Cursed By The Gods Book 1 and 2

Chapter 27

“I need to go back home, Ashterah, it’s almost dawn.”

He was laying on his back on Ashterah’s bed with her head on his chest as she traced patterns all over his skin. Her hair was all over his face tickling his skin and she seemed content to stay as she was. He didn’t think gods could sleep but at some point she her eyes were closed and she appeared to have fallen asleep, little wonder when she had demanded that he make love to her two more times.

She stretched languidly against him, rubbing her body on him. She knew he would still get aroused but she decided to have mercy on him. She conjured a rippling image on Camelorn and noted that it was indeed near dawn, in a few hours he would be crowned king of Camelorn and she would be there to him in his glorious kingly splendor. She reluctantly pushed herself away from him, crawled to the foot of the bed and picked his clothes for him.

“You should wash first,” she said.

“No, I can do that as soon as I get back to my chambers,” he argued stubbornly. He collected her clothes and started to put them on when she stopped him with a hand on his.

“Do you want your wife knowing you have spent the night in another woman’s bed?” she grinned “Ever loyal Octavius of Camelorn, every woman smells differently and right now you smell like me. It won’t take a genius to notice you have been in another woman’s bed.”

She flicked her hand and used her powers to cause a washtub to appear, along with it came towels and some bath salts.

Octavius got rid of the blanket around him, he could understand now how Seumas could be unbashful about his nakedness after being used by Ashterah for her own pleasure. As soon as he neared the tub it was filled with hot water. He slid into it and added some salts to the water.

Ashterah left the bed and strolled over to him, swaying her lips as she went. She bent beside the tub and slipped her hand in, with her eyes on Octavius she started to work her hand high up his legs until he caught her hand in a tight grip.

“Leave me Ashterah, you own me now you can have me any time you want but I need to have some rules too,” he waited till she looked into his eyes before continuing. “I’m just a human – maybe a little bit different than most humans now – I have a wife too and that means you cannot request my presence here any time you want, you will not hurt my wife in anyway if you feel I have displeased you in anyway- making me sterile is enough punishment for her. The last thing is I have a kingdom to run which means I cannot be excused from my duties to serve you.”

Ashterah shook her head slowly as a sly smile curved her lips. “You have a lot to say about rules when you are just a slave. I have marked you Octavius and I will decide when I need you and when I don’t.”

As warm as the water was around his body Octavius suddenly turned cold at her declaration, his stomach churned. He couldn’t deny that she was right, he could still feel the burn of her brand behind his neck, she had even used her powers to make his hair longer to conceal it so nobody would see it which didn’t make him feel better because he could feel it in the depth of his soul. He was no different from a s*x slave to her.

Ashterah saw his jaw tighten to braking point, even though he refused to say anything more she knew he was hurt and instantly regretted her words. She pulled back from the tub and sat on her heels.

‘I am sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” She put her right palm over the left and said some strange words under her breath, when she lifted her right palm there was a golden key on her left palm. It shone with a light of its own revealing very intricate designs that were strangely beautiful. She manifested a brown cord and slipped the key through it until it got to the center of the cord, she moved behind Octavius and tied the cord behind his neck. It fell cold against the center of his chest.

“What is this?” Octavius asked guardedly.

“No need to sound like that, my love. You are right, you are going to be a king very soon and your people need you as much as I do.” When he started to make protests about her words she put her index finger to his lips. “You know I will always watch you, I will know when you are alone and when you are too busy. This key opens passages to Mount Kpamos, consider yourself lucky, my love, many men want to be in possession of one like this key. Any time you want to come here just hold this key and whisper my name and you will be here.”

Octavius snorted. “I doubt I will ever want to be here willingly.”

Ashterah laughed “Trust me, mortal man, there will be times when you will come to find me. You will be desperate to be in my presence so keep this key, this key is a guarantee that I will not rudely demand your presence when it doesn’t please you. Bear in mind that you cannot use it to leave here whenever you want, I alone decide when you leave.”

He seriously doubted that but he let her leave the cord tied around his neck with the key dangling from its middle. Once he was done bathing he climbed out of the tub, dried himself and pulled his clothes on. Ashterah came up from behind him, rested her head on his strong back and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I can’t wait to see you at the ceremony today, my love. It will take all my powers to keep my hands away from you because I know how handsome you will look with a crown on your head and a gold robe across your shoulders.” She c****d her head to the side to look at his face “Your wife is a lucky woman.”

He tensed immediately. “Keep my wife away from this. Don’t talk about her, ever!”

She laughed wickedly “Remember your place, lover boy, you do not command me. You have no power over me, my love, you’re the marked one not me.”

He pulled her hands away from his body and turned to face her. “I need to go. Let me go.”

With a superior smile she nodded and put her hands on his chest pushing him gently. Octavius spread him arms wide expecting to fall against the hard floor of wherever she thought he deserved to be dropped today for his ‘impudent’. He was surprised when he fell on his bed against his fur blanket with the fur coat he had forgotten in her temple dropping on him.