Sun God Seeks…Surrogate? (Accidentally Yours #3)(33)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Devil crisps.

“I do not know,” Viktor stated coldly. “But it isn’t my concern; however, Penelope’s mother is. I must go after her. Even if it means angering Niccolo.”

Oh my God! They were arguing about rescuing my mother?

“Niccolo will not be angry; he will be furious! He may never speak to either of us again,” Kinich grumbled. “Helena’s life is bound to yours—you are her goddamned maker! She would perish if anything—”

I pushed myself between the two towers of muscle. “If you don’t tell me what the hell is going on, I swear to God…or gods…or—whatever! That I will take you down! Both of you!”

Both men regarded me with utter curiosity.

“Talk or I’ll stake you, or…or lasso you with silver or something you won’t like.”

Instead of anger, irritation, or any sign of my threat displeasing him, Viktor’s eyes filled with…

Affection? Wondering why, I stepped back a smidgeon.

“Penelope”—Viktor brushed the loose strands of hair from my face—“I realize you do not know me, but you will. And until then, you will simply need to trust me.”

I shook my head. “But I don’t…”

Kinich pushed himself between us as if claiming his territory. “Leave now, Viktor. I’ll give you two days. If you do not return before then, I will be forced to tell Niccolo. Our relationship with the vampires loyal to him cannot be jeopardized, nor can his focus on preparing for the war.”

Before I could speak another word, Viktor was gone.

“Son of a…” I looked at Nick. “Where did he go? What the hell is going on? Where’s my mother?”

Nick grabbed me and pulled me into his body. I struggled hard, but he was strong and warm and his scent lulled me into a state of calm.

He stroked the back of my head. “I will tell you, Penelope, but you must trust we will do everything we can.”

“Just tell me,” I whispered.

“Viktor believes he is destined to save your mother—that it is his life’s purpose. He’s dreamt of her for five hundred years. And…” He paused. “Of her being taken by the Maaskab, snatched away from right under Cimil’s nose.”

“The monsters have my mom?”

“He believes so, and I concur; the dreams are a premonition.”

I began to sob. “Is she going to die?”

“I do not know. There is more to his visions, but he will not say. I can only tell you he has been obsessed with finding your mother for the last five centuries.”

No. No. No!

My mind swam in a swampy cloud of jumbled thoughts and emotions, but my heart could take no more.

It cracked wide open.

CHAPTER 18

When life hands you lemons, you take those lemons and then shove them right up life’s…well, you get the picture. A little crude, I know. But that was my motto. No lemonade for this girl. No sir. Nevertheless, this situation was something so surreal, so terrifying, so…surreal—didn’t I say that already? I can’t think. Why can’t I think?

You’re on grack! That’s why. You need to clear your head so you can figure this out.

But I like it here. He’s so warm and strong. I feel safe wrapped in his big arms and…yummm, he smells really freaking good.

“Penelope? Good lord, woman, I’ve never met a human so susceptible to me.” Nick gave me a little shake. “Penelope? You there?” I heard his voice off in a distant corner of my mind, but I was somewhere else, somewhere completely safe and happy. My own mental tropical island.

“Penelope!”

What a pest! Can’t he see I’m busy?

“Woman,” his deep voice commanded, “you will come back to me now. You will no longer be affected by my energy. You are immune to my scent.”

Like being shoved off a cliff into an icy, frigid ocean, I came to. “What happened?” I was sitting on Nick’s sandstone-colored leather couch, with said man gripping me by the shoulders, staring deeply into my eyes.

“I believe you are having what people refer to as a nervous breakdown. It looks very unpleasant,” his tone was deep and melodic, but something had changed.

“What did you do to me?” I shook my head.

“I have instructed your brain to ignore any impulses it may feel due to my energy. You are immune until I remove it.”

Oh wow. I took a deep breath to test it out. He still smelled incredible, but my head felt clearer. “Couldn’t you have come up with that little trick any sooner?”

He shrugged. “Hadn’t really thought of it until now.”

“You’re a god. Don’t you think of everything?”

The edges of his mouth curled into a delicious little smile that made my heart disco dance. He was still the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. Apparently I wasn’t immune to that.

“We are not perfect, nor omnipotent; although, we are quite powerful, especially when in our own realm. From there we may observe the human world and influence events or people with surgical precision. However, we cannot see everything at once. It is like having a satellite one can focus on specific areas or people.”

“You spy on us!”

“Of course,” he replied without any hint of shame. “How else would we do our jobs?”

I gasped. “Do you watch people doing…private things?”

He leaned back into the overstuffed couch, unbuttoned one shirt cuff, and began rolling it up his thick arm. “It is unavoidable. But after observing humanity for tens of thousands of years, one becomes desensitized.”

I gasped again. “Oh my God, have you ever spied on me?”

“No.” He grinned from ear to ear and began working on the other sleeve. “But I assure you, I will.”

Great. I’d never be na**d again. And it’s really, really hard to take a good shower if you’re not naked. And imagine trying to shave your bikini line. Or your legs.

“You can’t do that!”

He made the last roll. “I can do anything I like; I’m a god.”

“A rude Peeping-Tom god,” I grumbled.

“I man has to have his pleasures in life.” He paused and stared pensively at my face for several awkward moments before he reached out and brushed his thumb along my lower lip.

Was I one of his “pleasures”?

We stared at each other for a very long moment, and I couldn’t resist marveling yet again at that face: full lips; thick honey-colored eyelashes framing his turquoise eyes; his deep, flawlessly bronzed skin; and a hint of a dent in the middle of his stubble-covered chin. And that hair. Every strand was thick and shiny. I wanted to run my fingers through it while he kissed me with reckless abandon and ground his naked, hard, muscular body…