It felt incredible. She could only lie there, riding the waves of pleasure and moaning in joy as he thrust in and out.
She couldn’t believe it. A second climax was building. Dear Lord.
The familiar rippling built to a peak and she cried out. He did too. She spasmed as her body shot into heaven again. His body jerked with wild abandon, both of them crashing over the same wave at the same time.
He rode her to the last aftershock and then collapsed on top of her. Taking his heat and weight was no hardship. She felt protected, covered with his love. Their chests heaved for another few seconds, and when he rolled off her, he gathered her in his arms.
“That was incredible,” he said, panting. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Hell, no. Every bit of it felt fantastic. I’ve never… well, let’s just leave it at fantastic.”
He chuckled. “Okay, then. If that will hold you for a while, I’ll make something for dinner. I’m starving.”
She was too but hadn’t noticed until he said something. “Can I help?”
He rolled out of bed and pulled on his pants. “No. You stay right there and rest.”
That sounded perfect to her. She didn’t want to move. She could lie there and bask in the afterglow all night… or until dinner was ready.
“I’ll tell you the rest after we eat.”
The rest? “The rest of what?”
“Zina. I thought you wanted to know.”
“Oh, I do.” Bliss couldn’t believe she’d almost forgotten about her nemesis. Good sex will do that to a person, I guess.
Drake chuckled. “Practice those words.”
“What words?”
“I do.”
Chapter 21
Drake and Bliss sat at his tiny table and bumped knees. Fortunately, when bumping knees with the love of his life, Drake didn’t mind at all.
“So, tell me. What happened to Zina?” Bliss took a bite of her chili dog—Drake’s specialty—and chewed politely.
“Well, it’s a long story.”
She nodded, swallowed, and said, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Unless you react badly to the truth, and then you might run out of here screaming.
“Well, it’s like this… I need to tell you more about my supernatural world before what happened to Zina makes any sense to you.”
Bliss groaned. “Oh, no. There’s more? Is this it? Because I’m really getting sick of learning all this crap nobody knows and being sworn to secrecy.”
“This is it. In fact, this is such a big secret, most paranormals don’t even know about it.”
“Fabulous,” Bliss muttered.
“It’s not too late if you really don’t want to know. I don’t have to—”
“Oh, yes you do. Otherwise I’ll wonder and project and drive myself crazy. Please, tell me everything. Whatever it is, it can’t be worse than finding out you’re a dragon.”
Hold that thought.
Drake bought some time by taking a bite of his own hot dog. Someone else did most of the cooking at the firehouse, and his kitchen was so tiny he’d never learned much more than how to open a can of chili and microwave a ready meal.
Bliss crossed her arms and waited for him to swallow. Apparently she wasn’t going to eat until he told her the story. Just as well… when she learns about Mother Nature and all the rest of the pantheon, she might choke on her hot dog.
“Okay, here goes… Do you remember the Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses from your mythology books?”
Bliss turned her head without breaking eye contact. “Yeah…” she said slowly, as if preparing to be skeptical.
“Well, they’re real. Case in point—Vulcan.”
Her eyes narrowed. “But Vulcan is a Roman god.”
“You’re right. His name in Greek is Hephaestus, but he prefers Vulcan. It reminds him of his blacksmith shop inside a volcano. I don’t think he gets to spend a lot of time there anymore, and he misses it.” Shut up, Drake. You’re babbling.
Bliss leaned forward. “Let me get this straight. You’re saying the reason Vulcan was able to walk through a wall and transport me out of Zina’s clutches was because he’s a god?”
“Correct.” Whew, this is going better than I thought.
And then Bliss burst out laughing. When her laughter disintegrated into giggles, she swiped at her eyes and said, “I suppose that’s one explanation for a majorly cool magic trick.”
Damn. If she didn’t believe Vulcan was a god, how would he explain Gaia and all the rest?
She held up her index finger as if she’d just remembered something. “Okay, so let’s say he’s a god. When he took me somewhere with a blinding white light, was that supposed to be Heaven?”
“Ah, I don’t think so. I wasn’t with you so I can’t say for sure, but he may have tried to blind you so you couldn’t see the rest of the Council.”
“Council? What Council?”
“It’s called the Gods and Immortals Association.”
“Wait a minute… we weren’t alone. I did hear a woman chewing him out for taking me there.”
Here we go… “That would be Gaia, also known as Mother Nature. She’s the head of the Council.”
Bliss’s jaw dropped and the conversation took a long, awkward pause.
“She’s the one who took Zina out.”
Bliss gasped. “She killed her?”
“Well, no. I said that wrong. Actually, she took away her fire, her flight, and her fertility, then dumped her in Siberia.
At last, Bliss closed her mouth and gulped.
“She wants to meet you.”
“Me? Are you saying Mother Nature is real and she wants to meet me?” Bliss’s eyes opened so wide, he could see the white all around her pretty brown irises.
Drake took a deep breath. “Yes. She’s very powerful, so I don’t blame you for being afraid.”
“I’m not…” Bliss took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Hell. I’m lying. I’m terrified. I can’t forget that blinding light and her anger at Vulcan for bringing me… wherever it was.”
“The Council is headquartered in a downtown office building.”
“In Boston?”
“Yes. They can go anywhere they want to with a snap of their fingers, but they seem to like it here. At least Gaia does.”
Bliss started with the giggles this time and worked herself into laughter. “Of all places… Boston? Why not Tahiti or Rio?”
“She likes the change of seasons.”
“Well, she’s freakin’ got it here.”
Drake chuckled, not only because Bliss entertained him, but also because he was relieved. His lover seemed to believe him. He smiled as he realized that was major evidence of her trust.
“So, why does she want to meet me?”
“She has a job offer for you.”
Bliss’s eyebrows shot up. “A job offer? What kind of job can I do for Mother Nature? Weed the public gardens? I’m pretty sure there are city workers already doing that.”
Now Bliss was babbling. He had to quickly explain the situation before she panicked.
“Bliss, honey, listen carefully. When I helped capture Zina, Mother Nature rewarded me by giving me back my immortality. I respectfully declined unless she could do the same for you. I couldn’t imagine going through eternity without the woman I love. As it turns out, she needs more muses. The original nine aren’t able to keep up with all the technological advances.” He waited for her to digest that much information before he continued… only Bliss filled in the blanks herself.
“And she wants me to be a muse?”