Cuddling feeds the hedonism, he tells me, because it's pleasure. And it's less exciting than sex, of course, but it still works.
As for me, I kind of love an all-night cuddle-fest. So when we pick through the trees as I “stretch” my legs, I know we're going to find a spot to hunker down and have our nightly snuggle. We walk amongst the massive trees, and I try not to marvel at them too much. I don't want to seem entranced with Riekki's location. I should hate it, right? I should hate it out of sheer solidarity. But the forest is large and peaceful and pretty. The birds settle in around us, their nighttime songs filling the air. The homes are so high up and distant that it feels safe to wander about—
—at least it does until we run across a road that winds through the trees, and across the road, a crowded little lot.
At first, I think I'm looking at scarecrows. It strikes me as an odd place to set up a patch of vegetables, in the shade by the side of the road. It also seems odd to cluster so many scarecrows together…and then I smell it.
I raise a hand to my nose in horror. "Kassam, is that—"
"I smell it," he says, and takes a few steps forward, toward the dead people on spikes.
44
I'm horrified at the sight, but I don't know why. Of course Riekki is evil. Of course she'd be shoving stakes into people and leaving their bodies to rot. Of course we'd run across it. I swallow hard, trying not to look too closely. "Do you…think they impaled them because they couldn't bury them? Because the death god was missing? That maybe they were all dead?"
Kassam snorts. "No. I think she impaled them because she was displeased with them. I recognize this one." He gestures at one of the fresher looking corpses at the front.
"You…do?"
Kassam nods, gazing at what's left of the man's body, the robes tattered. "Riekki sent him with Rhagos and his anchor. I saw him when I awoke, moments before I arrived in your world. I am guessing she was angry he did not return with me." He moves back to my side, stepping in front of the sight. "Come, little light. It is not something for your eyes this night. We will find somewhere else to spend time together."
I swallow hard. "Should we take them down? It seems awful to leave them like that."
"Once the city is ours, I will have them buried properly, if it would please you, my soft one." His smile is teasing as he slides a guiding arm around my shoulders and steers me away.
"It would," I say. "And that's not the only thing I want, if you're offering."
"Ask." Kassam's voice is low and easy, a playful note in there, as if his mood is on the upswing despite the horrible sight of all those bodies. And why wouldn't it be? We're about to take down his enemy with an army. Of course he's in a good mood. Tomorrow, the goddess who destroyed his life for the last thousand years gets taken down…hopefully. He should be giddy.
I hope I don't stomp on his parade. "There are probably a lot of innocent people up there," I say carefully. "Since we're not going to take her by surprise, could we, I don't know, send a message to the city telling everyone that they need to get out? That Kassam the badass god of the wild is here to kick butt and take names, and unless they want to fight, they need to leave peacefully? We could give them another day, give them a chance to flee. It'll make you seem like a nice guy, and it'll probably hurt Riekki's pride if everyone in the city starts running for their lives."
Kassam looks thoughtful as we move through the forest, away from the pike-strewn impalement graveyard.
"I know I'm asking you to avoid your vengeance for another day, and I'm not saying you shouldn't absolutely destroy Riekki if given the chance," I continue on, breathless. "But think of the people that are in the city. If you give them safe passage to leave because your quarrel is with the goddess and not them, you'll be seen as a kind, benevolent returning god instead of a vengeful, angry one. These people don't know that Riekki is responsible for your disappearance. All they know is that you've been gone. You don't want the only thing people know about your return to be that you showed up with that asshole Seth and slaughtered an entire city."
He looks down at me, silent.
"It's just a thought," I say quickly.
"It is a good thought," Kassam replies. "You are right. The people here do not know me. They do not know what she has done to me. They think only of the goddess in their midst, not realizing the evil behind her lovely facade." He lightly runs his knuckles along my cheek. "Very wise, my Carly. Again and again, you prove that I am better with you at my side."
That makes me blush. "That's sweet of you, but I'm no goddess."
"Yes, which is a good thing. You see how the goddess acts." He picks a tree and leans back against one of the enormous roots, then tugs me into his arms. Kassam wraps himself around me, my back pressed to his front, and just…holds me.
Sex with him is amazing, but the cuddling…the cuddling might break me. Because I love this more than anything. The times when he holds me and just talks to me? It makes me feel like the most special woman in the world. Heck, in two worlds. I lean back against him, trying not to feel weird that a five-minute walk away, there's a bunch of piked dead guys, and five minutes farther, there's a tree city we're about to attack.
Kassam nuzzles at my neck, brushing gentle kisses over my skin. "If you were a goddess, you would not have the heart that you do. You would not care that people are in danger, or that my wolves must eat my deer in order to survive. You would care about nothing except for your own selfish wishes. So I am very, very glad that you are just my Carly."
I tilt my head so he can better kiss my neck, my eyes drifting closed. "Are you saying that you're selfish, too, oh god of the wild?"
"Yes," he answers promptly. "But I am starting to understand why the High Father has sent us down as he does. Why he forces us to take mortal anchors. It is not just because we must be tied here to the mortal plane. We must learn from you, too."
I chuckle. "This all sounds like flattery."
"Why should I not flatter my wife?" He slides a hand into my hair and twines his fingers in it, forcing my head to one side even more as he nips at my neck. All right, so I'm not completely dead to things as a zombie. I'm definitely feeling the pulse of desire racing through my body at that touch, even if it's muted. "Have I not told you how special you are to me?"
"Mmm, once or twice. But you can always say so again. I don't mind hearing it." My gaze lands on a remote light in the distant trees, and as I watch, it winks out. That reminds me—while I'm sitting here cuddling with Kassam, there are people worried for their lives. Reluctantly, I slide out of his arms. "I should probably contact one of Seth's runners and see if we can get someone to write up warnings to take into the city. Maybe we can have eagles drop them or something?"
He pulls me back into his grip. "That can wait a bit longer. I wish you to look at the stars with me."
The…stars? I blink up at the sky and sure enough, the branches of the tree seem to shift imperceptibly, just enough to give us a glimpse of the starry sky above. Every night when we stop, it's a different excuse to spend time alone together, wrapped around one another. Last night, he told me he was tired of the birds chirping and wanted to get away. The night before, he wanted to relax among the tall grasses of a nearby meadow because it “reminded him of home.” Each time, he insists I come with him, and we end up snuggling for hours on end. It's no chore, but I'm a little amused that he's resorting to the stars. He tightens a big arm around my waist and I hug him against me. "You make it sound like we don't spend every day, every hour together."