CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

**OLIVER**
I stood bent over with my hands on my knees as my breath rushed in and out of my lungs in short, hard pants. The rain beat down on my neck heavily and mercilessly like pine needles and threatened to pierce through my skin, the feeling of wet sand underneath my feet a steady irritant.
I stood straight and looked around, braving the rain as it beat down on my face. The beach was deserted, not a soul in sight. The ocean mimicked the rain, its waves crashing into each other and then into shore. I gasped, my brows furrowed in confusion and worry, my only piece of clothing -my basketball shorts- useless and powerless against the cold that caused my teeth to gnash.
“What the fuck is going on?” I asked myself. It appeared to be some sort of sick joke.
A sick joke that looked too real.
In the distance, a shadow approached. I held my hand over my eyes and squinted my eyes against the rain as the figure approached. Curiosity soon had a way to surprise as Carrie approached, seemingly in other by the rain, and dressed in a flimsy silk nightgown that stopped mid-thigh and was now glued to her skin.
She stopped short of me, her eyes dancing in amusement as she looked up at me. I stand still and look down at her, mesmerized by her beauty. Her long, brown hair stuck to her skin and framed her breasts, her lips lush and full called out to me in an almost primal way. My eyes traveled further down, down to her bosoms her hips, and her shapely legs that held her up.
I stood deathly still as she closed the distance between, me and wrapped her hands around my neck, her fingers massaging the nape of my neck, and smiled up at me seductively.
She sighed the sound music to my ears. “I’ve been waiting for this moment,” she said, her voice a whisper in the roaring rain.
My hands slowly wrapped around her waist, as though having a mind of their own and moving of their own volition.
“What do you mean?” I asked breathlessly, the scent of her in my arms giving me a heady feeling.
She giggled. “It’s nothing important. The only thing important right here, right now is us…”
Carrie leaned up and sealed our lips in a kiss, her lips sucking mine into her mouth, and her tongue tangling with mine. I sighed and leaned into the kiss, suddenly oblivious to the sounds of the crashing waves, and the sound of the receding rainfall. My hands went down south and I cupped her derrière, enjoying the weight in my hands.
I let my hands wander her body, moving up to cup the mounds on her chest, drinking in her moans as I twirled her nipples between my thumb and index. I lowered us down to the same, causing her gown to bunch up around her waist, and leaving her bare to my hungry eyes.
I swore under my breath as my hands ran the length of her legs, stopping short of her center. I made quick work of my shorts, and shoved them behind me, ready to join us.
Carrie bit down on her lip and sighed. “Oh, yes…let’s give the goddess what she wants…”
I froze, my blood running cold in my veins as a wave of sudden dread washed over me, settling heavily in my chest. I leaned up, peering down at her, unwilling to accept that she had uttered those words. A part of me desperately clung to the hope that I had misheard, that somehow my mind had played tricks on me, even though the reality of her statement registered clearly in my brain.
Each syllable echoed in my head, and I felt as if the ground beneath me had shifted. I searched her face for any hint of insincerity, any sign that she didn’t truly mean what she had said. But the resoluteness in her eyes told me otherwise, leaving me grappling with the implications of her words. My heart raced, a mix of fear and confusion coursing through me as I tried to process the magnitude of what this meant for us all. “What did you say?”
Carrie laughed hysterically, mischief glinting in her eyes. “We will give the goddess what she wants…” she said. “Like obedient servants.”
I jumped back, scrambling away from her, my hands fumbling to retrieve my shorts and throw them on haphazardly. My eyes widened in shock, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm in my chest. I watched in disbelief as Carrie continued to laugh, her voice echoing hauntingly in the space between us. But then, as if a veil had been lifted, she began to disintegrate before my eyes, her form fading into thin air.
It was as if she had never been there at all, her laughter lingering for just a moment before it too was swallowed by the silence. I stood frozen, grappling with the surreal nature of the moment, my mind racing to comprehend what had just happened. Had it been real? Or had I merely imagined it? The room felt colder, and emptier, and the remnants of her presence left an unsettling chill that clung to me.
“What the fuck is happening?” I asked myself.
A long sigh sounded from behind me, and I turned sharply around to see the river goddess seated on a small stool on the water, her elbow resting on her knees as an anchor, hands intertwined and holding up her chin, staring at me in disappointment.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. And here I thought I was going to see a show,” she said. “Women don’t particularly like being left unsatisfied, you know?”
I stood there, my jaw slack and my mouth hanging open, staring at the goddess in disbelief.
“What the fuck is going on?!” I asked. “All this is your idea, isn’t it?!”
She continued to stare at him, her blue eyes twinkling in amusement, the moonlight shining against her dark skin and her lips spreading in a mischievous smile.
She shrugged. “Are you accusing me of something, Oliver?”
“This! Carrie!”
“Well, you must provide me with an heir. I was just helping you to speed up the process,” she said, a smug smile gracing her lips. “I mean, it looked like you needed help, besides, I picked her myself.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
Her face turned stormy, and in the distance, the sounds of thunder rumbled, and lightning graced the sky.
“Watch your mouth, child.”
I lowered my gaze, my eyes fixated on the wet sand underneath my feet, wondering for the umpteenth time how I got myself into this situation. It was bad enough that my body now had a mind of its own, that I now carried and kept so many secrets from Gabriel, that at some point, no matter how long I put it off, the inevitable would happen…and I would cheat on the man I loved. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as my mind wracked to find a way out of this mess.
I shook my head. “You couldn’t pick someone else? It just had to be my mate’s sister. Of all the women in the world?!”
She shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the piece of information. “Cousin, Oliver. She’s his cousin. They’re not the same.”
Rage boiled in my veins at her unbothered demeanor. She was truly selfish, focused only on her desires, with no regard for the chaos she created. The process and its consequences meant nothing to her; she couldn’t give a damn. It infuriated me how she could stand there, indifferent to the pain she was causing as if we were mere pawns in her twisted game. I felt the urge to confront her, determined to put an end to her recklessness.
“I would rather cut off my dick,” I said firmly, resolve settling in my veins.
She laughed. A loud laughter that seemed to echo in the space around me. “You think you have a choice, don’t you?” She asked, her voice taunting me. “Besides, it would seem your…appendage…agrees with me.”
I looked down, at the bulge that was visible through my shorts. I sighed deeply, the sudden image of Carrie spread out open in front of me, moaning and writhing jumped unbidden into my mind. I closed my eyes against the image and groaned as the image got worse…vivid.
“I’m not going to do it…” I said, my voice coming out in a weak whisper.
“You seem to forget that known you belong to me. I own you.”
“I can’t hurt him like this. Please…”
“You should be grateful to me, Oliver. People have fallen over themselves to be bestowed this honor.”
“Then why don’t you go and find those people?!”
Her face changed, a stormy expression on her face as her eyes fixed on me, puking me to the very ground where I stood. “You will do as you’re told. You will do your duty. You will provide me with an heir.”
I started as my eyes snapped open. I blinked rapidly as my brain rushed to identify and recognize my surroundings. I looked around the room, my breath caning in short, hard pants as I realized this was just a dream. I sat up on the bed and rested my back against the headrest, careful not to wake Gabriel who lay sleeping peacefully next to me. I swore under my breath as I recalled the conversation with the goddess.
I sat there, sweat pouring off me in buckets as a whirlwind of questions reeled through my mind. Did Carrie worship the river goddess? Was she complicit in this entire travesty? What could she possibly gain by betraying her cousin? Each thought felt like a weight pressing down on my chest, tightening my breath as I tried to make sense of it all.
How was I going to wriggle my way out of the goddess’s request? I could feel the pull of her influence tightening its grip on me, and deep inside, I knew that my craving for Carrie was only going to grow stronger. The realization sent a shiver down my spine. I glanced over at Gabriel, sleeping peacefully beside me, snoring loudly, utterly oblivious to the chaos swirling around us.
I couldn’t help but wonder what I would tell him if the truth ever surfaced. How could I explain the tangled web of emotions, the dangerous allure of the goddess, and the part Carrie played in this nightmare? Should I even tell him at all? The uncertainty gnawed at me, but the last thing I wanted was to burden him with my struggles. I felt trapped in a labyrinth of secrets, and the exit felt impossibly far away. I took a deep breath, and lay down on the bed, intertwining my hands with Gabriel’s. I would wonder about the situation tomorrow.