Morpheus Read online

  El sputtered, “But…we’ve just met.”

  “My people know almost instantly and you are mine. It’s that simple.”

  “You’re dealing with humans, nothing’s that simple,” the one called Lu said with a smirk. Doc smacked him on the arm. “No insult intended. It’s always complicated between humans and gods.” Doc didn’t answer. Maybe he was right?

  “Let’s figure this out later. Right now we need to meet with you so we can work this out face to face. We’ll be able to give you protection.”

  “What do you want to do, meet somewhere?” El asked.

  “No, I think it’s better if you wait there for us. Give us your city and when we get closer you can tell us exactly where you are. It’s safer that way.”

  She gave them their general location. “That’s about five hours from here, isn’t it?” Hercules asked.

  “Yes.” El and Slay answered together.

  “We’re leaving as soon as we fill up the tank. Morpheus, it’s great to know you’re alive brother,” Hades said softly. Slay would say he was overcome with emotion, if he had the guts to tell the intimidating god something like that.

  The call was over and the group started to leave. “Watch out for my sister and those angels,” Slay told them.

  “As if they were ours,” Doc assured him. The door closed behind them and Slay watched as they loaded into a large SUV. Hades drove and Lu sat next to him while the rest sat in the back two seats. He was surprised Hades let Doc sit in the back with the other gods. He must really trust them.

  Chapter 7

  Crazy Cutter

  The call concluded, El just looked at him in shock. Not the best way to tell your gal she’s your one and only. “I’m sorry we didn’t talk first,” Morpheus said as he slid his feet around awkwardly while he looked down at them with no idea what to say or do to fix this thing. She was his, why couldn’t she just accept that and be happy?

  “I don’t know what to say,” El replied. Well that made two of them. The kids just sat there quietly watching them like they were a cartoon. It was the first time he had seen them quiet when they weren’t asleep.

  “I want you to be my mate.” There he said it, what would her answer be?

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Please Mom, we’ll be really good,” Cassie begged.

  “We will Mommy,” Donnie added. He thought saying mommy was for babies, but sometimes he forgot. He would always be her baby, they both would.

  “This isn’t going to be decided now,” she insisted. “Morpheus and I have a lot to discuss.”

  Their faces fell, she knew they really liked Morpheus, but they didn’t know him that well and he didn’t know them. The kids had already dressed and eaten. They had the TV on but they weren’t watching it now that something more interesting was going on. She needed to talk to him without the kids involved first. She moved to him grabbing his arm and pulling him to the bedroom.

  As soon as she closed the door he started to strip. “What are you doing?” she asked stunned. Dear Lord he looked so good!

  “You want to have sex so I’m getting ready,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “No…”

  “You don’t want sex?”

  “I just wanted to talk to you about what’s going on.”

  “Okay, let’s talk.” He stood there naked and she couldn’t take her eyes off his hard cock as it bobbed up and down whenever he moved.

  “I need you to get dressed.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re distracting me. I can’t talk to you when you’re naked.”

  He smiled. “You do want to have sex.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Let’s have sex first, then we’ll talk.”

  Suddenly that sounded completely reasonable to her. He was pulling her clothes off and she stood there letting him. He pulled her naked body up against his own nude one. He felt so good she just couldn’t fight the need to touch him and find comfort with him. She slid to her knees and she grabbed his magnificent shaft in her hands stroking him from root to tip. Noticing the shiny drop of dew on the end of his cock, she stuck out her tongue and swept over it. The taste exploded in her mouth as a shudder ran through him. She moved her hands cupping his balls. The man had massive fucking balls but she sucked one into her mouth anyway. He groaned and she would swear he shook with desire. She moved on to the other ball. She didn’t want one to get jealous of the other.

  Now, she sucked in the head of his cock. It barely fit in her mouth and she tried hard not to rake it with her teeth. It was impossible not to, but she barely scraped his cock. He seemed to like the slight pain it gave him. Her hands cupped and rolled his balls gently as she moved her mouth up and down his stiff rod. She went deeper and faster even though he had a lot for her to handle. She enjoyed the light salty taste of his skin and his responses made her feel talented and in charge. Faster, she moved her mouth up and down as she swirled her tongue on him. He moaned and she loved the sound of it. He was tensing, he was so close she could almost taste his sweet cum on her tongue. She relaxed her throat and took him as deep as she could and swallowed. He stiffened and froze for just a second before he started unloading his seed down her throat. There was so much she almost choked but she remembered to relax and swallow.

  When she sucked the last of it down her throat, she released him with a pop. She noticed he was already starting to get hard again. He pulled her off the floor and into his arms. He carried her to the bed, gently placing her in the middle before he slid on top of her caging her in with his body. He kissed her pouring his passion into his kiss, claiming her as he hoped she would claim him. He used one hand to stroke her satin skin as the other supported his weight. His cock hardened until it was almost unbearable, the need to slide into her heated depths.

  He dropped his lips to taste her rosy nipples, sucking each one of them hard in turn until they were aching and distended. He moved the head of his cock into position, sliding it against her to test for her readiness. It moved easily across her slick folds. He pushed it into her welcoming channel. Fully inside, he took a moment to enjoy the feeling of being exactly where he belonged before he pulled out to slam back in. He groaned, it was a deep rumble from inside him. She brought out emotions he had never known before. Sex had always been a means to an end. It was a way to release the pressure and satisfy an unwanted urge. Now, it was different, it was the most incredible feeling, gave him a sense of completion, and he wanted to feel this way all the time.

  He hammered into her rolling from side to side to test her responses. When she moaned and tensed, he knew that was a spot he wanted to hit every time. Once he found that, she went off like a rocket in no time. Her muscles squeezed and pulled at his shaft so hard, he came right after she did. He had never felt such an incredible thing before he had met her. He never intended to let her go, she was his.

  He rolled to the side carrying her with him and molded his body around her. Somehow, even with everything going on they managed to fall asleep. The light knocking on the door and the giggling woke them both up. El grabbed her robe and hurried to the door, it was the kids. They made kissy faces, but they didn’t say anything about Morpheus and El being together.

  “Mom, we’re hungry and it’s past lunch time,” Cassie, the spokeswoman of the two, said with just the perfect amount of whine to it.

  “I’ll get dressed and go pick something up,” El answered. That comment was greeted with a dozen suggestions of what they would like. She suggested one and the kids jumped up and down screaming their enjoyment. “Stop! We’re not at home and I won’t bring you your food if you don’t calm down.” They stopped immediately just like someone had thrown a switch that robbed them of their energy.

  El hurried to the shower and he decided to let her shower alone. If he went in there she’d never get done. Just the thought made his cock get hard. Damn. He knew it would be awhile before El would help him with that problem. Right now she had two hungry kids
to deal with. She was done showering in a few minutes and she came into the room to get dressed. She dropped the towel and his mouth went dry. She bent over to get something off the floor and his cock got so hard it could drill nails. Oh, my. Did that female know what she was doing to him?

  He didn’t think she did because she was dressing quickly and her mind seemed to be on what she was doing. He took a deep breath and tried to think about something else while the sheet just continued to tent. Finally, she was dressed and ready to go. She turned to him and she noticed the tented sheet right away. She smiled with no small dose of feminine satisfaction.

  “What do you want me to bring you back?”

  He knew she meant food. “Just your sweet self.”

  She moved to him leaning down to kiss him. He pulled her closer until she ended up lying on top of him. The kiss was so deep and just went on and on until they heard the kids in the other room. She pulled back and he let her. He couldn’t believe how comfortable he was with her and the kids in such a small amount of time. He just viewed them as his and he would keep and protect them.

  “I’d better go before they scream the place down,” she said with a smile as she headed out to the living room where she kissed both of the kids before grabbing her purse and keys. She left without a glance back, that was two hours ago and he was getting nervous.

  The phone rang, should he answer it? He made a quick decision and picked it up. “Morpheus,” Cutter’s cold voice came over the line.

  “What do you want?”

  “I have your girlfriend here. I think she wants to talk to you.”

  “Morpheus,” El’s voice came over the line full of worry. “Take the kids and run as fast as you can. Don’t stop until you’re safe.”

  “Aw, how sweet. You won’t do that, though, will you? You know what I’ll do to her if you do. Do you want her free? You’ll do what I say if you do.”

  “What do you want?” he asked even though he knew.

  “You, you big lug. I want you here so we can get to know each other intimately. No messing around and trying to hold back. I want your complete cooperation in the experiment. Once you do that, I’ll let her go.”

  “No.”

  “No? I don’t think you understand what I’m willing to do to her. You will come back and you’ll do it now,” Cutter screeched.

  He hung up on her. It was a calculated risk, his heart pounded in his chest and he felt like he was going to throw up because of worry for his mate but he knew if he gave in, Cutter would have them both. El, was no good to them without him but as long as they thought they might get him, she should be safe. It was the should that worried him. He breathed in one deep breath, exhale, another, then exhale. The phone rang again, Cutter’s horrible voice on the other end.

  “I’ll give you one time free, hang up again, she dies.”

  “I’m not so stupid that I’ll turn myself in to you without you letting her go at the same time. I also have to find a safe place for the kids.”

  “How sweet, a regular Mr. Mom. You have an hour, then I’ll call you back and tell you where to come. Oh and Morpheus, no tricks and you’d better be on time.”

  Cutter hung up and the line went dead but he just held onto the phone, maybe because he had nothing else to hold on to. An hour wasn’t long enough. Not only did he have no one to keep the kids, he would be alone with no back up to help him see that El was safe. What the hell was he going to do?

  Chapter 8

  Too Little

  Hades had a niggling feeling deep in his gut. It was starting to make him sick and he pressed the gas pedal harder. Luckily, this was a secondary highway and not patrolled as heavily as the main ones. He had cut some time off the trip, at least an hour with his heavy foot.

  “What’s the hurry?” Lu asked quietly.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling,” Hades admitted.

  “Maybe we should call early and make sure they’re okay,” Lu suggested.

  “What good will that do if they’re not?”

  “Maybe we can help them figure out what to do?” Hades nodded and Lu picked up the phone laying on the console between them. The number was already programmed in for the call. He pushed the button and waited. It rang, once, twice, three times and was picked up just before going to voice mail.

  “Hello,” Morpheus said suspiciously. He had looked at the phone like it was a snake ready to strike when it started to ring. He had only answered it because he didn’t see any way it could make his situation worse. He hadn’t even realized that El had left the burner phone behind, but she’d had no reason to take the thing with her.

  “Morpheus, this is Lu. Is everything alright? Hades is about to have a heart attack from an unexplainable worry about you.”

  “No, Cutter got El. She wants me to turn myself in to her and she says once I follow her instructions, she’ll release her. I don’t have anyone to watch the kids and I’m not sure what to do. Once Cutter has me, I know she’ll either keep El, or kill her.”

  “When do you have to meet Cutter?”

  “I just talked to her. She’s giving me an hour to find a place for the kids, then she’s calling me to arrange the meeting.”

  “We are about an hour and a half from you according to our GPS. Hades is already speeding like crazy so I doubt we’ll get there much sooner. If worse comes to worse, you can leave the kids and we’ll get them first. Call us back when she gives you directions to the meeting. Good luck, Brother.” Lu hung up because he didn’t know what to say to Morpheus. Emotions were difficult for him, he just tried to avoid them. He was too battered and broken to ever be any help to someone as distraught as Morpheus was right now.

  “What do we do?” Doc asked. They had all heard since Lu had the phone on speaker, but none of them had said a thing either. With no plan in mind, what the hell was there to say? Sometimes saying nothing was better than saying the wrong thing.

  “Get there as quick as we can,” Hades growled. He was cutting time, but it wouldn’t be enough if Cutter stayed on schedule.

  “Call Morpheus back,” Doc said.

  Lu pressed the redial even as he wondered what she had planned. “Hello,” Morpeus said as he answered on the first ring this time.

  “Morpheus, you don’t know me, but I’m Doc. I’m Hades mate and I’m human.” The guys all smiled. Of course she was human, there were no female gods. “When Cutter calls, tell her the babysitter hasn’t arrived yet. As soon as we get there, I’ll come up alone to see to the kids because I’m sure they’re watching your room. Hades has shaved off some time and you’ll only have to stall about ten minutes if all continues to go as it has.”

  “What if she won’t agree?”

  “Convince her.”

  “I’ll try, just hurry, please.” Doc was surprised, gods didn’t plead.

  “You think he’ll manage?” Hades asked skeptically.

  “All he can do is try,” she replied.

  “Cutter is one cold bitch. She makes an impression and it’s not a good one,” Lu said looking the most serious Doc had ever seen him.

  “You know her?” she asked.

  “Only too well,” Lu said and Doc was quickly drawing shocking conclusions.

  “How did Morpheus end up with her?”

  “Morpheus was sent on a mission, she went along. She often went on certain types of missions. They used her as an interrogator and a punisher,” Hades explained.

  “What’s a punisher?” Doc asked, her voice hoarse and low.

  “She handled gods who didn’t have successful missions or prisoners who refused to talk. Origin wanted everyone to know what happened when someone didn’t cooperate with them. She would abuse them to near death and send them back to their people. Most of them died, but the ones who survived, they were seriously fucked up after she was through with them. It sent a powerful statement,” Lu answered.

  “What could make a woman become like that?” Doc wondered.

  “Those people are born that
way and some of the females, they’re the worst. We have to get there in time to save Morpheus’s mate because Cutter won’t just kill her. That’s to merciful and she doesn’t have it in her,” Hercules joined in.

  Hades was eating up the miles, but he had to be careful. If he drove too fast he might have an accident or get stopped. The atmosphere among them was concerned and tinged with fear. That part must be Doc because gods showed no fear. But if they ever did, it would be in a situation like this where the fear was for an innocent that might become a victim soon if they didn’t make it in time.

  Twenty more miles and Morpheus hadn’t called yet. Had he not received the call yet or had he ignored Doc’s suggestion in order to race in like a conquering hero? They could easily lose both Morpheus and his mate. Ten more miles and the tension could be cut with a knife. Still no call and that just seemed too much to be a good thing. He took the right turn that would take him right to the hotel in five more miles.

  “Oh, for God’s sake, would someone talk about something!” Doc exclaimed. The stress was getting to her and she hated counting down the minutes. She knew she would be left in charge of the kids while the rest of the team saved the day, or at least hopefully saved the day.

  They finally made it there, still without hearing a word from Morpheus. They pulled into the parking lot of the building he was at, just as the phone rang. “Hello,” Lu said.

  “She just called and she gave me twenty minutes to make it across town. Where are you guys?”

  “Downstairs, I’m sending Doc to you. Leave as soon as she comes, I’ll call you a cab and we’ll follow out of sight. She’s on her way right now. Give me the location for the meet,” Hades instructed as he wrote everything down. Cutter’s delay had been helpful in allowing them to follow Morpheus. The odds of catching Cutter and her crew while saving Morpheus and his mate, had just gone up.

  Doc disappeared in the door and five minutes later Morpheus stood outside waiting for a cab. The cab pulled in two minutes after that and Hades noticed a familiar looking guy slip into a car and follow the cab. He couldn’t remember his name right off, didn’t really want to have to remember the weasel, but he was one of Cutter’s favorites. That meant he was a low down slime bag, that was the way she liked them.