Skin of a Goddess (Goddess Ascension Book 1) (6 page)

“Now, there’s another thing we don’t agree on. Telling people. The fact is, I thought it best to let our new arrangement be known, otherwise others will be hitting on you without knowing that you’re taken. I wouldn’t want them to insult you in such a way,” Hunter says, as if it’s really for my benefit.

Ana laughs. “Right, insult her.”

“Let’s talk about this later, in private,” I hiss.

“Sure we can talk about this. In private. Alone.” He grins.

I backtrack so fast I probably have whiplash. “Well, not completely alone. If we’re going to look at this seriously, then I really wouldn’t want to be with you until our wedding night. Best not to give in to temptation.”

“Yes, she’s very pure and chaste.” Apate nods with a straight face.

Hunter can’t help but roll his eyes. To tell the truth, I don’t blame him. “Fine, bring someone then. I’ll see you later tonight, after dinner?”

“Okay, you can come up to our suite,” I say. “We’ll make a group meeting out of this bitch, since I’m sure these girls won’t be able to keep the gossip to themselves. Hope you’re happy.”

He leans down over me, closer and closer, until I’m looking backward at him. “If you think you’re going to intimidate me with the idea of sitting with all of you, then you’re wrong. I’m looking forward to it. Until then.” With that, he leans those few vital inches more and lands a quick Spiderman kiss to my lips. He’s gone before I can even protest.

“Looks like more’s been going on than I knew,” Dysnomia says with a little smirk.

Ana grins. “She so has no idea.”

***

“Hello, everyone! I’d like to thank you for meeting me here tonight,” Harold greets all of us sitting in the conference room.

“I’d be a hell of a lot happier if we didn’t have assigned seating.” Ana sighs.

“Agreed,” Lyssa says before hissing at the werewolf sitting in front of her.

Assigned seating means that all of us representatives are together and the people that shift into the same animal are grouped together. I suppose it is good planning, since the wild dogs will probably want to be together once they hear the news. Still, we’re right next to the wolves and lions. They have a whole “king of the jungle” complex, plus their long tresses get everywhere.

The few humans who wiggled their way in here are stuck in the back of the room. Most of them are companions of a shifter or other here, though there is that one human running fast and free without his vampire master. He’s here as his vampire’s representative. When a vampire chooses to feed off of a human for a while, the human becomes a companion. This can include meal time, bed time, and everything in between. Or just for friendship, like that’s any fun.

“I’m sorry that we had to cancel the afternoon activities,” Harold continues.

“I’m not. I think we were supposed to have more group therapy. More like shoot yourself in the foot so you can’t be drafted. Here I come, Nurse!” Apate says.

Enyo speaks up, “That’s not how you do it at all. You shoot the annoying people boring you with their speech.”

“You know, this time, she might have a point.” Apate half-rolls her eyes.

Harold clears his throat with a meaningful look at us. “I don’t have very pleasant news to tell you, but it needs to be said. Early this morning, a body was found on our property. The body belongs to Jessica Garcia, a wild dog shifter.”

“What!” There’s an instant uproar in the wild dog circuit.

“Jessie was supposed to show up next week. She had to stay behind for work but was meeting up with us,” a female says.

“If you know her, we’d appreciate you coming to identify the body,” Harold tells her calmly. “She did not die a natural death, and the authorities are looking into who is responsible. I want you all to be very careful from now on, and avoid wandering off on your own.”

“How was she killed?”

“She was strangled,” Harold says after a moment.

A nearby wolf asks, “Where was the body found?”

“At a pond on the property. It is now off limits and a crime scene, so we’d appreciate it if you kept your distance.”

“Were any scents zeroed in on?”

“The lake is a well-visited area, and it appears some trysts had taken place there recently. That being said, there isn’t one scent that we can say belongs to a specific person related to the crime,” he says.

There’s some confusion. “What about the body?”

Harold clears his throat uncomfortably. “The body had been submerged in water long enough to wash away any trace of smell.”

“Oh, God!” a wild dog wails.

“Did she suffer?” another one asks.

Harold once again looks simply miserable. I am a little proud of him when he doesn’t lie and says, “She died a very painful death and appears to have suffered before it. That’s, again, why I’d like to stress caution to all of you.”

“To be fair, it was just a wild dog. They’re scrappy, but … nothing like taking on a wolf,” one of the wolves in front of us says.

“What an ass,” Lyssa can’t help but say. “I love it. I hope they beat his face in.”

“You fucker! How dare you say it’s her fault she died because she’s weak? She wasn’t! Jess could fight with the best of them and hold her own,” one of the wild dogs snarls angrily.

“Knowing how to fight doesn’t make up for lack of strength,” the wolf-ass says.

Another wild dog growls. “She was not weak!”

“Right, well—” the wolf tries to continue.

“You will cease your speaking!” Ana says, standing up with glowing gold eyes, her long, blood-red hair flying about her face in windless disarray. “Wolf, you speak lies. You know nothing of strength, whether it be inner or physical.”

As she speaks, she stands and winds her way up to the wolf in question. Everyone is silent, watching Ana as they probably try to remember which daimon she is and if she’s inclined to rip his heart out and eat it. As it is, she looks freaky as hell with her glowing eyes and hair whipping about in a breeze only she can feel. We all have a certain look when we’re riled up.

“I can feel it in you, the ruthlessness. You do not care whom you hurt, and you have no shame. Usually, I would not mind, but you use your considerable gifts to hurt. I do not condone hurting those who are already in pain for no good reason but simply for your own pleasure,” she says when she’s standing in front of him, her head level with his, even though he’s sitting.

Ana trails a finger from the top of his cheek down, letting her sharp talon just flirt with the idea of piercing his skin. If he knew that they have deadly poison, he’d probably shake much less.

Still caressing his face, she says, “You will tell everyone here you’re sorry for your outburst, rudeness, insensitivity, cruelty, and disrespect for the dead.”

He says hoarsely, “I didn’t say anything wrong. They are weaker than the rest of us.”

Ana looks at him intently, head tilted to the side in an alien manner. “Bad boy.” I see her mouth, then her eyes brighten even more as she lets out a fierce hiss, fangs flashing with menace. Suddenly, she’s a mere inch from his face, fingers holding him in place on either side of his head, eyes locked with his.

“Jason Riley, you listen to me, and you listen closely. You will feel shame for what you have done to the people here and how you have hurt them. Jason, you will feel shame for hurting others just for the pleasure of hurting those you see as weaker than you. Shame for being disrespectful to the memory of the dead. Lastly, you will feel shame for making me get out of my seat and make you my bitch,” Ana says to him in a lulling voice before blinking and losing eye contact.

When she removes her hands from his face, we all see him slump in his chair, shoulders shaking, and then we know it was only her hands holding him up in the first place. Ana nods cordially to Harold as she makes her way to her seat, saying to the wild dogs, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you for clearing that up,” Harold says, as if he didn’t just lose his control of the room in a major way. “Everyone needs to be as respectful of one another as possible. Until we know more about who did this, it would also be best if we use the ‘buddy system.’ My wife, Olivia, will explain what that means now.”

Olivia walks over to the microphone and says, “I know the buddy system seems kind of stupid at this point. We’re all old enough to know we can take care of ourselves, or at least think so. Let’s try to humor one another by employing it anyway. This means that you have a buddy with you pretty much at all times. If you have to go to the bathroom, take your buddy. If there’s a treasure hunt, pair off with your buddy. I think we all get the idea.”

“Right, thank you for that, dear,” Harold says, giving her a little glare at her blasé tone. “We will also be handing out whistles and pepper spray. The whistle can be used when you feel you’re in danger. If any of you hear a whistle, then you should go to that person’s aid. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so when in doubt, blow.”

“Ha, I love that. ‘When in doubt, blow.’” Apate snickers.

“That all being said, we’d appreciate it if you only blow your whistle in times of grave distress. That means only when you feel like you are in life-threatening, or imminent, danger. It can also be used to alert us if you’re harmed. I hope you all can be trusted to use your whistles appropriately,” Harold says, giving us meaningful stares.

“We’re going to hear one of those damn things every half an hour, mark my words,” Enyo says.

Harold continues, “As for the pepper spray, use only when you’re being attacked or feel physically threatened. There’s a safety on them, so don’t try to say it was an accident. Remember that once sprayed, the one targeted won’t be the only one feeling its affects. It will get into the air around the sprayed area. This is also the type of spray that has red dye in it, so the perp will be caught red-handed, so to speak.

“I would like those who knew the victim or may have any information relating to the crime to please stay behind. Everyone else may leave for now. I thank you for gathering here and listening to what we’ve had to say. You can collect your whistle, pepper spray, and safety sheet on your way out. I hope that all of you stay safe,” Harold finishes.

All of the wild dogs stay behind as the rest of us file slowly out of the room. The whistle doesn’t seem as if it’ll be much help, but I slink it over my neck anyway. I accept the pepper spray but ignore the safety sheet. I don’t know why I bother taking the whistle and pepper spray, since I possess all the weapons necessary to properly protect myself. Plus, I can’t be killed. It’s kind of an ego boost. Makes you feel invincible.

“I’m confused,” Ana pipes up.

Nemesis gives her a level look before biting out, “About what?”

“This evening, are we still having the activity? It’s supposed to be a partyyyy.”

Chapter 5

It turns out we really are going to still party hardy. It was announced at dinner. Apparently, the logic of it was, we already feel low, why take a party out of the mix and make it all even worse? This party is a themed one, and it doesn’t even suck. It’s “go as the supe you’re not” and includes bowling. I don’t mind some good old glow bowling.

It’s only natural what we’ve all chosen to go as. Nemesis is a harpy because of the wings. Aergia is … staying in. Ana is going as a nymph, Apate as a little bunny shifter, Dysnomia a phoenix complete with lots of flames, Lyssa is, naturally, a Fury, since they too can strike insanity, and Enyo is an Amazon. Not much has to be changed with her appearance, truth be told.

It was pretty easy for me to pick which supernatural to be. I’m going as a griffin, since they’re gold. I’ll just have to draw some feather outlines in my skin and I’m good to go. I’m not too worried about anyone getting overly fixated since I’ll mostly be in the dark bowling area.

“You want to tell them that Hunter’s coming over soon?” Apate asks me as she applies perfectly round blush spots to her cheeks.

“Nah, better that he comes as a surprise so they can’t start planning an attack. Let’s face it, they’re going to love this too much as it is,” I tell her as I paint feathers on my gold skin with liquid black eye liner.

Ana, behind me putting golden feathers in my hair, says, “Can’t blame her with this one. Remember when Dysnomia told us her boyfriend was coming over for the first time? I swear I just don’t know where we came up with all the sex toys and porn on the spot like that. Not to mention all the dolls. I didn’t think you keep that kind of inventory on hand.”

“I don’t usually, but we had just released a new line of products. Naturally, I needed to test them out.” I shrug.

Part of my empire is a line of adult merchandise. I have lines of sex toys, lingerie, a magazine, and, of course, movies. To put it lightly, I own that industry. The brand for all of this is called Little Goddesses. Very fitting, if I do say so myself.

“Real money-making industry.” Ana nods. “Plus, lots of fun!”

“Eh, I like my porn money, it’s true.” Though this is true, I’ve never starred in any of them.

Apate says, “Too right you are—plus, you can’t forget about the gifts and extras! You’re always a big hit when you’re a maid of honor.”

“Damn right.” I grin. “But we did go a bit overboard with Dys.”

“It didn’t help when we got all the male strippers and told them our friend was about to get married and this would be a surprise bachelor party, with both the individuals getting married being grooms. I thought Dysnomia’s boyfriend was going to die when that guy starting gyrating against his ass.” Apate smiles at the memory.

“He ran out of there like a bat out of hell and never came back!” Dysnomia shrieks at us from across the room. “I won’t forget about it.”

“Well, he was obviously a pussy if he couldn’t take it,” Ana mutters at us.

Apate nods. “Yeah, put up or shut up.”

The only reason I’m not setting my slags loose on Hunter is he’ll think it’s all my fault. He’ll just assume that I’m the one who told them to torture him, and he’ll see it as a ploy for me to get out of our handfasting. I don’t need him to think anymore negatively about me, or he might actually not give me my way. It would be a first, but I think he’s just the kind of mean soul that would do it.

“How do I look?” I ask Apate and Ana as I turn to face them both.

I’ve done major Cleopatra eyes with lots of winged liner, red lips, and wild hair with gold feathers threaded in, courtesy of Ana. I have on a short golden dress that’s flapperesque. I’ve only drawn the feathers on my arms and chest. Overall, I think the image is clear enough, especially with the gold skin all out.

“Nice—how about me?” Apate asks from under a bunny ear headband, fuzzy white sweater, pink mouth, and pink blush.

“It’s sick how much you look like a damsel in distress, even with those ridiculous rabbit ears.” Ana shakes her head with disgust.

Apate sticks her tongue out at her. “You’re just jealous that I look like a perfect angel.”

“Yeah, because I’d really want to look like—” Ana stops when there’s a very precise count of three knocks on the main door to the hall.

The three of us turn to one another, then back to the door.

“I’ll get it!” Ana screeches before I can stop her, while, at the same time, Apate yells, “House meeting, bitches!”

So much for loyalty.

“What’s up?” Aergia asks, scratching her rumpled hair. It’s obvious she just woke up and is about to return to the same state.

“House meeting about Peitho’s boy trouble,” Dysnomia says with a sick kind of interest. “There’s trouble in paradise already.”

Aergia makes a quick leap for the exit, but Lyssa grabs her by the hair, making her body jump back. “Where do you think you’re going, little one? It’s a house meeting. If I must suffer through these indignities, you must also.”

Nemesis sighs at me from the couch. “Really, Peitho, I thought we were going to try to leave your love life out of our collective lives.”

“If by ‘love life’ you mean casual fucks,” Enyo says snarkily from where she’s draped around Lyssa. Dysnomia joins them with a nice little smirk.

“That’s hitting below the belt,” I tell them.

Dysnomia smiles sweetly and says, “You wish, whore.”

“Um, did you forget there was a knock on the door? Hey, everyone, I’m Hunter. Great to see you all,” Hunter says, standing in the open doorway, his hand on the handle. “I’d also appreciate it if you didn’t call my betrothed a whore.”

“That really depends on who your betrothed is.” Dys smirks.

“Peitho.”

Dys laughs. “Can’t change what she is.”

“Right, but she’s not a whore,” he continues.

I can’t help but feel a tad bit warmer toward him. I mean, sure, I get called things like whore and skank all the time. Sometimes by guys or girls who are jealous or angry at me, sometimes in jest by the girls. I can’t help but feel a little hurt by it, I have to admit. I hate feeling like they’re ashamed of me because of how I act, dress, or what I say.

I’m seduction and persuasion. I love having fun, and what I do is completely natural. I have had a good amount of sex in my life, even for someone my age. It’s in my nature, it’s done by consenting adults, and all of us are happy afterward. We get what we want from the encounters. Why should I be ashamed of it? Still, I feel some shame for making them ashamed of me.

“In fact, she’s the opposite of a whore from what I can see, since Peitho is now in a committed relationship with me. Besides, as far as I can tell, she’s never charged anyone to have sex with her,” Hunter continues.

“Holy balls, you got her to commit?” Lyssa says with surprised disinterest.

“You can’t fight what’s in your nature,” Dysnomia tells him stubbornly. “Dress like a whore, talk like a whore, and fuck like a whore … you’re a whore.

Hunter appears annoyed and says, “What are you, then? The daimon of bitchiness? Let me be the first to tell you, you live up to the name!”

Dysnomia, quite frankly, looks shocked as hell, as do most of us.

“Um, did I mention he’s a royal dragon?” Apate speaks up, trying to dispel the situation. “Guess that makes Peitho a goddess princess! Fun or what?”

“She’ll totally love being able to wear a crown with good reason,” Ana says approvingly.

“Dude, I’m in the room, you know?” I finally say.

Hunter turns to me for the first time, and his eyes widen the smallest amount as he looks at my skin. I can’t help but feel some happiness that he finds me so attractive. I mean, I know I’m hot. Not pretty, cute, or beautiful. I look like sex. Of course he’s attracted to me. Plus, the gold skin has a mesmerizing effect. I can tell it’s more than that, though, especially since he doesn’t act like a lovesick fool. Those are the ones who have gone gaga for the skin and will basically fall over themselves to do anything for me.

“What are you going to the party as?” I ask with a little frown.

“Oh,” Hunter says, pulling a hat out of his pocket. It is fuzzy, with ear flaps hanging down when he puts it on. “A bear shifter. You’re a griffin, right?”

“Yep.” I preen, fluffing out my hair and feathers.

“As fascinating as your awkward love talk is, can we move on to the point of this dumbass meeting? Who is this hulking beast, and what is he doing here? By the way, good costume. Since you’re huge and everything, you totally pull it off,” Enyo tells him kindly.

“I guess this meeting is to announce that Peitho and I are handfasted for six months. That’s basically it.”

“What!” I jump up from the couch where I’d been sitting by Ana. “It’s not nearly as simple as that. On crazy karaoke night we had our drunken, dirty, wicked ways with each other. I don’t even remember it because I was drunk off my ass. Therefore, I think the entire thing should be void. I didn’t know I’d be stuck with him for six months just because of a one-night stand.”

Everyone looks around for a moment in confusion.

“Dragon law is that once a dragon sleeps with a person they are handfasted to see if a child can be born of the union. Dragons can only produce children with their soul mate,” Nemesis explains. “This is the law, Peitho, and you will follow it.”

I sneak a peek at Hunter, who has a self-satisfied smile on his face. When he sees me watching him, his face instantly goes blank. What is this guy’s malfunction? I mean, it’s obvious from everyone that I’m not good for a relationship. I’m sure he’s been told this. So why is he persisting? He doesn’t even know me. This means he just wants my hot, hot ass.

“Well, all right.” I shrug. “I guess I’ll take a pregnancy test in two weeks and see if anything is produced from last night’s union. I doubt it, since we don’t procreate easily and condoms were used.”

“What do you mean in two weeks? It’s supposed to be six months,” Hunter points out.

“True, but you’re worried about possibly getting me preggers. I don’t plan on having sex with you again, so last night is the only chance that’ll happen.” I shrug.

“You’ll still have to be monogamous for six months,” Hunter growls.

“Fine, but I’m not going to fuck you. It’s more like being celibate for six months. I’m not going to move into your cave, and you’re not traveling with me and the girls. I’ll let you have this little mini-marriage, but I’ll be damned if we will treat each other like man and wife. You only want one thing from me, and you already got it. There’s really no point now,” I say calmly.

Hunter just looks at me inscrutably.

“Peitho, you know you just said that dirty word that starts with a
c
and ends in
elibate
? Say it’s not so! Better yet, say you’re joking. I mean, no offense, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Apate says to me.

“I can do it. Or in this case, not do it.” I shrug. I’ve gone six months without sex before—granted, I was in jail and I became a bit of a bitch.

“There’s no need for that,” Hunter tries to say.

“Wow, that boy really wants your ass!” Ana says in amazement. “You must be one hell of a lay.”

“Never gotten any complaints.” I wink.

Hunter gives a frustrated growl. “I thought you were interesting. I didn’t mean I just want to … have husbandly privileges.”

“No worries, you won’t be getting any privileges, and neither will I.” I shrug again, eager to show how much he doesn’t matter. One thing about me is I’m stubborn. Once I’ve made up my mind, I don’t turn back on it.

“How about this: I’ll let you wait to take a pregnancy test, have that come back negative, and we can just have the handfasting up until then. Then you won’t have to wait so long to satisfy your needs, especially since the monogamy will be useless,” Hunter suggests frantically.

I frown at that. Why the hell does he care? He almost sounds worried for me being without sex for six months. Granted, it’s uncomfortable. It’s part of my makeup to have physical release. I get great satisfaction from my pleasure and the pleasure of others. Now he’s acting like it matters that I get it, even if it’s not from him.

“That sounds reasonable,” I say with a nod of my head.

“No,” Nemesis says with a stony finality, “the law is the law; there’s no avoiding it for either of you.”

Hunter glares at her. “This really is none of your business. All that matters is we don’t have a child together.”

“You’re supposed to spend six months attempting to have a child with one another, and if you don’t, then you know that you’re not soul mates. That is the point of the handfasting. It’s not about
not
having a child,” Nemesis says calmly. “You two, for all intents and purposes, shall act as if you’re married from here on out. At the end of the six months, if you two don’t have a child, which I expect you to attempt to do, then the relationship may be resolved.”

“We’ve figured out a solution, but thanks for your advice,” Hunter tells her.

“It’s not advice.” I finally sigh. “If we don’t follow the rules of your people, she’ll make both of our lives a living hell. I guess we have to do this, though she can’t make us sleep together. At least there are small favors.”