Tied In Knots (Immortals Book 7) Page 4

  Absu held back a shiver. Damn. It would be anything but. However, he couldn’t turn down such a magnanimous offer. Just the thought of her soft little hands on his body made him hard and aching all over. “And I will behave as a perfect gentleman, Charlie,” he managed to bite out.

  She finally raised her eyes and smiled brightly back at him. “I know you will, Absu.”

  Charlie suddenly became all cheer. She turned and sashayed―yes, sashayed―her lovely ass right out of the bathroom. Absu’s heart missed a beat. She forgot to agree on bathing suits. Perhaps she was of the generation who were freer with nudity? Maybe tonight he’d get a glimpse of that ass in all its glory. And he’d promised to acquit himself honorably. How could he stick to that?

  Absu followed Charlie back into his room, only to catch his breath. He turned quickly for another adjustment to the front of his slacks. She was bouncing her bottom on his bloody bed, for the gods’ sake.

  “I figured it would be as plush as it looked. I hope you don’t mind.” She grinned impishly. Yes, impishly. Hell’s minions would take great delight in tormenting him thusly.

  Absu couldn’t take it. He needed to say something, to move his courtship along so he could hold her, touch her, and have her pliant and willing underneath his strong demands.

  He cleared his throat. “Charlie.” He stepped briskly to the bed and put both hands on her shoulders, holding her in place after a final bounce. The warmth of her body travelled up his arms and straight to his heart. She stilled, turning expectant eyes up to his. He could swear she tipped her head with something akin to anticipation. Or did he imagine it? His mind went blank.

  “I’m…uh….” What had he meant to say? Ishkur’s suggestion flitted into his brain. “I’m, um, going to call you Chuck.”

  Charlie’s eyes grew wide for a moment, and then she giggled.

  Dammit. She was laughing at him. He, who always knew just the right thing to say to a woman, had become a total lack-wit and a dolt. He cleared his throat and started over. “What I mean to say is, I would like to get to know you better, and would feel honored if I could call you by a name that crosses no other’s lips.” There. That was better said.

  Or maybe not. Charlie clearly still attempted to smother her hilarity, while doing her best to mimic the gravity of his own expression. “I would be honored to have you call me Chuck,” she stated chokingly. “It would certainly be a first.”

  Absu ignored her almost-grin, figuring he’d better get everything he wanted to say out quickly, while he retained the courage. “I would also like to formally court you, if you will have me. Forgive my impropriety. I should have petitioned your brother first, but I find myself overcome with the need to know if my suit would be agreeable to you. I enjoy your company immensely and am quite drawn to your gregarious personality.”

  Her expression, heretofore far from serious, suddenly turned so. That could either be good or bad. Absu held his breath.

  “I would like that very much, Absu. And no, you don’t have to talk to Ken. I’m under no one’s dom…care at the moment. I’m in charge of my own decisions.”

  She put a hand up to touch his chest, and damn, it felt good.

  “I find I’m also drawn to you.” She smiled up at him and showed two dimples he instantly wanted to kiss, but he tamped that down and began making plans instead.

  “Good. During our courtship, we can cook together.” He ticked off a list on his fingers, his excitement growing. They would start with innocuous activities and work their way up to sexual exploits. “We will ride motorcycles. I will accompany you back to California and assess your connection to the area. If we find we are compatible, we may eventually spend time on both coasts.” Absu didn’t say it depended on threats from outside sources (i.e., Beletseri) and Charlie’s ex-husband’s sleazy connections. That could wait. He put up his fingers again.

  Charlie interrupted him with a cough. “Uh, Absu? Can I ask how long it’s been since you’ve had a girlfriend?”

  “Several hun…uh, years. Why?” he stammered, at his near mistake. He paused and regarded her, waiting for an explanation. Something with his planning was amiss?

  “Arranging to do things together is really nice,” she hesitated, sticking her tongue out to lick at her upper lip. “But it’s not only common interests that make a good relationship.”

  “Explain.” Absu imagined he’d love sharing his daily activities with Charlie.

  “Umm,” she answered slowly, and finally looked up, directly into his eyes. “Sometimes it’s about chemistry.” She colored up.

  Absu swallowed. Of course. He’d made the assumption that she would want to find common ground first. But clearly, she needed to know if he would be a good and kind lover, as well as an able provider and workmate. He could put her fears to rest on that score. “I’ve been told in the past that I am well versed in making a woman happy, so you need have no worries about that.”

  She continued to look at him with a certain expectancy on her face.

  Oh. Understanding dawned. “If I am hearing you correctly, you would like to see if there is some kind of a…spark between us?”

  “Uh-huh.” She nodded.

  Absu could tell it had taken a lot for her to get up the courage to ask. He kicked himself. Way to go, asshole. Here you are thinking logistics, a way to get from cooking to bondage, while the lady needed some romance.

  She sat very still. Waiting.

  Absu tried not to pounce. “Might I have the honor of claiming your lips in a kiss?” he rasped deeply.

  ****

  Charlie nodded her head, her stomach aquiver with butterflies. Would it be as good as she anticipated? Would it be what she needed?

  Absu dropped one hand from her shoulder and cupped the back of her head. He inched closer and lowered slowly, staring at her with his deep, sea-green eyes.

  Charlie’s hands threaded to the back of his head, and she plucked loose the thong holding his hair. She’d wanted to unleash his mane from its leather tie ever since she’d first met him, and she wasn’t disappointed. Curls cascaded to his shoulders causing a riot of scent to swirl around her. Charlie breathed him in—vanilla and cloves. She dared touch the softness, and much to her delight, Absu held back and let her play. But not for long. As her fingers tangled deeper into his curls, he dipped the final inches forward.

  Absu’s lips met hers. Soft, seeking. The world faded away until nothing existed but him, his mouth warm and tender, his breath tickling hers. Fingers flexed at her nape and he pulled back to bump noses before diving back to her mouth to brush the corners of her lips with the tip of his tongue. Her every nerve ending danced. He taunted and teased, sending her senses reeling, but she wanted more. Deeper.

  Any doubt Charlie might have harbored about imagining her attraction to Absu slipped away. Love at first kiss? Not possible. But Charlie’d had plenty of boyfriends and one lousy husband. This was different. And she knew it.

  She whimpered and opened her mouth to allow Absu access to deepen their kiss. She wanted to give him everything. He only had to take. He slanted his lips and increased the pressure for one sweet moment, and then…Charlie nearly cried out as he backed away.

  “That is sufficient for now, Chuck.”

  Seriously? Chuck? And, oh-fucking-no. That was not actually his palm patting her on the head. Hadn’t he been as blown away by the contact as she had? His body had remained far enough from hers that she couldn’t tell.

  Charlie blinked in confusion and nearly wept. What could possibly be the problem? She looked up at Absu, wanting to demand answers but held back as was her nature as a submissive, though right now she was having serious problems curbing her response.

  “You’re very young for me.” Absu stepped away, clasping his hands behind his back. “I feel we need to take this slowly or I might scare you away.” He nodded, looking and acting like he knew best.

  Charlie entertained a completely different opinion, but damn. She closed her eyes and slow
ly counted to ten. Having spent most of her adult life learning not to question a partner’s edicts, she needed to obey. Not that she couldn’t gently chide him for his decision.

  “You do realize I’ve been married, Absu. And I have Maity, whom I didn’t pick out of a cabbage patch,” she joked, trying like mad to keep the pout out of her voice.

  “I do,” Absu agreed, backing up a step. “But Ishkur told me your ex-husband behaved as an ill-mannered cad. So I aim to prove that not all men are dishonorable. If you decide to enter into a relationship with me, I will give you proper care and the respect you deserve.”

  Charlie’s brows drew together in a frown she attempted to hide by ducking her head to shuffle with the comforter. He couldn’t be serious? Respect…well, yeah. But care? Did that mean treating her with kid gloves? Surely not. Absu had to mean he would take things slowly to start, not continue treating her like porcelain with his pinkie finger permanently extended. How would she deal with that?

  It would be just her luck to find the one guy who rocked her world more than any she’d ever encountered, only to have him treat her like a princess. God dammit to hell, and shit. She swore up a storm inside her head. She was not a pedestal type of girl. She needed a dominant male in the bedroom who would call the shots and keep her guessing.

  Charlie stood up abruptly, knocking into Absu. His hands grasped her shoulders as she teetered, but she fended him off. “I need a little while to think about this, Absu,” she answered, and could tell by his frown he hadn’t expected her to demur. He was probably wondering what kind of woman she was not to accept his offer of veneration. I need to know if you can satisfy my needs. The ones you might find hard to accept, was what she wanted to say, but couldn’t. “There are things you don’t understand about me that might be a deal killer,” she allowed, then leaned in to give Absu a quick hug to soften her rejection.

  A definitively hard cock prodded into her soft belly, and a spark lit in her otherwise somber brain. Things might be sunnier than they seemed. Absu said he wanted to take things slowly, but his erection spoke a totally different language.

  Chapter Four

  Absu looked down the long table at his boss.

  After a late lunch, Marduk opened the meeting that was supposed to include gods only. That edict notwithstanding, the goddesses Lenore and Candy had taken seats defiantly at the table. They would not be denied. From what Absu knew, Marduk’s own wife would have demanded attendance, but was currently having what Doctor Dani-Lee described as Braxton Hicks contractions and been ordered to rest. He was told Tess’s sister Holly, who was also pregnant, was feeling under the weather, so she had crawled back into bed without making her customary fuss. And the other two goddesses―thank the powers that be―Glory and Dani, didn’t have the temperament to be fighters. Unlike the two at the table, they were content to leave the battling to their husbands.

  With a glare at the self-invitees, Marduk opened up the business at hand. “We have several orders of business to go over and assignments to be given. I’ve pulled Jake and his guys in California on deck for this one.” He spoke of the head of the DEA and the six men they’d come to know. “I’ve decided to enlist his help in…extricating Anna Kensilton―Tess, Holly, and Huxley’s birth mother―from her hiding place in Virginia. If she has any immortal essence in her, which is highly likely since she descends from both Enlil and Queen Ereshkigal’s father, she could be in danger from Beletseri. Since we know where she is, there’s no point using our god powers to bring her in, so Jake will do the job.

  “Shamash,” Marduk looked at one of their two resident computer geniuses, “I hate to ask you to go back to the Underworld, but can you head below and bring Nergal’s army of glowies up to date on the speed with which we must find the remaining Chosen? Get them tapped into every genealogical archive in the country and see if they can expedite our search. We’ll have Lahar, Emesh, and Dumuzi at the ready to investigate every lead you come up with. If they turn visible when confronting possible mates, so much the better. If they don’t, you will swap teams with Enlil, who will be working from here, to see if Ishkur, Ninurta, or Kulla regain their bodies.” His eyes sought out Enlil. “You will do the same in reverse. I want every god not yet mated to come in contact with every possibility of a Chosen.”

  “What about Shamash?” Enlil questioned. “He’s of the noncorpus group.”

  Marduk turned back to Sham. “You’ll have to gauge when you’re not needed by the glowies, and make quick rounds of any women deemed viable. I will leave that to your discretion.”

  The boss god continued, “Dagon, I want you and Anshar to be the liaison here at the compound to welcome our incoming Lauernley guests. They have been in touch. There will be a party of six arriving soon. Despite it being winter, they have asked us to find an uninhabited alcove in the outlying harbor where they will feel more comfortable. The two of you, being ocean serpents, should be able to come up with something appropriate. Also,” Marduk gave Anshar a little smirk, “it seems that your new great-grandfather is the king of his Rhine River faction, so treat him accordingly.”

  Anshar rolled his eyes. “Seriously? Couldn’t Lenore have descended from a plumber or an accountant?”

  His wife flipped him the bird. The royalty shit was apparently news to her, too.

  “It has to be a fucking king,” Anshar continued. “Do we have a name for this dude, or shall I just call him Gramps?”

  “His name is Waylon Blau, and I’m sure we will address him as we do our own King Nergal. If he wishes to remove the formalities for…family,” Marduk grinned at Anshar and Lenore, “I’m sure he’ll let you know.”

  Marduk turned his attention to Enten and Absu. “You two will greet and accompany the warlock faction, who will arrive later today. We’ve turned the heat on in the second cottage, which is where they will stay. As far as I can tell, this relative of Lenore’s is not a king, but has been around for a very long time and is an extremely powerful being. His name is Dorian Penmarch.”

  Lenore interjected. “My grandmother filled me in a bit. Penmarch is more than a thousand years old, having come from ancient Mesopotamia, as you do. But you haven’t run into him before because, by the time he was born, all of you had been relegated to the Underworld. And during your Merrymount years, he was on a different continent. He only came to America in the last century and now lives in Wisconsin.”

  Absu cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to quash your plans in any way,” he sighed, “but my intended has divulged the need to return to California to set her affairs in order. She has not an inkling that she will be returning here, or that she might be in danger, but I’ve decided to accompany her westward to hasten her move.”

  “Absu.” Marduk looked down and shuffled some papers. “I don’t doubt that you want to go with her.” He’d certainly understand the bond that had begun forming as soon as he’d met Charlie. “But only you have the dignitas to handle ancient beings, which many of our fellows,” he looked at Anshar and Dumuzi in particular, “do not. Since I want everything to go smoothly with our guests, you are needed here so they will use every power they have to help us.”

  Absu’s heart seized and he was about to put down a hell no, but Lenore beat him to it. “Listen, boss man,” she interrupted. “I get that, but Absu needs all the time he can get to win Charlie over.” She turned to him with a smirk. “No offense, Absu, but the gentlemanly shit you dish out works a lot slower than a good fuck, so you may be the last man mated.”

  His eyebrows raised at her impertinence, but despite thinking the goddess needed a good spanking, he held his tongue since she continued to speak up on his behalf. “My vote is that Absu goes to California…maybe takes Candy for backup, and I stay here and deal with my grandfather with Enten’s help.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Candy agreed. “I need to go west and take care of a few things, and it’s never a bad time to visit my mother.”

  It was clear from Enlil’s face that he wasn’t ke
en on the idea of his wife leaving for the opposite coast.

  “It’s only for a few weeks, sweet cheeks.” She looked at her mate with the heat of a promise in her eyes. “We can have phone sex…”

  Enlil grunted, seeming somewhat appeased.

  “Fine,” Marduk decreed. “That’s how we’ll play it. Now on to…wait a minute. I’m getting something from King Nergal.”

  The room went quiet while Marduk communicated in his head. His face grew grave. Whatever the news was, it couldn’t be good. Absu held his breath, and all eyes turned to their leader as he spoke.

  “Nergal has just been alerted to the fact that a number of demons have gone missing from hell.” Marduk’s voice was tense. “Lavarette keeps track of their numbers and completed a census where twelve of the ones who can become invisible have not been found since the last count.”

  “Those are also the ones without energy signatures,” Dagon reminded him. “Perhaps they’ve just cloaked themselves.”

  “I mentioned that to Nergal, and he said that the glowies had confined that particular type of demon to an area where they were unable to cloak.” His face was grave. “There are definitely a dozen missing.”

  “Beletseri?” Enlil asked, knowing the answer as well as anyone in the room.

  “Almost certainly. Nergal fears she’s ramping up her forces again and urges us to be extra vigilant.” He turned to Absu. “That means you will be accompanying your future mate back to California, but it has to be a quick turnaround. Take her brother Ken with you, and let him know what’s going on. And Absu,” Marduk wasn’t messing around, “the sooner you tell Charlie who we are, and what she is to you, the sooner you can be mated and she’ll gain goddess power, which means safety from the likes of Beletseri. Catch my meaning?”

  Absu sighed. He’d wanted time to bring the delicate human into his life. He was terribly afraid of scaring her. Now he was going to have to hasten his agenda, or pretend to be a vanilla lover, which he was not…and that sucked. There was no other word for it.