Nocked for a Loop Read online

  “Why? I’m not the one who’s bleeding, you are.”

  As if to prove her point, a large drop of Christian’s blood landed on the bodice of her gown. They both watched it sink into the fabric. Then she glared at him. “I’m a mess.”

  He was relieved to see that her eyes, at least, had come uncrossed.

  Reaching up, she touched his nose with a fingertip and the bleeding stopped. “Dank you, I…”

  She giggled.

  Christian frowned. “By dnose ids sbelling.”

  She giggled again. “Pardon?’

  He glared at her.

  She reached up and touched his nose again.

  Christian wriggled his nose carefully. It felt more normal. “Thank you.”

  “Now put me down. I must try to make myself presentable.”

  Christian allowed her to slide from his arms until her feet touched the ground. But he didn’t release her. Instead he lowered his lips and claimed hers. She gasped and then stiffened as if trying to decide how she would handle his invasion. But she gradually softened against him, molding her soft curves into his body and bringing her arms up to twine about his neck.

  Sensations he’d never felt before swamped Christian. All reasoning shut down as his senses took over. Her scent enveloped him in a sweet haze. The feel of her skin against his created electric sparks that made him harden with desire. He tangled his fingers in her hair and increased the intensity of his kiss. His other hand slid down to cup a soft, round buttock and drag her against his rigid cock.

  She made a helpless little sound as he ground himself against her soft belly but she didn’t try to pull away.

  Far from it.

  She dropped her hands to his waist and held him tight, as if she were afraid he’d stop kissing her and move away. Her soft hands slipped under his shirt and caressed his back, making his cock throb with anticipation.

  Suddenly, without warning, Arion pulled away. She ran giggling toward the lake, her gown disappearing from her as she ran. Christian’s gaze hungrily devoured the newly exposed curves and, before he had time to consider his actions, he was after her. He ran full out toward the lake, pulling clothing off as he went. He hit the edge of the lake and dived, aiming for the spot where the last inch of her flawless white flesh had disappeared under the glistening water.

  The water was warm against his skin and so clear he could easily see her swimming away from him, her long, slender legs kicking gently as she moved inexorably toward a dark shape in the distance.

  Christian recognized it as the small island in the center of the lake. He smiled and increased the tempo of his strokes to try to catch up to her.

  She slowed once and half turned in the water to glance back at him, her perfect lips spreading in a delighted grin. She surged forward with a squeal when she saw him closing the gap. As she swam, her hair streamed out behind her like a thick layer of gold silk.

  Christian kicked harder and increased the pressure of his strokes in an effort to narrow the distance between them. Despite his best efforts, Arion hit the island well before he did and was waiting for him when he climbed out of the water.

  She was lying on her side in the lush grass, her head propped up on one elbow and a smile on her full, soft lips. She was completely dry, her golden hair lying demurely over her breasts and her top leg bent at the knee to hide the soft curls at the juncture of her thighs.

  Arion had to fight to keep from licking her lips as Christian emerged from the water. He had flawless olive skin and his ink-black hair glistened with purple highlights in the hot Olympus sun. His chest was hairless and smooth, with well-rounded pecs and tidy brown nipples.

  His body tapered from wide, muscular shoulders to a narrow waist, smoothing over sculpted ripples at his taut stomach to narrow hips. And at the juncture of his long, muscular legs… Well, he was magnificent. Long and hard, his thick cock bobbed wonderfully as he moved toward her.

  Arion gave up and licked her lips in anticipation. “You swim like a girl.”

  Christian frowned. “You had a head start.”

  She grinned. “I expected you to be more motivated, Cupid.”

  He flung himself to the ground over her, making her squeal in surprised delight. “I’ll show you motivated.” His lips lowered to within a breath of hers and he hovered there, drawing in the sweetness of her gasp as he pressed his rigid cock against her soft mound. Then his tongue slipped out and he caressed her lips, sliding deliciously along first her upper lip and then the velvet fullness of her lower lip.

  Arion sighed against his mouth and reached soft hands to clasp his buttocks, dragging him more tightly against her body. She lifted her knees and wrapped her calves around his thighs, pressing her moist heat against his throbbing cock. Christian felt dizzy from blood loss to his brain as every ounce of blood he owned surged into his throbbing cock.

  He lowered his lips to the smooth, white column of her throat and feathered kisses there, sliding inexorably toward the fragrant mounds of her breasts. His heart pounded hopefully in his chest as his tongue slid into the perfumed valley between her heavy breasts. His body throbbed in anticipation.

  He pulled one puckered, pink nipple into this mouth and sucked gently, reveling in the way the tender bud hardened and pushed toward his tongue. Arion arched her back and moaned, her fingers sliding through his still-damp hair. Christian released the happy little nipple and captured the other one, already rigid and puckering with anticipation.

  Arion seemed frantic with need. She wrapped her soft, lush body around him and rubbed her wet, hot pussy against him shamelessly. Christian slid down her body, licking and nipping her softly rounded belly on the way toward the sweet heat of her mound.

  She gasped as he covered her clitoris with his hot mouth and arched upward to drive the sensitive bud against his lips and tongue. Christian had intended to make gentle love to the special little bud but Arion had other ideas.

  She cried out and pushed his head against her body, grinding herself hard against his lips. Christian increased the pressure of his sucking until she screamed, arching into a powerful orgasm. Her long fingers, wrapped tightly around strands of his hair, twitching helplessly against his scalp. Her legs tightened around his shoulders.

  Christian licked his way up her gently quivering body and plunged his tongue into her mouth. She sucked it into the velvet heat of her mouth hungrily, as if the orgasm he’d given her had only served to enflame a much larger need that was demanding fulfillment. Christian settled himself between her plump thighs and pressed the thick head of his cock against her moist entrance. When she whimpered and opened her thighs wider he plunged deeply into her pussy. Arion’s eyes flew open wide and she gasped as his cock slammed home, his balls slapping loudly against her body.

  A half wild smile spread across her lush lips as he began to move.

  “Oh yes, Cupid, love me hard. Yes, that’s it, harder. Oh my gods!”

  Christian increased the tempo of his strokes until they were both gasping from the intensity. They consumed each others’ bodies, inhaling each others’ breath as if they’d been suffocating for months.

  Their passion built. Their bodies strained upward toward release. And their hearts thundered with the power of their mating. Christian felt himself sliding over that edge toward release but he gritted his teeth and held on, wanting to take her over first.

  He changed the angle of his strokes so that his hard cock brushed against her clitoris with every stroke. Arion gave a little cry and her body slid over that wonderful peak, crashing into overwhelming sensation on the other side. She jerked and quivered in release, the throbbing heat of her pussy pulling Christian into release with her.

  Their cries exploded into the silence of the peaceful lake and drifted across the sparkling water around the island.

  Christian lowered his forehead to hers, panting. Arion laughed softly as she struggled to recapture her own breath.

  Swamped with emotions he’d never felt before, Chris
tian captured her lips in a gentle kiss, savoring the spicy taste of her breath on his tongue. He slid to his side on the crushed grass and pulled her into his body. They lay that way for a few minutes in satisfied silence.

  Then Arion began to stir.

  Christian sat up. “Where are you going?”

  She turned a bright green gaze to him and smiled. Her heart-shaped face held a spot of color on each pale cheek. Her pouty lips looked swollen as if she’d been well kissed. It was all he could do not to pull her back to the grass and make love to her again. “I must go. They’ll be wondering where I’ve gone.”

  Christian stood up. “I’ll go with you.”

  She shook her head and lifted a hand to his face. “Nay. They must not know.”

  He frowned. “Why not?”

  “I have been promised to another.”

  Deep, irrational anger filled Christian. He took a step toward her, his hands clenching with the need to grab her and hold her there. “That’s not possible.”

  She laughed. It wasn’t a happy sound. “Unfortunately it is. As the younger daughter I am to be dispensed with as quickly and easily as possible, with no care to whom I mate.” Bitterness flavored her words.

  Christian reached for her, pulling her into his arms. “I won’t allow this.”

  Tears shimmered in her eyes. “It is done.”

  Stepping away from him, she moved to the water’s edge.

  “Who is it?”

  She turned back, her soft mouth twisting with strong feeling. “Leander.”

  Then she disappeared.

  Christian’s mouth fell open in shock. “Gods!”

  Chapter Three

  Lies, Complexities and Difficulties

  Christian stood on the shore of the lake and watched Arion swim toward the far shore.

  Suddenly the air around him changed and a small giggle caused him to turn. Callista was standing there staring at him with a spark in each beautiful eye.

  He realized suddenly that he was still naked.

  “Well, well. It looks like you and my sister got along famously, Cupid.”

  Christian frowned. “What are you doing here?”

  She shrugged, stepping closer. “Hiding from Leander.”

  Taking in her slightly disheveled appearance for the first time, Christian closed the distance between them and grabbed her hands, instantly concerned. “Has he harmed you?”

  She giggled. “Nay. We just argued. He can be very difficult at times.”

  Christian dropped her hands and sighed. “You know he’s promised to your sister.”

  Callista’s full lips formed into a pretty pout. “They don’t want each other. He and I belong together. That’s why I’m trying to get him to come to Earth with me.” She stopped and fixed a look on Christian, cocking her head. “You like Earth, don’t you, Cupid?”

  Christian was loathe to answer her question. He didn’t want to have any part in encouraging her to defy her grandfather. It would not end well for any of them. “He’ll make you mortal if you flee to Earth.”

  Callista turned away from him with a shrug. “I do not care. I wish only to be with the man I love.”

  “And what of your sister? What would that defection do to her?”

  Callista turned, her face transformed by a naughty smile. “She’d be free to marry someone of her own choosing wouldn’t she, Cupid?”

  Christian felt joy surge under his breast. He quickly smacked it down. No point setting up false hopes for his future. “Cupids do not marry for love.”

  Callista grinned. “Who knows what might occur in the near future.” She had a knowing smile on her beautiful face.

  Christian couldn’t resist asking. “What do you know that I don’t, goddess?”

  She shrugged. “Let us just say that things are occurring in the Garden of Love right at this very moment which may give you new opportunities for the future.”

  Christian frowned. “I refuse to engage in yearning for that which I cannot have. And you must do the same, Callista. Your fate has been chosen by your grandfather.”

  “That is why you must find a way around his demands.”

  Christian shook his head. “I cannot, Callista.”

  Her pretty face darkened and she clenched her fists. She took a step toward him and, in her anger, missed seeing a raised root on the ground before her. Her bare foot caught on the root and she fell forward with a little cry. She landed on Christian and they both hit the ground, hard.

  Christian gently shoved her off his chest, onto the grass and propped himself up on an elbow to look down at her. He brushed a wave of red-gold hair from her face so she could see. “Are you all right, goddess?”

  “You oversexed lout! I’ll see you dead for defiling her!”

  Christian turned to find a young man standing a mere ten feet away from where he and Callista lay in the lush grass. The thick carpet of green was still crushed and warm from when he and Arion had made sweet love there only moments earlier.

  The young god was dressed only in a warrior’s breeches and soft boots, sword drawn, legs spread in fighting stance and handsome square jaw clenched in anger. The god’s wavy gold hair was banded around his forehead with a gold strip of cloth and his smooth, naked chest glistened in the late-day sun.

  He was the epitome of barely leashed violence, looking for a place to spend itself.

  Christian sighed. “Leander, I presume?”

  “Stand and meet your fate, lecherous Cupid.”

  Christian looked down at himself. “The only sword I currently possess would not do well against yours.”

  Leander gave an angry shout and lunged toward Christian.

  Christian rolled away and leapt to his feet, supplying himself with breeches and a sword with just a thought.

  “You misunderstand the situation, young god.”

  Leander stepped forward, lashing downward with his sword to engage the battle.

  Christian met the god’s thrust and held.

  “Listen to him, Leander!” Callista begged, “He tells the truth.”

  Leander danced forward, brandishing his sword with breathtaking speed. It was all Christian could do to meet his thrusts and hold him off. “I find him naked, lying with you in the grass and you tell me ’twas an innocent affair!’” His voice rose in anger and he increased the intensity of his attack.

  Christian gritted his teeth and determined there was no reasoning with the young god. He’d have to start fighting back or he’d die. With a roar, Christian returned the attack, dancing forward with blinding speed and meeting each of Leander’s thrusts with a stronger one of his own.

  The clash and clank of steel filled the air over the small island and drifted across the water to the far shore.

  Both men were covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

  Both men had looks of such intensity on their faces that Callista despaired of reaching them with mere reason.

  Both men seemed determined to win at all costs.

  So Callista made the cost one they could not pay.

  She leapt between their swords.

  The beautiful goddess gasped and closed her eyes as the razor sharp point of one blade met her throat and the other touched her back.

  Leander swore and dropped his sword immediately, gathering her against his chest and covering her face and blood-flecked neck with impassioned kisses.

  Christian settled the point of his sword in the dirt at his feet and stood there, panting. “Well, I’m glad we got that behind us.” He glared at Leander. “Now that we know our cocks are pretty much the same size, can we figure out how to fix this mess so everybody gets what he wants?”

  Leander looked at Christian over Callista’s head. “If you can fix this mess, Cupid, I’ll be forever in your debt.”

  Christian grinned. “Prepare to draw up the ledger in my favor then, warrior, because I think I might have a way.”

  *

  Arion sat upon the gold divan and let her mind wander back ove
r sweet kisses and soft caresses on a carpet of fragrant green grass. She knew the memory would have to sustain her through a long, long life without love.

  She sighed.

  She could live with the lovelessness, it was the anger and jealousy of her sister she couldn’t bear to think about. Callista would grow to hate her for taking Leander away from her.

  Even if it wasn’t by choice.

  Arion looked up as her grandfather entered the room. At eight feet tall and the breadth of two normal men across the chest, he was impressive, even by god standards. As was his custom, he had left his glossy, dark brown hair down, allowing it to flow in smooth waves across his shoulders.

  “Glorious day, granddaughter.”

  Arion gave him a sad smile.

  He stopped before the fire and rested a large hand on the mantle, cocking his regal head at her. “Why so glum, little one?”

  Arion shook her head. They’d gone over it a thousand times. There was nothing to be gained by going over it again.

  He watched her for a heartbeat longer and then broached a subject he knew would interest her. “I’ve heard from the Cupid.”

  Arion jumped, casting a guilty gaze toward Zeus. She found herself staring at his impossibly broad chest, unwilling to meet his eyes. “Have you?”

  Fortunately, being a god and therefore almost completely self involved, Zeus didn’t seem to notice her guilty reaction to his mention of Christian. “He’s found Callista’s true love.”

  Arion’s pretty lips twisted. Having had a recent taste of what it might be like to actually mate for love rather than duty, she was not in the mood to put up with Zeus’ dusty old ideas of propriety and duty. “There will be nothing of true love in it, grandfather.”

  He turned his head with a jerk, narrowing startling silver eyes toward her. It was unlike her to speak to him so. “What do you know of love?”

  Her smile was filled with such sadness. “I know more than you think.”

  Christian and Callista walked into the room.

  Christian’s gaze slid immediately to Arion. He walked over to her and took her outstretched hand, favoring the velvety skin on the back of it with a kiss. The action was traditional and expected. The tenderness of the kiss was not.