Goddess in the Middle (9 page)

He wanted her to back off. And she couldn’t do that. Not when he hurt so badly.

When she merely met his gaze and stood her ground, she saw frustration in his clenched jaw and narrowed eyes.

When she lifted her hand to stroke her fingers along that jaw, she felt the tightness of his muscles. He would’ve stepped away immediately, but she reached for his hand, lacing their fingers together.

He froze like a deer in headlights, and she knew he was replaying their time together in bed.

A flash of heat shimmered through her. Heat so unexpected, she almost let herself get lost in it.

And while she would enjoy another few hours of sex with Remy, it wouldn’t do him any good. He needed to talk, and it didn’t seem that he was getting that from Rom.

Though the two cousins seemed to be closer than brothers, she wondered if they ever really talked. About their parents, their lost siblings.

About what they were going to do when they’d finally killed the demon.

“Remy, tell me about your brother.”

He looked like he’d taken a sucker punch straight to his lungs. As if she’d reached into his chest to wrap her hands around his lungs and squeezed until he truly looked like he was going to pass out.

She could tell his immediate response was to tell her to fuck off but he was too well-mannered to do it. He couldn’t bring himself to say those words to a goddess, much less one he’d had sex with the night before.

His lips parted to deny her but no words came out. His focus had turned inward to his memories.

“Rom and I already had our pelts. Danny was almost six years younger than me but he tried so hard to keep up.”

His voice seemed to startle him, it sounded so loud in the quiet of the room. His gaze refocused on her, standing so still in front of him. Her fingers stroked along his jaw, as if she were gentling a wild animal.

“Did he look like you?”

“Mom… always said no.” He took a deep breath, and she swore she could hear the rapid beating of his heart. “Dad said we were more alike than she wanted to admit.”

“Why?”

“Because I was a pain in the ass, and Danny wanted to be just like me.”

She felt something warm her inside at the expression on his face. His lips curved up in just the slightest hint of a smile. And it totally transformed him. Here was the man she’d met two nights ago at the bar, the man she’d fallen for. His blue eyes glowed as he focused inward on his memories. That mouth softened. Even the scars on his face appeared to lessen.

She had the almost uncontrollable urge to lean forward and take a bite out of his bottom lip. Instead, she forced herself to stay in her chair and listen.

“He followed us around constantly, like a shadow. Of course, I probably did the same to Rom when I was younger but Danny… Danny had the devil in his eyes. Mom always swore he had
salbinelli
blood in him.”

The Etruscan satyrs were notorious for their impish ways.

“She also always said it was a good thing he was so damn cute or she would have leashed him outside when he pulled one of his stunts. I knew she’d never do it. She loved him too much to ever put a leash on him. She died protecting him. That bastard demon killed them all, then locked them in the house and burned it down around them.”

The smile was gone, but the rage that she sensed from both Remy and Rom had turned cold, so cold it felt like ice against that part of her that only wanted to help others.

“The demon knew we would realize they were dying. Our parents tried to block us, but we heard their screams in our heads. We were sitting in a movie theater, watching a stupid movie about some fake monster killing off idiotic teenagers while a real, live demon was slaughtering our families in our own home.”

His gaze sharpened, and she felt him stare down into hers with something close to a blow.

“Rom’s wrong. It wasn’t his fault the demon found us.”

“Then why does he think that?”

“Because a few days before, he saved a girl from an accident he witnessed at college. It was so fucking stupid, really. She tripped, something people do every day, but she fell. Rom just happened to be walking beside her at the time and he saw her heading straight for a rock on the side of the path. She could’ve died if she’d hit her head on it. He used his magic to knock her aside.”

“So he believes because he used that tiny amount of power, the demon found you.”

Remy nodded.

It was possible, she conceded to herself. If the demon had been searching for them, it could have tracked their specific magic signatures and, when Rom used his power outside of the protection of the wards, then yes, it was conceivable the demon had tracked them that way.

“But if that was the case, it would’ve had to know what general area to look at in the first place. Not even a
tukhulkha
demon can cast that wide a net for a specific magical signature.”

“Rom thinks his constant back and forth through the wards gave the demon our general location, and then it just waited for one of us to use our magic so it could hunt us down.”

“But you don’t believe that’s what happened.”

Remy shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what I believe. Nothing matters except that the demon that killed our families is dead.”

She paused before she asked the next question, knowing she might not like the answer but having to ask anyway. “So what are you going to do now?”

***

Rom watched from the window, arms crossed over his chest as he shielded himself from Remy and Amity.

He hadn’t lied when he’d stormed out. He’d fully intended to go for a run to cool down. He’d torn off his clothes and shifted into his pelt but then he’d stopped and taken a deep breath.

He could still smell her. Her scent was all over him. It made him stop, forced him to think about what exactly he was running away from.

With a huff, he shook his head, recalled his pelt and redressed. He’d meant to head straight back in and apologize, but he’d caught the gist of the conversation, and it’d been everything Rom had wanted to ask Remy himself but had never been able to force out of his mouth.

His heart pounded so hard, he thought for sure Remy would be able to hear it as he waited for his cousin to answer Amity’s question.

“We used to talk about returning to the den,” Remy said after a pause. “Years ago. When we were young and stupid and thought it wouldn’t take long to track down a demon and kill it.”

They’d been chasing that fucking demon for so long, Rom had forgotten that, at one time, he’d actually had a plan for what to do after.

Not that he and Remy had ever talked about what they were going to do. Rom had felt disloyal whenever he’d thought about life after killing the demon. As if in thinking about the future, he wasn’t concentrating enough on the present and their quest to avenge their families.

It didn’t matter that he knew their parents wouldn’t have wanted them to become soulless killing machines, intent only on death and destruction.

It was what they’d wanted so badly to avoid when they’d packed up their families and run all those years ago.

But what the fuck would they do now?

“I’m going after the
Mal
.”

Remy’s softly spoken words held the weight of a vow that Rom could hear clearly through the glass.

“Do you know who you’re going after?” Amity asked. “Do you actually know the name of the man who hired the demon?”

Rage hit Rom low in the gut. Damn that demon for forcing them to kill it before they’d been able to ask it any questions. He and Rom had wanted the demon to tell them who’d sent it after them. Who’d ordered it to kill their families.

But that hadn’t happened. Now they were back at square one.

Rom wasn’t sure he wanted to continue on. For so many years he’d sought vengeance, and now that they’d killed the demon… Damn, he was tired.

But Remy… Remy wanted more blood. And he was afraid his cousin—

Shit.

Rom wouldn’t leave his cousin’s side. He owed him too damn much.

And yet…

“No,” Remy finally answered Amity’s question. “But I won’t stop hunting until I have it. And I think I might have found a way to track the guy.”

Rom’s heart skipped a beat. What the hell was Remy talking about? He’d never mentioned anything about this.

“And how’s that?”

Remy paused, and Rom’s heart pounded out a staccato rhythm.

“An
auscultatus
spell.”

Rom’s heart stopped beating for a few seconds.

Rom hadn’t known Remy even remembered what an
auscultatus
spell was. Tullia had spoken of it in hushed tones and with a healthy sense of fear the first and only time she’d ever mentioned it during their training. Then she’d told them never to attempt it, even though they might be tempted.

Tinia’s teat. That spell required a shitload of power and precision control, so the caster didn’t leave his mind open to whoever’s mind he was trying to read. It could backfire big time.

Remy knew that. They’d never even spoken about using it before because either one or both of them could fry their minds if they tried.

“We’ve tried everything else,” Remy continued. “The demon was our last chance to figure out who’d hired it. Now we need to take another approach.”

“Remy, that spell…”

Obviously Amity had heard of it, too. And rightly feared it.

“I know what Tullia told us. I know how dangerous it is, but we’re out of options.” Remy shook his head. “We stayed ahead of that demon for years. Then a month ago, we felt it getting closer, trying to get a lock on our position, and we knew we’d have to move again. We tried to draw it out a few times, staying in the same place for a couple of months, daring it to come and take us, but the damn thing must have known what we were doing. It never took the bait. The few times it’s come close to snatching one of us have been when we thought we were safe. So we’ve learned never to think we’re safe.”

“It was playing with you.”

“Yeah, like a cat with a mouse.” Remy’s voice could have cut glass, it was so sharp. “I’m done being prey. The demon got sloppy when it went after you. Or it just got arrogant. Whatever happened, Remy and I managed to track it here and save you.”

“And I can’t tell you how grateful I am for what you and Rom did for me.”

Rom watched Amity lay her hand over Remy’s fist clenched on the table top. At the touch, his cousin actually seemed to relax the tiniest bit.

“Do you have any idea why the demon was after you, Lady?”

It was Amity’s turn to pause, and Rom could tell by her expression that she knew.

“Yes,” she finally said. “But I can’t tell you what you want to know. It’s complicated and… nothing for you to worry about.” She smiled, but he could tell it was forced. And so could Remy because his cousin’s gaze narrowed to slits.

Rom knew that look. When Remy got an idea in mind, he was like a dog with a bone, no pun intended.

“Amity, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Amity smiled at Remy, lifting one hand to cup his jaw, and lust moved through Rom like a tidal wave of heat, threatening to take him under.

He wanted her, craved her on a level he hadn’t thought possible. But the way she returned Remy’s intense gaze made it clear she desired his cousin.

Fucking
hell.

Remy had never looked at a woman the way he was looking at Amity. With desire instead of animal lust. Remy viewed sex as a necessary part of life, like eating and sleeping. He needed it to sustain him, but sex wasn’t for pleasure. It was for release.

Remy didn’t just want to fuck Amity. He felt an emotional connection with her.

Of course the first woman Remy would fall for would have to be a goddess.

“Thank you, Remy. I feel the same about you and Rom.”

Hell, hearing his name come from those beautiful lips just made him want her all the more. His skin felt too tight, and his hands curled into fists. He wanted to walk into the house, grab her, and throw her back down on the bed and fuck her senseless.

No way would he ever do that to a goddess but, gods damn, he so wanted to.

“I have a favor to ask of you, Remy. One I’m not quite sure how to broach.”

“Anything. You can ask anything of us.”

Shit.
Shit.
He and Remy might not have been raised in the den, but their parents had made sure they knew the ways of their people.

You didn’t refuse an Etruscan goddess anything.

But when a goddess wanted something from you, it probably wasn’t anything good.

Still, she’d saved both of their lives, and they owed her.

“Would you be willing to make love to me again? This time with your cousin.”

Amity thought Remy’s eyes might pop out of his head.

Maybe
this
hadn’t been such a good idea.

“I’m sorry.” She started to backpedal. “Forgive me. That was incredibly ru—”

“No. No, Amity, I’m sorry.” Remy blinked several times, looking like she’d smacked him across the face. “You just took me off guard. Please don’t mistake my response for anything other than surprise.”

But he still hadn’t said yes, she noted. “Maybe I should have prefaced that by telling you why I’m asking.”

He nodded slowly, looking a little dazed. And confused. And why wouldn’t he be?

“I’m not sure whether you realize this or not, but I gain power from sexual contact.” She waited for him to nod before continuing. “I’m sure you also know that most deities’ powers have greatly diminished over the years.”

She didn’t add that two of her sister goddesses had given up their powers in the past year. Or that they’d done so for the men in their lives. Not that she blamed them. After so many millennia alone, she’d do the same, though she held no illusions she’d ever find that one man who could fulfill her needs. Or who’d be able to put up with her.

At least, she hadn’t found one yet.

Remy nodded in response to her statement, and she forced her thoughts back to the situation at hand. Rather, back to talking Remy, and eventually Rom, into her bed. All for a good cause, of course. Not simply because she wanted them.

Although, truthfully…

“Some of us have found other ways to make ourselves useful, for our lives to have some meaning in the world today.” And some merely existed, a state Amity despaired of ever finding herself in. “That’s why I work at the hospital. I use my limited remaining powers to help my patients.”

Remy’s eyes narrowed. “Aren’t they mostly
eteri
?”

She could see confusion in his expression and she felt frustration creeping up on her. Yes, the deities had a reputation for being selfish and petty. And yes, as a young goddess, she’d had more than her share of arrogance.

Vast amounts of power could do that to a person. Over the years, though, she’d learned how to temper that arrogance. Losing most of her power had certainly helped.

But maybe she hadn’t been as successful as she’d hoped if she’d thought Remy and Rom would simply fall at her feet and say “Of course, we’ll both run right back to bed with you so you can recharge your batteries.”

“Yes,” she answered, “they are. I still provide services to the Etruscans as well, but… I’m not exactly on anyone’s speed dial. I like to be useful, and I am at the hospital.”

“Everyone wants to be useful.” Remy’s lips curved in a slight smile and she returned it, cautious optimism creeping in.

“Yes, becoming obsolete sucks, Remy. I hope you never experience it.”

Some dark emotion shadowed his eyes for a second before he blinked it away. It could have been her imagination, though she didn’t think it was. She didn’t want to lose his attention now by refocusing the conversation on him. “I have two patients at the moment who are the worst cases I’ve ever had to handle.”

The hospital employed two medical aestheticians and they split the caseload between them. Because of the intensive nature of the injuries, Amity would have expected Sue Ellen to handle at least one of them, but Sue Ellen had been on vacation the week both patients had been brought in and the cases had fallen to Amity alone.

Remy flipped his hand under hers to lace their fingers together. “Tell me about them.”

Surprised and secretly delighted at his interest, she continued. “Bobby’s ten. He’s got pale blue eyes and the sweetest smile you’ve ever seen. He got trapped in his bedroom when his apartment building went up in flames.”

Remy’s eyes widened, and the horror she saw in them mirrored what she’d felt the first time she’d met the boy. “His parents and younger siblings slept on the second floor and they got out, but the electrical fire started in a wall in his room on the third floor. His parents nearly died trying to get to him before the firefighters arrived.”

“I’ve been working with him for a month, trying to heal some of the damage to his face and body, but I don’t have the power necessary to do it on a large scale.”

Remy nodded. “And the other patient?”

Perrin Winston. Amity felt her stomach tighten just to think about Perrin. This woman was a much tougher case.

She took a deep breath, wondering how to explain Perrin’s case. The facts were straightforward, at least. “Perrin is a gifted artist who works wonders with metal. Her abusive boyfriend rigged her workshop to explode while she was in the room. He caused a short in an extension cord that led to the kerosene heater exploding, which sent the contents of the tool chest in front of it straight at her face.”

“Wow.” Remy’s eyes widened as he shook his head. “That sounds… like something you’d see in a movie.”

“I know. She’s lucky to still be alive. That bastard thought he’d get away with murder. I saw photos of how she looked when they brought her in. Like a macabre pin cushion. But she was lucky. None of the projectiles hit anything vital. No arteries severed, no internal organs damaged.”

“But…?”

Remy stilled, like a wild animal scenting danger. Amity deliberately kept her gaze on his, resisting the almost overwhelming urge to look at his cheek.

“Her face took the brunt of the explosion. And she’s refusing to allow them to reconstruct it so she might have a chance at a normal life.”

She fell silent then, waiting for Remy.

After at least thirty seconds, he didn’t disappoint. “Why does she refuse to do it?”

“She won’t talk about it. But I have my suspicions.”

“And they are…?” he prodded when she stopped to take a deep breath.

“Perrin’s had a troubled life. She left home at seventeen on an art scholarship but gave it up after a year when she met a guy.”

“The guy who did this to her?”

She nodded. “He wasn’t abusive at first. He appeared to be everything she could want. Kind, funny, sweet. But then he changed.”

Amity felt her stomach roil, just as it had done the first time Perrin had relayed the story. “She once told me she should have known he was evil because he was too good to be true. How awful to go through life thinking that.”

“Did they arrest the guy?”

Her mouth curved in a hard smile and she saw Remy’s eyebrows lift, as if he were shocked by her response. “Yes. And I hope the bastard never sees his freedom again. And that case of gonorrhea and psoriasis I gifted him with on his way out of the courthouse will never clear up. I made sure of that.”

Remy’s mouth quirked in a weak smile. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

“He hurt her so badly, I wanted him to suffer.”

“You like her, don’t you?”

She nodded. “Very much. But that man stole her will to live and I hope he never tastes freedom again.”

Behind her something popped. Remy’s gaze shifted to see what had happened as she closed her eyes and tried to rein in the pulse of empathic power that surged through her.

When she finally opened them, she found Remy watching her carefully. “I’m sorry. Did I break something?”

He shook his head, his mouth curving until she actually thought he might laugh. “Uh, no. But the people who own this house are going to be a little surprised to see their end tables sprouting leaves.”

She turned in the direction he pointed, and her eyes widened at the sight of live branches growing from the wood tables on either side of the couch.

“Oh, dear. That’s going to be a problem, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I think we might have to forfeit our security deposit for that one.” He lifted his eyebrows, looking at her with questions in his eyes. “I wouldn’t even know how to explain it.”

“My powers are geared toward healing. They connect with the life forces around them. This time it chose the wood in that table and brought it back to life for that brief period.”

His eyes brightened even more. “I don’t think that’s the explanation I’ll be giving to the real estate agent.”

“No, I don’t think they’ll believe that, will they? I’ll ask a friend to take care of it.”

“No problem. We’ll handle it.”

She had no doubt Remy and Rom could take care of most problems that came their way.

Except Remy hadn’t yet given an answer to her request that he and Rom join her in bed.

“So…” Remy’s expression turned serious again. “You want Rom and me to have sex with you so you can heal your patients.”

She wondered what he’d say if she told him she just wanted to have sex with him and his cousin, and the fact that she’d gain power to help her patients was more of an added benefit?

It had been so long since any man had intrigued her the way these two did. And she knew the
lucani
were much less hung up on puritanical sexual mores than the
eteri
.

With a smile, she said, “Yes.”

And watched his gaze narrow in thought.

“Is there a reason you don’t want to be alone with me again?”

Shock made her mouth drop open for a few brief seconds before she caught herself and closed it.

“Remy, why would you…”

Oh. The scarring on his face and body.

He held her stare, almost as if he were daring her to say something about it. So she deliberately let her gaze slide to his marred cheek before she lifted one hand to cup his jaw, letting her fingertips caress the scars. Remy tensed but didn’t pull away, watching her with narrowed eyes.

“These marks, they tell me how brave you’ve been. How much adversity you’ve had to overcome. They don’t turn me off. They don’t make me pity you. They’re a part of you and they don’t make me see you differently as a man. You’re strong, handsome, and I can’t wait to have you inside me again. Does that clear things up for you?”

Remy’s expression didn’t change. “But the main reason you want to have sex with Rom and me is to boost your power?”

Was it? At the moment, she couldn’t honestly say yes or no to that question. “What if I said that’s only part of the reason? Would you believe me if I told you how intrigued I am by both of you? How my body flushes with heat when either of you are near? Please believe that I will completely understand if you don’t want to fulfill my request. I know what I’ve asked of you is unorthodox and—”

He moved so fast, she could barely track him as he leaned over and covered her mouth with his. Since her lips were already parted, he slid his tongue between them and kissed her until she thought she might pass out from lack of oxygen. Which would be extremely embarrassing for a goddess.

His taste, so well remembered from the first time they’d kissed, flooded her body with desire, making her nipples peak and her thighs quiver. His mouth moved over hers with a hunger she felt in the fierce lash of his tongue against hers and the heavy pressure of his lips.

Her hand slid from his jaw along his neck then back into his hair, slipping through the long strands before clutching at them so he couldn’t get away. She tilted her head to get a better angle and felt his tongue stab deeper into her mouth. She had a brief flash of an image in her mind, an image of her with his cock in her mouth as Rom thrust into her from behind.

She shuddered as her skin felt electrified, and the flesh between her thighs swelled and moistened.

Then suddenly, she was gasping in air as he pulled back, his eyes looking as dazed as she felt.

“I’ll talk to Rom.” His voice sounded as if he’d sandpapered it. “Just give me a few minutes.”

She blinked, trying to get her brain to function normally again. “Isn’t he out for a run?”

Remy’s gaze shot to a point over her shoulder. Turning, she realized he was looking out the front window, where she saw Rom watching from the front porch with a narrow-eyed stare.

How long had he been there? Long enough to hear what she’d said? What was he thinking? Did he feel left out? Rejected?

“No.” She drew in a breath, trying to calm her thundering heart. “No, I think I need to talk to him.”

“If this is really what you want, Amity, don’t take no for an answer. And I can tell you that’s exactly what he’s going to say.”

She turned back to see Remy staring at her with an intent gaze. “I don’t want to force him—”

Remy’s panty-wetting smile cut off her train of thought like a scalpel through butter. “Trust me. He wants you. But he’s stubborn enough to say no to what he wants if he thinks…”

“If he thinks what?”

Remy stared back out the window. “If he thinks he’ll upset me.”

“And will this upset you?”

He shook his head, his gaze steady on Rom’s. “No. In fact, I think it’s the best damn idea anyone’s had in a long time.”

The absolute conviction in his voice made her smile. She sensed no trace of a lie in Remy’s voice. Only barely leashed anticipation.

Which made her tingle all over.

She had to force herself to head for the door, to grip the knob in her suddenly sweaty hand and turn it. Nerves weren’t something she was used to. Actually, she didn’t think she’d ever felt nervous.

The past twenty-four hours had been a roller coaster, and she felt like the train had just taken a dip before beginning another climb.

Good thing she loved roller coasters.

Stopping in the doorway, she was almost surprised to find Rom standing in front of her. Waiting for her.

Arms crossed over his broad chest, expression impassive, his gaze never wavered from hers until she almost felt the urge to drop her gaze. Like a coward.

Stiffening her spine, she tilted her head back so she could continue to hold his gaze. His beautiful mouth tightened, as if he expected her to turn tail and run.

“You heard.” She didn’t make it a question. She saw no point in beating around the bush. “Are you willing?”

He didn’t answer right away. She could tell he was thinking fast and hard. And she wasn’t at all sure he was going to decide in her favor.

She didn’t want to railroad him into having sex with her again. She wanted him. Had wanted both of them from the first moment she’d seen them in the bar.