Tess looked at him and tilted her head first to one side then the other. It melted Dagon’s heart to see the same features on Tess that graced his beloved, and he let his emotions show. Tess caught her breath as if she knew.
“I forgive you already,” she said whole-heartedly, her face softening. Dagon heard grumbling from a few of the gods behind her, but she jumped all over them. “Behave! Which one of you hasn’t made mistakes in your life? Give the man a break and let him talk!” She looked back at Dagon, giving him a nod.
He almost needed to cry again. It seemed he’d gained yet another champion despite his shithead ways. He wouldn’t leave Tess hanging a second longer. “I’ve found Holly.”
Tess gasped, and she would have gone to her knees if Marduk hadn’t caught her.
“Explain.” Marduk was cautious and quite clearly not sold on Dagon’s newly helpful persona. Dagon didn’t even blink. It was nothing more than he deserved.
“I’ve spoken to her at the bar where she works.” Dagon squared his shoulders. He wanted to tell it all fast and get the jeers and amusement at his expense out of the way. “We, Holly and I…hit it off. More than hit it off, actually.” He cleared his throat. This was a little more difficult than he’d imagined, but he plunged in. “I’m sure you’ll all think this is hilarious, but…” he paused, then went on at his cousin’s nod. “Holly is apparently my Chosen.”
It was the bombshell he’d expected but not quite in the way he’d imagined. Instead of taunting and derision, there was complete silence in the room. Enlil seemed the hardest hit.
“Shit. First Marduk as a great-something-son-in-law, now you. The gods must be laughing their asses off at me.”
There was much muttering before Tess approached Dagon with a question she must have felt was of utmost importance.
“Does Holly know?”
Dagon shook his head. “She knows she has very strong feelings for me, and I for her, but I haven’t told her what I am nor do I plan to. Anshar, Lenore, and I have already discussed it. You must take Holly into your protection so that Erra and Nergal can’t get her.” He looked around the room. “And since I’m giving her up to all of you for safekeeping, my life is pretty much forfeit. Therefore, there is no good reason for her to know that there’s any connection between the two of us, mating-wise.”
Regret twisted in his gut. If only things could have been different. He could have had these fine gods as friends again, with his Chosen by his side. Dagon nearly sighed. There was no time for regrets. There was no way he could go back and do it over, so moving forward quickly and decisively was the only course of action. He spoke into the still stunned room.
“Here’s what we need to do tomorrow night…”
Epilogue
“Come on, you guys,” Tess was clearly jazzed that she’d see her sister soon. Even the fucked up business about Dagon heading to hell, which had thrown them all for a bit, wasn’t about to overshadow her excitement. “We need to celebrate!”
Lenore peered over from where she’d collapsed back onto the bed, her head—right where it wanted to be—on a pillow. “Shouldn’t we save that for after we have Holly in hand?” She didn’t want to rain on Tess’s parade, but a whole lot of shit could go wrong between now and then.
“No. I think we’ve all been gloomy for far too long, battling PP and searching Chicago.” She got a gleam in her eye that made Lenore want to groan. “I’ve got it!” Tess snapped her fingers. “We’ve never had a party to commemorate your joining with Anshar.”
Lenore looked over at Anshar, who appeared shell shocked, learning all he had about his cousin and his parent’s deaths tonight. She didn’t think he’d feel much like partying.
“Not a bad idea, Tess,” Anshar perked up and gave the goddess a smile, which totally surprised Lenore. “You’re 100 percent correct. My beautiful bride needs something more than an amulet that she can’t even remember getting, to immortalize,” there were instant groans all around at his bad pun, “our union.” He continued, refusing to look apologetic. “We owe it to her after the shitty way we welcomed her into our home.”
Lenore hadn’t thought it was that bad. The mistrust she’d fomented could have brought her much harsher treatment. But Anshar couldn’t be stopped. He’d not only had a renewal of energy, he looked downright spunky.
“I have an idea,” he brightened even further. “Everyone stay right here,” he commanded. “I’ll be back within the hour.” Anshar disappeared in a flash.
“What do you think he’s up to?” Marduk rolled his eyes at the group, but couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face. Yup. He’d seen that spark of an old Anshar shining through and, like Lenore, obviously couldn’t wait to see what was going to come of it.
“Well, I’m sure we’ll find out,” Tess answered. “And I don’t know about the rest of you, but I need to freshen up before he tells us what he has in mind.” She smirked and crooked a finger at her husband. Marduk took her hand, eagerly, his grin matching hers.
“Oh yeah. That’s right. You two haven’t seen each other in, what? Two days?” Lenore snorted. “You need to make up for lost time, and an hour doesn’t…” Before she could say any more, the couple had disappeared. Lenore moved a pillow over her face and screamed into it. Without Tess’s goading, that could be her right now, having wild monkey-sex or serpent sex with Anshar. It was really all she wanted. Now she had to wait to see what the hell her man was up to.
Forty-five minutes later, with the gods lounging around on their own pillows in various states of invisible wakefulness, Tess and Marduk popped back in, looking bright-eyed and sated.
“Is he back yet? Did we miss anything?” Tess had better slow down because, energy-bunny or not, she’d run out of steam if she kept this level of excitement up for the duration of the night.
“Nope, he’s not—” Lenore was cut off by a dramatic puff of smoke and, when it cleared, Anshar stood in the aftermath. Her mouth dropped open. He was dressed from neck to heels in a silver-studded, one-piece jumpsuit. On his face sat large, dark sunglasses, and on his feet, blue suede shoes.
“What the hell?” Lenore and several other gods had the same reaction at the same time.
Anshar struck a pose as if holding a microphone to his mouth. “Don’t you recognize The King when you see him?” He rotated one hip dramatically and, from Lenore’s standpoint, hysterically.
Lenore laughed outrageously. “I recognize a big goofball when I see one.” She turned to the group and raised incredulous shoulders. “Does anybody get what’s going on?”
“Baby,” Anshar crooned. “Grab your high-heeled sneakers, cause it’s now or never.”
Marduk hooted, and the gods threw pillows. “Give us a hint, Anshar,” Marduk quipped back. “A little less conversation, please, and a little more…”
“Yeah boss!” Anshar spun forward and grabbed Lenore up off the bed, encircling her waist with both of his big hands. Once she was steady, he dropped to one knee at her feet. “Lenore, honey. I can’t live without you…literally.” This brought more catcalls from his brothers before he shushed them. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Lenore felt her throat close up, and tears threatened. She’d already accepted Anshar into her life. She had no idea that a god would contemplate a human marriage, much less think it was necessary. Her heart overflowed with joy and love.
“Of course I will, Anshar. But when,” she spluttered. “Where?”
“I’ve just come from Vegas, and I’ve reserved a justice of the peace to marry us in half an hour. “ He looked around at the group. “Will you all join us as witnesses?”
There was a chorus of cheers and, as Lenore slipped into her shoes, getting ready to mist and sporting a smile that she knew was a mile wide, Anshar took her hand. He kissed her with all the love and passion she knew they’d have for each other for the rest of eternity, and his words as they took off for Vegas rang in her ears.
“Going to the chapel, and we�
�re…”
About the Author
LJ Vickery began writing when the muses in her antique farmhouse wouldn’t let her be. She found success writing historical fiction before creating the band of immortals who led her into paranormal romance.
When she’s not writing she practices Chinese medicine, keeps books for a contracting firm, and grows organic vegetables.
LJ lives in a charming seacoast town south of Boston with her husband, two children, a dog, two cats, and one intrepid fish who keeps the fish tank from being retired.
Visit LJ at
http://www.ljvickery.com/
To chat with LJ Vickery and other Wild Rose Press authors of erotic romance, join us at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/thewilderroses.
Also Available
Rock Hard
by LJ Vickery
Immortals
Book I
Marduk, Mesopotamian god of thunder, has been invisible for hundreds of years, his punishment for leaving an entire civilization to wither and die...all for the love of a woman. Now, the gods seem to be reaping a great deal of pleasure at his expense once again for it’s another little bit of a woman who has the power to make him whole. She lights his formerly passionless form on fire, but he'll have to battle more than the gods who placed him and his brothers in this purgatory to win her heart and her body. Some demons must be faced to be defeated, even if they are hers.
Tess has straightened her life out. That means no alcohol, no risk, and most of all, NO MEN! But this god-like creature she first sees naked on the beach makes her forget the horrors wrought by another and consider the passion zinging through her veins. Can she take such a risk again without sacrificing her sobriety and her life?
Prologue
Deep in the Underworld
1624
“They seem more aggressive than usual!” Marduk was holding his own with a spawn from hell.
“I’m not sure why…watch your back!” Anshar’s blade came down, severing a hand and moving smoothly to stab the demon, saving Marduk from being skewered.
The group of thirteen gods was surrounded, which was unusual. Most of their battles in the underworld were fought singularly, god on goblin. It was their lot, their punishment: to battle and be slain with painful regularity, only to be resurrected and fight again.
Marduk looked around at his immortal compatriots. There was no doubt about it, they were being forced into a tighter and tighter circle, flames erupting at their feet to help the fiends battle them back. Strange that none of them had yet been dealt a fatal blow. Stranger still that their god and goddess jailers—Nergal and Ereshkigal—had just appeared on the outskirts of the fray. Marduk wasn’t the only one to notice.
The demons disappeared and the group of immortal warriors lowered their weapons. Marduk raised his brows questioningly at the new arrivals.
“Now that I have your attention,” Ereshkigal announced, stunning in an evil way with her thick black hair drawn back harshly from a pale white face. She walked forward. “You’re being given a new assignment.” She ran a sharp, red nail down Marduk’s chest.
“Let’s see how things unfold for you this time.” Ereshkigal raised her free hand and whipped it around her head.
Chains appeared from nowhere and bound the stunned deities before they could react.
“What is the meaning of this?” Marduk demanded. “Our unending punishment is not enough?” He stared at his shackled wrists with disdain. His companions all raised their voices in ire.
“Silence!” Ereshkigal commanded, and the gods found themselves unable to speak. She laughed evilly.
“Lovely power these chains have,” the goddess purred. “They make even my most powerful beings docile as kittens.” She gave Marduk a knowing look. Ereshkigal had used the restraints on the god before.
“Begone before I change my mind!” She swirled the air again, and thirteen gods vanished into mist.
Chapter One
Present Day
At least this time he had clothes on! Tess was sure it was the same guy she had seen on Wollaston Beach the week before, wandering the tide line, unabashedly naked in the frigid April morning. He had seemed completely unaware of anything around him…that was, until he had looked down at his feet and gone dead still.
She had been sitting on the seawall, twenty feet from the water, pondering the sunrise over the water, when the figure had emerged from the morning mist. At first, she thought her imagination was playing tricks. The man was impossibly tall, more impossibly broad across the shoulders, and most impossibly…devoid of any clothing. She’d watched as he had drawn closer, unable to tear her gaze away from his exquisite proportions. She had never seen a man walk so fluidly, almost gliding across the sand, with only the slightest ripple of taut muscle evident as he moved.
Thick, dark hair brushed his shoulders, swept back from what looked, at a distance, to be an arrogant but noble face and a squared-off chin. She’d had the oddest impression that he was absorbing the air and water around him, growing stronger as the sun sent its first tentative rays reaching skyward.
His corded muscles had swelled with the dawn and he’d turned his back to her, raising his hands to the elements. Tess had been unable to separate the secret places on the front of his body from the shadows still lingering, but there was no doubting the magnificence of his hardened flanks.
If she were the swooning type, this definitely would have been the point where she would have gone down hard. Instead, she’d sat and watched the show. In fact, she had felt compelled to watch, couldn’t bring herself to look away.
Mr. Magnificent had taken another deep breath, his back swelling to an even grander scale, then brought his eyes downward and immediately he’d frozen in place. Tess watched the man go still. Had she imagined that the surf calmed and the seabirds, just beginning to awaken, had silenced? She’d inhaled, shakily, waiting.
The man had raised one foot and placed it gently back down. He’d raised the other foot and moved his toes, then dunked it back into the water and purposely created a small splash. Once through investigating his feet, he’d brought his trembling head up and breathed…no, sniffed the air.
Tess still wasn’t sure why, but she had shifted on her rocky seat, suddenly and overwhelmingly drawn to the man, but feeling the immediate urge to flee. Her instincts had been correct, thank God. When the stranger had finally turned and skewered her with a look of confusion, she had already scrambled to her feet. Her alarm had increased when his eyes burned toward hers. Seeing her body poised for flight, he’d begun sprinting in her direction. He was totally freaking out!
Tess had needed no further prompting. She’d disappeared over the seawall and into her beat-up, rust green SUV, turned the key, and backed onto Quincy Shore Drive. She never looked back at the solitary figure, and it had been a good thing. If she had glanced in her rear-view mirror, she would have been the one in a panic. The glorious male’s body had slowly dissolved into the mist of the early morning light.
Tess had shaken all the way home and, try as she might, she hadn’t been able to dislodge the stranger from her mind all week long.
Now, here stood the same luscious male at Boston’s Fenway Park, leaning casually on the railing behind the box seats facing home plate. He was enjoying the game along with 20,000 other fans. She let her eyes roam over his body and sighed. Yup, same nice ass, only this time it was packed into tight, faded jeans. The man was sinfully built, showing rippling muscles underneath a confining white T-shirt. Her attraction to him ignited again.
It was the top of the seventh on a cool but moonlit Friday night. There were two outs, and the shortstop for the visiting team was at bat. Two strikes and the crowd was getting ready for the seventh inning stretch. Tess sat a mere dozen rows above the dark-haired giant and fumbled for her purse, poised to bolt for the exit ramp if he spotted her. Why she felt the urge to flee again, she didn’t know, especially since she enjoyed looking at him so much. Surely he wouldn’t even re
cognize her as the peeping chick on the beach, but she was taking no chances.
Several rows below, Marduk felt Anshar’s stare. “Marduk,” the invisible god murmured, as casually as possible under the circumstances. “Don’t say a word.”
Marduk turned his head. “What’s your problem?”
“Dammit man! I told you not to speak.” Anshar swore in frustration, and Marduk’s skin began to crawl. He knew what Anshar was going to say before the words emerged from his friend’s mouth.
“You’re visible again, you supreme idiot.” The invisible gods could always see each other, but the obvious transparency they’d carried for centuries was now missing from Marduk.
“Fuck!” Marduk looked first at his hand, then took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of pretzels and hot dogs, popcorn and beer. Before he got too carried away, he shook off the wondrous sensations and swiftly, with determination, turned to scan the crowd. “She must be here, Anshar. Look for her. A small woman with the slight curves of youth…brown hair like winter straw and black frame glasses.” He spoke out of the side of his mouth, glad there was no one nearby to hear him speak to empty space. The girl was here! He could feel the slight vibration in his chest that had accompanied her presence before.
Marduk had Anshar look around. The thunder god sensed his buddy’s frustration. Every third woman in the stadium fit the description he’d given. Anshar was, however, lord of the whole sky, and known for his unerring eyesight. Marduk willed him to open his senses, and knew when Anshar’s stare was drawn to the mystery woman. She was glancing surreptitiously in their direction with a nervousness that bordered on panic.
“Is that…”
“And now it’s time for the seventh inning stretch!” The booming voice came over the loudspeaker and interrupted Anshar. Marduk cursed as a surge of pressing bodies emerged into the aisle around him, bumping his body ever so slightly as they crowded around to relieve cramped limbs and join in the traditional song. He tried to shake off his discomfort and bring his focus back to Anshar.
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