Two for Tamara (22 page)

“Oh, gah…I bet that smells disgusting.” Ezra held her fingers over her nose.

Tamara’s eyes widened. “Why don’t they just do that to all their opponents?” She looked over to Selena.

Hera floated forward. “It takes a lot of energy to do that. He’s obviously protecting his friend and pretty ticked off. I’d say if they could, they’d all light the entire arena up in one huge ball of fire. I know my Zeus wants to.” She flinched as they saw Cronus launch a blast of heat toward the god.

As she turned back, she couldn’t be prouder to call Rafe and Vin her Fated. Vin’s eyes blinked, and the chains fell from Balky’s damaged face. Both her men helped him down like he was a friend instead of the enemy.

Even she could see the man was near death with his pale ash skin. He was as tall as most of the Ravens but much bulkier. His eyes fascinated her, almost as if the real man were underneath the ugly facade of the outside. When his coal-black gaze focused on Vin, she too could see the beautiful purple hue trying to shine through.

The other Ravens moved off to kill more of Cronus’s men, leaving Rafe and Vin to steady the injured man. Tamara couldn’t take her eyes off of the fighting around them. It was as if time stood still. Vin had expended energy healing. Rafe had a deep laceration. More than likely it was poisoned and was weakened as well. The being coming up behind them on silent feet with his hands raised, a sword of fire in each hand, ready to take off all their heads, made her call out through their link.

Balky’s head turned, and his faltering steps steadied. Before Tamara could do so much as scream, he was running at the attacker, hitting him in the chest with his shoulder like a linebacker. The man flipped in the air, facing Balky with an evil grin. Again Balky ran, kicking out with both feet at his chest, sending him flying backward. Balky’s arms moved in a dance similar to tai chi, gathering energy from what Tamara could tell, then a burst of white light flew from his palms into the other being. It was unlike anything she’d seen. The man didn’t go up in flames from the blast. He became a pile of dust, while Balky just fell.

“Interesting,” Hera murmured.

“What the hell was that?” Tamara pointed toward the scene below them. Looking down from Olympus, the see-through floor took a bit to get used to, but it was a lot better than a small scrying bowl.

The goddess shrugged her shoulders.

“Can we do that?” Tamara tried again to get Hera to answer her.

“Do you still fear dying, Tamara?” Hera asked instead.

Tamara thought of her dreams.

The goddess nodded. “You’re no longer human. Have you had the dreams since you’ve bonded with your men?

“I’m not sure that’s how it works. I mean two black crows mean death.”

“Do you know a group of Ravens are called a murder?” Hera smiled.

Tamara wondered if it was true. She’d had the dreams of her death when she was mortal. Her heart pounded at the promise of a lifetime with Rafe and Vin.

“I see you realize the truth to my words.”

The pleasant expression on the goddess’s face morphed to one of fear.

Tamara’s gaze flew to the looking-glass floor. Cronus had Zeus in a headlock, the god’s red skin stark against Zeus’s tan face. Tamara couldn’t hear what was being said, but from the anger gleaming from Hera’s lavender eyes, she’d say it wasn’t good.

Max and Malcolm appeared out of nowhere, ripping Cronus away from Zeus. Blood poured from a wound in his back when he turned to face his father.

A gasp escaped all their mouths. Father and son were supposed to be unable to mortally wound one another. Selena placed her hand over her mother’s, but Hera vanished from Olympus.

“No!” Selena screamed.

Akra was there to hold her. “Selena, you can’t go down there. You must think of the babies.”

She debated staying up or going down. “
You will stay,
omorfia mou
, or I will be very angry.”
Rafe’s words soothed her.

An invisible hand was placed over hers, and the compulsion to look back down was too strong to resist. Her men were engaging in fierce battles with things twice their size. If she were to try and help, it would hinder more than anything.

Max and Malcolm attacked Cronus while Hera wrapped her arms around Zeus. She was glad to see the big red bastard had more wounds than any of her friends, but he still stood fighting.

She wanted to cheer as Cronus fell to one knee. She half expected him to jump back up, to pummel the King brothers. Instead he continued to fall backward. As she watched, a black hole appeared, swallowing him up along with those around him.

The Ravens jumped back. However, the beasts knew to follow their maker, leaping into the abyss before it closed up. The unlucky ones left behind let out a roar, looking around for their salvation.

With Hera by his side, Zeus shot lightning bolts through every remaining beast and being Cronus had brought onto Earth. The dust particles of their remains floated in the air.

Tamara sucked in her breath at his display of power. “Why didn’t he do that to begin with?”

“Because he had to focus all his strength on Cronus, Tamara,” Asteria answered, her eyes on her parents.

Just thinking of how close they’d come to losing, she turned to Selena. “Send me back down there. I need to be with them.”

Selena’s silver eyes lost their focus, a sign she was talking with her men. “Max says it’s safe for you. But Akra and the others must stay up here for now. I’m sorry.”

Tamara followed the spiral path to Akra’s mind.
“You’ll be safe here.”

“We are aware of the danger we pose to Earth now. Freedom was sweet for the short period we had.”

Tamara hated Cronus even more for the loss her friends were facing now. Their pain was a living breathing ache that wrapped around all of them. It was partly her doing, bringing them to her world, introducing them to things they’d never known, only to have it taken away.

“The fault is not yours, Tam
.”
Akra approached her. Tamara was almost as tall as the demon woman. “We will find a sense of freedom here, or we will meet the Most High. Either way it will be our decision, nobody else’s anymore. But we must mourn our sister’s loss. Go to your men. Let us worry about us.”
Akra hugged Tamara.

“Ready, T?” Selena asked.

With a nod, Tamara stepped away from Akra. Magic wrapped around her, and power more intense than she remembered from her friend swirled, taking her back to Earth.

She was pretty sure the Sprint Center was never going to look the same again. The charred remains of dozens of beasts, along with the pool of snake-things, were only the tip of the damage. Not to mention the rounded dome looked ready to crash in on them at any moment.

Tamara hoped Selena flashed her close to Rafe and Vin. She exhaled in relief when her best friend put her two feet from her men.

“Umm, guys, not to be a pest. But I think we should all get out before the building collapses on us.” Tamara walked up to Vin.

“What are you doing here? I thought we told you to stay safe?” Vin covered her lips with his own before she could respond.

Tamara blinked when Vin let her up for air. “The fight was over.”

Rafe pulled her from Vin. His arms surrounded her. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” she replied.

The only being of Cronus that hadn’t been decimated by Zeus was Balky. He lay flat.

“What about him?”

They all turned at the same time, hearing Balky groan. He rolled to the side, then to his knees. His black eyes flashed purple and then back to black, his arms went out to his sides, and then he disappeared.

“Son of a bitch. He poofed again,” Malcolm groused.

* * * *

Cronus hated the Ravens. He wanted to bathe in their blood and eat them for dinner. But he wanted to defeat his worthless son, Zeus, more than anything. And he’d almost beat the sniveling little bastard. Had it not been for the twins, Max and Malcolm, he’d have done it.

He ran his hand over the jagged stub where his horn used to be, the wound throbbing like a bitch. Cronus dipped his hand into one of the pools of running lava. The heat no longer affected him the way it had when he’d first been banished to the Hell realm. He piled a healthy dollop of the red-hot goo to the seeping area, and the stench of his own burning flesh made a fresh bout of rage surge through him.

“You.” He pointed to one of the unlucky demons who’d jumped through the portal with him. “Why did you not stay and fight?”

The two-headed being stammered, dropping to his knees, his hands reaching for Cronus. As if Cronus would want his sexual attentions, like that would ease his temper.

With a laugh, Cronus grabbed one of the heads and ripped it from the shoulders, his jaws opened wide to feast on the stupid thing. It was a poor substitute for the Ravens, but it soothed some of his anger. The head still attached whimpered, until Cronus turned his focus back to him.

“Why did you not stay and fight?” he asked again.

“The one named Balky. I saw them helping him. He betrayed you, master. I…thought you should know.”

He tried to open the mental link that he’d shared with all his creations, the one that would show him where Balky was, but slammed into a wall. He tried again, only to feel a pain like nothing since the last time he’d tried to enter Olympus stab into his brain.

Cronus roared. All the beings in the cavern took cover, scattering like the cowards they were except for the now single-headed one.

Lifting the large man to eye level, Cronus took control of his memories, rewinding to what he saw. Like a movie being played, he zeroed in as the twins treated the ugly fuck Cronus had taken under his wing like a son as if he were one of them. He wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation. Cronus muted out all conversation around them, wanting to hear if Balky had indeed betrayed his master. When he didn’t hear him offer up any secrets, probably because he didn’t know any, Cronus released the body without the head attached. After all, he was still hungry.

* * * *

The Ravens worked together, using their powers to secure the Sprint Center from the inside out. Rafe would rather be making love to Tamara. She’d cleaned up since he’d last seen her, and all he wanted to do was get her dirty again.

Damn, he couldn’t believe what went down. They’d almost had Cronus again, only to have him get swallowed up by a fucking black hole. Then Balky, who may or may not have been something other than a creation of the old god poofed out again. Seriously, Rafe was getting real tired of things going poof that shouldn’t.

Max walked over and slapped him on the arm. “You need to have that looked at?”

Tamara placed her hand over the wound, the gash knitting over seamlessly.

“Guess not.” Malcolm nodded at him.

Rafe had a hard time not smiling.

They’d done the honorable thing and helped clean up, rebuilding the structure to keep the humans from realizing their world was close to destruction. Now it was sexy time with their Fated.

“Sexy time?” Tamara laughed. She took a step away from him. The power she held over him and Vin intensified being this close. He ran his eyes down her body, centering between her thighs. Her breath caught, and he could almost smell her arousal, see it in her eyes as they flared.

He was becoming slightly obsessed with anything related to Tamara Mejia.

She held her hands out to Vin and Rafe, backing away from them with a come-hither glance. “Come on boys, it’s time to take me home and show me how much you missed me.”

Rafe shut his eyes, but Vin, being the smarter man, flashed him and Tamara back to the penthouse in King Towers, leaving a trail for Rafe to follow.

Flashing to the penthouse, he swore they didn’t deserve their woman. Rafe gulped at the sight of a naked and sprawled-out Tamara. Vin had used the few moments to divest them both of their clothing, and pride welled in his chest at the strong woman before them.

His head tipped back, and he thanked the Most High for giving her to them.

He stepped closer to the bed, hands skimming over her calves, up her thighs to cup between her legs.

Vin climbed onto the bed, capturing her lips in a kiss. Rafe wanted to start from her toes and work his way up, but the nectar he’d captured on his fingers drew him.

Magic pulsed, pressure swelling between them.

His tongue eased between her folds, her legs naturally opening for him. He used his fingers to hold her open, seeking out her hot wetness. God, she was soaking wet. When he sank his fingers into her, she shook and clasped onto them. He could already feel her climbing the peak of orgasm. Her pussy squeezed and relaxed. Rafe licked around his pulsating fingers and pressed his tongue against her clit, teasing her and himself with slow, steady strokes.

He moved his fingers in and out, her body responding, creaming them, holding them as he relentlessly stroked her clit. She needed to come, and he would give it to her. He needed to hear her cry out in pleasure. With a little more pressure against the bundle of nerves, he took her over the edge. Her nails raked his back.

Vin groaned. Rafe looked up to see Tamara’s hand palming the back of Vin’s head.

Yeah, they’d be wearing her marks with pride.

“You ready for us,
agape mou
?”

She nodded, pulling her legs together. Rafe wiped his chin with the back of his hand. He pushed away from the end of the bed, his dick bobbing like a fool against his stomach.

Vin ran his hand over her hair lovingly.

Tamara had them wrapped around her Spanish-Cajun finger, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I want to taste you too,” she murmured, her brown eyes drowsy.

“Me or him?” Rafe asked.

“Mmm, either.”

She was going to kill him. “Heads or tails?” Rafe raised his eyebrows in question.

Vin kissed Tamara on the lips one last time before moving down her body. Rafe took that to mean he got the upper half.