Touch of the Fire God [Scions of the Ankh 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (12 page)

“I’m not just anyone, love. I love your body. Please indulge me.”

It was a simple request, but damn it if it wasn’t asking a lot. Rene took a deep breath and slowly unwrapped the sheet from her body, eventually letting it fall to the floor.

Ralabos crossed to the other side of the bed and sat on the edge, all the while keeping eye contact with Rene. He placed large, warm hands on her slim hips and gently pulled her toward him until he rested his head against her flat belly. It was so very touching that Rene found herself stroking his soft hair and relaxing against him.

“You’ve nothing to be ashamed of. If it were not for other males looking, I would have you naked all the time,” he said into her belly.

Rene felt heat begin to pool between her legs. His effect on her was absurd. Everything he’d told her, shown her, should have sent her screaming, but somehow she didn’t care. She wanted him, whatever he was.

“I am yours,” he said in response to her musings. He stood then, towering over her, but he bent gracefully down and placed a kiss between her breasts. “In response to your question, no, I did not eat. My kind does not eat. We can if we want, but it’s not necessary.”

“Then how do you get nourished?” It was the doctor in her taking over.

“We absorb energy from the Earth. Earth has raw energy, one of the things that attracted us here in the first place. Now, get dressed, please, or you won’t make it out of this room tonight.”

Rene blushed profusely. “I’d much rather take a quick shower first.”

“Will you allow me to watch?” The idea of watching this beautiful woman bathe sent his cock rigid all at once, and when she shyly nodded, he began to wonder if she would make it out of the shower.

His gray eyes watched her every move. He pulled a chair into the bathroom and seated himself firmly, making sure his angle was such that he could see everything. He ordered her to leave the shower door open despite the fact that it was see-through.

She didn’t argue; her combined nervousness and emerging excitation rendered her speechless. Somewhere in between starting the water and getting a grip on her shyness, a wicked feeling came over her. She knew how much he desired her. She wanted to tease him, drive him crazy for her.

She soaped the washcloth generously with a fragrant liquid soap Anaise had given her. His nostrils flared slightly as he caught the scent. Deliberately, she took the soapy cloth and slowly washed her neck, then her arms. She closed her eyes as if the soap was the most pleasurable thing in the world. The bathroom began to heat up, and instinctively she knew it wasn’t just the steamy water. It was Ralabos, her sun god, losing control.

She smiled a naughty smile and soaped her breasts slowly, teasing her nipples until she knew they were hard and clearly visible through the soap on her body. When she sneaked a peak at Ralabos, she found him with his legs apart, his pants pulled down far enough to free his cock, which he now fisted slowly as he watched her. Rene felt herself begin to get wet for him.

“Do not stop,” he said hoarsely, slowly stroking his hardened cock as he continued to watch her. Rene soaped herself slowly, loving the feel of her new sexual power. She let the towel disappear between her legs while she caressed her breast. Then she moaned for his pleasure.

Then she gyrated her hips, rubbing her cleft against the soapy towel between her legs, and she brought the other hand down to rub her clit. As her excitement built, she leaned against the shower wall, working her clit furiously as she pumped her hips in a rhythm against the towel between her legs.

Ribbons of soapy water traveled from the towel down her leg, and Ralabos found it hard to concentrate on just one part of her body. He imagined that soap to be cum, his cum, running down her legs.

Then Rene gasped loudly as she reached her peak; her legs shook as the orgasm caught her in its grip. Her head was thrown back, resting against the wall as she cried out, and with a few more rapid strokes, Ralabos found his pleasure as well, as streams of semen jetted out and landed on his belly and thighs.

Rene turned the showerhead so the water could run over her body as she stood panting, the soapy towel dropped to the floor of the shower and forgotten.

When she finally opened her eyes again, Ralabos was still watching her, his pants pulled up and in place, no dried semen on his belly. “Don’t tell me. You’re self-cleaning as well?” she asked sarcastically.

“Heat is a purifier,” he answered smugly. Rene laughed, then quickly rinsed off as his eyes began to show interest again. With him around, she’d never get anything done.

“Where are we going?” Rene asked as Ralabos took her small hand into his, leading her.

“There is much we have to tell you,” he answered, looking down at her as they walked.

Rene remained quiet. This whole trip had been bizarre, right down to the man walking beside her. She really hadn’t yet digested the fact that he wasn’t human and was older than anything she had ever known in her life. Hell, she could take everything she’s ever owned in her entire life and put it together and still it wouldn’t equal the years with this man. Was he called a man? She wondered to herself. He wasn’t human after all. Are only humans considered men?

“You think too much, zenj’a. You are giving me an ache in the head. And yes, we are men, if you are using the definition as a male fully grown in a humanoid species.”

“You really need to knock first,” Rene muttered under her breath. Of course, his sharp ears caught her comment.

“What do you mean?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.

Rene stopped in her tracks and faced him. “When someone enters a room, they knock first. It’s polite. It lets the occupants in the room be aware that a visitor is there. You have a tendency to just slide in and out of my mind without so much as a warning. It’s unsettling.”

Ralabos absorbed her words for a moment before he spoke. “I know you don’t remember this, zenj’a, but you and I have always shared our thoughts and did not need the permission of the other. However, there were times when you could get a little ...” he paused, looking for an appropriate word “temperamental, and you would block me from your thoughts. Perhaps it is only fair that I teach you how to do this. Would that make it better?”

He was rewarded with a huge grin. “That would make me immensely happy.”

“Then we shall do this later, for now we meet with Thoth.”

* * * *

Thoth sat behind his desk with a worried expression on his face. Humans were unbalanced creatures. Rene might not take this well. She might not trust them any longer, and her reaction could be crucial to their success in converting her back to her former self.

But humans only tolerated certain levels of deceit, and he had to admit that he had sunk low, as the humans liked to put it. For one so wise, he really had not thought of this fine, yet important detail. Thoth smiled wryly to himself; that was why they were not gods. They were powerful, but not perfect.

He heard a knock at the door before Rene and Ralabos entered. Their hands were entwined, perhaps things wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Hello Jonathan, or shall I say Thoth.” Rene smiled, giving him a naughty-boy look.

“Rene,” Thoth responded, rising from his chair and tilting his head in greeting, indicating for them both to sit. “Ralabos.” Ralabos nodded as well.

“I take it Ralabos has informed you of the situation?”

“I have not provided her with all the information, Thoth. Some things needed to be explained by others,” he said gravely.

“I agree,” Thoth surmised, riveting his eyes on Rene. “I was never one for unnecessary speech.” He took a deep breath and prayed for a blessing from Osiris. “You must be frustrated with the situation with Franklin Summit.”

“I would say so.” Rene jumped right in. “It’s been days. Do you have information?” Rene trained those dark eyes on him expectantly.

“There is no such man as Franklin Summit,” Thoth responded.

The room grew deathly quiet as Rene took a moment to chew on his words. Maybe Ralabos was insane and it was catching. She had known Franklin Summit practically her whole life. She had visited him while in between schools. He had paid for her education, given her a shot at life.

While she couldn’t boast of a father-daughter relationship, she was fond of him, if for no other reason than he had taken care of her as a child. Yes, she had been lonely, and Franklin had made it a point not to get close to her, but he had always been there to give her whatever she needed, mostly before she even needed to ask.

Now this man, whom she had known but a few days, was telling her that she had imagined her benefactor? Crazy vapors were definitely leaking in large quantities in the air.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand your meaning.” A thin thread of cold fear wound its way around her spine. “I’ve known him my whole life. I’ve touched him, talked to him.”

“Perhaps it would be better if you explained it a little ... differently,” Ralabos suggested, rising from his seat and putting a supportive hand on Rene’s shoulder. He felt her fear and knew as well as Thoth that things were about to get unstable.

“I needed to find you, Selkis. The spell that I cast merely pointed out strong candidates that could house your spirit. It wasn’t until you reached a certain age and could come here to Egypt that I could be sure.

“So I ingrained myself into the lives of all the possible candidates, in order to bring them here when they were of age. I have been a benefactor in the lives of many young women. Each was tested and sent about their way when proven they weren’t the one, with, of course, a hefty inheritance to ensure they lived life comfortably.

“I could not afford to get close to these women, especially if they were not you. So I stayed aloof. I needed to stay focused on the task at hand.”

“What does that have to do with Franklin Summit?”

“I am almost as old as Ralabos, and I had to blend in with the humans. Blending in over a large period of time caused the need for a lot of identities.”

Rene cocked an eyebrow, urging him on.

“Franklin Summit was one of many,” he stated at last.

Rene blinked rapidly, trying to get her brain to understand what she did not want to hear. Franklin Summit had been a living, breathing human, not an “identity.”

“You hired someone to pose as Franklin Summit?” she asked in confusion.

“Show her,” Ralabos said strongly, wanting to put Rene out of her misery.

Thoth rose from his chair and let his hands fall straight at his sides. “I’m sorry,” was all he said.

Rene blinked and blinked as the image of Jonathan Thoth began to waiver, as if heat vapors were in the room. His image became so blurry that she actually rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. When she looked again, there stood Franklin Summit!

Her bottom lip quivered as strong emotion took over. No, these beings definitely weren’t human. They changed shape. They invaded your life, pretending to be someone they really weren’t. They led you on wild goose chases to bury a body that wasn’t even dead. They lured you halfway around the world, telling you someone you were fond of had died a gruesome death. They saw your pain and still they said nothing.

She turned to Ralabos. These beings seduced you in your dreams, making you want them more than anything you’ve ever wanted anything in your life. Made you fall in love with them.

Did she love Ralabos? That thought was shocking, especially as it had come upon her so quickly. No, because he probably wasn’t who he pretended to be either. Her long-lost love that had waited forever for her. Had she really fallen for that?

They were looking for her soul, they said. Perhaps they were evil. Evil has many faces, some of them gorgeous. Rene stood shakily. She needed to leave.

“You cannot leave,” Ralabos said simply. “There is so much more you don’t know, zenj’a. It is dangerous outside of this estate.”

“Really? Is someone going to lie to me, betray me? Take me somewhere under false pretenses? Too late, all that’s been covered.”

“You’re angry, and rightly so. Believe me, I–”

Rene cut him off. “Believe you?” she spat out. “On what grounds?”

“You need time to work this out,” Thoth said, wisely converting back to his true form. “Ralabos, we need to give her time before we tell her more, or it will fall on deaf ears.”

With much grumbling and protesting, Ralabos followed the counsel of the wise one. They left the study knowing they still had to break the worst of the news to Rene.

Ralabos felt her anger pounding into his being as he tried to concentrate and plan with Thoth what the next move should be. After two hours had passed, the anger began to recede; he guessed she was calming down. That is until Anaise burst into the dining room.

“She’s gone!”

* * * *

Seth watched the black water swirl, a thin bed of blue vapor hovering over the scrying bowl. He continued to chant softly over the water. Then slowly the blue vapor began to form itself into the shape of a woman. He smiled to himself.

Moments later, the image was complete. She was still breathtaking, even in human form. Now he knew what she looked like.