Euphoria flooded my bloodstream and my body orgasmed violently. I gripped his dark hair and hung on as he drank from me. My panties soaked, and I shuddered out the last of my orgasm as he released my neck and claimed my mouth again. He stood us up, and I bounced onto the bed, sated, and confused as soon as he let go.
“That was...out of this world, Anthony. But what gives?”
He sat beside me and put one arm around my waist, pulling me into his body. “We got the room next to yours and shared the bed that's butted up to the wall behind this bed. With our hearing, we heard every word, movement, and moan in this bed last night. Elias got up and went for a run while you and Michael reunited, but I couldn't tear myself away.”
He looked at Elias and then at Michael, who stood across the room uncomfortably. Michael’s hair was a rat’s nest, and he wiped the sleep from his eyes. Elias yawned and looked at us with amusement written across his face.
Michael broke the silence. “I promised Riley I would take things as they come. She loves me, and I love you two as much as I do her. I was taken a little off guard, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. When she was within my reach, and I smelled her…I had to taste her.” Anthony gave us a small unrepentant smile. “I’ve never been so compelled to love someone.”
I stood and stretched. My skin tingled like I could physically feel three sets of eyes following my movements. I reached for the ceiling, on my tip toes, empowered. Being loved by three indecently hot men was certainly a self confidence booster.
“Okay, boys.” I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth, still clad in only my panties. They followed me like baby ducks. “We made it. We’re in Peru. What’s the first step?”
Michael grabbed his bag from the spot it had landed by the door the night before. He pulled out a toothbrush and joined me at the sink. “Well, I figured out how to open the portal, but I don’t know exactly where it is.” He slathered toothpaste on his brush and brushed vigorously.
“How did you figure out how to open the portal?” asked Elias suspiciously. “You’ve never told us that.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve been researching it for years.” He spat out his toothpaste. “It was always my hope to be able to get Riley to the spring before the Junta caught up with us.” He rinsed his mouth out. I neglected my own teeth, mesmerized by the familiarity of the movements of his hands as he brushed.
“I was actually planning to call you two for a meeting right before the Junta showed up. I’d found a volume when I was in Peru detailing where the Inca god of the sun, Inti, supposedly rose from the ground. I couldn’t pinpoint the location, as the paper was faded and torn, but I found a section that details how to open the portal. It should be as simple as putting blood on the rock around the portal,” he concluded, shrugging.
“If it’s that simple, how has no one succeeded before?” I asked, lathering up my hands to wash my face.
“I don’t know, Coya, but we might as well try it.”
Michael and I finished dressing, then I filled another bag of blood. Elias warmed three mugs for the men to drink while Anthony ordered room service for me. “She wants pancakes with extra syrup, bacon, and fried potatoes, if they have it,” Michael supplied when Anthony asked me what I’d like.
I smiled warmly at Michael’s words. He was trying to show he still remembered little things, even after the torture he’d endured. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he’d ordered his favorite breakfast, not mine. I would eat it and enjoy every bite.
Michael stood at the window, holding his mug, and I left him to his inner turmoil. Only time together would heal our wounds, and I wanted to check on Eli. I sat beside him on the bed and took his hand. “How are you?”
“I'm...wonderful, actually.” His lips pressed against my temple and lingered there. “I have you and my brothers. We stand a good chance of getting out of this with the Junta with Michael on our side. I haven’t felt this good in years.”
A knock interrupted us, so I jumped into the bed and covered my face while Anthony got my breakfast from room service. Michael walked over to the bathroom to rinse out the mugs and erase evidence of their morning drink.
While they talked and packed our things, I dug into my breakfast.
“Michael.” Elias put my clothes in the suitcase. “How did you manage to take trips to Peru without tipping Riley off?”
“I actually told her where I was going. I worked in pharmaceutical sales, and I was pretty good at it. It’s easy to get humans to buy things when you can charm them.” He chuckled. “She thought I was going to a convention, and she couldn’t go because of work.”
Satisfied with his explanation, we grabbed our bags in case we didn’t make it back to the hotel that night. I put the hoodie on to walk out of the hotel, still under the guise of an American celebrity.
I tried not to laugh at the three large men squeezing themselves into the small car. Elias and Anthony pushed the seats all the way back and were moderately comfortable. With Michael in the rear seat with me, it was cramped.
Anthony drove so Michael could give direction. “Since we're in Cusco already, we'll start with the Coricancha. It’s the sun temple of the Inca.” Our hotel was only about fifteen minutes from a parking garage near Coricancha. We walked from the car in awe of the structure. The stonework was impressive, and we could clearly see which walls were original to the Inca people. It was the oldest structure I’d ever seen, and it was beautiful.
Elias pulled out a wad of Peruvian sols that he’d stopped and exchanged during his run. He paid the attendant at the door, and we walked in. The inside of the temple was hushed, and I didn’t want to break the silence. The age of the stones weighed heavy in the room. Their history was palpable.
I skimmed a brochure Elias handed me, learning that a Spanish temple was built from the ruins of the original Inca temple. The site known as Coricancha was a museum. Michael studied his own brochure, looking for our most likely destination.
“We need to find the section that pre-dates the Inca empire. It should be the center of the structure, which was shaped like a sun. It was built before the Inca became a true powerhouse.” Elias motioned us down a hallway lit golden with the sun.
“This was the holy place of the sun god. It’s the least likely of my list to be a possible site to the underworld, but it was closest,” said Michael.
They led the way down the hall. We were supposed to seem like tourists, but I was the only one that made us look convincing. My head whipped left and right, trying to see everything at once.
