Sun God Seeks…Surrogate? (Accidentally Yours #3)(9)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Chaam was the God of Male Virility who’d found the black jade mines in southern Mexico. The jade had the ability to absorb and blunt the gods’ powerful energy in the physical world. With it, Chaam discovered he could be intimate and procreate with humans; both acts were an impossibility for any deity up until that point because prolonged contact with a god overloaded a human’s circuits, so to speak.

But no one knew for certain what caused Chaam to turn against humanity. Kinich still reeled with horror every time he thought of the hundreds of women Chaam had used to provide him with female offspring whom they called Payals. Eventually, he would slaughter his female descendants and harvest their divine energy to fuel his apocalyptic weapons. A complicated, horrific mess.

“You are correct; the jade is not to blame for what happened to Chaam.” Kinich sipped his wine. He much preferred a fine tequila or cognac—anything that burned, actually. “However, even Cimil admits she does not know the consequences of our using it. She thinks screwing humans is a recreation, like driving her latest new car.”

“I assure you, screwing my fiancée is infinitely more enjoyable than a new Pagani—and trust me, I know. I have three. Paganis that is. Not fiancées. Emma would kill me if I ever looked at another woman.”

Emma, one of the surviving Payals, was Guy’s new fiancée and the love of his existence. His devotion to her went beyond disturbing and disgraceful. Guy pranced around like a sappy, lovesick fool.

Sad. Simply…sad. Kinich shook his head in disgust.

“What?” Guy barked defensively, misinterpreting Kinich’s reaction. “I won the cars in a poker game from Cimil. But damn her, if she hasn’t taken every automobile, carriage, and horse I’ve owned for the last three centuries. It was about damn time I won.”

“Idiot. Cimil sees the future. She let you win.”

“Who cares?” Guy shrugged. “They’re Paganis. But still—nowhere near as enjoyable as a night with Emma.”

“Yes, Emma is indeed special, brother. But there will be consequences for bringing more Payals into this world. This black jade is nothing but a test—if we were meant to bear offspring, the Creator simply would have given us the ability.”

Guy ran his hand through his long black hair. “We’re hardly in a position to guess the Creator’s intentions. And who’s to say this is not fate playing its hand, guiding us into a new era of our existence?”

“Or leading us to destruction,” Kinich argued. “The universe is in a state of cataclysmic imbalance. If we do not intervene, the Maaskab will overrun the planet.”

The Maaskab, a cult of dark priests, descendants of the Maya and secretly ruled by Chaam before the gods managed to imprison him, grew more powerful by the day. Kinich suspected the Payals were somehow linked.

Guy sighed with irritation. “What is it that you want, Kinich?”

“I’m going to call it to a vote in the next summit. Creating offspring will be forbidden, punishable by banishment to the human world for eternity.”

“Fuck you, Sunshine Boy,” Guy growled under his breath. “You’re not getting my vote. Emma’s nesting, and if I don’t give her a baby, she’ll have my balls.”

“Since when does a female—or anyone— decide your actions?” Kinich challenged.

Guy narrowed his luminescent aqua eyes. “I still decide. And I decide to make her happy. After everything that happened with her grandmother, all the suffering she’s endured, I her owe this much.”

Emma’s grandmother, one of the first Payals, had disappeared several years ago, and was believed killed by the Maaskab. Emma, Guy, and others later learned the hard way that they were wrong when she turned up on Guy’s doorstep in Italy, leading an army of Maaskab. Obviously, her mind had been poisoned.

When the dust finally settled, they’d killed the Maaskab and captured the woman. But before they could cure her, she escaped. A traitor named Tommaso had made sure of it.

“Besides,” Guy added, “have you ever seen Emma when she doesn’t get what she wants? Now that she’s been honing her powers and we’ve given her immortality…” He shivered. “No, thank you. She could make my life a living hell for eternity. I would rather face banishment.”

Guy glanced at his watch. “Christ. Speaking of, I’m supposed to meet Emma and her parents for dinner. I’m late. She’ll have my head.” Guy promptly swallowed the last of his glass and gave Kinich an overly sharp slap on the back, thrusting Kinich forward on his stool.

“Good luck,” said Guy, “but unless you can prove that having a child with Emma is detrimental to humanity, I’m sticking with marital harmony. And sex. Lots of sex.”

Kinich swallowed hard, partially from the pain of the slap and partially from his current confusion.

How was it possible that a god as dedicated as Guy, who’d sacrificed so much of himself throughout his existence to safeguard humanity, would say he’d rather be banished than displease a woman? He might expect such a response from mortals—their lives were fleeting and they were known for being overly obsessed with love. But Guy was the infamous God of Death and War. He was ruthless. A goddamned beast of destruction.

Good gods, what is happening to us?

If Kinich were going to convince the gods that procreation with humans would ultimately lead to their demise, then he needed to understand what he was truly up against.

CHAPTER 7

Almost twelve hours after I’d left Cimil’s home, I stood across the street of yet another building, staring at its ornately carved stone entrance and revolving glass door. Only this time, it was a posh boutique hotel named Eden situated in Manhattan.

I’d managed to walk the entire eight blocks through the snow from the subway in three-inch heels and a tight black silk dress—the only suitable outfit I owned for a formal restaurant. Five hundred thousand dollars richer or not, I could never throw away money on frivolous comforts, even on my birthday. Not when there were so many people going without.

So there I was—10:00 p.m. on the dot—perfumed, plucked, slightly frozen, and ready for a meeting with a man I didn’t know, was inexplicably obsessed with, and determined to leave behind forever once I’d upheld my part of the bargain: listening.

And drooling.

I slipped my mirror from my black handbag and made one last check. The walk and sprinkle of snow hadn’t undone my sleek bun or makeup. I’d done a fantastic job of masking the circles under my dark green eyes, which now appeared greener than usual due to my red-tinged whites.