God of Temptation (Immortal Matchmakers, Inc)

“Welcome cocktails are on the west beach at six. Be sure not to miss it.” Maury winked.

That gave Zac about an hour to prepare. Maybe I should just go naked tonight. Tula would never be able to keep her lust hidden.

Zac watched the demon king walk off with his woman. Whichever one that was. What he couldn’t figure out was why Tula was going along with this. What deal had she struck with him? What threat had he made?

Zac replayed the last few days in his mind. At first, Maury said Zac would have two weeks to woo Tula while inside Hilbert’s body. Evidently, Tula had been given a similar deal since she showed up as Gola. However, the moment Zac had figured out the truth and made his move, Maury pulled the plug.

Now Zac was back in his own body, but Tula and Gola were behaving differently compared to before. Both were going out of their way to show nothing. No emotions. No signs of affection toward him. No personality.

I wonder… While Zac had been away, getting back into his old body, perhaps Maury had taken the opportunity to make a new arrangement with Tula. Maybe he’d returned her to her own body. Maybe not. Maybe all this was meant to mindfuck him so he’d make a mistake.

“Psst! Zac.”

Zac looked up to see Tula ducking behind a pine tree to the side of the path they’d taken moments earlier.

“Tula?” He walked over, trying not to draw attention from Cindy, who was dealing with a couple of young female demons who wanted an upgrade from a pup tent to a yurt.

“Hurry!” Tula whispered. “I don’t have much time.”

He ducked behind the tree with her.

“Zac. Oh, gods, Zac.” Tula reached for him, burying her face in his chest. “I love you so much. I’m so sorry for all this.”

“Is it really you?” he asked, holding her close, stroking her long golden hair. Gods, how he missed her warm, soft body in his arms.

“Yes, it’s me.” She pulled away, her wide blue eyes filled with affection as she beamed up at him.

It is her. My Tula. My love. “What’s going on? What’s Maury holding over you?”

“He says I have to pretend I don’t love you. Otherwise, he’ll send you back to the underworld prison, and I’ll never see you again.”

Zac knew it! But how was Tula managing to keep up this charade? She was terrible at deceiving others.

“You do not need to worry about me. I can handle myself.” Zac brushed his hand over her velvety cheek. “Let’s get you to the plane and out of here.”

“No.” Tula stepped back. “I can’t do that. He’ll punish you. He’ll make sure I never see you again.”

“He’s not that powerful.”

“He is. And he’s up to something big. If I leave now, I won’t find out what it is.” The worry in Tula’s eyes was palpable.

“Let us gods worry about that, my love. I need to get you somewhere safe.”

“I can’t,” she argued, doing a weird twitching thing with her nose. Perhaps it was all the trees. “Whatever Maury is up to, it’s all about you gods.”

“Maury merely wants to humiliate me, but his real goal is taking over the human world.”

“I don’t think that’s all. I overheard him saying that they’re sealing off all the portals. Demon and god portals alike. For good.”

That made no sense. “But then how will his people come through?”

“Look around, Zac, they’re already here. While we’ve—I mean you’ve been locked up, he’s been busy. This is all just a distraction.”

Zac rubbed his scruffy chin, mulling. “But demons need to refresh their bodies every once in a while. Their energy is too toxic.” And without the portals, they’d be stuck between the two worlds. Souls without a place to land.

“I know,” Tula said, “but that’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

“You need to leave and let me handle this.”

“Never, Zac. I love you, and I have a right to protect you just as much as you have a right to protect me. Besides, Maury’s finally letting his guard down. He thinks he’s turned me against you.”

“I don’t like this,” Zac grumbled. “Demons are far trickier than anyone gives them credit for.”

“No one is trickier than me. And I am the only one who can get inside his head—think like he does and figure this out.”

Since when? Tula was pure goodness. “I think—”

“I am not just some weak little human, Zac. And you need to trust me and my love for you. I have to go now before he realizes I’m not in the peepee teepee.”

Zac lifted a brow.

“Maury called it something that rhymes with ‘it shack,’ but you know how I feel about cussing.”

“I love it when you talk dirty, woman.” The only thing that could make Tula hotter in this moment would be if she were wearing an actual teepee and those giant granny panties he loved so much. Beige. Oh, the beige ones.