Accidentally in Love With a God (2012) (12 page)

I stumbled my way through the darkness, praying to God I was heading in the direction of a road or the lake. I reached out to clear away the next wall of terrifying, critter infested vegetation, hoping I wouldn’t haphazardly grope a snake, or worse, that enormous kitty, but instead found a washboard stomach.

“Emma. That wasn’t very nice.”

“Crap.” I turned to run the other way, but he latched on to my shoulders and pulled me against his unnaturally hard body. A crippling vibration moved through me, paralyzing every inch of my body while simultaneously sending my lust into overdrive.

This was just not right. I wanted him to kiss me. Maybe more than kiss me. “Are you going to kill me?” If he didn’t, I was about to stop breathing, anyway…way too much man. Way too naked.

He let out a low, sinister chuckle—the one I knew all too well—and then released me. “Kill? What’s gotten into you? Although,” he released me and rubbed his groin while I stared wantonly at his thick, long shaft. “If you pull that stunt again, I might be forced to incapacitate you, and trust me, it’ll hurt.”

I tried to gauge his seriousness, even though it was too dark to see his expression clearly. But really, did I need to see more to know he meant business? For heaven’s sake, his touch was like a stun gun. Okay. Time for different tactic.

“Please,” I whimpered. “Just let me go. You promised.”

“My sweet, let’s get one thing straight. You’re
not
going anywhere until I’ve figured out why those people want you. Got it?”

His scent filled my lungs and pummeled my self-control. He smelled like rich, dark chocolate, with a hint of smoky spice.

I nodded my head
yes,
looking down at my feet. I was so confused. So damned confused.

“Come.” He grabbed my trembling hand.

“Where are you taking me?” I stumbled behind him as he yanked me along.

“To see Señora Rosa and her husband.”

“What are you going to do to them?” I said.

“Ask them questions, what else?” he said casually.

“Ow!” I fell forward grasping my badly stubbed toe.

Guy swiftly slung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Put me down,” I hissed. “You’re hurting me.” The vibrations of his touch flowed through me once again, turning my body to mush and my nipples as hard as rocks. Did he have any clue what he was doing to me? Or how much I hated him for it?

“You’ve got no shoes, Emma, and I somehow doubt those city-girl feet of yours are accustomed to the jungle floor. It’s also pitch black and there are poisonous creatures lurking,” he said, gliding in between the trees, effortlessly ducking and weaving through the vines.

I wanted to snap something back, but what could I say? It figured he could see in the dark. All monsters could.

“I don’t know what you are, but…I…still…hate…you.”

He made a soft, low chuckle. “You don’t hate me, that’s impossible. Besides, I already saw your eyes, Emma, and I can feel the lust flowing through your body this very moment. You most definitely want me. It’s almost too painful for me to stand.”

There was nothing to say to that.

Chapter FOURTEEN

After walking twenty minutes—well, he walked while I tried not to pass out from his touch or from being carried upside down—we arrived back to the Maya Sol Eco-resort. Guy gingerly sat me down on a small bench next to a large tree. “Stay there. If you try to get up—”

“What?” I gasped for air as he kneeled in front of me. “You’ll kill me?”

He frowned, then swept the damp hair from my face. “No, my sweet, you’ll fall over and hurt yourself. It takes a few minutes for the effect to wear off.”

“Why does your touch do that?” I stared at the mammoth sized man as he rose slowly. The light of the nearby cabins gave off a subtle glow, just enough to see the soft shadows of his perfect body. My eyes moved down his powerful lines, stopping right on his large…“Oh, God.” I slammed my eyes shut. “Would you please put some clothes on and stop waving that thing in my face?”

“Right. Let’s pretend you won’t be begging for another peek later.”

He was right. I wanted another look already. “Pig,” I called out as he turned and stalked off into the night.

Guy reappeared several minutes later wearing some kind of a sarong, which he must have snagged from someone’s laundry line. It might have looked silly on any other man, but he looked like a Greek god or some kind of ancient savage warrior. His hair had been tied back, and even in the dark, I could make out the powerful slope of muscles that ran down his neck and faded into the curve of his broad shoulders.

Yum.
I hit my forehead in disgust. I so needed to get this Guy out of my head. He had to be letting off some kind of debilitating, pheromone based drug.
Man-crack. Yes. Trashy, highly addictive man-crack.
There was no other explanation.

“Stop your ogling, Emma,” he whispered.

Oh, believe you me, I wanted to. I truly did, but I just couldn’t help myself. “Ogling? Don’t think so. Just admiring your skirt. Trying to explore your feminine side?”

Guy ignored my comment, grabbed my hand, which turned me to warm maple syrup, and started toward Rosa’s cabin. He pressed his ear to their front door. I half expected he’d knock, but instead, he pushed open the door, pulled me inside, and slammed it shut.

The elderly couple was suspiciously unruffled by this sudden intrusion; they just sat at their rustic wooden table, sipping red wine.

“Ah, Emma. I see you’ve returned and brought a friend,” Rosa said dryly.

“Why aren’t you jumping up and screaming? There’s a menacing, half-naked man in your living room, holding me prisoner.”
And, wreaking sexual havoc on my body.

Guy frowned. “You’re not a prisoner. I’m protecting you.” He turned to Rosa. “What do you want with the girl?”

“Girl? You’re the one wearing the skirt,” I said.

Arturo rose from the table, a cold expression occupied his face. “I don’t care what you are, you don’t come into our home and bark orders.”

Oh, hey. I like these people. A lot. Going on my Christmas card list.

Guy stalked across the room and then leaned over the old man. “I don’t have time for posturing. Start talking, or I’ll break your wife’s neck. Remember who you’re talking to and that of all my brothers, I am by far the deadliest.”

Did he just say he’d break that old woman’s neck? Wait. He had brothers? Run away, Emma, before he drags you to a family reunion, or kills you. Either one…bad. Very bad.

Arturo glanced at his wife who looked irritated but not frightened. Why?

I suddenly felt like they were all part of a secret club I hadn’t been invited to.

She gave him a quick nod and said. “We don’t want anything with Emma, but the Maaskab do.”

Guy’s body went rigid. “What do they want with her?”

“Who’re the Maaskab?” I asked. Of course, no one answered.

Rosa spoke, cutting off Arturo who was about to answer, “All I can tell you is that my sister was sent away when she was five. The elders feared she’d be taken.” She glared at Guy as she spoke. “Shortly after, the Maaskab began watching our village. They still do. And when we saw Emma, we recognized her immediately and called the other elders to decide what to do.”

“Who’s your sister?” I asked Rosa frantically.

Guy held up his index finger to silence me. I was about to give him a few choice words, but he cut me off with his powerful, lulling voice. “Are women still being taken”—he paused—“by
the man
?”

The man? Great. More secret code. This is getting ridiculous.

The couple shook their heads. “No,” Rosa said. “But we hear the Maaskab have been taking young women from remote villages as far south as Nicaragua.”

“Or they hunt anyone who carries the gene,” Arturo added, looking directly at me. “Although, I imagine there are few left.”

I swallowed hard. “Will someone
please
explain what the hell is going on?” I whined.

Rosa placed a warm hand on my arm. “Your grandmother, Gabriela, was born here. She was my older sister. The Maaskab want you because like her, you are a first born female. You carry the bloodline of—”

“Enough!” Guy slammed his fist on the table.

Enough? I carried something in my blood. Guy’s “bad people,” who I assumed were the Maaskab, wanted me for some horrible reason. And this woman was apparently my missing grandmother’s sister. But
he
was yelling “enough”?

“You have no right,” I screamed. “I need to know what’s going on!”

Arturo shook his finger at Guy. “You’ve brought the girl back here! The Maaskab probably spotted her already. And what they can’t see, their wards will detect.”

“She’s in no danger from a few crazy priests as long as she’s with me,” said Guy.

“Humph!” huffed Rosa. “You arrogant fool. Where have you been, locked in a cave?”

“Actually, a cenote,” I pointed out.

“Since 1940,” added Guy.

I turned to him. “Since 1940? Why am I not surprised you left that detail out?” I did some quick math. That would mean he’d met my grandmother when she was a small child.

Guy flashed me an irritated look. “Sorry to have forgotten such an important detail, Princess Emma, but I was busy…being cursed underwater!”

“So? Why the hell does that matter?” I replied. “It’s not like you were doing anything other than annoying the crap out of me…” my speech trailed off as my mind hit a wall. Had he really been trapped underwater for seventy-plus years? What the hell was he? And what the hell was going on? This couldn’t be real. It just couldn’t be. Maybe I was still back in New York, lying comatose in a hospital and this was all a dream.

Rosa shook her head. “The Maaskab have grown. There are thousands now—not including those who are loyal to them. The only thing keeping this girl safe was that they didn’t know she existed. But now, that’s likely over, and they’ll track her.”

“Sure. Why the hell not?” I threw my hands in the air.

“Haven’t the
others
been trying to stop them?” Guy asked cryptically.

“Others?” Rosa questioned. “What others? We haven’t seen any of you for sixty years, maybe longer.”

Guy rubbed his stubble covered chin. “I need to return,” he said. “I have to find out what’s happened to them.” He stared down at me, his bright, turquoise eyes narrowing in contemplation. “I need to put you somewhere safe. You can’t stay here.”

“This insane conversation is going nowhere. You people aren't interested in giving me any answers, so I see no point in sticking around, either. And since I’m pretty sure none of this is real anyway, I’ll just be dreaming my way home now. If I’m not dreaming, then I’ll need a good shrink. There are plenty in New York.” I started for the door.

“Emma, this isn’t a dream,” he lowered his voice to that hypnotic, skull penetrating tone. “And you cannot go home. If they know you’re here, they’ll follow you.”

“Ha! See!” I pointed at his face. “That just proves this isn’t real. Why would anyone want me? Me! I mean…if anyone thinks this”—I waved my hand down the front of my body—“is anything worth stalking, they’re off their frigging rockers.”

A wicked little glow flickered in Guy’s eyes then faded. “I am not certain why
they
want you,” he answered, “but the insane do not need a good reason, Emma. The Maaskab are known to kill just for sport. They single-handedly brought down the entire Mayan civilization with their bloodlust.”

“Thanks. I thought the Mayan alien abduction theory I’d read on the Internet sounded crazy. This makes waaay more sense.”

“It’s not a joke, Emma. These priests are deadly. They are the reason I came: to wipe them out once and for all. And now, I’ve come to the conclusion they’ve been getting help from a traitor, one of my own. There’s simply no other explanation for their power, their ability to use dark energy, including trapping me for seven decades.”

A shiver ran down my spine telling me, perhaps, this was real and not a dream. My pounding heart sure felt authentic. Christ, I just wished someone would start filling me on all of the other important details.

“Who’s your own?” I asked.

“There’s only one solution now,” he mumbled to himself, then turned to grab my shoulders. “Emma, I have to go.”

Wasn’t this ironic? He wanted to leave, and now I didn’t want him to. Kick me. “What are you going to do with me?”

“I’m going to call some people who will take you somewhere safe until I can come for you.”

“How long?” I asked.

“I do not know, my sweet.” He stared with his hypnotic, turquoise eyes and then brushed my cheek. “But you have to promise you won’t call anyone you know, and if anything happens, you can’t ever come back here. You can’t go home, either. Do you understand?”