The Goddess Quest

by Clara Hartley

  “I kind of want to have her all to myself now.”

  Theo grunted, then pushed Hansel away. He was usually politer than this, but the promise of sex with me seemed to rile him up too much. He positioned his erection between my legs. It throbbed, pulsed, and I eyed it warily. How was I supposed to fit that in?

  I swallowed. “Don’t break me.”

  “I’ll have to hold myself back, then,” Theo replied.

  He pushed his hips forward, filling me with one decisive thrust. A cry escaped my lungs as we joined together. Waves of lust poured over me, making me lose all sense of reality as pleasure overwhelmed my entire body, rushing through my veins. Hansel drew his hand down my neck and rested it on my collarbone. He kissed me lightly there, while Theo picked up the pace of his pounding.

  “You’re missing out,” Hansel said to Liam, murmuring against my skin. He pulled his cock out from his pants and began stroking himself. I reached for it and wrapped my fingers around his length to help him with his pleasure, and the moment my fingertips touched his flesh, he hissed.

  I locked eyes with Liam, who stared at me with such intensity that I wondered how he was controlling himself.

  “Cara is delectable,” Theo said, pumping himself into me. I tensed the muscles around my thighs.

  Why couldn’t I tear my eyes away from Liam? I should. I didn’t want him.

  Liam growled, his stare burrowing into me. “I don’t want her.”

  I felt the same.

  Or, at least, that was the lie we told ourselves.

  Theo grunted. “Cara!” He thrust his hips forward and, shaking, came inside me.

  Chapter 7

  I ached everywhere.

  I hadn’t had enough time to recover from the pleasures Hansel and Theo put my body through. We’d rutted for an hour straight, both of them taking turns to fill me with their seed. The smell of sex and sweat permeated the room.

  “That was heaven,” I said, snuggled up between Hansel and Theo. “But sometimes I think that there can be too much of a good thing.”

  “I can give you more of heaven,” Theo replied, nudging the back of my thigh with his hard-on. His arm, draped across my torso, was heavy. I liked it there, however. Being pressed up against Theo gave me a sense of safety and protection. “All you need to do is ask.”

  His suggestion was tempting. They could make love unlike any other. They beat Matt and all my other ex-boyfriends hands down. And together? What more could a girl ask for? They’d sent me to heaven and back.

  Still, the aftermath of our rutting was bruised thighs and sore muscles. If they took me one more time, I was afraid I might break. Or maybe I’d already broken. If I stood now, my knees might cave in and I’d fall flat on my face. Then again, that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

  Liam had shifted himself to the couch across from the bed. He sat with one leg folded over the other. Throughout our entire session, he’d had his gaze fixed on me, but his stubbornness wouldn’t let him join. His reluctance to have me only served to increase my curiosity. Wearing his usual scowl, he said, “Are the three of you done fucking? Or are we going to save Devon?”

  Devon had always been at the back of my mind. I missed him. “There’s this thing about being stuck in the room,” I said.

  On cue, the selkie opened the door. She hadn’t bothered knocking, so she caught us by surprise. Instinctively, I reached for my blanket and pulled it over my body, but I didn’t panic over my nakedness. The selkies themselves walked around with barely any clothes on, so why should I care? Granted, their bodies were perfect, all curvy in the right places, with most of them having ample boobs. My boobs weren’t as large as theirs. When I gained weight, my fat had decided to go to all the wrong places. Still, I considered my body type a different flavor, catering to different tastes.

  Hansel and Theo just lay on their backs with their cocks out. They both still had raging hard-ons that they didn’t bother covering. It was tempting to have another go, but I doubted I’d be able to handle it. Should they really be this careless about their lack of clothes? They had the bodies of gods, yes, but everybody needed a semblance of modesty every so often.

  The selkie smiled, seemingly pleased by what had transpired while she was gone. I tried to wrap my head around how messed up that notion was. The selkies were too concerned over the sex lives of strangers. Locking us up just so we might bang? That verged on crazy levels of intrusiveness.

  “Madaami will see you now,” the selkie said, pushing the entrance wider, not caring that we were all undressed.

  Who was Madaami? These mythical creatures needed to stop throwing strange names and terminology my way. It hadn’t been long since I’d arrived in Haven, and I was still getting used to things. “Can I get dressed first?”

  “Of course. I’ll be waiting outside.”

  Hansel and Theo, because they were used to it, helped me clean up. In the nearby bathroom, they’d found a towel. Hansel wet the towel and strode over. He sat me up and wiped down every inch of my both. “Let’s get you cleaned up properly.”

  I was still aching when Hansel took my hand in his and brought me to the shower. He walked around in his full, naked glory, and I didn’t hold myself back when I ogled him.

  Theo, Hansel, and I squeezed into the small shower. The three of us cleaned ourselves together, not able to keep our hands from each other. The amount of skin-to-skin contact was overwhelming, arousing me all over again.

  “The clock’s ticking,” Liam said, standing in the doorway. He tapped his wrist, which was bare. “Devon’s dead by now.”

  “Don’t say such things,” I replied with a frown. But he was right. We had no time to waste. We had less than a day to get the elixir to Devon, and we hadn’t gotten anywhere close to it.

  After Liam’s prompting, we finished up quickly. We didn’t have a change of clothes, so I had to wear the ones I’d come in with. My panties were completely soaked, which made them a little too disgusting to put on again, so I had to go without them. I adjusted my jeans, trying to get used to the sensation of my skin rubbing against them. Was I going to get abrasions from this?

  “Do you think the selkies have underwear?” I asked. “I’m not used to going commando, and frankly, it feels kind of strange. Like, it’s not safe.”

  “Not safe?” Hansel said. “You faced a bunch of monsters, looked at piles of dead bodies, and the thing you find unsafe is a lack of underwear?”

  I shrugged. “Man fears the unknown. I’m really not used to going around without underwear.”

  Liam shot me a confused expression.

  I wrung my hair dry with my bare hands because there wasn’t a hairdryer here.

  “Are you ready?” the selkie asked, waiting for us in the doorway.

  I nodded, though walking around without underwear was something I’d never truly be ready for.

  The selkie led us to Madaami, and as she did, she explained who that woman was. “She’s the ruler of all selkies, but she has a bit of a temper.” The flowing robes of the selkie swayed back and forth as she walked. “Madaami will treat you well. She’s been very excited to meet you.”

  “Which is why she locked me in that room for half a day?”

  “Madaami isn’t a selfish woman. She treats her guests well, and she always attends to their needs first instead of forcing others to bend to her will. She’s a good ruler.”

  The selkie led us to a lake that was completely clear. Through it, I saw rainbow-colored fishes with tails that looked too big for their bodies. “They’re really pretty,” I said. In the center of a lake was a platform with a throne made of shells. A girl dressed in robes that had the same patterns as those fishes sat on the throne. She looked no more than twelve. Her eyes were huge, and her hair was draped in perfect curls around her dainty, round face. She reminded me of a doll.

  The selkie clapped her hands, and the water in the lake parted, forming a path for us. The path led us toward steps. I raised my brows and looked at
the selkie, impressed. “Come,” the selkie said. Liam’s expression soured. He was cocky enough that he didn’t like following orders, but if we wanted to get answers, then we ought to get moving.

  The four of us followed the selkie toward the little girl. “Madaami,” the selkie said, picking up the sides of her robes and bending into a curtsey.

  I blinked. My eyes widened at the little girl. This was the ruler of all selkies? She looked so young. The guys bowed too, showing respect. Not wanting to be left out, I bent into a light curtsey, even though I wasn’t wearing a dress.

  “Rise,” Madaami said. “I’ve been waiting to see you.” Despite her childish appearance, her voice was velvety, smooth, hard. Just like a grown woman’s.

  Nervously, I twirled my hair around my finger. “I’m not sure why. I’m just a half-blood.”

  “Nonsense—you are Aphrodite’s daughter.”

  I was starting to get sick and tired of hearing that. Why couldn’t anybody address me by my actual name? I wanted to be known as Cara. I’d chosen that identity for myself. Instead, ever since coming to Haven, my parentage shadowed me and determined how other people treated me. I almost missed being a nobody in the orphanage. At least back then, my own choices determined how I was viewed.

  Madaami stood from her throne. Her robes dragged over the steps before it when she climbed down. The top of her head only reached my waistline because of her short stature. A huge shell was on her forehead. “Bend down, please,” Madaami said. It was strange seeing the composure of a grown woman in such a small body. Then again, nothing made sense in Haven. I considered defying Madaami’s orders, then realized I didn’t quite see the point, so I lowered myself before her and let her cup my cheeks. “You are the spitting image of your mother.”

  “Am I?” I asked. “That’s odd. You’d think that the goddess of love would be hotter.” I didn’t really think of myself as that attractive. Back on Earth, the boys didn’t give me that much attention. Then again, it might have been due to me not caring much about fashion and dolling up.

  “And what makes you think you’re not a resplendent beauty?”

  “It’s good to have some self-awareness and to keep down my inflated ego.”

  “You are the daughter of one of the most powerful goddesses known to Haven. You should expect others to bow at your feet and serve your every whim.”

  It was the first time anybody had told me that I had a right to be an asshole. Usually, my glib tongue prompted people to tell me to shut up.

  “Why do you guys worship Aphrodite so much, anyway?”

  Madaami let go of me, though her look of awe and adoration didn’t leave her face. “She saved us. Before the Vassal War, the selkies almost went extinct. Men hunted us for sport and put our fins up as trophies. Aphrodite loved my mother as a friend very much. They used to sing, swim, dine together during their spare time.”

  “Back on Earth, people just watch television to pass the time,” I said. “I’m not sure if that would work around here.” It’d been two weeks since I’d caught up on my shows. I’d be more concerned about the next episodes, but there was nobody here to give me spoilers, so I figured I’d just binge-watch them once all this drama ended.

  Madaami didn’t pay much attention to my comment. “The selkies would’ve been completely eliminated if not for Aphrodite’s help. She created the Amethyst Lake for us and blocked it from our hunters. Anybody with ill intentions toward the selkies cannot enter this place, and we’ve been safe ever since.” Splashing noises sounded around me as the selkies moved toward the shore. “We all owe your mother our lives, and for that, we want to take care of her daughter.”

  I scratched my elbow. “That is nice and all, but I’ve never even met my mother and have no relationship with her.”

  “I’m sure she’ll want to see her daughter well.” Madaami grabbed my left hand and rubbed a spot with her small fingers.

  I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to do, but then I felt spines poking out my back. Steadily, feathers emerged from the spine. I looked over my shoulder, seeing that my wings had returned, plump, pristine, and wide. “You brought them back.”

  I turned to look at Hansel and Theo, remembering that they hadn’t seen my wings before. Hansel straightened, seemingly impressed. Theo grinned at me. He was so supportive that I doubted whether I deserved him.

  I gave my attention back to the round-faced Madaami. The warm expression she gave me was unsettlingly motherly, considering she looked like a child. “I sensed hidden power hiding inside of you,” Madaami said. “Did you eat Athena’s fig?”

  I licked my lips. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

  “Us selkies have a good sense of smell.” She crinkled her nose.

  I drew my hand across the feathers and frowned. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted them back.”

  “And why not? They are an added power.” She reached up and, while gazing at me, dragged her hand down my wings. “They are beautiful. Like our fins. A person with your powers can conquer the hearts of men, the skies, the land. You’re a wonderful creation of Aphrodite.” Her expression softened. “Perhaps you can be one of us. Join the selkies, then the waters of the lake will be yours too. You can join our family.”

  Family. I’d always longed for family.

  Still, I doubted that I could foster a bond with such creatures. The selkies were too alien to me.

  I glanced around, looking at the scaled females. They were gorgeous and looked like they lived in perpetual states of happiness, but they also lived amidst wildlife and lakes, like animals. I missed having a data connection and air conditioning. “Uh, no thanks.”

  Madaami raised a brow. “That is a blatant rejection.”

  “I’m not afraid to hurt feelings.”

  Madaami graciously accepted my decision. She took a step back, then clasped her hands together. “Then at least accept my gift of power,” she said. “I will give you command of water, the ability to grow fins should you wish to.”

  “You can do that?”

  “I am the mother of all selkies. The Amethyst Lake, because of your mother, is my domain. I can bestow our powers upon people I choose, should I wish to, but at a cost of the lake’s temporary vitality.”

  “I’ll take it,” I said, nodding. Because who didn’t want awesome powers like that? What Madaami offered sounded like free stuff, and I loved free stuff.

  Some people might judge me for being such a cheapskate, but I didn’t blame myself. It came from growing up poor.

  Madaami smiled and clapped her hands, and the selkie women surrounding us splashed into the water. When they returned, they each opened their palms and revealed iridescent pearls. Those pearls glittered from the light that shone through the lake.

  “These are the essences of the Amethyst Lake,” Madaami said. “They regenerate only once every thirty years. We treasure them greatly.”

  “And you’re giving them to me?” I asked. “I mean, wouldn’t you prefer to keep the lake’s vitality?”

  Madaami nodded. “Like I said, we are immensely grateful to your—”

  She paused, then turned her nose up, sniffing. She directed her attention to Liam, and when their gazes met, all signs of cordiality immediately disappeared. Her childlike face lost all innocence. “You are Javerion’s son.”

  Liam cocked his head. “And?”

  Her friendliness disappeared, replaced with rage and hostility. Madaami’s eyes almost seemed to redden. “Your father wronged my sisters during the Vassal War. What do you have to say for your crimes?”

  Liam tipped his chin up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Bestas, your father, slaughtered half of my sisters during the war. At the great seas of New Haven, in the midst of battle, my family had surrendered. They lowered their arms and asked for mercy, but your father wanted to leave no enemy alive. The selkies who’d been trapped there suffered under arrows that rained down on them. I lost Nana in that fight. My blood sister too.” Ma
daami’s gaze flitted off into the distance as tears came to her eyes. She seemed to be seeing the memory as if it’d just happened.

  “I am not my father,” Liam said. “I wasn’t born when the Vassal War happened.” He casually tucked his hands into his pants. His careless manner only served to darken the rage on Madaami’s face.

  Liam’s admission sounded familiar.

  “You must pay for his crimes,” Madaami said.

  Liam merely arched a brow at her anger. “I don’t want to.”

  “That isn’t your choice to make.” She raised her fist, sending out a signal. Immediately, the faces of the selkies changed, all morphing into horrible versions of themselves. Jagged teeth grew and poked out from under their lips, and their eyes turned into yellow, catlike slits. “Seize him.” The selkies jumped from the lake in their female forms. Purplish fog glowed around their hands, and they summoned tridents. The tridents glinted in the soft light of the lake. They aimed them Liam and began charging.

  I threw myself in front of Liam and hugged him close to me. Spinning around, I reached a hand out and shouted, “Wait!”

  “Get out of the way, Caramel,” Madaami said.

  “He’s my vassal.”

  “A small sacrifice to join our ranks. Vassals are nothing but servants to the likes of god-women.”

  I shook my head. “No.” They meant more to me than that. “I’m not going to let you hurt him.” They were my treasures, my support. We could care for each other, and strangely, despite Liam’s sharp tongue and rudeness, I wanted to protect him. Was I developing feelings for him?

  It was always dangerous to develop feelings for an asshole, but I couldn’t fight off the need to keep him safe.

  “I want him dead,” Madaami said. She stamped her foot. She was beginning to appear like a small child. “Let me have him, Caramel!”

  I spread my hands out in front of Liam, using myself as a shield to keep him away from the selkies. “Not a chance.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “But I must have Liam.”