Wed to the Wild God (Aspect and Anchor)

I can't take Kassam anywhere.

The realization is a slightly disturbing one. I move to the driver's side of my car, keys in hand as Kassam gets in on the other side. How am I supposed to do anything when I've got to take one very horny god wherever I go, and he causes a scene? How am I going to be able to do life's smallest chores if he—

"Bitch!" A hand snags in my hair from behind. Before I can register what's happening, my assailant slams my head into the roof of my car.

12

I collapse onto the ground, head ringing. There's a red and black haze of pain that makes it difficult to think. How did I fall? What happened?

Then the roaring starts, and I realize through the din in my ears that someone is furious…and that someone is Kassam. Easy-going, always laughing Kassam is snarling with rage.

"She stole you!" a man cries. "She stole you from me!"

Holy shit. Dizzy, I struggle to sit up, because that voice is familiar. It's not… Charlie?

"Human, I will tear your spine from your body and toss it into the rubbish heap," Kassam seethes. He sounds completely different than how he normally does, and the haze in my brain makes it difficult to concentrate. The air is heavy and ominous, and thunder crackles overhead. "Get away from her."

"It's not fair," Charlie cries. "I want you, too! We both saw you at the same time!"

"Human." There's a hollow, horrifying timbre to Kassam's voice. "Touch her again and you will regret it for the rest of your life."

Something skitters over my leg. A bug, maybe? My head swims, and I can't concentrate enough to look. Then another, and I hear the skittering sound of thousands of legs—a swarm of insects rallying as the air grows thicker and heavier around us. It's like a storm is about to break…and I fear that storm is Kassam.

I roll onto my back and try to assess my injuries. There's something wet on my face, and my nose feels as if it's been flattened. I touch it gingerly, pain flashing through my face. It's broken. As I open my eyes in time to see Kassam throw Charlie across the parking lot. My co-worker goes sailing and slams into another vehicle, the car alarm going off. I crawl to hands and knees. "Kassam," I croak. "No—"

"Carly."

He's immediately at my side, scooping me into his arms. This time, there's no blatant orgasmic flash as he touches me, just a gentle sort of pleasure that reassures and makes me feel better. He bridal carries me, and stars flash in front of my eyes again. Now that Kassam has me, the dizziness that I've been fighting sweeps me away.

I pass out.

When I wake up a short time later, it's to the sound of Kassam's borrowed flip-flops (the only thing I had in my closet for him to wear on his feet) smacking as he goes up stairs. I moan, my entire head throbbing and my stomach queasy. "Where…"

"Hush," Kassam says in a gentle voice. It's strange to hear, after he lost his shit and sounded like he was going to tear Charlie's throat out. I'm still sorting between that Kassam and the normal one I'm used to, who loves to lick each potato chip as if it's special, and who laughs constantly.

The angry god in the parking lot felt like a stranger. A terrifying one.

"Need…to drive," I protest. "We can't stay…here."

"We are almost home, Carly," he tells me, tone soft. "You do not have to drive. I will take care of you."

That doesn't make sense to me. My pain-addled brain tries to focus, but I can't seem to figure it out. Tonight's problems swirl through my head in a jumbled mess.

Bar.

A ferret.

Drugs.

Charlie.

An army of insects.

Lachesis?

I moan, touching my face. "I think my nose is broken."

"It is not," Kassam reassures me. "You will be all right. You are still beautiful, my little light." He shifts my weight in his arms, and I vaguely feel him opening a door. A dozen meows call out the moment it opens. "We are back, my friends. You will tell me your news soon. I must see to my anchor for now."

I clutch at Kassam's shirt, blinking hard even as enormous black dots swirl behind my eyes. "Need…to talk…"

"When you feel better," he promises me. "We will talk then. Rest now."

He steps inside, murmuring to the cats as he does, and they are everywhere in my apartment, crawling over countertops, sitting outside on the balcony, curled up on my sofa. There's no surface that's not covered in house cats of every shape and form. "I'm not supposed to have pets," I say weakly. "Against…rules."

"Did I not tell you to hush, my stubborn female?" A tender hand caresses my cheek. "You will sleep, and then we will talk." He crosses into my bedroom and lays me gently down on the bed, tucking the blankets around me.