Page 81 of Tempted by Celestial Bodies

“I’ve got to have something to call you, unless you want me to keep calling you Jelly Guy,” I gripe.

I would be honored to receive any name you would offer me.

“Sure. Fine,” I say, wracking my brain. Long-forgotten memories of high school biology surface. “You know, the Latin name for moon jelly isaurelia aurita. How about Leo for short?”

Leo. Yes. This pleases me. Thank you, Divine Anya.

“It’s just Anya, Leo. Anya the human.”

Just Anya. You are more than “just” anything, My Goddess, but I will honor your wish. Anya.

He smiles again, his long hair falling forward and sticking in the blood on his face. A flinch of surprise and pain tugs at his features.

“Can I help clean that up? I don’t know if you’re susceptible to the same infections that humans get, but I wouldn’t want it to fester,” I say.

Leo’s lower lip quivers in a sad little pout and his eyes flick to the ground. My heart lurches in my chest.

I have had this form for such a short period of time, and I have already damaged it. I do not deserve your care or your mercy, Div—Anya.

“Tell you what. I’ll get you bandaged up and you can tell me more about why you’re here, why you’re naked, and what the hell this ritual is all about. Then I’ll decide if I’m going to untie you or stick you in the cryo-freezer with your two dead buddies,” I offer, waving my wrench menacingly before I put it down on the table behind me. Keeping one eye on him, I turn to pull a first aid kit from one of the drawers.

Leo’s luminous blue eyes seem to get brighter as he sits up. He grins again, this time flashing teeth that are faintly pointed—halfway between shark teeth and blunt human teeth. I shiver, but don’t know if it’s from fear or interest.

I’m here for you, My Anya. Every fifty-two spans on Oseuth, my brethren and I set forth on a great pilgrimage to honor our gods and goddesses. I am one of the brothers who primarily honor you—Fearsome and Desirable Sindaria, Goddess of Death and Carnal Pleasure. We search universes across space and time until we find a corporeal aspect Sindaria inhabits, and we spend the next thirteen cycles performing our honoring ritual.

I swipe a cotton pad doused with antiseptic across the cut. I expect him to react, but the pain doesn’t seem to register. Leo simply stares up at me with dreamlike wonder. It’s utterly intoxicating. I’ve never been thought of as a catch before, let alone a goddess, and even if he’s barking up the wrong tree, it strokes my ego in just the right way. Clearing my throat and stepping back, I pull out a small bandage.

“Well, um, the good news is the cut on your head doesn’t look too bad,” I say, embarrassed to be enjoying my descent into madness as much as I am. I press the bandage against his wound and absently stroke one fingertip against the impossibly soft skin of his cheek.

Leo tilts his head into my touch.

You have not mentioned my first two sacrifices. My gifts to you, so that you may feast upon the flesh of unworthy males. It is how the ritual begins.

“You mean the dead things out left outside? Yeah, that was really gross. I stuck them in the cryo-freezer. I’mnotgoing to eat them,” I grumble. “But, uh, thank you.”

His too-beautiful face falls and as I watch, the cables tying him to the chair melt away, as if they’re being corroded by acid.Holy shit.Before I can turn and run, Leo falls to the floor in front of me, bowing down so far, his forehead rests on the floor and his hair spills out around my feet. The blanket slides from his lap to the floor, forgotten.Oh, wow.

Forgive me, Venerable One. I should have found more worthy sacrifices for you. You deserve the finest of everything. I offer you my own body to use as you see fit. Punish me, if you will—let my pain sate your wonderfully cruel appetites.

Well, shit. I’ve made a huge misstep. I didn’t mean to offend the poor guy, but I can’t have him unearthing galactic horrors and showing up with them like some fucked up bouquet of flowers. But…it’s probably not a great idea to antagonize an alien who can melt twelve-gauge cables from mere skin contact.

“I mean, um. Leo, your sacrifices were wonderful. You did great, champ, you really did. I just wanted to save them for later, okay? That’s why they’re in the freezer. You didn’t displease me, but just…no more killing. Cool?”

He peeks up at me through the curtain of glittering blue hair.

“That was a neat little trick with the cords,” I huff nervously. “How’d you do that?”

I still retain many of my abilities, even in this form. I may look human, but I am still Oseuthan.

“Abilities. Right. So, I was right to worry about the acid blood, I guess,” I mutter.

You have nothing to fear from me, human goddess Anya.

He slowly lifts his head and sits back on his heels. In this position, it’s hard not to notice the way his lean muscles flex beneath his velvety skin. His muscular thighs and sculpted abdomen appear more in line with a Grecian marble than what I pictured on an extraterrestrial humanoid.

“Tell me more about the ritual,” I say in a rush, hoping he doesn’t notice the blush stealing across my cheeks.

It is your ritual.He smiles coyly at me and something predatory enters his electric gaze again.

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