He’d told her he wouldn’t leave her alone and unprotected, but he was the biggest threat to her.
He ground his teeth against the pain slicing through him through the eight-point star burned in his flesh. A stroll through lava would be less painful than the shit incinerating him from the inside.
Since Inanna’s failed attempt to get him back several days ago, she was now determined to haul him to her temple. With the mood he was in, he’d probably kill her. Tempting as that was, it would mean his own death. And that, he couldn’t let happen, not while his realm needed him. Besides, the repercussions of killing a goddess meant causing a war Empyrea didn’t need right now.
Memories took him back to the fateful night he stopped at the Sumerian temple.
He’d spent centuries traipsing through the Realm of the Gods—through various pantheons—searching for his friend who’d been banished, unable to live with his guilt of being party to Ariana’s death. During that mind-numbing journey, he’d stopped at the Halls of the Guards in the Sumerian pantheon. And there Inanna was.
Males surrounded her. He’d thought her just another female of pleasure who worked the halls. Sure, she was stunning, but so were the females of his world.
When she wandered over, and he found out that she was a goddess, he’d been amused that she wanted him. However, hedidsuccumb to her seductive charms—a pleasant way to pass the night, he thought, and foolishly agreed not to use his powers while with her.
What the hell could she do?
He was an Empyrean, created to be all-powerful and feared.
Yes, the stupidity of his arrogance had tied him forever to his oath when he’d so foolishly agreed not to use his powers while with her.
Chapter 12
Reynner stepped through the portal mists and into the Sumerian’s temple. Satisfied she had no hallucinogenic herbs burning here, he walked inside.
A lamp came flying at him, missing his face by inches. The thing hit the pillar beside him and crashed to the floor, splintering into pieces. “You dared take this long?”
Inanna sat on the rumpled bedding, her chest heaving with each furious breath she took. Inky tresses fell across her flushed face. She resembled the lions she preferred to keep as guards, who lay near her circular bed.
Their low rumbles vibrated in the room as the animals stirred, sensing her anger. Tawny eyes flickered in his direction. Reynner simply held the predators’ stare. He’d faced worse than these two overgrown kittens.
Synchronous jaw-breaking yawns revealed their deadly incisors before they closed their yaps and rested their big heads on their paws.
Inanna rose from her bed and sashayed down the three stairs to his level. As she descended, her black gown parted, revealing her nakedness. It had little effect on him. He just wanted this over.
Her lustful gaze swept over him to linger on his face. He half expected her to launch herself at him. Instead, she drifted past him to the marble columns supporting the dome-shaped ceiling in the seating area. Black cushions with silver and blue embroidery were strewn on the floor around a low table. She pushed a black bowl aside, then picked up a pewter carafe and poured a ruby-red liquid into a matching goblet then glided toward him.
She held out the wine, but he continued to stare at her.
“It’s not drugged.” She pouted. Then, to prove a point, she sipped the liquor. Seconds later, she flung the goblet. It flew through the air, hit the opposite pillar, and fell to the floor with a dull clunk.
Yeah, he’d learned his lesson never to eat or drink anything in this place the hard way. But the unfamiliar musky, aromatic smell in the air grew stronger, and a light haze blanketed his mind.
Inanna drew closer, a smile curving her lips.
Reynner shook his head, trying to clear the haze…have to get back to…to…
The fragrance drifting through the room seeped into his pores and infiltrated his thoughts. His body started to relax. Hands caressing his back, slid to his front. The name he wanted vanished from his thoughts. A ripping sound echoed the chamber. Cool air brushed his skin, and his shirt disappeared. Heated hands stroked his chest.
His usual abhorrence of anyone touching him faded.
This washer.
Needs he’d suppressed for eons resurfaced. He had to have her…had to have—gods, he’d waited so long—
In the lust-induced miasma surrounding him, he grabbed her arms, pushed her against the pillar, and met gleaming, topaz eyes.
Something wasn’t right…the eyes…
Reynner shook his fuzzy head, tried to clear the haze. As she reached up and tried to kiss him, he grasped her face and peered into her eyes.
