**** ****
*** ***
** **
*
In the morning there was a note card on her nightstand.
I’ll be in the office all day.
Help yourself to coffee and a croissant.
I’m not looking forward to what’s going to be waiting for me when I get home.
But I’ll miss you.
-Max.
Michelle took a deep breath.
She wanted to miss him also.
But she was aching for Votan.
The other half of her heart was still full of longing.
She knew there would be strife when he came—and yet, she wished he was there now.
Why does this have to be so damned complicated?
She took her cat form to enter the spirit world.
Votan’s stream was converging on hers and Max’s.
He had to be close to the city.
She transformed and put on a robe.
Then she hustled to the kitchen for coffee and breakfast.
Dealing with Votan was going to take every ounce of strength she had.
She was determined to be ready for him.
Hours passed.
She kept looking towards the door hoping for a knock.
The morning turned into the afternoon.
Her body had returned to its heat cycle—this time with a singular desire for her second mate.
She paced the floor with an aching tightness in her sex.
Would you hurry up and get here?
Somehow she knew he could find her, even if she’d had trouble finding him.
He’d embraced his god essence.
That gave him special powers, didn’t it?
A fist pounded at the door.
Michelle froze.
She took a moment to close her eyes and psyche herself up.
The plan was going to take more boldness than she was used to.
She dropped her silk robe and strode to the door naked.
She knew it would give him the wrong impression of her, but she had to lure him in.
If her mates stayed together in this condo, she’d be one step closer towards convincing them to share her.
Establishing their communal dwelling was the first step.
She flung open the door and took five quick steps backwards.
Votan stood glaring at her with his large chest heaving.
He was tanned with gleaming straight black hair going past his thick shoulders.
He had to be older than Max by five or maybe even ten years.
Michelle gaped at his hugeness.
He had the physique of a gladiator beneath a black jacket and blue jeans.
She realized his eyes were devouring her.
There was an unmistakable glint of lust.
“Ixchel.”
She gulped and backed further away from him.
He slammed the door behind him.
Michelle led the way to the spare bedroom.
Votan skulked after her, his eyes never leaving her body.
“Ixchel.”
His voice was throaty, like the growl of a predatory animal.
She scampered back on the bed.
Votan stopped in the doorway.
He looked around the room with narrow eyes.
“Come out, Maximon.
I know a trap when I see one.”
Her jaw fell open.
“Trap?”
Votan stomped to the closet and tore the sliding door off its railing.
“Going to kill me?
I’d like to see you try!”
“Hey!
Don’t wreck his house!”
He darted his yellow eyes toward her.
Her face was flushed with outrage.
“Max had to go into work.”
She pulled the bed sheet around her.
“I…I was luring you in because I didn’t want you snatching me and running away.
I figured you wouldn’t do that if I was naked—at least I hoped you wouldn’t.”
Votan glowered at her.
Emotion began to crack in her voice.
“I love both of you.
I have to be with both you and Maximon.”
“He doesn’t deserve you, Ixchel.”
His words were slow and quiet.
“That’s not for you to say.
And it wouldn’t matter anyway.
My spirit’s bonded to him.
The same as you.”
Votan shook his head and looked away from her.
“Maximon cheats the spirit world to make money—desecrating the B’alam in the name of profit.”
His gaze set on her again.
“Yes, you bond with him sometimes.
Sometimes your spirit is fickle.
Sometimes you need a break from me.
Still, in the world of the B’alam you and I are husband and wife.
I will always be your true mate, even if you stray.”
Michelle blinked a few times.
Ixchel was his wife?
She didn’t remember reading anything like that, but the Books of B’alam focused more on battles.
The words rang true to her.
“I—I don’t want to stray.
I would have been happy with either of you.
I didn’t want you both—but that’s what happened.
That’s what I have to live with.”
Votan tipped his nose at her.
“Ixchel.
It’s the woman who bonds the spirits.
You were the one who chose to bond to two men.
You’re the one who marked your spirit for both of us.
Made it irresistible to us.”
Now her eyes grew huge.
I did this?
Votan took off his jacket.
He stepped his knee onto the bed, making it bow beneath his weight.
“You can undo it.”
“I…can?”
Votan crept toward her causing her to lean back on the bed.
His large body loomed above her.
“Bond only to me, my love.
We’ve been apart far too long.”
“But—”
He smothered her words with a kiss.
Michelle wanted to be annoyed, but the scintillating contact had her reeling.
She wrapped her arms around his massive back and let her tongue slide against his.
His body emitted heat against her, engulfing her in his presence.
He pulled back and removed the sheet she’d covered herself with.
His mouth went to her nipples, sucking each sensitive bud to rigidness before moving lower.
He kissed the supple flesh of her torso, leaving thrumming spots of moisture, then, in one fluid movement, he attached his mouth to her sex.
Michelle clenched her fists on the bed sheets beneath her.
His mouth worked her with furious gusto right from the start.
He seemed to know what it would take to make her climax, and fell right into his vigorous rhythm.
His head pressed against her, making his tongue dredge into her tender lips.
He’d suck her clit with enough strength to make her throb, and then move down to spear her entrance, catching all the flukes of moisture within her snug hole.
Michelle’s nipples grew hard as beads.
Her sex felt so tight it ached.
Her muscles began to tighten also, bracing for the incredible climax she was building towards.
Votan worked her masterfully, without flagging.
She let out a soft cry.
He kept devouring her pussy throughout her orgasm, making her stomach cramp with her spasms.
Her mate didn’t stop until she finally collapsed back, heaving for breath.
Then he kissed his mouth off her sensitized clit and turned her over.
Michelle forced her wobbly legs to lift her to her knees.
She presumed he would fuck her now, and presented herself for penetration from behind.
What she got instead was a tongue in her asshole.
He worked this area with the same enthusiasm he’d granted her sex.
His tongue mashed against her sensitive ring, lighting the exquisite nerve cluster with rapturous sensation.
Michelle’s thighs quivered.
Her mate really did know her.
She couldn’t hold back her soft mewls of pleasure.
Votan stopped suddenly and she heard him unzip his pants.
An enormous cock plunged into her pussy making her gasp.
“Yes!”
Her slick opening accepted him smoothly, but was stretched to her brink.
He hit the back of her length making her whole pelvis throb.
Then he pumped while clutching around her waist.
There was no slow build-up.
He humped her the same way he’d taken her jungle cat form.
His enormous organ squashed against her sweet spot, making her clit twinge.
All too soon she hurtled toward her second orgasm.
Michelle collapsed forward.
Her heavy mate collided against her back, still beating furious thrusts with his pelvis.
She clawed the mattress.
Her pussy spasmed around the invading cock.
Two hard grunts and she could feel his cock pulsating.
Then he gave a final sound, and his straining muscles relaxed.
His large chest connected against her back.
They were both gasping.
When her mind returned from its state of ecstatic blankness she took stock of the situation.
Yes, she’d enjoyed the sex, but she was glad it was over.
Now their delirious need was sated.
Both halves of her heart felt fulfilled.
She could get on with the serious work.
Votan peeled himself off her.
He lumbered to the edge of the bed and zipped his pants.
“Get dressed,” he said.
He paused to wipe some sweat from his brow.
“We’re leaving.”
She picked herself up onto her elbows.
“I’m not going anywhere.
Neither are you.”
He laughed through his nostrils.
“Please.
Just listen to me.
You and Maximon have to share me.
This condo is the best set-up for that to happen.
He’s already agreed to it.
I need you to get on board.”
He darted her a cruel look.
At that moment Michelle could understand why her goddess form got sick of him sometimes.
“Get.
Dressed.”
“That ordering me around needs to stop.
I’m not your property.”
“Really, Ixchel?”
He tilted his head with a smirk.
“You were wrong in your assumption before.
I’m perfectly willing to drag you out of here naked.”
Then I’ll turn into a jaguar and rip the throat out of your human form before you can shift.
No…she wouldn’t do that.
But she could.
Votan stepped out.
“I’ll wait for you in the kitchen.”
His seed spilled out of her when she got up, fueling her annoyance even more.
Yes, she got dressed, because she was a civilized human being.
Not because the asshole had ordered her to.
*
** **
*** ***
**** ****
**** ****
*** ***
** **
*
Michelle found Votan raiding Max’s pantry.
He drank almond milk from the carton then chomped a huge bite of a foie gras sandwich.
She stood staring at him a moment.
“I’ve had one shitty meal on an airplane since yesterday.”
Her lips screwed to one side.
“If you’re low on money you’re better off staying here.
Maximon is rich.”
“Of course he is.”
He pulled back his top lip in a sneer.
“I have enough money for the next two lifetimes.
I didn’t stop to eat because I was obsessed.”
“Oh.”
She stated it without sympathy.
“Tell me how I can un-spirit-mark you.”
His brow lifted.
“Me?”
Michelle nodded with her gaze steady.
He grumbled and took another bite.
After chewing and swallowing he said, “Why are you always so difficult?
We are the true mates here.
What you’ve done with Maximon is infidelity.”
“Yeah.
I guess that happens a lot with gods and goddesses.
Particularly when one acts like a jackass.”
He gave an acrimonious laugh.
“My word—it’s you.
It’s exactly you.
You’re in the body of this pretty blonde mortal girl, but every word is pure Ixchel.”
He shook his head.
“Gods, I’ve missed you.”
She swallowed.
Her stupid heart was breaking just at the thought of dumping him.
Only pride kept her fixed on it.
“Then why are you bulldozing everything?”
“Why am I angry?
Why am I impatient and demanding?
Because in your last lifetime you cast me aside for Maximon.
Punishment for some slight in the lifetime before that.
You left me solitary and listless.
It was a miserable existence.
I was hardly a man at all—I remained a beast, because at least in that form I didn’t ache for companionship.”
Her eyes lowered.
“Then finally you’re reborn and I’m waiting for you.
I’m vowing to do better.
To keep you forever this time.
To be worthy of you.”
She peeked up.
“And then you pull at my heart.
I rejoice.
You’ve decided to come back to me.
This life will be magnificent.
I ached for you.
Longed for you.
I think of how we can thrive together in this world and in this age.
I was beside myself with joy.”
He paused to shove his food away.
“But it was just another game.
You decided I still had to be punished.
Sometimes I forget how diabolical you can be.”
He glared at her.
“Of course I’m angry.
Don’t dare try to begrudge me that.”
She was at a loss for a short while.
Votan waited while rapping his nails on the counter.
“I’m not like that, though.”
“Puh.”
“No, I mean, you said I’m just the human form of Ixchel.
That I’m just like her.
Well, I always thought that too.
Whenever I went into my stream I was finding more of myself.
There were memories I hadn’t tapped into, but they were all relatable.
I’ve always been this same girl through all the lifetimes I’ve lived.”
She searched the floor for her thoughts.
“I just don’t see myself doing something like this.
If it’s revenge it’s absolutely stupid.
I’m hurting myself more than anyone in this situation.
Why would I?
And why would I hurt Maximon in the process?”
“Maybe he defied you in your last lifetime.”
He shrugged with one large shoulder.
“How am I to know?
The facts are the facts.
This is what you’ve wrought, Ixchel.
You can refuse to own it all you want.
You did this to us.”
“Then I had a reason.
And it’s not for stupid revenge.
If anything I’d just refuse to mate with either of you.
I’m not going to throw myself into such a bullshit situation.”
“Then tell me your reason.”
She grew irked.
“I don’t know what the reason is.”
“Find out.
It’s simple enough.”
“How?”
He snorted.
“Fine.
I’ll show you.
And I’ll show you how to fix it.”
He put on his jacket.
“Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“My hotel.
This will take time and I’m not willing to spend it in this desecrator’s home.”
Michelle gave a groan of exasperation.
“My whole purpose today was to keep you here so that we could try to work things out.”
“This
thing
can’t work out.”
He strode for the door.
“Stop trying my patience.
You at least owe me that.”
I don’t owe you shit.
She grabbed a sticky note from the pad beside the phone and scrawled a fast message, ending it with her cell number.
*
** **
*** ***
**** ****