Wed to the Wild God (Aspect and Anchor)

"That was before someone came in to watch!"

Kassam chuckles, his breath warm against my skin. "You think the High Father has not seen fucking before?"

That's the High Father? I peer over Kassam's broad shoulder again, trying to concentrate as he drives into me again. The person watching us is…young. Horrifyingly young. I hammer a fist on Kassam's shoulder, because he should absolutely not be making love to me in front of someone with that young a face. "Please," I wheeze, and I have to specify when he flicks my nipple, teasing it erect. "Stop now. Stop. Cover—"

"You are foiling my plans," Kassam murmurs between kisses.

"She is shy," the newcomer says. "If this makes her uncomfortable, I can go."

Go?! He can't go. We need to talk to him. "Kassam—"

With a sigh, Kassam turns his head. "Promise you won't take her if I get off her, Father?"

The young person—god—behind us chuckles, the sound hollow and ancient and young all at the same time, like voices layered over each other. "I promise. Let her relax so we can all talk, my son. And stand up so your father can look upon you. It has been some time."

Kassam presses one last fierce kiss to my mouth, winks, and then climbs off. I quickly fix my skirts, my face burning with embarrassment as I sit up on the bed and try to smooth my sex-snarled hair. God, my nipples are like beacons against the front of my dress, and I'm pretty sure my skirt is wrinkled and stained and my face is scratched from Kassam's beard stubble and this is not how I should greet a god that is my husband's father.

But if I'm all awkward shyness, Kassam is not. He gets up from the bed, naked and sweaty and sticky, and crosses the floor to drop to one knee in front of the stranger. "My father," he says, and his voice is full of emotion.

The High Father gazes down at Kassam, his expression fond, and he touches his cheek. I can't help but stare. I pictured the High Father as something a bit more like the Christian version of God—an old dude with a long white beard, and possibly some angel wings. Maybe a harp. This boy—and I only say boy because they refer to him as the High Father—is sweetly androgynous, with a cap of thick curls that are a shade between blonde and brown. His skin is the same warm bronze that Kassam's is, and his eyes are a thick, rich brown with long lashes, his mouth soft. He wears a simple tunic belted at his waist and is barefoot, his frame slight and feminine. He also looks as if he's ten years old, max.

It's jarring.

Those deep brown eyes turn to me, though, and my throat closes. I want to suddenly sink to my knees in front of him as well, because those eyes are…ageless. They are deep and full of both sorrow and joy, and looking at him like this, I realize his form is just a trapping for the powerful god underneath. He's making himself sweet and harmless, but something tells me that the actual being is neither. He's old and powerful and so, so strong that my skin prickles in his presence.

I sink to the floor and bow my head, because it feels important to acknowledge him.

"I'm not here for you to bow and scrape," the High Father says in that soft, mellifluous voice of his. He touches Kassam's broken horn, an amused expression curving that youthful, full mouth. "I came to see my son, and to hear his request. What is it you require, my son of sunshine and joy?"

Kassam closes his eyes, basking in the presence of the High Father. He looks blissful, like he does when…well, it seems a little blasphemous to think of that right now. I give myself a mental shake. "I have a favor to ask of you, my father. I have taken a wife."

"This woman," the High Father agrees, gazing over at me again with vague interest.

"Yes," Kassam continues. "She has been a good, loyal partner and an excellent anchor. She's made me see new things, and brought her wisdom to me, even when I didn't want it. And when her life was being ruined, she still supported me and was a good wife. So I wish to be a good husband to her." He swallows hard and glances back at me, then turns to the High Father once more. "I promised Carly that we would be together after the Anticipation. The Spidae say that her thread is too frayed for her to move into this world and remain at my side…so I wish to join her in her world. I need you to make me mortal and to send us both back there, my father."