Rock Hard (37 page)

Dani-Lee would give Huxley his orders. He would know what to watch for as he paid strict attention to his pale sister, lying on the bed. The doctor knew her job. She’d have Hux call her if there was any change.

The gods waited for Dani-Lee to come down the stairs and into the meeting room. Her reaction, when she entered, was equivalent of Huxley’s, even though Marduk knew she only saw him and Enlil.

She was clearly bowled over by their regal bearing and attire. Wow, was the word written across her face. Enlil was sporting more gold than the doctor could afford in twenty lifetimes, but Marduk was sure that wasn’t what held her attention. No, it was the way they carried themselves. Marduk recognized it in himself and his men. It was something other-worldly; something old…very old. Marduk waited until all the gods had left the room then, gesturing to the spot behind Enlil, Dani preceded him to the elevator.

Far below the compound, past even the dungeons, the gods had carved out a special room that they used for religious ceremonies. Having emerged in the subterranean level and down several long corridors, they filed in now, lighting candles and incense, each chanting words from a language long lost. Ancient weapons and artifacts filled the room with walls covered in intricate pictorial writings. A scribed pathway in the floor led to an altar slab, which the gods lifted to an upright position.

Marduk nodded his head at his brothers and walked forward, turning so that his back came flush up against the stone. He reached out his hands, one to each side at shoulder height, and grasped metal spikes that had been driven into the block. He had seen this done many times before, in the old world, before his banishment. They all had, and knew what to expect. Enlil moved forward and reverently placed a knotted strip of leather between Marduk’s teeth, then beckoned for Dani to come forward.

Her slight footsteps made no sound as she approached. Marduk set his face with resolve and readied himself. It was inappropriate to speak, but the doctor didn’t know that.

She whispered to Enlil, “Why is there no anesthetic?”

He answered, voice also low. “Gods our size require great amounts to render us senseless. Unfortunately, it is absorbed into the amulet and can kill the much smaller and more vulnerable recipient. We take no chances with our Chosen even if it means pain.”

Marduk gestured with his head. Talking should cease. It was time to get the ordeal underway. His limbs were already taut with anticipation.

“You have the box ready?” Enlil asked the doctor.

Dani produced the small, sterilized cooler that had been gripped at her side.

“Good,” he breathed, raising his knife into position. He began to chant.

The rest of the brothers joined in, and the vibration of many voices flowed up through Marduk’s body.

He didn’t flinch as the first incision was made, and didn’t move as the next cuts were scored and the flaps of skin were peeled back. Sweat beaded up on his face. His jaw clenched as the next layers of fat and muscle were cut loose, and his tense limbs couldn’t help but quake. That’s when he began to glow.

Professional curiosity seemed to win out over ceremony, and Dani leaned forward to peer into the cavity. Blood ran freely down Marduk’s chest, but the amulet was easily discernible. Remembering the ceremonies from ages ago, Marduk knew it was the most beautiful thing the doctor had ever seen.

She stilled Enlil’s hand as he raised the knife back into position. She obviously needed to look, to feel, and to see. The good doctor took neoprene gloves from her pocket and snapped them on. A small flashlight from the other pocket illuminated the site, and she probed, as gently as possible, to see how the talisman was positioned.

Marduk’s flinch must have brought her back to the understanding that this was no cadaver or unresponsive patient she was palpating. This was living, breathing, aware tissue under her fingers. She memorized it all with one more quick look and then backed away.

Enlil’s knife went deep. The chords in Marduk’s neck stood out, ready to snap. The breaths he was taking through his nose were short and fierce, and his body began to expand. Thunder ripped through the room.

Enlil didn’t miss a beat. He carved, he cut and, just when Marduk thought that he could take no more, Enlil beckoned the doctor forward. He pointed to the right half of the now severed amulet with the tip of the knife. Marduk nearly bit through the leather between his teeth as her gloved fingers reached in and scooped out the loosened half.

She wasted no time seeing what more would occur in the basement lair. Depositing her prize in the cooler, she bolted away to the room where Tess waited, unaware.

****

“She hasn’t woken up,” Huxley spoke to the doctor in hushed tones.

“And she won’t for a while.” Dani-Lee administered another dose of something into Tess’s IV. “I hope you’re okay with this.” She eyeballed Huxley and didn’t relish having a six-foot-something dead weight in the room.

“Not a problem,” Hux shot back. The doctor took him at his word.

“Antiseptic,” she said, holding her hand out across Tess’s inert form, just like in the movies. Hux handed it to her without missing a beat, and she saw that he cringed very little as she slathered on the orange liquid, then used the scalpel to slice into his sister. Slow and steady. Dani was good at this. She hoped it would save Tess’s life.

Back in the basement, Marduk’s brothers lowered the slab so that he now lay prone, waiting to regenerate. The incision needed to stay open until the amulet grew a phantom half to replace the part taken. When this occurred, Marduk and the gods would know that the piece removed had been successfully implanted.

They watched and waited. Marduk, although not in as much physical pain, suffered tremendously, chanting words of prayer and making promises to gods long unseen, unsure if the procedure would work. If it didn’t, he would falter and die, which was how he would want it rather than face a world without Tess.

Minutes ticked by. Several of the gods, unable to remain still any longer, began ghosting back and forth between the two rooms, checking on progress and reporting back.

“It looks like it’s in.” Enten’s voice was triumphant, appearing beside the altar. His words were not needed. They all stared in wonder when Marduk’s amulet began to pulse with new life, a glowing and ghosted half nestling and entwining firmly into place.

A cheer arose from the group, and Marduk’s chest began to heal immediately. He pushed himself to sit, then rose shakily to his feet. Hands shot out to help him stand. They knew where he had to go. He didn’t stumble as his feet pounded down the long hallway to the elevator.

Marduk entered Tess’s room. He sat quietly by her bedside, waiting for his Chosen to awaken. Dr. Dani-Lee, who had tactfully left the room, said it wouldn’t be long. Marduk had the bucket ready in case Tess had her customary reaction to the anesthetic.

Her eyelids fluttered open. Marduk’s chest expanded with a love greater than anything he’d thought possible. This was his Chosen. His other half. Tess was now truly his, as he was hers.

Marduk reached down and stroked her hair as she came to awareness. They would be together forever.

“Did it work,” Tess asked as soon as she could get her tongue to function. That she was so instantly aware of what they’d done, spoke for the connection that they now shared.

The god placed his hand over the spot on her shoulder where her amulet now resided, and the skin had rapidly healed. He didn’t have to answer. He thought it in his head, and saw Tess smile.

“How do you feel?” he asked, then paused, testing and sensing. He realized his question was rhetorical. He knew exactly how she felt. “You don’t need to throw up!”

Tess looked around, moved her head, blinked her eyes, and looked pretty satisfied. “I don’t.” She didn’t even seem groggy. “How did you know?”

“Now that you are my mate, I feel what you feel.”

She got that impish look in her eyes that Marduk so enjoyed.

“Do you think not throwing up is my new godly super-power?”

Marduk laughed and bent to hug her, then watched as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed to meet his embrace. She gasped, momentarily stunned.

“It worked,” she whispered, barely able to believe it. “It really worked! I can move my legs.” She started to cry.

“Hush, my love.” Marduk’s eyes began to water, too. Relieved, but not quite as surprised as Tess that she had healed completely. “Remember how I told you we’d feel things from each other? Well,” he sniffed, “our friends are going to get the wrong idea if they see me crying.”

Tess giggled and wiped her damp nose on his chest. She looked down. He was wearing nothing but a skimpy little cloth across his groin.

He watched her reach down with a questing hand, exploring beneath the material. Mmm. Marduk shuddered in delight. From now on, he could see wearing loincloths around the house, and going gloriously commando!

“So I should be able to feel this…in more ways than one?” she said cheekily, and wrapped her hand around a warm, solid cock.

Oh! Tess gasped. This was going to be so much fun.

Chapter Thirty-Three

“Plenty of time for that later.” Marduk nuzzled Tess’s neck and removed her hand from his stiffening rod. “Right now, we have a whole bunch of anxious gods and one antsy brother who can’t wait to see you.”

Tess rose slowly to her feet and marveled at how good she felt. If this is what it meant to be immortal, she’d recommend it to everyone.

“My clothes?” Tess looked around, grimacing down at the drafty hospital gown she wore.

“The ones you had on were trashed, but I brought you a new set.” His eyes twinkled, and she found out why. He had picked her new, red lingerie for underneath jeans and a button-down shirt.

Tess could play naughty too! She dropped the gown.

Living room, twenty minutes!
She heard Marduk send the message to the waiting immortals, and laughed. Would it take them that long? Her last couple of encounters with Marduk had taken her breath away with their speed and intensity. She’d give him four minutes. She’d be done in three.

Marduk whispered to her of the celebration his brothers had planned, but also let her know that with her naked body standing ready and waiting in front of him, they’d just have to be patient.

Tess could feel her shoulder warming in response to Marduk’s lustful gaze. It actually tingled. A whole new erogenous zone, she wondered? Tess reached up and brushed Marduk’s shoulder and amulet. He let out a surprised groan. Yup. She couldn’t wait to get her lips on it. She held her body away from her new husband and let her eyes drop.

“You have far too many clothes on.” She pursed her lips at his loincloth, which he quickly and obligingly unwrapped and dropped at her feet.

“Better?” His cock stood at proud attention and moisture flooded her pussy.

“Lift me up,” she commanded, amazed at the depth of her lust for his body. Marduk wasted no time. He brought his hands under her buttocks and lifted her astride his hips, fitting her over his turgid prick and entering Tess’s welcoming heat. They both sighed at the completeness that engulfed their senses, as each felt what the other felt, and moved as one. Marduk backed her up against the wall, and drove into her with quick thrusts that had her moaning his name.

“Marduk, yes! There. Faster, my love…now!” She exploded into pieces, taking him as deeply as he could penetrate, feeling every hard inch of him, and screaming at her completion. She felt Marduk join her moments later and purred as she came down from her high. She kissed one pec where his amulet shone and sighed in happiness. She was alight for him, as well. Tess knew it would always be like this.

****

Marduk and Tess entered the dining room fifteen minutes later. Thunder that had, for the duration, split the sky, was now silent. Tess chose to ignore the knowing looks. Her swollen lips told all of the story she was willing to share.

Emesh had decorated the space for an immortal wedding. With the help of a few of the others, he had quickly acquired paper-mâché bells, streamers, champagne, and an enormous wedding cake.

Tess caught sight of the confection, but she didn’t know where to focus. “The room, the table, the cake, they’re beautiful…but so are all of you!” The gods had retained their gold torques and ceremonial garb. They were stunningly handsome, and the amount of exposed male flesh in the room? Well, it was a good thing Dani didn’t know what she was missing.

Tess wanted to hug each and every god.

“You can now, you know.” Marduk had read her mind. “Now that you’re a goddess.” He smiled at the joy that suddenly suffused her face.

She paused, making sure he meant it.

“Go ahead,” Marduk encouraged. She should take advantage. It might be the first and last time her mate—she liked the way that sounded—felt benevolent enough to let any of the deities put their hands on her.

As Tess approached Anshar, she realized that the gods had lost that film-like transparency.

That’s because you don’t have to see them through me anymore.

Marduk followed Tess around the room as she embraced each of the immortals and kissed them on their cheeks. He could see the emotion she brought to each as they once again, could touch a female, and she vowed, at that moment, to make sure they all found their Chosen. Marduk finally popped the cork on a bottle of champagne. When Shamash proposed a toast, everyone settled back as if waiting for platitudes, but he became serious instead and said he had some important news.

“I didn’t know when would be the right time to tell Tess and Huxley, considering everything that went on today. But this seems like the perfect time for everything to come full circle.” He focused on the Abelard siblings. “I uncovered the name of your birth mother, and have been able to trace your bloodlines back to Merrymount.”

Everyone’s eyes darted back and forth between the siblings and to Enlil, who was about to find out which lady in his past had quickened from his potent sperm.

Shamash looked at Tess. “Your birth mother’s name is Anna Kensilton.” He held up his hand. “I know what you’re going to ask me next, and no, I haven’t started looking for her yet.” He obviously didn’t want to get their hopes up that it would be easy to locate the woman if she didn’t want to be found.