Read Online Rock Hard by LJ Vickery - Free Book Online

fully succumbed to Enlil’s hold, he would awaken later, bruised but alive.
    Marduk thought quickly, the unaccustomed pain keeping him from passing out. Yes, the unaccustomed pain! Without another thought, Marduk brought his knee up hard into Enlil’s groin. The look of surprise on the golden-man’s face would have been comical if Marduk hadn’t been on his knees, gasping for breath himself. Enlil roared in agony. This was a way of fighting they had both forgotten, not having active nerve endings for so long. Marduk was going to have to remember to protect his own soft bits from now on.
    Tess had seen enough! She’d managed, during the heat of the battle, to stop herself from leaving. It had taken all of her resolve, but once she had started back in an uphill direction, the return had gotten easier, and now she moved without restraint.
    “Stop this! Stop, both of you,” she yelled, reaching a spot between the two. Unfortunately, timing had them on their feet a mere moment before her entreaty, and Enlil launched out with his fist again. This time it connected with Tess’ cheek, sending her reeling into Marduk. The god cried out and grabbed for her, barely able to slow her descent to the ground.
    “Tess!”
    “No!”
    Enlil and Marduk spoke at the same time, their fight forgotten as they leaned over Tess’s small, still form.
    “What have you done?” Marduk rasped accusingly, wanting to pummel Enlil. He turned Tess’s head to see the damage.
    “I didn’t mean to.” Enlil sounded pained, more tormented than Marduk had heard him in years, and it made him wonder. Why was the wind god so distraught? Bright red seeped from a cut that ran from Tess’ eye and down to the ridge of her cheek. Both gods reached out to stanch the flow and froze the minute her blood stained their fingers.
    Enlil was first to move. He brought his hand up to his nose and inhaled. He met Marduk’s eyes with an incredulous look and nodded. Marduk shook as he repeated Enlil’s motion. He too, took in Tess’s life essence and swallowed hard. His look back to Enlil confirmed both men’s suspicions. There was no doubt about it. Marduk cleared his throat.
    “It begins to make sense,” he rasped. Tess stirred in his arms.
    “It does,” Enlil agreed.
    They both gazed down at the woman with new-found wonder. Marduk wouldn’t have thought it possible, but there was no denying it.
    He spoke the words out loud that they were both reluctant to say. “She is of your blood.”
    “…blood?” Tess was coming around.
    “Yes, little one,” Marduk soothed. “You have an injury.” He gathered her up in his arms, coming to his feet as easily as if he carried no burden at all. Where their bodies touched, a low, rumbling sensation caught Marduk off guard and had Tess pressing her softness even closer to him. Her perfect, petite breasts pushed into his ribcage, and he suffered a renewed surge of desire but resisted the urge to curl his hand over the opposite globe. He stole a glance at Enlil. The god did not look happy.
    “I can feel what you are thinking,” Enlil snarled. “Keep your hands in plain sight or I’ll wrap your balls around your ears. She is only in your arms because she is hurt.”
    Marduk couldn’t help but taunt his not-so-good buddy. “And also because she likes me and thinks you’re a lunatic in a loincloth,” the thunder god snorted.
    Enlil looked down at himself and winced. “I will acquire some adequate clothing as soon as possible.”
    Marduk watched Enlil reach a hand toward Tess and smooth a piece of hair from her face as she struggled to open her eyes. He marveled at the tenderness that suffused Enlil’s face. He could see the gruff god trying to shake off the uncharacteristic need to protect, and he asked the question that was on both their minds.
    “Until then, what will we do with her?”
    ****
    In the underworld, Nergal was asking himself the same question. It had taken him many hours to sift through his long