Divine Ecstasy (The Guardians of the Realms Book 8) (7 page)

What would happen if she wasn’t able to have real pleasure in sex, in their bond?

She stilled. Something else wasn’t right about this, aside from her sickening reaction.

Why wasn’t she in pain from not finishing the frenzy? Delaying it was reported to be excruciating.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want him. The desire simmering beneath her fear and the slick throbbing from his fingers inside her told her this wasn’t over.

“Why doesn’t this feel like the mating frenzy?” she asked, sliding her hand to her stomach.

He ported directly in front of her then, his gaze searching hers, seeking answers in her expression. Answers he wouldn’t find. His eyes narrowed, and she swore she felt too much concern. She couldn’t handle his pity.

That was before he cocked a dark brow. “This isn’t frenzied, Sacha?” he asked, gently lifting her hand and placing it against his throbbing cock. His eyes were still bright with want, but she felt his confusion. And something inside her felt like he was trying to ease her mood more than screw her.

She stifled a groan and forced her hand away, still feeling his heat against her palm. Could she finish it now? Did she dare try to risk more panic and humiliation? She wanted to, but she felt like she needed more time. Time to be alone to find some semblance of herself and find the answer to how she was going to do this.

She wasn’t sure what to do as he spoke. “Our souls are already connected,
thisavre mou
.”

She didn’t have the harsh reaction to the endearment this time and she was thankful.

She narrowed her eyes. “What are you saying?” She was still half waiting for him to pounce on her, and hated that she couldn’t get a handle on the small pangs of unease.

He stared at her as if speaking were difficult. “That the bond is complete.” She felt confusion and controlled intensity coming from their bond that jacked her nerves up to new levels.

“We don’t need to blood bond now?” Could she truly hope that she’d been given one reprieve in this mating? That he’d used his soul power to skip all the steps a normal mated pair would have to go through? Blood bonding was the section of the ceremonies nearly every Immortal dreaded, as it showed each mate the most poignant memories of their partner’s past.

“Those ceremonies don’t pertain to us. Now, tell me what happened.” That confirmation eased her some, but that should have completely dissolved it. It hadn’t; she was still on edge, barely holding on. The desire was sizzling under her skin, but the anxiety felt like it would jump out at any moment, making her muscles ache.

“I need some time to process this. I’m not fighting this. But I can’t finish it now. I need you to go.” So she could figure out exactly how it went wrong and figure out a way through this. A muscle at his jaw ticked and she felt his immense shock in the bond, though it didn’t show.

Even though she was getting snippets of his emotion through their bond, a part of her still half expected a Godlike tantrum at her words.

All she felt from him was need and genuine worry, but she was thankful he hadn’t tried to touch her, tempt her back into his arms, because she was treading a thin line and that would have sent her over the edge.

*****

Hades wasn’t sure what the hell was going on. Sacha looked utterly beautiful and completely calm, yet he was feeling emotions so deep in her soul he couldn’t begin to understand. Panic, desire, distress, fear, need, anxiety. And so much more, but she refused to explain why, and her range of emotions made it impossible for him to push for fear of making it worse. She seemed so fragile one second and a force of strength the next. He was at a fucking loss.

She wanted time. Wanted him to leave so she had time? Shock held him still.

His cock was rock hard and she was confusing him at every turn. He wasn’t sure what direction was up at this point. Never had a female reacted like that to his touch. And having one ask him to leave?

She was his female. The soul bond should add something intense and wild and perfect. Not this.

His jaw had locked into place from the moment he saw the curve of her bare back and the temptation of her perfect ass. From there he’d experienced every emotion imaginable and so had she.

When it started in the room, he’d been too far gone attempting to control the frenzied need created by her touch. He’d managed to force it under, some, but by then he’d lost her somehow. When the first hint of her fear invaded his mind, he’d finally been able to beat back all the blinding desire only to have to port after her like a pup.

In his experience females didn’t burn hot and then flee. They stayed and enjoyed all the pleasures he had to offer. And when he grinned at one, they sure as hell didn’t ask for him to leave. He was aghast. And… worried. Which was new. He hated the emotions coming from her, and it didn’t help that she’d closed him off, he could feel it like a steel trap. She’d drawn away. And the fear she felt made his stomach turn.

This was his female, he’d never tasted anything like the sweetness of her skin, and he hadn’t even had a fraction of the time he needed to sample it all, to give them both the release they needed.

He hissed out a breath. He needed to speak to his son. Pothos would tell him about his female and give him a damned clue what the hell was hurting her, because her emotions were driving him mad. He couldn’t fix things if he didn’t know what caused them, and the need to care for her was ingrained so deep inside his soul it felt like he was tearing apart. He’d never felt such a driving need.

The only time he’d felt the same intensity was the moment he’d set eyes on Pothos for the first time. The infant had slayed him. And now his female was.

“How long?” He attempted to conceal his exasperation. If he hadn’t felt her sincere fear, he would have… Fuck. What the hell could he have done? Demanded she bend over the balcony so he could see her ass again? Her entire body had stiffened, and he could see as well as feel how much she didn’t want his touch.

“I’m not sure. Maybe a day. I will call to you.” She confirmed with a slight nod of her beautiful head.

He didn’t see the relief in her beautiful eyes, but he felt it.

Fucking hell.

Pothos, meet me at your home.
He needed to figure it all out. He growled, because he also needed a home of his own. He hadn’t had time, but he needed to rectify that soon. His female needed space and greenery, it seemed, considering that the last thing he’d seen before porting away were hundreds of potted plants. When she finally came to him, she would be comfortable. Fuck.

When he reformed, he stood in a room full of females. He growled in annoyance, having forgotten they were even there. They were enjoying each other, naked, and the scent of female arousal hit him hard.

The second it did, he stilled. His mind reeled as his entire world shifted around him. A part of him had known, but confirmation after his female had denied him was a harsh jolt. Looking out at the sea of beautiful female flesh writhing together, their moans echoing in the room, he realized one thing was blatantly certain, he had no interest in joining them. His usually more than eager cock was less than enticed at the idea of anyone’s smooth flesh but his female’s.

The room felt like it was spinning in a wide arc around him.

For the first time in his life, the sight of females, his true joy in existence, held no appeal. Even one of the bronzed beauties beckoning to him did absolutely nothing for him. It didn’t matter how similar her coloring, she wasn’t his female.

Females moved to him, soft hands met his bare chest, and his muscles jerked in distaste. He just stood there staring at them all, his jaw hard. He didn’t speak when he felt his son reform at his side. He didn’t hear any words; not even the sounds of wet flesh and throaty calls made it through the buzzing in his ears.

The second another pair of hands slid to the zipper of his pants, he actually felt a little ill. He lifted the hands away in a kind of blind stupor before teleporting to a mountaintop without having said a single word. If his female denied him for good, it seemed he’d never feel the joy and pleasures in a female’s hands.

Snow fell all around him as he processed what just happened. His hands fisted at his sides. He thought back to the sight of Sacha’s pert ass, and his cock started growing, more than interested. He felt the harsh need rebuilding at a single mental image.

The bastard was definitely hers.

Where are you?
his son said a moment later.

He couldn’t mentally speak.

Suddenly the reason for his sisters’ loyalty to their consorts was confirmed in harsh light. Aphrodite had always taunted him with how much hotter and perfect her life was with Ladon. How he’d never know true pleasure until he had a female to soul bond. She hadn’t admitted to this part.

His wings flexed and twitched.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, and an ache had set up in his head. He couldn’t do anything without knowing what the hell went wrong.

Send Sirena to check on my female,
Hades demanded before snapping,
And send the females back to their own homes before coming to me.

He released a breath as he sent his son a visual of where he was.

Her emotions eased back from him when he’d left her, so there was that, he thought derisively. Now all he could think of was that he’d have one female for eternity. It kept playing in his mind. He needed to find a way to get her to accept him or it was going to be one long fucking eternity.

Pothos responded within seconds, concerned,
Is Sacha okay?

A moment later his son reformed at his side.

“What happened?” His son’s tone was one of castigation, and Hades was in no mood. He glared at the boy before demanding, “Tell me about my female.”

Pothos stared at him for long moments before shaking his head. “I told you… Now start from the beginning.”

Hades bit out the entire thing, not leaving out any details.

Pothos groaned and ran both hands over his head. “Damn it. Why can’t you comprehend the concept of too much fucking information? Don’t tell me that shit. Fuck me, this is awkward.” His son took a deep breath and Hades shook his head.

“I’ll never understand your issues with sex.”

Pothos growled. “If I have any issues, it’s the fact that my father has no problem whipping his dick out at the slightest breeze. I don’t need to imagine any of that going on with Sacha. Sacha is like a sister to me, and now I’m hearing about you almost fucking her and what she smells like and shit.”

“Issues,” he gritted out as his son bit out more expletives. Sex was beautiful. Females were intoxicating, or they always had been. He closed his eyes as he rolled his tense shoulders. The need was getting stronger, and his actual soul fucking thrummed as if he needed to get closer to her now. None of that could be good, and he didn’t have the ability to even question his sister, to see what would happen if this wasn’t fed. His female said she wasn’t denying it, but he wasn’t so sure.

The last thing he had time for was dealing with why his son had something against pleasure.

“Wait. You soul bonded her when she was fucking asleep?”

“Yes,” he bit out. Did everyone forget he was a God? His wings flexed in the wind and he tried to control the need.

“We asked if you touched her.”

He growled. “And I hadn’t.” His son wasn’t helping. He ran his hands through his hair again, wanting the long mass gone. It irritated him.

His son just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. “Shit.” A beat passed. “Okay, give me a second.” Another moment slid by until Pothos finally added, “Sacha is logical. That’s where you’re lucky. But, fuck, I told you she was born in Apollo and Hermes’ labs.”

Hades nodded in agitation. His son had said that, but it had been while Hades was concerned with getting to Sacha. He hadn’t considered what that meant.

He was now… And his breathing sawed out as tension filled the space between them.

P waited a beat before speaking. “Okay, this is not going to be pretty since I don’t think you know what being born in the labs means.” Hades felt tension pull every muscle tight. Need slowly morphed into something else, something ugly, as Pothos spoke. “Sacha was born a slave. I think she was there for at least several decades. I don’t know details of what she went through there and that’s her fucking story. I do know what the general order of things were. Young were taken at birth and raised in warrior camps after their family telepathic links were severed. When you reached your majority at twenty years old, you were sectioned into groups based on skills—servants, warriors, guards—but they were all required to submit themselves for breeding. The females started with Apollo and Hermes before being passed to the guards.”

Hades’ vision burned crimson as fury ripped through him. Knowing of his brother’s methods for building his army in theory was one thing, having it painted like that while imagining Sacha was too much. His wings flexed wide as tension and a blinding need to kill filled him. Wind tore around them in gusts that matched his rage.

He barely heard his son’s soft words through the rage. “The only Gods she had any experience with were them. You may have triggered old memories.”

He remembered her rubbing her wrists after she’d teleported from his arms. Her beautiful features hadn’t shown any fear or hurt… but she’d felt the echoes of shackles. He felt physically ill.

Hades growled low, deadly. He’d fucking hated his brothers before, but this… hate was too tame a word. It was blinding. All he wanted, all he could imagine was his brother’s blood running through his fingers. Death was too good for Hermes and Apollo both. He imagined their hands on Sacha’s smooth skin, and the ground beneath his feet shook. He searched the mental link to Apollo and it was still silent, as it had been. He would find him and he would shackle the male and bleed him dry as he ripped gaping holes in the male’s soul just to hear his screams.