Page 3 of Where A Goddess Belongs

“It’s Kari, Jacoby. Please call me Kari. It’s not like we haven’t spent almost every second for the past three months in the same five rooms together.”

His eyes narrowed slightly and she knew her slight barb had found its intended target. She figured it held a little more punch simply because it was the first time she’d even hinted at the fact that she’d been taken against her will.

“Lady Akhu—”

“If you don’t mind,” she turned to include Den, who’d come up behind her, “I really do prefer Kari.”

Jacoby took a deep breath and his gaze shot to Den’s for a split second. “Lady Kari, why don’t you have a seat in front of the fire and I’ll get your food ready for you.”

She smiled at Jacoby and his eyes widened in response. Then she turned to Den and let her smile become just the tiniest bit warmer.

And had the satisfaction of seeing him freeze.

Ah, the power of sex.

Jacoby continued to hold her on that pedestal reserved for deities—which she was, of course.

But Den...

With a quirk of her lips, she slipped by Den into the living room...but not before trailing her fingertips along his wrist. Out of view of any of the cameras.

She felt him stiffen then freeze in place.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

Dentatus Glabrio—who usually pounded anyone who wasn’t a direct blood relation or his superior who didn’t call him Den—held onto his control. Barely. The little goddess with the lush body and the warm brown eyes was going to be the death of him. Either he was going to die of sexual frustration or he was going to give in to the lust riding him hard and take her to bed. Then he’d be as good as dead because the Mal would kill him for disobeying orders. But the need to touch her got worse daily. It didn’t matter that she was a goddess, a living embodiment of the ancient Etruscan race’s need for the divine. To Den, first and foremost, she was a woman. A beautiful, warm, funny, smoking hot woman who pushed every single one of his buttons, including a few he hadn’t known he had. It also didn’t matter that his superiors would kill him if he dared touch her. They had plans for her. Plans that didn’t include their mindless muscle stripping her naked and sliding his cock as deep inside her as he could get while Jacoby watched. Or joined in. He didn’t have a preference at the moment. So either way, he was screwed. And not in a good way. Plus, he and Jacoby had way too much riding on their plans. There were too many lives at stake. But later...

Vaffanculo, he was an idiot. There was no later. He couldn’t allow himself to think about the possibility of later. Right now, they had to stick to the plan. Because if anyone found out what they were going to do... Out of the corner of his eye, Den caught Jacoby making a slight motion with his hand while he said something completely different aloud. “I’ll get her breakfast. Why don’t you have a seat at the table, Lady Kari?” Jacoby’s hand motion wanted to know if he was okay. The great thing about knowing American Sign Language...practically no one else knew what they were saying to each other. Den nodded and said, “Okay,” answering both Jacoby’s and Kari’s question. To anyone watching them through the cameras, it would appear he’d responded only to Jacoby’s statement. But Jacoby understood. He knew Den better than anyone else in the world and his dark eyes made it clear Jacoby didn’t totally believe him. Didn’t matter. That was the only answer his friend was getting for now. Returning his attention to Kari, Den saw her staring at him with one golden brown eyebrow raised. As if she realized there was something going on. Kari might have the reputation of being a hardcore party girl, but these past few months stuck in this cabin with her had shown Den that there was more to this goddess than met the eye. But what he did see made him realize why the ancient races had willingly sacrificed themselves to their deities. Absolutely fucking gorgeous from her brown hair that fell in waves almost to her waist to the tips of her tiny toes, nails painted with what had to be magical paint that seemed to change colors daily. Right now, it was neon blue. Yesterday it’d been a murky forest green. When she moved to slip by him, he blinked and almost tripped over his feet in his haste to get out of her way. He knew if she touched him, he’d do something incredibly stupid. Like wrap one of his huge hands around her tiny neck, drop his mouth over her full lips and kiss her until he couldn’t breathe. Shit. He sucked in a sharp breath as her hair brushed against his arm as she walked to the dining table. Fuck, he was totally losing it. He couldn’t afford to lose it. He had too much riding on his shoulders to lose his shit now. “I’m going to walk the perimeter. Be back in ten.” He felt her gaze follow him as he moved to the door but he didn’t stop. He needed a reminder of what was at stake. Pulling out his phone, he pressed the only contact in his favorites. “Hey Mom, how’re you feeling?” “Hello, Den. I’m fine. How are you, sweetheart?” As always, his mother sounded thrilled to hear from him, the love in her voice evident. But he could also tell she wasn’t fine. He could hear the weakness in her voice. Weaker than the last time he’d spoken to her. When had that been? Last week? No, almost two weeks ago. Rage boiled in his gut but he shoved it back down before it leaked into his voice. “Busy, as usual.” “I guess you still can’t tell me where you are but can you at least tell me if you’re eating enough? You’re built like a tank. You need fuel.” This was an old argument. For years, he’d chafed under against his mom’s over-protectiveness. He’d sometimes felt like he was suffocating and he’d pushed back at every opportunity. Until he’d realized how ill she was. “I’m eating just fine. Jacoby makes sure. You know he can’t go two hours without food.” She laughed but had to stop after a few seconds to catch her breath. A few months ago, that weakness wouldn’t have been as noticeable. The disease was progressing faster than he’d expected. Which meant the time to put their plan into motion was running out. “That boy’s so skinny, he needs to eat often. Takes after the rest of his family. Especially that sister of his. That girl is a twig.”

And because that was a subject he couldn’t afford to get into, he steered the conversation in another direction, one sure to divert her attention. “Have you talked to the doctor about that cough? It sounds like it’s getting worse.” He could hear this mom sigh through the phone. “No, I haven’t. And I’m not going to because I know what his answer will be. Is there anything you want me to tell your dad? He’s been so busy lately I’m sure he hasn’t had time to call.” Which was a polite way of saying his dad still hadn’t gotten over the fact that his son was considered useless among the Mal, only good enough to be a grunt. “I’m sure he has been. Hate to cut this short but I gottago, Mom. Love you.” “Love you, too, Jacoby. Stay safe, sweetheart.” He disconnected with the same warring thoughts he always had. He loved his mother enough to commit unspeakable acts. And he wanted to strangle his father for being unable or unwilling to do whatever it took to make sure his wife was healthy. Which meant it was up to Den to make sure she was. By whatever means necessary. His gaze turned toward the door of the cabin in a remote section of the New York Adirondacks. Was she listening? Kari, as she insisted they call her, might act like she never took much notice of anything going on around her. But Den knew her outward indifference hid an insatiable curiosity. Anyone watching through the security cameras only saw the flippant, totally uninterested goddess, living up to her reputation as a free spirit. Only he and Jacoby knew how closely she watched everything, how she ate up their need. How she’d slowly been getting closer to both of them, how her fingers would sometimes brush against his skin as they passed in the hall. Or how she let her gaze stay connected to Jacoby’s just a little longer than before. Maybe—The door opened with a creak and Jacoby stepped onto the porch. His shoulders blocked out the light from inside for a few seconds before he closed the door behind him and joined Den. “How’s your mom?” “Getting worse, though she won’t admit it.” Jacoby sighed heavily. “I’m sorry.” “Not your fault.” Jacoby shook his head and Den knew he wanted to say something else but you never knew who was listening and when. It made him want to hit something. “You wanna go hit the bag?” They had a small but decent workout setup in the basement, the only place in the whole house that didn’t have cameras. Unless they just hadn’t found them yet. “Or do you wanna bareknuckle it out here? I’ll go easy on you.” A reluctant smile curled Den lips. “You’d have to be able to land a punch first.” “It’d only take me one to knock you out.” “I’d see it coming a mile away. You telegraph.” Jacoby shrugged. “Don’t need to be sneaky if you’re fast enough to get out of the way.” It was an old argument and one they revisited often enough that it’d become habit. But it was still true. “Where’s the lady?” “Sitting in front of the TV watching something on the Hallmark Channel that has the words ‘prince,’ ‘baby’ and ‘bride’ in the title, though I’m pretty sure they’re not in that order.” “We’re not supposed to leave her alone.” Jacoby’s eyes rolled. “You know she’s not going anywhere. We both know if she wanted to leave, she would.” Yeah, he’d figured that out already. The question was, why was she staying? “So,” Jacoby continued, “have you decided what you’re going to do when this assignment’s over?” And that was Jacoby’s code for “we need to talk about our plan.”

The plan to steal a goddess out from under the nose of the Malandante while simultaneously getting his mother and Jacoby’s sister away and throwing themselves on the mercy of the lucani king.

The plan that would probably end in abject failure but was the only one they’d come up with that had a slight possibility of working.

“No idea.”

“Well, you better figure it out fast ’cause I just heard from Johnson. They’re sending in another pair of guards Monday.”

Holy fuck. “Did they say why?”

Jacoby shook his head. “Just got the call to let me know.”

Well, shit. That meant they had three days to kidnap a goddess from the people who’d kidnapped her first.

“Maybe we should tell her what’s going on.”

Because Jacoby’s statement skated dangerously close to speaking about their plan out loud, Den shook his head. “I don’t think that’s smart.”

“And I’m really close to not giving a fuck.” Jacoby turned back to the front door but didn’t open it right away. “Sunday, Den. Gotta have our shit packed by then.”

Shaking his head, Den followed Jacoby back into the cabin, where Jacoby disappeared into the basement without saying another word.

Kari stood in the opening to the kitchen, watching him intently, a slight smile on her face.

“It’s such a nice night I thought maybe we could go for a walk. I’d love to stretch my legs.”

Because she’d asked the same thing several times before, Den had an answer ready to go.

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