Earth's Hope by Ann Gimpel Page B

had the chance.”
    He tilted his chin with a jaunty smile. “I’ll give you points for boldness, dragon. I never would have suspected you’d pull your mate out of my prison.” Perrikus waved a hand. “At first, I was more cautious, but when centuries passed, I assumed—”
    “Got lazy, more like,” Nidhogg broke in. He blasted the dark god with fire too, which spoke to his level of frustration, since he had to know it wouldn’t do any good.
    Aislinn closed her teeth over her lower lip until she tasted blood. Pain had a salutary effect. It couldn’t have been easy for Nidhogg to hear about Dewi’s dalliance with the Minotaur. Aislinn winced; she’d been stuck inside Dewi’s body during that particular fall from grace, and the murky kinkiness of it still gave her nightmares.
    Rune slunk to her side, still growling and she asked, “Are you all right? Did the fall hurt you?”
    “My pride. What I wouldn’t give to sink my teeth into that bastard.”
    “I heard that,” Perrikus called and danced from side to side in a macabre parody of a prizefighter. “Come and get me, wolf. I could use a bit of sport.”
    Aislinn lunged for Rune’s neck and held him back. “He’s baiting you.”
    “But…” The wolf whined a protest.
    “No.” Aislinn’s conscience smote her. Rune was bonded to her, so he couldn’t challenge a direct command. She didn’t play that card often because it was so inequitable. Rune snapped his jaws millimeters from her face, and she realized he hadn’t forgiven her for the last time she’d pulled rank.
    Gwydion, Bran, and Arawn advanced until they formed a line between Dewi and Perrikus. “You want something,” Gwydion growled. “What is it?”
    Perrikus smiled and was transformed into such a profanely beautiful creature that his golden skin actually glowed as if illuminated from within. Aislinn took a few steps toward him before she understood she was caught in thrall and forced herself to halt. The dark god had noticed, though, and leered knowingly at her from in between the Celts and Dewi’s bulk.
    Damn him!
    Much as D’Chel had done on one of the borderworlds, Perrikus latched his gaze onto hers and ramped up the sexual energy pulsing from him until an orgasm coursed through her, leaving her legs weak and shaky.
    “Go in the house.” Gwydion’s voice rang with command, but Aislinn ignored what was probably a prudent suggestion.
    “I’m stronger than that,” she panted.
    “Like hell, ye are,” the master enchanter said.
    Pain shot up her leg. When she looked down, Rune’s jaws were around her calf. She sank a hand into his thick neck ruff and said, “Thank you.” The wolf didn’t answer, just bit harder. He’d done the same thing before to keep her mind clear enough to reason.
    “I asked you a question.” Gwydion stared at Perrikus. “If ye’re not planning to answer it, we may as well get back to wiping out your Lemurian sacrificial sheep.”
    “Hush,” Perrikus said in a stage whisper and grinned engagingly. “Once they find out, the gig will be up.”
    His supercilious attitude blasted past Aislinn’s cautions, and she wrenched her leg out of Rune’s jaws and scurried forward. “They know. They’re not stupid. It’s just that they think differently than we do, and they were desperate. Only the truly hopeless would hook up with the likes of you.”
    “You’re defending them?” Perrikus’s cultured tones rang with incredulity. “They would have killed you.”
    “So would you,” she countered and crossed her arms over her chest. Lust shivered through her body, and she shook herself all over. “Stop that.”
    “But you’re so desirable. D’Chel and I have created some particularly rich fantasies with you as the star.”
    “I’ll just bet you have,” she ground out, surprised her back teeth didn’t crack from pressure.
    “Enough,” Gwydion huffed and cut through the air with his hand. “I’ve dealt with you longer than I want to. You want