Chapter Thirty
By the time Douglas backed up to the altar slab, Emesh by his side, he figured himself mostly not freaked. He’d taken the position of his own free will and remained unrestrained. He’d had a long talk with Dr. Dani-Lee and understood exactly, to the last detail, what the operation would entail. He needed that. Anything that smacked of the procedures Trask had performed might send him into a blind panic. He looked at Emesh beside him, serene and sure. The god’s dusky hand rose slightly and threaded steady fingers through his. They’d been given permission to place themselves, first―not entering with the entourage of decorated gods―so that Douglas could acclimatize himself. He breathed deeply, but still, sweat beaded on his forehead as he looked around the candlelit cavern. He couldn’t help his nerves.
Weapons…ancient, of every description, hung on the walls, sharp blades glinting in the flickering light of tapers. Behind those weapons, intricate pictorial writings marched across the stone, telling stories of which Douglas could only imagine.
His ears picked up a distant chanting that slowly rose in volume. The gods came closer to the special chamber where guests assembled in various states of finery, an audience who now stood, rapt, their attention on the doorway where Marduk would be the first to enter.
Douglas’ initial peek at the immortals in their ceremonial dress had his mouth dropping open in awe. The bunch of teasing, goofball guys he’d come to know over the past several days had disappeared, and in their place, truly, were gods…as in the type he’d imagined when reading history in high school. Each immortal trod slowly forward, wrapped in garments as old as time, woven with intricate threads of gold and silver, adorned with jewels of every size and color. They were all bare-chested and anointed with oils, making their broad pectorals shine in the low light. Torques and armbands of solid gold surrounding large biceps and gave them the look of warriors. It sent a shiver down Douglas’ spine.
Bronze sandaled feet marched in unison down a scribed pathway that led to the stone altar where he and Emesh stood clad only in modest linen loincloths. The song the gods chanted almost made sense to his ears even though he couldn’t possibly know the language. It spoke of destiny, of time unending, days of glory past, and those to come. Douglas realized Emesh must be sending some of the translation to his head, and he welcomed it for it gave him a sense of peace, something in his short life that had been so elusive.
When Marduk stopped in front of the altar slabs, he wasted no time, sliding a sharp and wicked looking knife from a leather scabbard at his side. He bowed slightly to Enten and handed it to him, hilt first. Emesh had made known he wanted his brother to perform the ceremony…at least his half. Douglas’ portion would be handled by Dani-Lee who stood next to him with a comforting, albeit neoprene gloved hand on his shoulder. Must be a habit that glove. Emesh had assured him immortals didn’t ‘catch’ things.
Emesh shifted next to him and dropped his hand, his fingers rising to grab the metal spikes by his head. Enten stepped forward and offered a twist of leather to his brother which Emesh gratefully took between his teeth, clamping down hard around it. He squared his shoulders back against the table. Douglas blinked, amazed at his mate’s passivity when his own instincts told him to run screaming from the room. Damn. They would get through this.
Douglas gave a curt nod to Dani, and she put an identical piece of leather between his teeth while he, too, reached up to grip the pegs by his head.
The chanting volume increased.
Enten raised the blade.
The winter god smiled into his brother’s eyes and brought the knife down, making the first cuts on his shoulder. Emesh didn’t flinch but grunted when the skin got peeled back and muscle cut to get to the prize. The amulet glowed brightly now, giving an eerie red cast to the room. Douglas imagined it might be what hell looked like.
No, Emesh assured him in a head voice that sounded choked. This isn’t Hell, Douglas. This is heaven. The summer god turned his head and had the strength to smile at him despite the grip in his teeth, despite the blood dripping down his chest, and despite the pain Douglas could see etched in every line of Emesh’s body. With work, the amulet finally split in two, and half was lifted from its gaping hole.
Now it was his turn. He could only hope to be as strong as Emesh. Dani had offered him anesthetic―something not allowed by the gods for fear the amulet would come to its recipient with too much medication―but Douglas declined. After Trask, he always needed to feel in control of his mind and body. He hoped never to be incapacitated by drugs again.
Douglas observed, almost detached, as Dani raised her blade.
The first cut shocked him. He hadn’t expected that level of pain, and when the doctor sliced deeper, Douglas’ nostrils flared. He feared the noise that might erupt from his throat, marking him for a coward, but Dani performed her task so swiftly that before he gathered the breath for a cry, she’d placed the amulet.
A feeling of utter rightness descended, suffusing his body with… Oh, my gods…love, lust, and knowledge. Yes, knowledge. Of everything Emesh, all he’d been, and all they would be together for the rest of eternity. But those heady revelations were quickly swept away by the overwhelming lust.
His prick was rock hard and needy by the time Dani closed the flaps of skin over the brightly glowing amulet. Someone in the crowd snickered they hadn’t even needed the accustomed few minutes to deem the transfer successful. But who cared what anybody said. All he wanted was to rip his clothes off and bury himself deep within Emesh in the most physical of ways.
The spectators must have gotten the picture―after all, the majority of them had been there, done that―because the crowd flooded to the door like lemmings. Enten the last to leave, slipped something to Emesh before he placed a kiss on his brother’s cheek and disappeared behind the rest.
A growl rose from his mate. “Come to me, Douglas, before I explode with my want of you,” Emesh demanded.
Even though Douglas would take charge, he wouldn’t argue the sentiment. He ripped the loincloth from his hips and with bunched muscles, tore Emesh’s covering away in one vicious snarl. His brain roared, his penis flared. He needed to be joined…he needed…he needed his other half.
Emesh opened his hand and proffered a container of lubricant. Douglas barked a laugh. That must have been what Enten had handed him. He would have to thank his twice-over brother-in-law.
Douglas quickly smeared his cock with lube while with other hand, he turned Emesh to face the slab and swiped his fingers over the place he most wanted to be.
“I can’t wait, Emesh,” he groaned. “This may be a little rough… I’m sorry.”
Emesh braced himself against the stone and bent to accommodate, making no protests. Douglas took himself in hand and put his cock at the entrance to utopia, giving a small push against the rosy bud, he gasped.
“I… I feel it, too,” he exclaimed. His ass witnessed a divine pressure as if someone poised behind him.
“Yes,” Emesh breathed heavily. “We will be in each other’s skin for a while. We will share all sensations until we learn to control it.” His voice became chopped, “Please, Douglas, do it now. My cock…your cock, we’re ready to burst.”
Douglas needed no more encouragement. With a cry, he fit himself carefully to Emesh, and gritting his teeth to hold back the mad plunge his body demanded, he eased his way in, feeling himself fill at the same time he filled Emesh. Once seated, he rested his sweaty forehead on the god’s broad back. Considering what had been done to him in the past, having his ass full of a ghost-style penis should have made him panic, but it didn’t. It felt damned good…and right.
Douglas could keep still no longer. He thrust, and the pleasure became multiplied, so many times over. He eased around to grip Emesh’s cock and experienced the extra pressure on his own. Douglas’ motions became deeper, smoother, as he viscerally understood what his partner wanted…and craved. His skin worked, velvety soft across Emesh’s back with each inward thrust, and the fine hairs on his body became electrified.
Oddly, his gums throbbed with his thrusts, and his mouth suddenly exploded. Before he could fathom what was happening, his teeth plunged into Emesh’s shoulder, demanding, sucking, holding his mate in place while he took, drew, and devoured.
Every cell within him―within Emesh―burst into alertness, every pore opened, and every vessel filled as they streamed out their love for each other; a vicious tumult neither expected, but both welcomed. The connection they shared was so much more than carnal.
Emesh cried out…or did he? Douglas lengthened his…fangs? What? And held on as the apex to their joining rapidly approached.
Their explosions came simultaneously, completely in sync. Douglas gripped the base of his god’s cock and milked it for all it was worth, his own release screaming in his head as both he and Emesh spiraled into a maelstrom of knee-buckling heat.
Indeed, when Douglas came back to himself, both he and Emesh sank to the floor with a conflagration surrounding them. His cock slipped out, but still they clung together, and Douglas didn’t feel burned. In the strange, hushed quiet of flames, Douglas raised a hand to wonderingly slide through the most amazing beams of light streaming out from his mate, setting the room on fire. Emesh had turned himself into a piece of the sun and bathed them both in its glow and goodness.
“I’m warm from the inside out,” Douglas whispered into the streaming light.
“You make it thus,” came the voice within the gentle conflagration. Douglas heard and saw the ancient god in his true, elemental form for the first time, and the presence humbled him.
His god spoke in a powerful tongue, and Douglas amazingly understood. “Behold, the power we have together when joined. Let the universe rejoice that my brother winter and I have both found balance.”
As the light slowly subsided, and Emesh reappeared in the form Douglas knew and loved, everything was blown from his consciousness except for the need to verbalize what blazed within him.
“I love you, Emesh. With all of my heart, body, and soul,” Douglas sighed, and the two lay as one until the fires burnt out.
How much longer before Emesh stirred, Douglas had no clue, but a distinct chuckle eventually broke through, muffled within his arms.
“Damn, Douglas. That was fine.” He giggled again. “And I had a feeling you’d get something from all those years of blood transfers from the nasty doctor.” Emesh’s hand rose to rub the site where Douglas’ teeth had punctured.
Gods. Douglas blinked. It hadn’t been a dream. He ran his tongue over the spot where two fangs had descended and found nothing. Only during sex? he wondered, and for some reason he didn’t feel as appalled at the whole vampiric thing as he might have if the experience hadn’t been so…filling.
“It certainly will be interesting to find out,” Emesh had heard, and answered sounding amused, “because I can think of all kinds of naughty things I’d like you to bite,” he said, cheekily, but ended with a sigh. “Right now, however, it’s probably time we joined the party upstairs.” Still, Emesh’s amusement couldn’t be squelched. “If we don’t, they’re bound to send someone down to check on us soon.”
“Can’t they contact us by head-talk?” Douglas asked.
“Oh, they could, but they won’t. It’s way more fun to come down and find us naked, entwined on the floor than to send a warning shot over the bow. My guess is Candy makes the scene. She’s asked the most questions about the anatomy involved in a gay lovefest.”
Douglas coughed and made it to his feet quickly. He liked the goddess, but that didn’t mean he relished flashing his junk at her. He also pictured big, bad Enlil and reflexively, brought his hand down to protect his nuts.
“Okay, then. Let’s go eat cake.” He reached for Emesh in the now still, darkness and realized he could see his partner. “Hey, I…”
“Yeah. Pretty cool, huh? Enhanced vision and hearing,” Emesh nodded, and Douglas understood him even though Emesh had purposely mumbled. “Wait until you get a load of super-strength, misting out, and compelling humans. You’re going to love that shit.”
Douglas hurried to help his husband up. Wait. Wow. Emesh. Husband. The word played beautifully on his tongue as did the tongue of said husband when he arose from the floor.
The kiss, filled with joy and hope, could have led to another round of sex, but had to be cut short. Douglas’ family, along with Absu―the chef of the gods―had gone to a lot of trouble creating the party that rolled up above. Therefore, the happy couple had lingered long enough. Time to show their appreciation to those who helped make this mating happen.
Their loincloths hadn’t survived, so with a smirk, Emesh misted out and quickly brought them some appropriate clothing. The Brook’s Brother’s suit he was handed made Douglas shake his head, but he went along with the unaccustomed finery. Emesh had an appreciation for fashion and wanted to see him dressed up. If it got him more of that mind-blowing sex later…
“Hey. Cut that out,” Emesh groused. “We have well-wishers to see, and I’m not doing you on the feast table.” They both experienced that inappropriate vision at the same time.
Douglas choked, certain he wouldn’t be able to eat a bite…especially any of the honey glaze that in his mind’s eye had not gone on the ham. Shit. He needed to get himself under control.
“Okay. Are you ready?” his mate snickered.
Douglas finished tying his tie, straightened his lapels, and turned to look at Emesh. He dragged in a sharp breath. The god was stunning in his suit of gray merino wool. His broad shoulders filled out every inch as if it had been made for him. Douglas could only hope he looked as good.
“You’re even more delicious,” Emesh assured him with lust in his eyes, and stepped forward to float him a gentle, yet heartfelt kiss, one that rocked him down to his new silk socks. “Come on,” the summer god teased, leading Douglas down the corridor by one hand. “I can’t wait to get you into a conversation with Nergal.”
Douglas groaned. Fucking king.