“So, you have one more semester left?”

  She nodded, “Yes, for my four-year degree. I have a month before I have to be back there. More than long enough, if things go well. So what were you up to before Nate destroyed your life?”

  I chuckled, “Well, I’d just graduated from Stanford, actually.”

  She gave me a mock horrified look, “Law?”

  I laughed, “No, business.”

  She giggled, “There go all my lawyer jokes, just never mind now.”

  I snickered, “Anyway, I had my MBA, still do I guess but it’s a little dusty. I was going back for one more year, at least until I got caught laying low. They have a one-year master’s course for business.”

  She squeezed my arm lightly, “That’s very interesting. I’m starting to think you’re too good to be true.”

  I laughed, at her echoing of my own thoughts.

  “I’m just me, a simple god of darkness with vast unfathomable powers.”

  She giggled, “No, I’m serious, everything I learn about you really works for me.”

  I asked, “I see, so it was the business degree that made me irresistible?”

  She winked, “I don’t like business, I like people. I mean, I know people are a big part of that too, but I mean all the stuff that goes with it. Boring. Spreadsheets put me to sleep.”

  “So, you suffer from insomnia, and need to read my spreadsheets?”

  She blinked up at me, “You really don’t know?”

  I shrugged, “Know what?”

  She sighed, “Sorry, I just assumed you knew a lot about my father’s business. My mother is Katerina Johnson, and one day I’ll inherit her business empire, when I’d rather be sitting on a couch across from people in need of help.”

  I blinked, recognizing the name. I just hadn’t put it together, she hadn’t shared her last name, and Mark had a lot of kids with a lot of women.

  “Oh. So you want a man in your life that can help with that, when the time comes.”

  She nodded, then made a face, “In my life? Something like that.”

  I wasn’t sure what she was getting at there, so let it pass.

  I grinned, “So what else makes me too good to be true? If that was the straw, what was already on the camel’s back?”

  She snickered, “I’ll tell you if you tell me why you were so jealous at the house?”

  Damn, she noticed that. Most women hated my possessiveness, I tended to be super protective and demanding, if not controlling. Not exactly something I talked about on a first date, and this wasn’t really a date. This was two people getting to know each other before launching a plan of vengeance.

  I wasn’t sure what to say, so I changed the subject. If she was truly what she appeared to be, then I still couldn’t have her and there was no point in telling her how amazing she was. If she was a seductive manipulator, which I was starting to doubt like an idiot, then I’d just be handing her ammunition to use to manipulate me. We weren’t having that conversation yet.

  I asked, “So, what hotel are we staying at in separate rooms?”

  I regretted putting it that way almost immediately, but she had me on the rocks so to speak. She was too good to be real, I had to be missing something.

  She pouted, “I’ll get a two-room suite, we don’t want to be far apart if we’re found.”

  “That’s true. I’m just… trying not to make assumptions.”

  She let go of my arm, and the absence of her touch there really bugged me for some reason. Shit, I’d hurt her feelings. Or she was manipulating me into chasing her by being less available. Damnit, I was getting a headache trying to figure the beauty out. I wasn’t even sure if it was about the rooms, or because I’d backed down on the stickier conversation we’d been flirting over.

  I said, “So, after that? And you never answered me about the hotel.”

  She said, “Dinner and a show, maybe. After I get changed.”

  I nodded, “That works. I need a shower too, get the chorine off and put on nicer clothes.”

  She bit her lip, “The Wynn, to answer your question.”

  She tilted her head, and then smiled widely as she tripped over her own feet and stumbled right into a pair walking down the street.

  “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Are you two okay?”

  They both nodded and laughed, “Fine, you?” the man asked.

  She smiled brightly, “Perfect, just a little embarrassed. You two are a gorgeous couple by the way, sorry about that.”

  Then she walked back over to me and we continued down the street. She was humming in satisfaction, and she seemed like her happy self again.

  “What was that?” I asked curiously.

  She winked up at me, “Just a little push. Locals, best friends for years, and incredibly compatible with a lot of heat. They’ve been friend zoned for a long time. Not for much longer.”

  I snickered, “But you didn’t give them anything?”

  She shrugged, “There was no gift, they already had what was required. I just… nudged.”

  “You seem… in a better mood?” I asked cautiously.

  She smiled, and brushed my arm, “I get that from dad, I think. Quick to anger and quick to forgive and move on. I pushed you too hard to open up, so I shouldn’t be too upset you slammed the door in my face. Even if you did start it by asking me first.”

  She had a point, I should know better than to ask a question I wasn’t willing to answer myself. In my defense, she was entrancing and intoxicating, and my instincts were fighting with each other. A part of me said I should grab on and take what I can get, another part told me misery lay down that path. She was like a comet streaking past, dazzling in her beauty, grace, and power, but all it could do was burn me if I tried to do more than touch it, no one could cage a comet.

  Still, time to eat crow.

  “Ouch, I’ll admit it was bad wording, but I didn’t mean to do that. Just too early for that conversation.”

  She bit her lip, and looked over at me, “You’re kind of paranoid and pessimistic, which by the way is not part of the too good to be true part.”

  I laughed, and countered, “Realist.”

  She snorted, “You don’t even believe that. But after… I can’t blame you for being gun shy. We’re here to have fun and get to know each other. Next time just say you’re not ready to share that.”

  “You were?”

  She sighed, “Point, two days ago I’d have run the other way if a guy started to pour his heart out within hours of meeting me, which I should probably keep in mind. My mantel makes me more open in some ways than society’s expectations, especially about things related to love, pleasure, attraction, and connecting to others.”

  I tilted my head, “That’s a part of love?”

  She said, “Empathy is a part of love, so yes. I’ve always had my fair share of that emotion, part of my intuition.”

  Huh. That was food for thought.

  “I was really enjoying your hand on my arm,” I said, extending the olive branch.

  She grinned, “So was I,” and she put it back on my arm.

  Damn, I was a sucker, but damned if it wasn’t a thrill to have it back there.

  “Music?”

  She giggled, “Eclectic. Depends on my mood and the occasion. I like classical to relax or in the background when I’m studying. I like almost all music when I’m in the mood for it when swimming or hanging out with friends, and of course just about anything I can dance to when I go out.”

  I asked, “Country music?”

  She nodded, “Texas twostep is a blast.”

  I snickered, “Finally, a flaw.”

  She beamed, and I blushed, realizing what I’d just implied by taking a cheap shot at country music.

  “What about you?”

  I replied, “Classic rock, a little pop and R&B isn’t bad. Jazz and blues if I’m in the mood.”

  We got to the Wynn and she set us up in a two room suite. I got her bags out when we got the rooms, and she went into her room to get ready while I jumped in the shower. I threw on a nice pair of pants, shoes, a black T, and a dark bluish-purple button-down collared shirt. I’d worn jeans earlier simply because she’d been in jean shorts. So it made sense to upgrade if she was, plus the dinner and the show part.

  The next twenty-four-hours was a blast, and quite possibly the most fun I’d ever had. She looked absolutely devastating and ravishing in the simple conservative yet still sexy dark blue dress she had on. It added a new level of mystique, imagination, and sophistication to her beauty and sex appeal.

  We hit the buffet downstairs, and then went to a musical, after that dancing. All I’ll say about the room arrangements, was I was regretting having my own room by the time we got back to the hotel.

  She was a whirlwind of constant movement, excited, beautiful, passionate, and always sexy. More than that, empathetic and kind. She looked just as devasting the next day in a dark red dress that was slightly more risqué and sexy, yet it was sophisticated and business appropriate enough that it wouldn’t go remarked upon in a boardroom.

  She was also helping people, almost once an hour she found a couple or person that called to her, for her power to intervene. She was so incredibly serene and stunningly joyful in those moments too, like she’d found a calling within herself.

  More than that, we’d talked a lot over those twenty-four hours, first date questions, getting to know each other’s ambitions, fears, pet peeves, preferences in food, music, books, and television, as well as all the other ones. Morals and principles as well. We were both night people for instance, and many other things. She was simply breathtaking to me, on almost every level.

  Which was incredibly frustrating. She was just about perfect for me, and I knew she liked me as well. I was almost positive she was mostly artless, sure she was pure sinful seduction at times, but because she liked me, not because she wanted something from me. Even my inner pessimist had shut up about it.

  But it always came back to that same argument in my head, I didn’t share, and I didn’t see how the goddess of love could ever be faithful to a single man or god. She might damn well be perfect for me in every other way, assuming she could stomach my possessiveness, but that one thing was a dealbreaker.

  At the moment we were sharing dinner, and it was like torture not being able to have her when she was so obviously sending me signals to the contrary, so I pushed a little.

  “Do you know when we’ll get on the plan. I mean, do you trust me now?”

  She sighed, “We’re already working it. The plan is in progress, and I’m waiting for information we need, as well as getting to know you and bonding. We need to be partners and friends, to trust each other. I do trust you, but things could be… deeper between us.”

  The way she’d said deeper when looking so warmly into my eyes, brought only one thing to mind, my cock deep inside of her hot body. Watching her eyes glaze with pleasure while those huge tits bounced riotously for my driving cock.

  She smiled with a cute and flirty head tilt, “You need to loosen up and enjoy yourself. I promise I’ll tell you everything when it’s time to get started. For now, I’d really like to focus on us, not the plan. It won’t be too much longer, I expected the information this morning, something must be delaying it.”

  I smiled, “Alright, fair enough.”

  It was like torture, but at the same time it was the most exciting I’d ever felt and the most fun, being around her. She was pure sensual temptation and stoked so much desire in me. It truly was torturous and glorious at the same time, to be caught in her orbit. She was exuberant about life and intoxicating.

  Soon enough though, I’d hear the plan, then I could finally make a decision. I tried to focus on that, both dreading and hoping for the end to this… whatever it was. I wanted her so badly at times, and I almost gave in twice. Her smoldering looks should be against the law.

  Chapter Five

  Natasha

  The atmosphere was a little strained, but maybe that was just me. Gary was difficult to figure out, things were going really well. I mean, we had a few differences of opinion, like he seemed to hate country music for some weird reason, but all the important things had lined up, and we had a blast the last twenty-four hours.

  I’d hoisted the flags in a number of ways, and I knew he’d picked it up. The way he looked at me sometimes made my whole-body flush with anticipation and heat. He also didn’t have a confidence problem, on the contrary he was extremely confident. So what the hell was he waiting for exactly?

  He was fighting his own desire for some reason, and I honestly didn’t get it. We were just about perfect for each other on a lot of levels. I knew he’d be possessive in bed, and he was an attentive man out of it. A stud and sweetheart, not a user and loser, so what was he waiting for?

  It was… frustrating.

  It wasn’t my imagination either, I could see it so clearly with my intuition, and I could feel it with my power, just how badly he wanted to claim me. I really wanted him to. I mean, my mantel gave me insight into that as well now, at least the aspects related to it, including beauty. I knew he thought I was beautiful and sexy for instance.

  I was getting used to my mantel as well, and it was a lot different than I figured it would be. Those couples and people I helped, I hadn’t been at all tempted to join them in some fun nor had it turned me on. It was a serene kind of joy to help others with my mantel, help them find love, fertility, pleasure, and beauty. My sexual frustration since last night was squarely on Gary’s shoulders, he was the one that turned me on.

  I suspected my mantle could be twisted, or perhaps used in other ways is more accurate, not seen through my morality I could cut a wide swath with it and leave devastation in my wake. Kind of like the stories of Aphrodite, but there was no temptation there for me. I wanted an epic love, like the home I’d grown up in, not a string of empty pleasure and selfishness. The whole idea was anathema to me.

  Don’t get me wrong, I loved sex and pleasure, and I wasn’t shy with it. But those were just the trappings for what I really wanted. The last four years of college I’d certainly experimented and played enough, as I’d already shared, but what guy in college is ready to settle down? I hadn’t really been ready then either. Point being, I’d been having fun while waiting for the right one to come along.

  And I had to pick a paranoid gun-shy monk who was confusing the hell out of me.

  Gary asked, “What’s the plan tonight?” as we finished up dinner. It’d been a bit quiet since he’d asked about the plan again. Maybe I should just tell him, but I really did want to focus on the personal until we were ready.

  Was I being selfish and manipulative? Was that why he was waiting to jump in my bed, or better yet, drag me off to his and use me hard?

  The last thing I wanted to do was ask what his problem was, I wanted to be chased, not do the chasing, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stand him looking at me like that and not bending me over something.

  I tilted my head, “We’ve been here over a day, and I’ve felt a few gods today, so word is bound to spread a couple of tier-ones are in Vegas. We should probably find a new place. How about New Orleans?”

  Gary grinned, “I bet that’s how I got caught, back then. Another god spread the word and it reached Nate’s ears. That sounds like fun, a night on Bourbon Street?”

  I smiled, “It’s uncanny, almost like you read my mind,” I said cutely.

  Gary snickered, “Let’s go clear out the room.”

  We went to do that, the dress I had on was sexy business, but that wouldn’t do for a night trolling Bourbon Street. After packing, which entailed Gary’s darkness swallowing all of our stuff, I stepped into the bathroom and looked into the mirror.

  With witchcraft I could repair and make any clothes fit, but I couldn’t really change them in design. But I was also the goddess of beauty, and there was only one way to find out. I closed my eyes and imagined a sexy red tube dress hugging my curves and showing off half my DD cleavage along with a loose pleated skirt barely reaching mid-thigh. I also imagined my two-inch heels becoming four-inch pumps, which I knew would do amazing things to my legs and ass. I smirked when I felt my power flow, and I let out a little squeak of excitement when I opened my eyes.

  If this didn’t seduce the hell out of him, nothing would. It wasn’t just hoisting the flags, I’d just fired the cannons. It was also a little dangerous, I knew if he still didn’t hit on me that I’d feel rejected at this point. I mean, I was practically throwing myself at him wearing this, and a girl had her pride. The dress was borderline slutty, provocatively sophisticated, and right on that edge.

  I’d also learned in that exercise I didn’t need to buy any clothes. My power as a tier-one goddess would create anything I desired to be wearing. So all I’d need to do was keep up on fashion and go window shopping for ideas on occasion. Not just style, but material, color, and everything else.

  Gary’s eyes goggled in a satisfying way as I walked out, and I gave him a wink. Even as my nipples tingled under his gaze, and I felt a flush of heat below at the awed warmth in his gray eyes. The butterflies in my stomach started migrating south the longer he seemed to be searching for solid ground as he drank me in.

  He cleared his throat, “You look amazing, Natasha.”

  “Thanks, you ready?”

  He nodded, “I got everything.”

  I teleported us to a quaint bed and breakfast in the French Quarter, and then relaxed slightly as I detected no other gods in range of my aura. It was December, around sixty degrees, so as I’d hoped they weren’t completely booked, but they only had one room. When I glanced at Gary, he nodded with a shrug.

  “We’ll take it.”

  The man behind the counter ran my credit card, which apparently worked better when staring at my cleavage. That was nothing new, some men just couldn’t help staring at DD breasts, even when they were covered, and mine were half hanging out at the moment. I just smiled and pretended not to notice, even as I moved against Gary and put my hand on him. The feel of his arm going around me and his hand touching my side, was a thrill for me. I mean, I’d been touching his arm and grasping his arm the last day, but this is the first time he’d taken the liberty with me.