Riding The Storm (The Gods Made Me Do It Book 4)

  Riding the Storm

  The Gods Made Me Do It #4

  Lisa Oliver

  Riding the Storm (The Gods Made Me Do It #4)

  Copyright © Lisa Oliver, 2018

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Cover Design by Lisa Oliver

  Background images purchased from Shutterstock.com

  Cover Model William – Courtesy of Paul Henry Serres Photography, license WT1_430

  First Edition September 2018

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author, Lisa Oliver. Yoursintuitively@gmail.com

  No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the internet or any other means, electronic or print, without permission from Lisa Oliver. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights and livelihood is appreciated.

  Riding the Storm is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Author’s Note

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty One

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books By Lisa/Lee Oliver

  Dedication

  Special mention must go to Phil – you know how to keep my gods on track and at least slightly plausible

  Huge hugs and thanks to Pat and Amanda for polishing my prose.

  To all the members of my FB group who have shown such excitement over the teasers I share. Thor’s story took longer than I thought it would, but hopefully you enjoy the end result.

  Hugs.

  Author’s Note

  As an author, I have taken a lot of fictitious license with my lovely characters. Just like Orin mentions during the story, I too dreamed of the ancient gods as a child, and the worlds and situations I have created are all totally fictional. To the actual ancient god scholars among my readers – I apologize 

  A note must be made about the Manhattan Library and Antiquities department mentioned in this book – there may be such a place but the one mentioned in my story is entirely fictional as well, although personally it is a place I would love to visit.

  I hope you enjoy my story.

  Chapter One

  “How dare he pull that fucking pregnancy card on me!”

  Thor, God of storms, was in a foul mood and the dark skies over Manhattan were his making. It usually gave him a perverse pleasure seeing the population scurry around trying to avoid the torrential downpour and gusty winds. He used to make a game of seeing how many of those silly umbrellas he could force from their owners’ hands. The people looked like ants from Thor’s loft apartment – but even their drab gray existence didn’t lighten his mood.

  Sending another rumble of thunder across the skies, Thor stabbed at his phone screen. It wasn’t as though he’d ever needed a damn phone before, but his best friend Lasse insisted on it, claiming that using their godly powers to communicate wasn’t fair on his new mate Jason. Of course, Lasse was only a demi-god – son of Poseidon and the Horse of the Sun, Abraxas. Jason had an even less of a connection to the god line, being the only human-shaped sphinx left in existence. “But it was enough to get the damn fool pregnant,” Thor muttered as he waited for Lasse to answer his call.

  “What is it, Thor? I thought I’d made it plain we weren’t going anywhere today. Jason wanted to paint the nursery.” Lasse sounded languid and half asleep and Thor fumed.

  “I’m calling bullshit,” Thor snapped. “You’re still in bed. If Jason’s fit enough to bump uglies with you, then why the hell couldn’t we go rock climbing like you promised the other day? You know he loves anything energetic and until recently, so did you.”

  “Damn it, Thor.” Thor could hear the rustle of blankets and guessed Lasse didn’t want his mate to overhear his conversation. He’d counted to twenty before Lasse spoke again. “You know damn well I’m trying to keep him and the baby safe. It doesn’t seem right for him to go rock climbing in his condition. What if he falls?”

  “It’s a well-known fact that pregnant people can continue with the things they are used to doing right up until the third trimester. Did you even tell him I suggested the outing?” Thor already knew the answer. “He’s only three months along for fuck’s sake. Those abs of his are still as flat as they’ve always been.”

  Lasse groaned. “Don’t tell him I flaked out on this, please. Come on. We’ve been friends longer than most beings have been alive. This is my first kid. I’m worried about them both.”

  “You’d better worry if Jason finds out you’re coddling him. He was a freaking cage fighter for goodness sake. How long are you going to keep him in bed? He’s going to be furious if he finds out you’re keeping stuff like my friendly invitations from him.”

  “I know. I know.”

  Thor moved in for the verbal knockout. He knew he had his friend on the ropes. “And you also know you two aren’t going to have the time to do fun things once the little one is born. Is Jason getting itchy feet yet? What happens if he decides to go out and pick a fight again? Remember what happened last time?”

  “That was Cerberus’s fault. Jason was handling himself fine until that brute came along.” Lasse’s sigh was loud over the phone. “Look, I miss spending time with you too and Jason wondered where you’d been hiding just this morning….”

  “You fobbed me off with excuses the last three times I suggested doing something. Don’t lay this on me.”

  “Can’t you think of something quieter to do.” Lasse’s agitation was showing, but that just made Thor laugh.

  “What do you suggest? Shall I turn up with a Yak and a spinning wheel and we could all sit around and knit baby booties?”

  “No. No Yaks please.” A long sigh came over the phone. “I’m being an ass, aren’t I?”

  “I think you and Jason are going to have one hell of a fight if he works out what you’re doing. He gets edgy if he spends too much time being domesticated. I offer some perfectly harmless, energetic ways of helping him with that and you keep turning me down. Maybe I should be asking him to go out, instead of you. You can stay home and paint the nursery – oh, wait, something you’re quite capable of doing with a wave of your demi-god hands.”

  “You’re an asshole, you know that. You do
n’t have to be right all the time.” Lasse chuckled. “Jason’s already complaining he wants something to do. Why do you think we were in bed when you called?”

  “Because you’re a slut for your mate’s cock? You can’t keep diverting him with sex – he’ll cotton onto that soon enough and then you will be in the shit and won’t get any.” Thor peered out of his huge floor to ceiling windows. The wind was dying down and the rain was reduced to a piddling shower.

  “You’ll understand when you find your mate. Okay. Tomorrow, we’ll go climbing tomorrow, but make it around lunchtime. Jason still gets nauseous in the morning. And you can stick around and have dinner with us after the climb. A spot of domesticity won’t do you any harm.”

  “If you two start feeding each other again in front of me, I will slap you both silly.”

  “No, you won’t, you think it’s cute. Remember the time zone differences. I’ll see you at lunchtime. And Thor….”

  “I know, you silly duffer, but what do you think will happen? A Norse God, a demi-god, and a strong assed shifter? I’ll pick a low mountain, okay. You’re going to get gray hairs at this rate.”

  “I can’t help worrying.” Lasse’s voice was quiet, and Thor wasn’t that much of an asshole that he didn’t understand his best friend’s concern.

  “I’ll watch him like a hawk. I promise if he slips so much as an inch, I’ll wrap him in so much cotton wool he’ll never get free. He’ll be like a giant cocoon, and you can feed him marshmallows and pickles through a little opening at mouth level until he gives birth.”

  “Oh yeah? Then neither one of us better be around when he gets out. The hounds of hell have nothing on him when he gets pissed off. Just don’t tell him what I’ve been doing, please. He’s been moody enough as it is.”

  “I won’t lie but I won’t offer the information either,” Thor promised. “Seriously, buddy, you need to lighten up a bit. Jason has still got roughly six months to go. You want him to still be talking to you when he’s ready to go into labor, don’t you?”

  “I do my friend, and you’re right as always. I will leave an offering of twelve vestal virgins and a cask of ten year old rum on your altar.”

  It was Thor’s turn to laugh. “That whole deflowering virgins thing was never fun and more a Roman’s idea of fun than mine. Far too many tears and vapors for me. I’ll settle for three of your strongest warriors who have an urge to bottom.”

  “Go find your own warriors. Mine have all got tails and swim under water. You couldn’t hold your breath long enough to fuck them. See you tomorrow.”

  Tossing his phone on the nearby couch, Thor stared out of the window again. The rain had settled into a steady drizzle and already the storm clouds were clearing. Down below, men and women all dressed in their drab business suits hurried into one of the many skyscrapers where they worked. Except…Thor straightened as he saw a bright flash of color. All he could make out, from where he was, was the person was short and had the brightest blond hair he’d ever seen. The figure didn’t seem to notice the rain. In fact, Thor’s eyes widened as he saw the person do a twirl right there on the street – his arms outstretched as his face turned towards the sky. What was equally fascinating was the shaft of light that seemed to highlight the man, completely at odds with the gray clouds and silver glass.

  Hmmm. Thor was tempted to send a lightening bolt right in front of the small person just to see if they would jump, but that would be mean and for some reason the bright colors of the man’s jacket made his lips twitch. There was something about the little man that intrigued him, and he almost materialized down there just to say hello. Which was not like him at all and yet, Thor couldn’t stop watching the person until him and his light display disappeared from view. He felt as though he’d just let something really important slip away from him.

  “I need a drink,” he muttered, annoyed at the way his mind was going. He wasn’t into twinks, even to scratch an itch. “It’s got to be five o’clock somewhere.” But for some reason, he kept getting drawn back to the view from his window.

  /~/~/~/~/

  Despite being drenched Orin had to laugh. If anyone had asked, he’d have told them that Thor himself must have been having a difficult day. Certainly, the storm’s sudden arrival and the way it dropped away just as quick had commuters scowling even more than usual, but not Orin. He loved the quirks of the weather and while his professor told him more than once there was a scientific explanation for any erratic weather patterns and that his ideas were fanciful at best, Orin didn’t pay any attention to the man. He knew the truth in his heart and if Thor wasn’t responsible for his sudden drenching, then one of the many other gods that roamed the cosmos was.

  Hurrying inside the large old fashioned building that was at odds with the skyscrapers that dominated the Manhattan skyline, Orin shook the wet drops from his hair, smiling up at George the resident security guard. He knew how George suffered with arthritis in the cooler weather and held out his hand to shake. “Top of the morning to you, George. How’s your lovely wife feeling today?” He let a trickle of his magic travel down their joined fingers and smiled, knowing his friend would get at least four hours relief from his nagging aches.

  “We can’t complain, young sir. I see you got caught in Thor’s anger this morning.”

  “It was glorious.” Orin’s smile lit up the room and he quickly dampened it slightly, but George’s ready acceptance of his ideas was the frosted icing on his already good day. “I don’t know what made him so angry, but he expresses himself in a truly spectacular fashion.”

  “And now you look like a drowned rat.” George leaned forward and whispered, “I hate to be a downer on your mood but old man Foggerty is on the warpath this morning. It seems he got caught in the downpour too and he was nowhere near as happy about it as you are. You’d better get dried off and then I suggest the archives might be a good place for you to hide out of his way.”

  “You’re a good man, George and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Scurrying away, Orin took his friend’s advice. George was a grumpy senior citizen who refused retirement when it was offered to him, claiming he couldn’t afford to live on benefits and meagre savings. Privately, he’d told Orin more than once, he couldn’t bear the thought of sitting around at home all day. George threatened Foggerty with an ageism lawsuit if the company forced him out of his job, claiming there was no reason he couldn’t continue to do his duties, and surprisingly, Foggerty backed down. Orin thought it had something to do with Foggerty being over retirement age himself, but like George, the professor was part of the history of the place. His dour mood and flashes of temper were as much a part of the library as the gothic statues in the hallway. Foggerty hated Orin on sight when he met him, and tried everything he could to block his employment, but fortunately for Orin, it wasn’t his decision to make.

  Drying himself with a click of his fingers, making sure no one was watching him as he did it, Orin lost himself in the dark caverns in the archives basement. He wasn’t lost in the physical sense as such, he knew exactly where he was. But he’d always got that feeling when he was in the archives as if he was on the verge of a great discovery.

  Unlike many of his kind who couldn’t stand to be indoors, Orin loved the musty smell of old books and maps and could spend hours translating ancient texts. To him it was as easy as reading words in his own language, but he had to make out it was difficult when his fellow transcribers were around. While they moaned about the dirt and how so many parts of old manuscripts were missing, one of Orin’s gifts allowed him to see the old papers and maps as though they were newly written.

  Today his little corner of the basement was undisturbed. He did have an office, two floors above the basement archives, but this was where he was happiest. The storage shelves soared high above his head, filled with dusty boxes and crates from expeditions Orin dreamed of going on. Unfortunately, no one would ever take his applications for field work seriously. It was one of the joys of only being fiv
e feet four and someone who looked like a stiff breeze would blow him away.

  “No point in worrying about things I can’t change,” Orin mused as he pulled down a “new to him” box. As always, his adrenalin surged as he took the box to his table and laid it down carefully. Snapping on a pair of gloves, he broke the seal on the box, noted the date and time on the fresh sheet of paper taped to the top of the box and started to dig into its musty contents.

  Chapter Two

  “What does it mean,” Thor grunted as he stretched his leg to snag a foothold that was just out of reach, “if you see someone bathed in light in the middle of a storm?”

  “You’re asking this now?” Lasse grumbled below him. “To the left, Jason, just there to the left.”

  “I’ve been climbing for years,” Jason muttered as he swung across the rock easily. “Worry about where your own hands are going.”

  “I can translocate if I fall. Damn it, Jason….”

  “How about we stop here for a minute.” Ignoring the foothold he couldn’t reach, Thor used the strength of his arms and shoulders to hoist himself onto a skinny rock ledge. Flipping around, he perched on the edge of it, dangling his feet over the side of the rock face. “It’s not that difficult a question. Here, there’s room for all of us.” He held his arm down the rock for Lasse to take. “You’re getting old.”

  “I’m younger than you, old man.” Using Thor’s arm, Lasse heaved himself onto the rock and flicked his long hair out of his face. “Jason, do you need a hand?”

  “Gods, you’re worse than an old woman.” Jason swung himself onto the ledge and parked his butt. “I’m fine. We’re only half way up. You’d better not have stopped because of any misguided concerns about me, Storm Boy. It’s my over-protective mate that’s having the conniptions, not me.”

  Thor knew if he mentioned the silent plea Lasse sent him to take things easy, Jason’s temper could get the better of him and clinging halfway up a thousand-foot rock face was not a good time for Jason and Lasse to fight. “I’ve always liked to take the time to enjoy the view when I’m somewhere like this. It’s the type of view most people don’t see in a lifetime.” He waved at the panoramic vista that sprawled out in front of them. “Besides, Lasse didn’t answer my question. He wouldn’t be easy to hear if we were still climbing, given how within another five minutes he’d be falling because he’s too busy watching your ass.”