been right. Dagon no longer controlled him. “When we find that one, special woman, our amulet lets us know by glowing, and we attempt to make her our mate for life.”
“So I’m your mate,” she said, digesting the information slowly. When she had apparently mulled it over and come to some kind of a conclusion, she nodded, letting him know that he could continue.
“You are,” he agreed, then inhaled deeply again. “Under normal circumstances, a couple cements the deal by undergoing a ceremony where half of the amulet is removed from the god’s shoulder and is then implanted in his Chosen. It’s a ceremony we don’t take lightly.”
Lenore’s eyes grew sharp as her anger built. “Now tell me the part where we thank Dagon, because it sounds to me like he risked a lot by doing this implantation thing without getting a confirmed glow first.”
Gods, she was smart. She’d grasped the situation quickly.
“Well, he did overstep, but to give him the benefit of the doubt, once Dagon knew that I had turned corporeal for you, he made the leap of faith that you were my Chosen, because there was the precedent of Marduk turning corporeal for Tess for the same reason.” Anshar studied his mate. She didn’t look 100 percent onboard.
“Of course, there was always a chance, because you and Dagon are blood related—and because you and I are somewhat blood-joined too—that I regained my body because I’m part of the extended family. That was one risk he took performing the ceremony without knowing,” Anshar admitted.
“One risk he took!” Lenore was clearly infuriated now. “What risk did he take? That asshole! What if I wasn’t your Chosen? What if he’d doomed you to be connected to me for the rest of eternity so you couldn’t find your real Chosen?”
She looked at Anshar’s face and he knew what was written there.
“What? What! There’s something else you’re not telling me.” She demanded answers.
“It wouldn’t have mattered if you weren’t my true mate.” Anshar looked deep into her eyes. “I would have been dead.” He smoothed her hair back in a calming motion when her brows grew together in puzzlement. Anshar explained. “If the amulet is placed in a woman, and regeneration of the missing half in the male fails to occur, death is the end result.”
“He could have killed you!” Lenore leaped to her feet on the mattress. She was shaking with rage and many other emotions Anshar couldn’t fathom. One thing was certain, if Dagon was here right now, Lenore would murder him on the spot.
Anshar attempted to calm his mate. “But that didn’t happen. Instead, he helped me find my Chosen—my one and only.” Anshar pulled on Lenore’s hand and yanked her back down. He then proceeded to squeeze her close to let her know how happy he was at the serendipitous event. “So you see, we have to thank him.” Anshar felt really good about it all in retrospect. “And even though it doesn’t need to be said, because the glowing has already affirmed our connection, I know that you humans—”
“Uh, goddess actually, thank you very much!” Lenore’s eyes were suddenly bright with tears.
Anshar moved to catch one as it ran down her cheek. “Goddess now, but not too long ago, human.” He soothed. “I know that humans need to hear the words, and I would never deprive you of such.” Anshar took hold of her chin and made sure he had her undivided attention. “I love you, Lenore. For real and forever. My life is yours.”
Lenore looked so happy at that moment, he almost couldn’t continue, but she needed to know the rest. “Unfortunately, along with the good, there’s always some bad. With us, as well as with all couples who have mated with amulets, if you die, I die and, although Dagon never told
you, or gave you the option, the reverse is also true.”
Did Lenore actually shrug? “It’s okay.” She nodded. “And he did tell me.” Lenore didn’t look the least bit upset. “I would never want to live without you, anyway.” She snuggled closer to his willing body, if that was possible. “And I guess the amulet has already said it all, and you, being a god might not need to hear it either, but I’m going to say it anyway.” She took his face in both hands and turned brilliant green eyes to his. “I love you too, Anshar,” she told him, and his heart swelled near to bursting.
Both shoulders were brilliant as Anshar sealed their love with a heart-stopping kiss.
Minutes later, Lenore drew away. Anshar put his forehead to hers. He knew it was time to get practical again. They had eons to revel in each other’s bodies but not before they settled a few more things.
“So Dagon ordered you, while wearing the collar, not to tell me any of this.”
“Yup. Under penalty of horrible pain.” Anshar was busy marveling at the way his hand felt smoothing over her luscious hip. If she didn’t get to the point, he was going to kiss her rounded tummy again, and who knows where from there.
“So back to the serpent.” It seemed like Lenore was mentally stronger than him, and not to be distracted from the topic.
Anshar looked at her sheepishly, stilling his fingers.
“This cuff.” She tapped the silver band where it lay across his bicep. “The few times I’ve noticed you start to turn, you get bigger, and then you bleed.”
Anshar gave a dip of his chin, acknowledging that fact. “For the longest time, all I would need to stop the transformation was for the barbs inside the cuff to pierce my skin. The pain would bring me back into focus, and I’d avoid changing. Unfortunately,” he looked at the band he’d worn for thousands of years. “I grew accustomed to the wounds it inflicted and it stopped working.”
“Exactly,” declared Lenore, suddenly sitting up and poking him in the chest.
Okay. She’d surprised him. “And what is ‘exactly’ supposed to mean?”
“Immersion therapy! Have you heard of it? Once you expose yourself to something over and over again, it no longer has power. Therefore, you need to confront your serpent again and again, until you get so used to him that you stop losing control.”
Anshar suddenly felt terrified. “You don’t understand.” He sat up too. “He…I’m dangerous. I could kill somebody!”
“Not with the collar in place.” Lenore looked so sure of herself. “I can order you not to move and then talk you through your transformation.”
Anshar was instantly skeptical and so not on board with that plan.
“It will work,” Lenore soothed, aware of his trepidation through the feelings they shared. “I know it will. Let’s try it.”
“Now?” Anshar’s every nerve became instantly alert.
“When better?” Lenore began giving Anshar orders before he had the chance to say no.
“Go stand over there.” She pointed to a spot in the middle of the room, halfway between the bed and the door. “And don’t move.” She was quite precise.
Against his will, his body rose from the mattress to do her bidding. “Let’s rethink this, Lenore. I beg of you! I don’t want you to see how ugly I am.”
She swallowed the sympathy she felt hearing the anguish in his tone. This needed to be done. “Do not move your feet, your arms, your hands, or your head and, when I tell you, I want you to make the serpent appear.”
Lenore had moved off the bed at the same time as Anshar, pulling his discarded T-shirt on, over her head and moving to open the shades on the windows. She wanted to get a good look at the creature she intended to have as her new playmate.
“Lenore. Please stop this.” Anshar was trying to keep his tone reasonable, and Lenore felt badly, but she wasn’t about to give in. “We’re just getting to know each other, and I’d prefer to save this for later in the relationship. Technically, we’re still in the dating phase of things, and women don’t want to see their new boyfriends unleash a beast.”
“But you won’t be unleashed.” Lenore assured him once she was satisfied that there was plenty of light in the room. “I’ll prove it. Try to defy the command I just gave you.”
Anshar tried but was unable to move.
“See? Now think naughty thoughts that will bring your creature to the forefront.” Lenore could feel Anshar fighting it. Perhaps the order had been too vague.
She stuck her tongue out in thought. “I know. Picture me having sex with someone else.” Would that be enough? Her question was answered instantly.
Anshar almost seemed to rise up out of himself. His shoulders broadened, and he gave a terrifying roar in response to her suggestion.
“No…okay…maybe not that degree of agitated.” She worried her bottom lip and wondered if she should change her mind. Her words seemed to be working. Anshar was morphing, but…okay. Right the first time. It was too much. He was also clearly furious picturing her having sex with a person other than himself. She didn’t want him angry…just stressed. Lenore snapped her fingers. She had the solution! “Anshar, picture me having sex with another woman.”
His tone instantly went down to a growl, and his cock became immediately erect.
“There we are,” Lenore crooned with satisfaction. “Come on, beastie-boy,” she urged. “Picture this. I’m naked and spread out with a sexy lady straddling my body, flicking my clit with her long red, polished fingernail…” Ooh. She was getting hot, but Anshar transforming before her eyes quickly put an end to sexual musings. Holy shit! Lenore’s mouth dropped open. Instant serpent, just add lady-sex. Anshar was growing by the minute. Damn! She’d forgotten the cuff, and now he was bleeding. It was too late, but they’d have to remember to remove it next time.
Anshar’s body brightened in the sunlight that streamed through the window. His chest was now covered with a hard, resplendent scaled shell that only accented his well-defined torso. His legs were even more thickly muscled than before, and his penis… Oh my gods, his penis! It now thrust out from his body, a huge golden staff, lightly covered in small, keeled ridges. Her mouth flooded with saliva, imagining what it would feel like to lick those glorious protrusions.
How much had he changed elsewhere? Reluctantly, she brought her eyes higher, up over his straining chest to a face that was still very much Anshar. His eyes were pure black and his nose had flattened, snout-like. But other than that, and a slightly widened jaw, he looked the same.
“Open your mouth,” Lenore ordered, still not standing too close.
He snarled but did as he was told. Lenore was presented with a pair of sharp fangs, and…good gods…the tongue that snuck out to lick them? Whoa baby! It seemed to have a life of its own—the pink projection was forked and several inches longer than normal. What she couldn’t order him to do with that glorious appendage?
Lenore moved so she could see his back, and the transformation there was even more dramatic.
What could only be described as dorsal fins emerged from his spine and stood eight inches out from his body between his shoulders and tapered down to a mere two inches before ending at the crack of his ass.
Anshar’s cold, hard eyes followed her progress as she moved around him.
Lenore finally ended her tour and found the nerve to speak. “Anshar? Can you hear me?”
The serpent responded with a deafening roar that actually shook the room. Well, that was quite an answer.
“I’m going to come closer and put my hand on your shoulder.” Maybe if she touched his amulet, it might help him remember who she was…who he was. Right now, she was getting none of the telepathic feelings that would tell her what he was experiencing.
“Don’t move,” she ordered again, just to be safe, because Anshar had told her that the collar might not work while he was a beast.
Lenore walked toward Anshar slowly, hearing his rasping breaths, but she didn’t flinch. She reached a hand tentatively toward
him. He growled, bearing his fangs, but she didn’t pull back. When her fingers touched the flesh of his chest, she noted his cooler body temperature before smoothing her hand slowly upward to delicately outline the spot where his amulet resided.
She brought all her loving thoughts for him to the fore, and a small, red glow shone from her shoulder as she deepened the pressure on his flesh. He roared again, but this time not so loudly, and she could swear he sounded almost pleased.
Lenore looked down. Sure enough, his magnificent shining cock was rock hard and twitching. She had a primal urge to touch it but was smart enough to know that it was too soon to attempt anything remotely sexual.
She was unavoidably turned on, however. This was her man, after all! The serpent’s flat nose twitched, and his lips peeled back to reveal his fangs and what Lenore could only call a feral-looking smile. Could he smell her arousal?
“Anshar. Concentrate on me.” Lenore ordered, while she continued stroking his shoulder. “Say my name, Anshar. Tell me who I am.”
All she got in return was a hiss as he looked her T-shirt clad body up and down. She could sense that Anshar was in there, but could he see her?
Without warning, his tongue flicked out from between his gleaming fangs and touched the skin at her wrist. She jumped back and screamed. Anshar let out another roar.
Almost instantly, there was pounding at the door.
“Lenore! Are you all right?” Marduk’s voice was frantic. He didn’t give her time to answer. “Fuck it. I’m coming in!”
Company was the last thing Anshar needed but, before Lenore could open her mouth and tell him she had the situation under control, Marduk had entered the room with Enlil right behind. Damn. They hadn’t taken off for Chicago yet.
Anshar growled and spit.
“What the hell?” Marduk came to an abrupt halt.
“Everything is under control.” Lenore sought to calm him. “I have the collar on him, and he’s not able to move any part of his body.”
Marduk’s gaze went to Anshar’s actively bobbing penis.
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