Divine Interventions: Nemesis of the Garden Read online

  Like Pan.

  But Pan wasn’t someone you could depend on to hold undying monogamous love for anyone. She’d learned that lesson the hard way. No doubt he’d react to her professing love for him with the same contempt she showed the men in her life.

  The best thing to do was enjoy being with him while it lasted. When it was over, it would be over, and they’d both go back to their lives. Pan would go back to fucking anything that stayed still long enough, and she’d…well, she’d survive.

  She’d done it before—she could do it again. It would be hard, but not impossible.

  The warm body behind her stirred and an arm came around her waist to cinch her in close. Nina felt the familiar warm breath of her favorite god on the back of her neck.

  “Looks like someone is awake.” His hand moved up her body to cup her breast, twisting her nipple with innate skill. As if her nipple was a knob on her passion her arousal turned from simmer to a high boil. Nina couldn’t resist a little moan.

  The god’s voice growled in her ear. “I wonder what I can do with a warm willing nymph in my bed. Assuming you are willing, that is.”

  He turned her so she was looking up into his face with its piercing eyes and thin goatee. She ran her hand through his curly brown hair, finding the hidden knobs of his short horns.

  He’d asked the same question every morning for the past five months, if she was still willing to make love with him. Every day he seemed to expect that she’d have fallen out of love with him as the spell from Eros’ arrow had worn off.

  “I believe you could do anything you want, Pan. Assuming you still want me.” It was the same answer she’d given every morning, wondering when he’d finally say he’d had enough of her.

  And he answered her as he had each of the previous five months of mornings—he kissed her with a kiss that drove all other questions from her head. Pan’s mouth covered hers, his lips plying with distracting intent, his tongue engaged in a battle for whose mouth would be probed first. As always she lost the battle and he took possession, tasting the inside of her mouth with long sweeps of his sensuous tongue.

  Nina melted under the influence of Pan’s kiss. What woman, nymph, or goddess could refuse him anything when he put his wicked mouth to work on her?

  Except for Echo. He’d mentioned once how her sister nymph, Echo, now known as Chloe, had been resistant to his kisses, but Pan had attributed it to true love being in effect. Even the god of sensuality couldn’t compete with a man who held the heart of his woman.

  Secretly Nina had been delighted that Chloe had found her love in Alex and that the man had finally figured out that he, in turn, was in love with her. The last message she’d gotten from the pair was that Chloe and Alex were to be married soon.

  Not that any of this was going through her head at the moment. How could it when Pan was kissing her into a place where no thoughts could find purchase? Her mind shut down and left her with nothing but sensation to experience, warm, sensuous sensation, something that had been sadly lacking in her life for many past centuries.

  In her life lovers had come and gone, but Pan came, and came, and came, and more often than not made her come with him—assuming she hadn’t come sometime before.

  She never left Pan’s bed unsatisfied. In first couple of weeks of their relationship he’d even gone beyond her stamina and worn her out. She hadn’t able to leave the bed for days.

  Fortunately she’d gotten a lot stronger and most of the time could keep up with him now. At the moment his hands roamed her body, his lips moving from her mouth to trail kisses down her neck. His legs slid over hers, the soft fleece that covered them caressing her skin. Her legs tingled under its sensuous touch. Even the hardness of his cloven feet as they slid along her feet felt wonderful.

  Pan’s lips found her nipples, tugging each with practiced care. His hands were gentle as they touched her, particularly in the places she tended to get tender, but he could be demanding when he knew she could take it. He knew her body, almost as well as she did herself. Maybe even better.

  It was funny. The first time he’d claimed her, he’d been powerful, intense, a force of nature intent on establishing possession of her. After their first tempestuous night, she’d barely been able to sit down for much of the following day.

  Since then Pan had shown more care when he’d had sex with her, almost to the point of being too gentle. She couldn’t quite figure him out. The way he acted, it almost didn’t seem like the actions of a man under a spell. She could almost believe that he loved her.

  Of course he didn’t. It was all the fault of Eros’ arrow, but how easy it would be to give in to temptation and believe he really meant love in the way he touched her.

  But that was impossible. She may be called Nina, but she was Nemesis, former vengeance nymph and enemy of all, and she knew better than to trust anyone or anything, even her own judgment when it came to him. Vengeance nymphs never forgave and they never let love interfere with their lives.

  A vengeance nymph would never forget that Pan couldn’t possibly care for her.

  Or could he? She couldn’t help that little whisper of hope.

  Still, it didn’t much matter if he did or didn’t really care for her as long as he kept playing with her most sensitive spots the way he was right now. Nina closed her eyes and gave in to those skilled fingers stroking her sensitive clit, soft folds, and tender pussy. His touch sparked a flame within her—his fingers were steel to her flint, sending sparks everywhere.

  Sometimes it surprised her that the bed didn’t burst into flames, so hot their sex was. Like now when she lifted her knees and spread them to make it easier for him to touch her.

  Pan’s hand dove deep within her, curving his fingers and pressing against the inside, reaching for that tiny sensitive spot only he could always find in her. Gods, he was good at that. Sometimes she wondered if she would expire from his touch.

  It was far more like she’d die from lack of it.

  Her little voice spoke again. If only any of it was real.

  “Tell me what you want, Nina.” Pan leaned over her, capturing her gaze with his penetrating eyes.

  You—to really love me… Nina bit down on her lips. She couldn’t say that aloud. She’d look pathetic when he finally stopped his bespelled infatuation with her. There was no way Nemesis could ever allow herself to look pathetic. Instead Nina forced a sultry smile onto her face. “I want what I always want. Fuck me good and hard, Pan.”

  An odd look, almost like disappointment, flashed through his eyes. It disappeared as he whispered, “That’s what I’ll do then.”

  Pan sat up and grabbed her knees and pulled them further apart. Nina almost felt split in two as he knelt between her thighs. He lifted her ass high in the air to line up with his massive erection, resting the broad head of his cock against her opening. He plunged forward and speared deep within her, filling her as he always did with his hot pulsating cock.

  As always, it felt wonderful even as she questioned whether he might someday split her apart entering her this way. She groaned aloud. “Gods, Pan, you can do that forever.”

  He grinned at her, eyes lively with mischief. “Promise?” he said, and she thought she detected a hint of wistful hope in the question.

  Before she could react to his comment, he went into a flurry of strokes that left her breathless and aching for release. She bucked and twisted, her hips held firmly in his hands.

  It was a most thorough fucking. Nina could hardly breathe as he filled her, over and over again, his heavy balls bouncing against her ass, still lifted high in the air. As was usual with these early morning fuckings, both reached their climax early. Nina’s release came in its normal mind-blowing fashion, her body tensing all over, ripples of sensation dancing from her cock-filled pussy through her body and down her limbs all the way to the tips of her toes and fingers. She screamed his name in a long banshee-like wail.

  Moments later Pan tensed over her and growled, his hands har
d on her hips, and Nina could feel his cum explode within her, his cock pulsing and pumping it deep into her womb.

  At the peak of his climax, Pan leaned forward to stare into her eyes, his gaze intensely sensual and possessive. Her name was on his lips, his voice harsh and guttural. As usual he called her Nemesis instead of her adopted name but Nina couldn’t work up the energy to protest. She was too wrung out to feel indignant about anything, much less what name he called her in his passion.

  Still on his knees, Pan pulled her off the bed and into his arms, holding her close to him. His mouth slanted over hers as if through his kiss he could claim her and mark her as his. As always, Nina swooned a little at his sensuous kiss.

  Cock still buried deep within her, Pan lay on the bed, cradling her body close to him, and they lay still, replete, and for the brief moment sated. Not for long, Nina knew. Their early morning couplings were always like this, intense and fast. Each morning Pan took possession of her as if claiming her for the first time, unable to control his need for sex.

  During the day when they made love, it was with a hint of distraction, the pair of them playing hooky from their usual activities. A little bit of fun between the responsibilities they both had.

  But in the evening their lovemaking was slower, more relaxed. It had become the coupling of two people comfortable with each other. They lay together for hours sometimes, touching, stroking, and using hands, fingers, mouths, feet and hooves to give each other pleasure. When the last groan and moan had sounded, they would hold each other all through the Olympian night, too tired from their exertions to do anything other than sleep.

  It had been the best five months she’d ever known…or would likely ever know. The only flaw was that she knew that someday it had to end.

  “What are you thinking about?” Pan asked.

  Nothing she could tell him about but fortunately she had another answer. “I need to go to my apartment this morning. I’m running out of clothes.”

  He nuzzled her neck, his thin goatee tickling her breasts. “You have clothes here…for when you need to get dressed, which isn’t that often.” Stretching out on top of her, his legs became a warm blanket against hers. “Stay in my bed and I’ll keep you warm, little nymph.”

  It was tempting to do just as he suggested, but she laughed instead. “I can’t stay in bed all day, Pan, and I’m tired of the clothes I have here. Besides there is other stuff I want.”

  He nipped at her earlobe, giving it a gentle tug with the flat edges of his teeth. “You sleep here with me, but keep your things in an apartment way over in Elysian Fields. Why do you keep your own place? I have room here for your ‘stuff’.”

  She leaned away so she could see his face, her own no doubt showing her astonishment at his suggestion. “Are you suggesting I move in with you? But Pan, we don’t know how long this will last!”

  Pan sat up, yawned and stretched. “It has lasted long enough for your commuting to your place every few days to become a problem. I merely suggest you move the things you want daily here and keep your apartment for long-term storage. I can make room for your belongings and it would be more efficient.”

  “Room where?” Nina waved her hands, indicating Pan’s bedchamber, which was the only covered portion of his garden home. A set of pegs along one wall held his collection of loincloths, the only clothing he usually wore outside of a couple of shirts and slacks. There were no other storage areas available.

  As a romantic bower, Pan’s place was great, but it lacked a few amenities when it came to living space. For one thing Nina was using her empty guitar case to store the few clothes she’d brought. The case was what she’d used to smuggle Eros’ bow and arrow set into Pan’s garden that fateful day, but it had come in handy.

  “I just can’t see myself living here, Pan,” she told him.

  “Why not? What does your place have that mine doesn’t?”

  “Oh, just a few things. Like closets, chests, and a decent bathroom.”

  Pan glowered at her list of his home’s failings. “There is a perfectly fine bathing area in my garden. It has a waterfall, hot and cold water, and a natural fountain.”

  Nina rolled her eyes. “True, the bathing pool is nice, but it’s outside and uncovered. A lady likes a little privacy when she’s taking a bubble bath and washing her hair. Anyone flying overhead can watch me in there.”

  A frown crossed Pan’s face, as if he didn’t like the idea of someone viewing Nina bathing. “I have noticed Mercury flitting across more than he used to,” he mused. “Perhaps a shelter over that corner of the garden would be in order.”

  He looked around the bower. “If you need storage space, we can make some for you.” Stepping over to the corner, he whispered something to the living trees that formed the walls and the roof over their heads. There was a rustling of leaves then the branches seemed to bow in unison.

  As Nina watched, buds formed along the inner edges of two trees and tendrils sprouted. They grew and began to wind around each other, forming a basket weave wall.

  With a wave of his hand, Pan gestured to the slowly forming wall of new growth. “It will take a little while, but you’ll have your closet soon.”

  “How do you do that?” Nina asked, awed by his powers.

  He laughed. “I ask for what I need and the plants serve me. I can teach you to commune with nature and ask it for what you want.”

  “I couldn’t do that…”

  “Of course you can. As long as you are here, you might as well learn to care for the garden. That way you’ll be more comfortable here.”

  Not much point in learning Pan’s nature-boy ways since any time now he was going to lose interest and send her on her way, but what did she have to lose? Maybe she could get into landscaping if she ever decided to leave the world of adult television. “I’d be happy to learn from you.”

  Her answer had pleased him. “Excellent. We can get started right away…”

  “Not this morning, Pan. I still need to pay a visit to my apartment. And then I have to go to work…”

  “Work?” Pan folded his arms and glared at her. “I thought you quit that job of yours.”

  Nina cringed. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out. Pan had been livid when he’d found out she worked at a twenty-four hour adult cable station, sometimes even starring in the productions. He’d read her the riot act about “behavior unbecoming a minor deity”, and how no nymph he was living with would go from his bed to have sex with a human on television, even if it was simulated.

  “I didn’t actually quit. I transferred to production instead.” She grinned happily. “I’m a director and they told me I could produce my own script.”

  The god didn’t look happy about the situation. “I’m not sure I want you there at all, even if it is behind the camera.”

  Nina’s heart sank. She’d worked hard to get promoted to production and didn’t want to give it up. Once Pan dumped her, working at LUV would be all she had left.

  For a moment she considered arguing. After all, he couldn’t really tell her what to do, but then inspiration struck. “Maybe you could help me with the script. I haven’t done that much writing before.”

  “You’d want Homer or Apollo for that. I’m not much of a writer.”

  “But you know do how to describe sex acts and are always coming up with little skits. You do it all the time when we’re together. You know, like when we play ‘the naughty little lamb’ or ‘the shepherdess and the big, bad goat’.”

  Pan grinned. “I’ve always liked being the big, bad goat.” He advanced on her, the front of his loincloth rising.

  Nina backed away. Not that she would really say no, but she did have to get moving if she were to get to work on time. “I’m sure lots of other people would enjoy it too. You could help me write some of your skits into a script.”

  “It could be an interesting thing to do. I’ve always wanted to do more in the arts.” Pan stroked his beard. “Very well. I’ll help you with your
script as long as you don’t act it out with anyone else…besides me, of course. I have your promise?”

  As if it would be her cheating on him! Grimly Nina beat down her inner vengeance nymph, who wanted to protest that aloud. She’d brought up Pan’s indiscretion a couple times in the past five months but he’d always claimed he couldn’t remember the incident…stating that since it hadn’t made that much of an impression on him, it shouldn’t be a factor now.

  Instead she nodded, putting her most virtuous look on her face. It was the one she’d used at the beginning of the film The Naughty Nun, when she’d played Sister Lovesalot. “I promise, Pan. No fooling around.”

  “Good. One more thing. I want you to move in here.” He glanced back at the walls of the new “closet”, which were now four inches long. Their intention seemed to be to block off the corner and make a good-sized storage space. “Your cabinet should be done by tomorrow so I’ll help you move your belongings then.”

  Nina nodded her agreement. At least she was keeping her job, and with Pan’s help, she’d have a terrific script to direct. She didn’t really mind living with him—only the likely temporariness of it bothered her.

  Not that she’d tell him that. Pan didn’t need to know that she was really in love with him. It would be the last thing he’d want.

  Chapter Two

  Pan sighed. Once more he’d awoken with a lovely woman in his bed, holding her close. Not that waking with a woman in his bed was extraordinary. Pan had never been one to sleep alone if he could help it.

  And the cuddling wasn’t all that unusual either. It wasn’t a big secret that Pan enjoyed the feel of a woman next to him nearly as much as he did the actual intimate possession of her.

  What was unusual was that the woman he woke with this morning was the same woman he’d woken with yesterday and the day before, the same woman he’d slept with for the past five months since being struck by Eros’ arrow. Up to then he’d been happy to have variety in his life, a different woman every night.