Lovestruck (Rock Goddess Reverse Harem Book 1) Page 13

  I bite back a scream as Cupid invades my space to throw a pissy warning at me.

  “You cannot tell the human anything.”

  “Why the hell not?” It will make my life a whole lot easier. If he believes me.

  “He’ll think you’re crazy, like your mother.”

  My mother. Realization dawns on me, fully and completely. “She wasn’t crazy. You said this is a lineage thing, right? That means she was a Goddess too.”

  Holy shit. Everything makes more sense. All the weird one-sided conversations I’d heard her have. The mood-swings. Lashing out when she couldn’t take anymore.

  “Who was she?” I have to know now. “My mother.”

  “She was a Goddess of Love too,” he admitted with a reluctant tone. “But she refused to accept it. She drove herself insane trying to be normal. It was never in the cards for her, but she was stubborn. She wanted a normal life, for herself and for you.”

  I stare at him. “Did she know I was going to be like her?”

  He shakes his head slowly. “She didn’t listen to anything she was told. She didn’t want to know. Her own mother didn’t try to help when it started to happen to her. She’d dealt with it more quietly, but she’d taken the same tact as your mother. She believed she was mentally ill and she had to ignore the voices to make them go away.”

  It’s all so sad, yet I can see how easily I could have gone down that same path. If I hadn’t realized something real was happening. If I’d fought my instincts any longer I might have ended up in another anti-depressant fuelled long-term relationship with a possessive partner. I shiver at the thought of that. There’s no going back, and I can’t feel any more relieved about that than I already do.

  “So it’s bad to keep it quiet then, really,” I say, trying to find a way around his warning.

  “That’s not what I’m saying. You’re infuriating, you know. You can’t go around telling people you’re a Goddess.” He shakes his head at me.

  I walk away from him to pull on the sexy dress I picked out specifically for my date. “Asher’s not people. He’s my soul-mate. According to you.”

  “That doesn’t mean he gets to know you have immortal blood in your veins.”

  “Then what the hell does it mean?”

  “It means he shows more understanding than most humans could. He’s extremely perceptive and sensitive to the will of Goddesses. He knows more than he should already. He’s not permitted to be given solid proof.”

  “What do you mean, permitted? And don’t think I didn’t notice the plural thing you did there. Are you saying he’s an easy target for Diana?” The thought makes my stomach clench. That awful woman has hurt him enough already. I won’t let her come near him again.

  “Yes,” Cupid tells me. “Protect what’s yours. It won’t stop her from trying to take him from you, but there’s nothing else you can do for now.”

  “For now?” I raise an eyebrow.

  “You’ve just been awakened, Eden. Your inherent abilities will take time to develop fully.”

  “How much time?” And what are they, exactly? I turn away to look for heels and when I turn back, he’s gone. “I need to get bells put on that man.”

  Shaking my head, I put the shoes down and go make up my face. I can’t tell Asher what I am. Fine. I don’t need to. He already knows I’m a Goddess. He doesn’t need me to tell him.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  * * *

  ASHER

  Skyler is Eden’s best friend in the music industry, and a playgirl with a wandering eye. I did a great deal of research into their friendship when I was writing Eden’s autobiography. So I know how shocking Sky can be whenever she’s around a potential suitor. Still, experiencing it first hand is interesting to say the least.

  “So, you’re a librarian.” She nods. “That explains the stuffy professor look, I suppose. I bet you’ve never made a bad decision in your entire life. Am I right?”

  I’m confused as to what she’s trying to glean from that question, but I decide to play along. It can’t take Eden too long to get ready. I hope. “Depends on what you class as being a bad decision, I suppose.” I get the feeling she’d class staying in a town like this and keeping the same job for eight years as more bad than good, but that was her opinion.

  “Hmm. Where are you taking Eden tonight?”

  “A restaurant she likes in town. Italian.”

  She pulls a face. “Then?”

  “Then, whatever Eden likes.”

  She smiles brightly, suddenly. “Oh, good. Because she wants to come to a club opening.”

  “In L.A.?” I don’t understand, but I know something’s going on by the mischievous twinkle in Skyler’s eyes.

  “Nope. Right here in Rapture.”

  “You’re serious.” There’s a club opening in town? Has to be related to Eden moving here. Great. Rapture’s about to be flooded with tourists then. That will only make it harder for her to relax. She’ll probably end up with round the clock bodyguards. I groan inwardly.

  She nods slowly. “Hell, yeah. I’m serious.”

  I glance at her bodyguard who hasn’t said a word the entire time I’ve been sitting in Eden’s living room with them both. His dark eyes aren’t quite glazed over, but he isn’t interested in our conversation in the slightest.

  “If it’s what Eden wants we’ll be there. Later.”

  “Trust me, it’s what she wants.”

  I get the feeling it’s what Skyler wants, but I keep my mouth shut. Eden walks into the room in a forest green dress and I have to get a grip of myself to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. She always looks incredible, don’t get me wrong. In a form fitting dress she’s just somehow even more Eden. The truest version of herself. Stunning, confident and dripping with sensuality.

  “Are you ready to go?” she asks, stopping before the couch and putting a hand on her hip.

  I get up and get moving. “Ready when you are.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  * * *

  LOGAN

  The headache went from a dull throb to a pounding sensation from the moment I woke up to the second I closed Eden’s front door behind me. I pop some painkillers as I head down the path and out to the road. I’d parked the rental car down the street. I don’t want anyone tracing me to her place. I can never be too careful when it comes to Eden’s safety. I toss my bag into the trunk and get into the car.

  My heart sinks as I get behind the wheel. I don’t want to leave. Everything feels off. I’d come here with the intention of telling the woman I loved how I felt. I have nothing to lose now. She already fired me. But seeing the lack of security at her new place had shocked me. I’d become consumed with it, angry that she wasn’t looking after herself. I’d lost my chance.

  She’s dating that prick writer. Of all the guys she could have chosen. It makes me feel sick.

  I sit behind the wheel of the car for hell only knows how long. Not ready to leave, but knowing there’s no reason to stay.

  Desperate thoughts race through my head. I have to tell her, to give her the option. I’ll never know her answer if I don’t tell her.

  The knock on my window jerks me out of those thoughts. I roll it down, expecting for a moment to see the face of a local cop, before I remember; there aren’t any of those in this town. The dark-haired beauty smiles in at me, her full lips painted a shade of rose-pink.

  “Hi,” she says, sounding amused.

  “Can I help you?” As disarming as her smile is, I’m more than a little suspicious.

  She nods slowly. “Yes. I believe you can. Do you know Eden Rose?”

  “I do.”

  Her smile widens. “I thought you might. She’s been screwing around with my man. It’s kind of annoying, truth be told.”

  “You’re Asher’s woman?” What is it with this creep and stunning women? I frown at her as she nods.

  She then shakes her head. “I was getting sick of him anyway. That’s not really the point.”<
br />
  She leans in and touches my arm. The pounding in my head gets worse as her eyes darken. I feel like I’m going to faint or throw up, maybe both.

  “Listen carefully, Logan,” she murmurs, her fingers digging into my forearm. “Asher is a danger to Eden. You’re right about him. He’s a creep. He’s going to kill her when she least expects it. You have to stop him. You have to kill him before he gets the chance to murder the woman you love. She’ll fall into your arms when you rescue her. You can have the happy ending you desire if you end his life.”

  Her words burn through my brain. All I can hear is the softly hissing sound of her voice as she speaks them. I know they’re important, even if I can’t hear them properly right now. I know I’ll remember them sharply when the time is right.

  She lets go of my arm and my headache fades. She smiles and waves as she leaves, showing keys in her hand as she goes. I sit behind the wheel until the pain passes before I start the engine.

  Leaving town isn’t an option. I find an inconspicuous place to park. I check my weapon before I holster it. I wait. There’s something I need to do before I leave town. I’ll remember what it is soon.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  * * *

  EDEN

  “Your friend wants us to go to a nightclub opening tonight.” Asher holds my hand as we walk.

  It’s a nice night and I’m enjoying clinging onto him as we walk into town. Though as soon as we get close to the main street I start to regret that decision.

  “Must be here for the club opening,” he murmurs.

  The crowd isn’t too insane, but seeing three dozen people walking around this sleepy hollow makes me nervous. Some of them are dressed for a nightclub, definitely.

  I tug on his hand and nod towards the path to the park.

  He smiles as we head that way to avoid the crowd. There’s a dirt path that leads practically the whole way to the restaurant. It’s one we used to take when we were kids to get to the park after we went for dinner. I haven’t seen any kids near it since I came back. Apparently the high school closed a few years ago. I’m guessing families don’t really stick around. The place seems mostly full of older folks.

  “So, you want to go?” he asks as we walk towards the rusty looking swings. “To the club, I mean.”

  “No.” I smile as my face flushes. “Asher, it’s the other guy’s club. He owns it.”

  The penny seems to drop. He nods slowly. “I should have guessed. I take it your friend likes him better for you.”

  Does she? She barely knows Asher and she doesn’t believe in monogamy anyway. I shake my head.

  “She’s not that judgmental. She was just trying to mess with you.”

  I dust off the least rusty looking swing and sit down. Asher gets behind me and pushes. I swing my legs out so my heels won’t scrape the ground.

  “Ah, yeah. I’ve heard Skyler can be that way.”

  I listen out for anything in his voice that might sound like worry. He seems fine with the mention of my other guy. I’m probably worrying over nothing. Asher really isn’t the jealous type, at least not until bitchy Goddess’ of destruction are whispering nasty nothings in his ear. This whole situation was going to take some getting used to, but it was starting to feel less awkward. A little. Maybe.

  “Let’s go find our tree.”

  He stops the swing and I get up, taking his hand again and seeing the bemused smile on his face. I wonder what it’s there for but he doesn’t speak until we find the tree. It’s an old oak tree on the edge of the woods. We carved our initials into it, near each other, years ago. A couple of other things have been added, it seemed. I smile at him when I see it.

  “I added the heart after you left,” he says, as my fingers reach out to touch it.

  He also did a little plus sign between our names inside the heart. It must have taken a while to do the heart. It was perfectly even. I remembered being surprised at how much harder it was to carve our initials in than I’d thought it would be. I’d been fine with leaving them barely legible, but he’d been determined to get it right. I’m glad he went to the trouble. It felt like a sign.

  “I love you, Asher.”

  He smiles and strokes my hair back from my face. “I felt weird about coming back here and carving the heart, but once the idea was in my head it wouldn’t leave. I didn’t think you were ever coming back, Eden. I didn’t even think I’d still be here in Rapture by now. But I thought maybe one day if you did come back to visit this place you’d see it and know.”

  “I knew,” I tell him, wondering if I should. It won’t change anything, but he deserves to know. “I was just afraid. I didn’t want to lose you. You meant everything to me.”

  I can feel my throat closing up with emotion, my eyes beginning to get watery. I was so stupid when I was younger. I did so many things that went against what I really wanted or needed. I’d denied myself so much on the pretence of protecting myself.

  “I didn’t think you…” He trails off and I catch a glimpse of his poker face before his gaze drifts to my lips. “I knew you loved me, but I thought you saw me as a friend. Nothing else.”

  How can he think that? I shake my head. “I was afraid to lose you. It’s why I always changed the subject whenever it seemed like you might ask me out. No-one our age got together and stayed together. They were always breaking up. I didn’t want that for us.”

  He smiles. “We never would have broken up. We never will.”

  His lips fall to mine and I sink into a kiss that enflames my whole body. He pulls me in close, lifting me higher and turning slightly. He steps back and I feel the tree behind me as he lifts and rests my ass against the trunk. I keep my arms around his neck and my legs tighten around his waist as I look down at him. He grins as his hand slides up my leg. The skirt of my dress has been pushed up around my waist. It wouldn’t look too indiscrete if someone walked by, and neither would his hand sneaking between my legs from underneath. My panties are pushed to the side as he slips two fingers inside of me and begins to rub his thumb over my clit.

  “Holy shit, Asher,” I whisper, as his lips press back against mine.

  It’s still bright out, and we’re barely hidden from sight against the tree. It’s a riskier move than I would have expected him to pull. His fingers continue to stroke and probe as his tongue glides into my mouth. Desire pulses through me, and I know I’m ready to lose control.

  He breaks the kiss to watch my face as I come for him, arching my back against the tree and biting down on my lip to stop myself from crying out. I’m trembling when he withdraws his fingers. I want more, but I know it would be foolish to risk being caught. He lifts me down and dusts off the back of my dress, hands squeezing my ass on the final brush.

  “Oh, Eden. You have no idea what you do to me.” His face is flushed and I can see the bulge in his pants that means I’m not the only one who wants more right now.

  “I have a pretty good idea,” I assure him.

  It’s too bright out to risk anything more here, even if we delved deeper into the woods. If Sky and Cain weren’t in my house I might suggest going back there.

  He turns away to adjust himself. I suppose the casual observer might not notice he was hiding a massive erection, if they weren’t really paying attention. He was too big not to stretch out the front of his pants to a ridiculous level. There was no real way to hide it.

  “Can we go to your place, maybe?”

  He swallows as he looks at me, shaking his head. “My sister hijacked the living room for the night. I’d lose this the second I stepped through the door. Kind of makes going back for the bedroom pointless.”

  I smile. “Well, Sky and Cain will be out later so we can be alone at my place. Think you can sit through dinner with that thing?”

  He laughs. “That thing?”

  I shrug. “I was trying to be polite and not call it a raging boner.”

  “Just give me a second.” He turns away again. A few deep breaths and when
he turns back I can see it’s starting to disappear. “Just try not to say anything sexy until after dinner, okay? Looking at you sets this thing off easily enough. Anything else you do makes it worse.”

  “Got it.” I can’t wait for after dinner.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  * * *

  NICK

  The club opened at ten and was packed by midnight. We’re off to a good start. Sky and Cain show up at the back at eleven. I wait, but Eden isn’t with them. Damn. I guess I should have actually asked her to come, but I’d thought it was obvious.

  “Hey, how’s it going?” I usher them over to the bar.

  “If you’re wondering where Eden is, she’s with her other boyfriend,” Sky yells for me to hear it.

  Cain frowns deeply at her. Something’s up. I wonder what.

  “She is?” I pour her the usual to start.

  “You know?” Her jaw drops when I nod. Maybe it’s the who-gives-a-shit that’s-not-news-to-me expression I’m giving her. If she’s trying to stir trouble, she failed.

  “Oh yeah. Why wouldn’t I know?”

  “You don’t seem pissed about it.” She’s in shock.

  This isn’t like her. She’s not usually one to meddle, or cause trouble for her friends. She’s more protective than this. I wonder what’s going on.

  I shrug. “Eden isn’t like everyone else. I’ve always known that.”

  She sips at her drink when I hand it to her. I try to give Cain one and he shakes his head. She rolls her eyes. Okay, I think I get what crawled up her butt.