Giving It Up for the Gods (22 page)

“And that goes double for you. Hurt Jase, and all bets are off. I’ll feed you to Pluto’s dogs myself,” Saul warned.

“Too much talk and not enough action,” Jase growled.

Circe raised her hand, and Jase’s world went black. The faint tang of sulfur vanished. Nothing touched him. Nothing moved. The only sound, the slow beating of his heart. Time stretched until he could count the hours between his heartbeats.

Cold crushed him like icy bands around his chest. His blood chilled, and he felt like it flowed in slow motion. His soul screamed as he somersaulted through never-ending night.

Memories of terror and pain resurfaced. Scared and hurting, he’d tumbled through icy clouds and fog.
Demons’ breath, the absolute shame of it
. He’d fallen far and fast, a warrior god condemned for things he hadn’t done. Then demons did things to his body no one should ever have to endure. And now he was falling again.

Too much. Too painful. Wounds too raw. Can’t do this again
. His eyes rolled back in his head. His demon fought and clawed for freedom. Bigger and stronger since he’d fucked Lindy, it was filled with violence and pain. Jase didn’t fight it, just curled up in the darkest corner of his brain and gave up control to the demon lord inside him.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lindy’s sisters converged around her, all asking what had happened and how she’d appeared from nowhere on the beach. A brief explanation of why she’d fucked Jase, not Neptune, and they cheered. They even declared the next day a national holiday. There’d be bonfires, cakes, and dancing, but without Jase, Lindy didn’t have any reason to party.

Her feet dragged as she sought out her mother. They shared warm hugs and a huge pot of coffee. Finally, elbows on the table, mug cradled in her hands, Lindy sat at the familiar kitchen table. ”So, Aeetes? And you always said you couldn’t remember my father.”

Her mother’s smile flickered out of focus as she remembered her former lover, and her voice throbbed with longing. “Back then he called himself Joe, and he had the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. His voice was music and melody, so magical I orgasmed the first time I heard him sing.”

“Hello? Mother-daughter conversation. Way too much information. At least it proves Circe was right. You haven’t forgotten him.”

Her mother slammed her coffee mug on the table; liquid sloshed out of the cup and pooled on the table. “That bitch. And we’re supposed to believe she helped you from the goodness of her heart? She’s after something. Remember how she stood by and watched us fall?”

Lindy thought a moment. “Maybe we got things wrong. What if she helped us, and we didn’t know it? When the Muses stole our feathers and wings, we should have crashed down to earth. Instead, the legends say we tumbled slowly through the skies. Our lower bodies changed. We were no longer the birds from the waist down, but fully human and sexy as hell. That’s powerful magic.”

Her mum grabbed a cloth and mopped at the table. “That’d be the same legend that tells how that bitch stood at Juno’s side and smiled when we fell from the heavens? Thought so. Whatever went on between you and Circe, and no matter what lies she told you, she’s evil personified.”

“And yet”—Lindy grinned—“you screwed her brother?”

“Me and half the sodding island. Joe—Aeetes, or whatever he calls himself now—is nothing but a man-whore, but that man can fuck. Procreate too. He left two others pregnant, but he screwed every Siren on the island before he vanished. When you call the Siren race your sisters, in some cases you’re right.”

So much for feeling special. Lindy was a random outcome of sperm and egg meeting…along with two of the girls she’d sat beside at school.
Neptune’s balls, which two?
Questions bubbled up inside her, but her mother hustled her out of the kitchen. “Go relax while I bake for tomorrow’s celebrations.”

Lindy poured another cup of coffee and wandered aimlessly around the house. She belonged here on Scopuli, but she wouldn’t be singing any strangers into her bed just to keep her race alive. Hell, without Jase, she wouldn’t be bedding anybody. She’d never felt so lost.

Restless, she decided to take a walk along the beach. A cobbled alley weaved between houses, then stopped abruptly at the top of the cliff. A narrow path zigzagged down the sheer rock face.

As a child, she’d loved this strip of golden sand, and she’d thought the white cliffs rose up to touch the sky. Some of the caves that dotted the rock face held relics of the first Sirens who’d washed up on the island. They’d made their homes in the cliff. Lindy and her childhood friends had mounted pretend expeditions to explore the abandoned caves. Back then, it had been an exciting treasure hunt. Her youthful adventures seemed tame now. No longer sure who she was or what she wanted, her whole life seemed out of kilter.

Even her favorite beach seemed too perfect. The waves were soft ripples that kissed the sand. Back home in Yorkshire, waves thundered onto the shore and whipped the sands into a frenzy. And there were no clouds. She needed clouds. Not the white fluffy things that occasionally hovered over Scopuli, but a thick, gray layer that pressed down on her—as desolate as her mood. She kicked at pebbles, scuffing her shoes and hurting her toes. At least the pain meant she felt something.

Tears welled up.
Not again. I’m a feisty, tough Siren, dripping with sex appeal. Men should cry over me
. She’d lost everything. Her job. Her Yorkshire home. Her heart. And her hope. All she wanted was Jase, but he didn’t want her.

A young Siren raced along the beach toward her. Her fearful shout penetrated Lindy’s fugue. “Lindy! You’ve got to come. There’s a demon tearing up the central plaza square. The others tried to subdue him, but he’s a juggernaut. When I left, he’d wrecked the street cafés, and he was hurling paving slabs the way we’d skim pebbles on the sea. He hasn’t actually hurt anyone yet, but he keeps shouting your name. You’ve got to come.”

Too numb to care, Lindy followed the youngster. But what if Pluto had sent one of his demons after her?
Well, bring it on, pal. I’m up for a fight. And let’s face it; I’ve got nothing left to lose
. Without a word, she marched back through empty streets until she neared the central square.

A platoon of warriors blocked her way. Their leader, an original settler who’d turned immortal in her early twenties, ordered, “Stay back, sister. He’s feral. We’ve got bazookas, and believe me, we will take him down.”

A roar echoed through the streets, familiar but resonating with wildness and pain.
Jase!
Here, in the heart of Siren territory…and he hated Sirens. His double standards were showing. Apparently he had forgiven Cardea but come for vengeance on Lindy. And fucking her had made him stronger. She elbowed her way through the ranks of women warriors. “That demon’s here for me. Let me pass, and I’ll find out what the hell he’s doing.”

Her sisters looked doubtful, but they didn’t stop her.

Another roar. Another demand. “Bring Lindy.”

Okay, he sounded pissed. He’d reunited with Cardea, and it hurt that he intended to claim some stupid, lying nymph. Jealous much? Lindy wanted to slap Cardea senseless, but Jase loved his nymph too much to let anyone hurt her.
The bitch doesn’t know how lucky she is. I’d give anything to have him love me like that
. She supposed that after years of torment and suffering, he deserved a chance of happiness.
And I don’t?

Ahead, a rock wall ringed the plaza and blocked the prevailing wind. Siren architecture looked Greek or Roman. Except their plaza. It was an open-ended oval full of fancy coffee shops and teahouses.

Today, Sirens beat a temporary retreat from the plaza rather than face the enraged demon’s fury. Lindy wished she could do the same.

She remembered every moment she’d shared with Jase.
Neptune’s balls, he bit me as I orgasmed at Aldborough. That’s his half of a spirit-bond in place
. Now he was stuck in sexual limbo unless she bit him back—but she wasn’t the woman he loved or wanted. He’d made that clear from the start. While she lived, he couldn’t claim Cardea. While she lived. That was the crux of it.
No way, pal. Much as I love you, this girl ain’t going down.

A turn of the corner, and tables and chairs littered the plaza like dollhouse furniture. Shards of broken glass, the remnants of demon-shattered windows, covered the ground like a reflective river of light. Paving slabs stuck out from the rocky windbreak like badly thrown spears. Amid the destruction, a red-skinned demon paced back and forth in a familiar movement she expected from Jase.

Tattered remnants of his jeans and T-shirt flapped around his elbows and knees. He stood over eight feet tall, plus an extra six inches for his ebony horns. Horns she needed to touch and stroke. He roared again. “Lindy. Fetch Lindy!”

He seemed bigger and stronger—irresistibly male. Time to get this over with, and if all else failed, her sisters would use those bazookas. Still, if it came down to her and Jase, she chose…Jase.

She stepped out into the empty plaza. “Hey, big guy, you forgot to say please.”

He turned in an instant. His gaze—like the laser-red sights on a rifle—targeted her. He tipped his head to one side as if checking whether she was truly there. One stomping step toward her, and he growled, “My Lindy.”

Neptune’s balls, she wanted to be. But Cardea… “Yeah, I’m here. Can we talk properly? Calm your beast while I straighten a couple of chairs.”

A roar that echoed over the island and another tilt of his head were her only answers, so she bent to pull up a seat. His ham-hock hand slapped her butt.
Playful? My demon’s playful, not deadly
. One red arm shot around her waist, and he pulled her close. His body heat scorched her. As he straightened, he lifted her from her feet, moved away from the broken glass, and sat down hard. Lost in his demon, Jase cradled her onto his lap. His hold was desperate and suffocating, as intense as his gaze. “My Lindy.”

Yes. Please.

She snuggled in against him. Her breasts pushed up against his solid pecs, and she murmured, “Good as it feels when you hold me, I’m having a little trouble breathing here.”

He loosened his hold but still caged her in his mammoth arms. With a sigh, she rested her head on his shoulder. Flames glowed in his eyes, but his skin tone paled. She reached up and ran her finger down the ridges and whorls of his horns.
Sexy, strong horns. Black as the night sky. And his gaze seems glued on me. Damn, but my demon’s one sexy male.

Another rub of her fingers over his horns, and Lindy told him, “Jase, you’re scaring my sisters. Why don’t you relax in the sunshine? And if you turn back human, I’m sure someone will bring us some coffee. No wine, though, big boy. You’re not getting me drunk this time.”

She watched his horns shrink and felt his cock grow harder against her thigh. He chuckled. “You were very happy drunk. You even offered to sing me a love song.”

Lindy relaxed as his voice lost the unearthly rumble. She chewed on her lower lip to hold back her inner music, but she’d give anything to sing for him now.

As his demon retreated, Jase slowly returned to his sculpted, bodybuilder’s physique. His pupils still flamed with passion, but his face was stark. “You left me.”

She ran her hand over his stubbly beard. “You chose Cardea, and I walked away. Without you, I have nothing left except my pride—and that doesn’t keep me warm in bed. Tell me the truth. Why are you here?”

He still held her against his chest. “Because you are. I begged Circe to send me wherever she sent you. She warned me it wouldn’t be good, but Lindy, the darkness, the cold, the endless somersaulting through a frozen void brought back so many bad memories of my fall. I couldn’t… Honestly, I wouldn’t have made it without my demon. He saved my sanity, but I couldn’t contain him until I held you.”

He’d followed her to Scopuli, but he hated Sirens. Could he… Did he… “Jase, put me out of my misery. Did you come to shatter your half of our claiming? Are you going to spirit-bond with Cardea?”

His demon roared inside him, and he gripped her tighter. “Honestly, when I was younger, I thought I loved her. I seduced her, but things didn’t go well. Even back then, I realized that she liked my gifts more than she liked me, but I was young, stubborn, and stupid. I promised her the world and begged her to forgive me when I’d done nothing wrong. Seems I always mess up around virgins.”

Lindy gasped and tried to pull out of his arms, but he held her as though his sanity depended on it. Perhaps it did.

Jase sniffed at her hair, and when her floral essence hit him, he dropped a tender kiss on her forehead. “Demons’ breath, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I had a lucky escape when Cardea refused to listen. She wept for days, and when the Sirens found her, they believed I’d raped her. I hated your entire race for that. Now I see that if they hadn’t interfered, I’d have been stuck with that empty-headed nymph for all eternity. It’s hard to admit, but I owe your sister Sirens for saving me from a disaster. If I’d claimed her, I’d have been stuck with a half-wit when I love you.”

He loved her? He freaking loved her. She inhaled deeply, then grinned like a loon. Why had she thought the sun was too bright? Or that there should be clouds? Everything was perfect. Jase loved her. How amazing was that?

Jase grinned back. “The only other virgin I’ve deflowered was you. The circumstances sucked, but if you give me a chance, I’ll spend eternity making it up to you. What I’m trying to say is, I love you. That’s set in stone, and I’ll do anything to make you love me back.”

She ran her fingers through his hair, “Kiss me again. Then tell me you love me, and Jase, make me believe it. Neptune’s balls, I want to, but…”

He stood with her cradled in his arms and raised his dark head. “Come on, you Sirens. My demon’s dormant now, but I’m not. Gather round, and for once in your lives, listen.”

The platoon of warriors poked their heads over the stone barrier. At a signal from their veteran leader, they stood tall, bazookas ready as they ringed the plaza. Curious Sirens gathered in nervous groups, all ready to tackle the demon if he hurt Lindy.