Cursed By The Gods Book 1 and 2

Chapter 26

Octavius felt the air around him tighten, his gut pinched as if he was being pulled into a vortex. Nauseous, he fell to his knees, he felt Ashterah’s hand holding him up. He felt like his body was sucked into a vacuum of hot air, squeezing his lungs and making his breath even harder to catch than when he had felt the burn of Ashterah emblem burn on his chest. Suddenly the feeling passed and just as he felt he would empty the content of his stomach, fresh air filled his lungs, he gulped gratefully and pulled away from Ashterah to stand on his shaky legs.

“I didn’t use my powers to shield you from the unpleasant feeling of teleporting. Sorry,” Ashterah said to him but she sounded anything but sorry.

He nodded anyway and looked around for something solid to hold on to and couldn’t find any.

“Ash, you’re back. Come to bed, babe,” a strong voice boomed so loud Octavius could swear he felt the floor of the room shake. He jerked quickly towards the direction of the voice and his eyes fell on the huge mountain of a man that lay on the wide expanse of Ashterah’s unabashedly n***d. His n***d body was tangled with the red and gold sheets on the bed, his strong arm was flung high over his head against the head board with muscles bunching in thick cords, his pure white hair was unruly but beautiful falling in waves across the plush red pillows, his eyes were an ethereal white that glowed as they fluttered open. He slung one arm across his washboard stomach and as he raised his right leg the corner of the red blanket that was kept carelessly across his waist slipped. Octavius looked away.

Ashterah crossed the room to the bed in long strides and turned the blanket down, she stood with her arms akimbo and her brows raised.

‘Get out, Seumas,” she commanded.

Seumas languidly stretched and reached to grab her waist and breasts, she slapped his hand away and looked towards Octavius who looked away immediately. Only then did Seumas notice his presence and when he did the white light of his eyes faded to a stormy gray. Seumas, god of the seas, looked Octavius up and down carefully keeping his facial expression blank, there was no telling what Ashterah would do if she knew he found the presence of her guest distasteful.

When Seumas looked back at Ashterah he saw the anger in her eyes and knew he had definitely stayed longer than he should. He conjured his clothes back to his body; blue tunic strapped only on his right shoulder, his arm bracelets clasped themselves on his arm and his trident, a bronze three-pronged spear appeared in his outstretched hand.

He stood up towering over both Ashterah and Octavius, he was so tall his head almost brushed the roof ceiling of Ashterah’s room. With a superior glance at Octavius he bent his head to kiss Ashterah but she turned her face away and pointed towards the door. Octavius pressed his lips together to keep from laughing and not until Seumas disappear through the door did he let his chuckle out.

“Seumas, god of the seas?”

“Yes,” Ashterah replied with sass. “I use him to pass time when I can’t stop thinking about you.”

All humor fled his face as he remembered why he was here in the first place. One thing he refused to do was lower his gaze when she approached him even though he knew Ashterah liked his stubbornness. He wanted to prove to her that even though he was giving her the permission to claim him he still wasn’t giving himself willingly to her. She must have sensed his resolve because she smiled and for the first time her smile looked genuine.

“Mortal man.” It sounded like a title she used whenever she wanted him to know there was much difference between their powers and status. “Whether or not you do this willingly doesn’t matter so long as you become mine. No one will want to know how much you resisted me when they see my brand on your body.”

She waved her hand lightly, melting the clothes off his body. Her huge green eyes travelled over his body a smile curving her lips as she saw him n***d and without obstruction for the first time. Octavius refused to let his shame become obvious, his heart sank as he watched her watch with predatory eyes unlike how Emilia looked at him. Emilia looked at him with adoring eyes and it was mutual but Ashterah watched him like she wanted to devour him whole. He half expected her to conjure a chair and a jar of wine so she could sit and watch him and maybe even ask him to dance for her.

Ashterah took a deep breath that made her chest rise and fall dramatically, she licked her lips and closed the distance between them.

“If I thought you were beautiful before, my love, I was wrong. If we had you up for auction in my father’s temple every god will kill themselves to have you.”

She slid her hand to the back of his neck and closed her lips against the n***d skin of his throat while her hand moved down to cup him. Octavius swallowed hard. He didn’t want to feel desire for her but he couldn’t help himself, she held him on a string and controlled him like a puppet.

Ashterah used her powers to get rid of her clothes and pressed her body to his moaning deep in her throat at how hot his skin felt against hers, more so because of the daemon in him. She slid her knee in between his legs and pushed him back. Octavius started to break his fall when he fell on something plush, something that happened to be a velvet red chair. He began to develop a strong hatred for the colors red and gold as much as he hated the female who was currently striding his hips.

Ashterah kissed her way from his throat to his lips where she clasped his head tight in her hands and kissed him so hard he could barely breathe. She took his hands, the hands he had deliberately dropped on the arm of the chair to prevent himself from touching her, intertwined their fingers and led his hands to her thighs. He let her do as she pleased, doing his best to keep himself aloof in the tidal storm of pleasure he had never felt before, never before knew existed. What he felt now made a mockery of all the times he had had made love to Emilia.

Ashterah smiled against his lips, raised her lower body up a bit and slid herself on him. She groaned deeply and chuckled against him. Octavius, against his wish let a moan slip past his lips. He closed his eyes against the pleasure he felt, an image of Emilia’s sweet face crept into his mind but he was way blinded by his pleasure to feel any guilt.

Ashterah pulled back from his lips even as she continued to bring herself on him, she opened his eyes and forced his chin down until he was looking right at her. She laughed.

“You can’t hide what you feel now, can you?”

Against his wish he answered. “No.”

“Good. It’s the best you have ever had?”

He nodded.

She laughed again “You once asked me what happened to men who refused me. They went insane with want for me and I refused them all but those who accepted me now come begging just to have me back, like Seumas.”

Octavius could barely think properly but he nodded anyway.

“I will give them all up for you,” she whispered. She opened her palm to reveal a burning emblem at the center, with her other hand she pulled his hair back. As her marked palm neared his neck she kissed him fiercely.

Octavius felt the slight burn of her hand against his neck and gasped. This time when she pulled back from his lips her fangs glistened in the light and he felt his fangs grow too. When she reached for his throat and bit through his skin he knew instinctively knew what he had to do. He drew back, saw an exposed spot of her neck and sank his teeth in.

As they drank from each other still joined together, pleasure rose so high they both thought they would go blind from it and when they came together Octavius felt a completion that came from soul deep, it was as if a part of him that had been torn apart and died was joined together again.

Ashterah moved back, her lips coated with his blood, and looked into his half-closed blue eyes. She slid her hand over all over his skin that glistened with sweat and sighed with satisfaction. He was beautiful like that and she was head over heels for him in a way she could not understand. But she was happy like that.