Celestial's Love Machine [Celestial Nights 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “We don’t have to…you know?”

  “No.” Capri sighed, leaning over him and kissing his lips. She loved kissing him. He had the softest, warmest lips in the universe, and what he could do with his mouth was pure sinful. “I will teach. I am sure Leaf and Rainbow will be more than happy to fill in on that aspect.”

  “Thank the Goddess, you know I get performance anxiety.” He groaned, pulling her into his lap, reaching up to cup her breast. “I almost left you to perform alone tonight. Thank the goddess that you gave me some liquid encouragement, or I would have.”

  “No, you wouldn’t have. You would have stayed and helped me.” She moaned as he began rolling her nipple back and forth. Performance anxiety her tush. The man was a force to be reckoned with once he got started. It was just getting him started that he needed the help with, and that was something she didn’t mind doing at all.

  Aquarius grinned and seductively asked, “Now, explain this sexual spirituality to me again.”

  * * * *

  Aries Yosemite Deveroux needed rest. Lots and lots of rest. His life had taken a drastic turn when he left Celestial over six years ago to investigate what the real world had to offer. He went to college, studied everything he could and ended up graduating at the top of his class in business management, with a specialty in contract management. Recruited right out of UC Berkeley, Aries went to work for one of the most influential men in business. It didn’t take long for the two men to get along, and soon Aries was moving up the corporate ladder. Aries quickly learned that in business, every friendship has a reason and working for the illustrious Tristan Wallace Summerfield didn’t just happen because he was good at what he did.

  Nope, there was a bigger reason…Because he was from Celestial. He still hadn’t found out why yet, but he knew he was close. Aries knew something wasn’t right, especially when he watched the news reports of the devastation in Treasure Cove. Right there on his large flat-screen TV, he saw people he knew and grew up with surviving the massive mine collapse that killed over fifteen people. Over the last week, new reports were sketchy at best, but what interested him was the chaos at Summerfield Corporation. It was like overnight the well-oiled company was thrust into the limelight as speculation began to start, pointing fingers at Mr. Tristan Summerfield. Though the big boss man wasn’t around for comment, he sure had a plethora of attorneys and public relations people doing the talking for him, which included Aries. With the exact cause of the mine collapse still undetermined, the Summerfield Corporation chose to say, “No comment.”

  Aries thought it funny, because they said it a lot.

  When Aries found out that Tristan was interested in his hometown, Aries thought he could lend his boss a helping hand. That was his first mistake. The second was offering to go back home and try to talk to the citizens of Celestial into letting The Summerfield Corporation move into their backyard and allow Tristan to drill. Oh, Tristan was being very magnanimous about the whole thing. Hell he was offering to update the town, boost its economy, and even throw in a Starbucks coffee shop. All Aries had to do was get the town to sign off on the deal. He’d have better luck running naked through the town waving sparklers in the air while setting his dick on fire before the town allowed Tristan to drill.

  Of course, Aires said exactly that to his boss, but Tristan wouldn’t hear it. Before Aries could say another thing, Tristan ordered him to go home and get the Mayor and fifty-one percent of the town to sign off on the deal. Only if Aries knew what fifty-one percent of the town Tristan was talking about. That information would make his life a little better.

  As it was right now, only those who lived in town were known. What Aries failed to explain correctly to his boss was that Celestial was more than a small town. Yes, people did live within the town’s limits. And yes, those people were extremely vocal and diplomatic when it came to the safety, health and well-being of the cosmic entities within Celestial, but they were not the only ones.

  There were others…and it was those people Aries wasn’t so sure about.

  He could admit that he missed home and wished he would have returned more often when he had the chance instead of heading off to exotic places with whatever socialite he saw at the time. He had seen it all at the time he was away from Celestial. And though he had fun and experienced new things, he was exhausted. He couldn’t wait to see his brother. He missed Aquarius and all the fun they had growing up. Aries knew he hurt Aquarius when he left, but Aquarius accepted that he needed to do more, experience more than Celestial had to offer. Not that Aries couldn’t have had a fulfilling life in Celestial. He could have, but he wanted more.

  Well, he got it all right, and now he wished he could give it back.

  The small town of Celestial was asleep when he pulled to a stop in front of the 5th Dimension at three o’clock in the morning. He knew that his brother would be dead to the world, and nothing short of a Zombie Apocalypse would ever wake him. Of course, even then his brother would just light up some incense, grab a drink and go back to bed. Thank the Goddess Aries had his own key. He loved his brother dearly, but he sometimes worried about his lack of concern for everything and anything in the Universe.

  Aquarius was an oddball, to say the least. Even from childhood, nothing ever riled his little brother. Aquarius always just went with the flow of the universe. He never worried about anything, even when he almost lost his store for failure to pay rent. Aries remembered talking to his brother about not giving one hundred percent and devoting more time to sales. His little brother just laughed and said, “If the cosmos wants me to keep the store, then the universe will allow it to happen.” What Aquarius didn’t know was the next morning, Aries called the Universal Bank of Celestial and paid his brothers back rent and made sure that there were funds for the next six months to cover all expenses.

  Even though he left his brother alone to his own devices, he made sure Aquarius still had everything he needed. Aquarius wouldn’t look after himself, so Aries did that for him. He was truly his brother’s keeper, and it was one job he was good at.

  Grabbing his bag out of the back seat of his car, Aries hit the alarm on his BMW out of habit, and then realized where he was at. Smiling, he unlocked the doors, then headed into the 5th Dimension.

  Chapter Three

  Aries woke to find his brother and Capri staring at him as if he’d grown three heads. Neither looked happy nor did they seem upset. Now that he thought of it, they looked almost as if they were void of any human emotion. Sitting up slowly, neither moved. “Either move or say something, because you two are freaking me out.”

  They both stepped back giving him room. Getting to his feet, Aries ignored their stares and headed into the bathroom, giving them a good view of his naked ass before shutting the door. He had thought of all kinds of welcomes he would receive from his brother and Capri, but the silence wasn’t one of them. He couldn’t figure them out. Honestly he felt as if they were in shock. Yeah…he was going to go with shock. That would fit, too, since neither had seen him in six years. He did write, but he barely called, so shock could be the best plausible feeling for their reaction. Then again, shock eventually wore off, and generally anger followed. He couldn’t see Capri getting angry, or his brother, but he hadn’t been around them for a long time, so he really didn’t know them as well as he should. A lot could change within six years, goddess knew he had, but on some level he prayed that Capri and Aquarius had stayed the same.

  It looked as if he were wrong.

  After showering, he grabbed a towel and walked out of the bathroom to find them still standing in the same spot before he left. Sighing, Aries sat back down on the couch and waited. Apparently they wanted a word with him, and neither was going to say anything, until he stayed put. “Go ahead. I’m not going anywhere. Speak your piece.”

  “Where have you been?” Capri asked, waiting no time to start the inquisition. Aries tried not to smile, but he was just so damn happy to be in her presence again. He could alread
y feel the last six years fall away from him as if it never happened. Yet it did and he was here for only one reason. He wasn’t ready to tell anyone anything yet, and until he was, he had made the decision to not say a single word about why he was home. He didn’t like lying. It wasn’t something he was proud of, but until he could figure out how to get the town to sign off on Tristan’s contract, everything was better left unsaid.

  “You know damn well where I was and don’t tell me that my brother didn’t tell you. I was in New York.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Um,” Aries replied, wondering how he could explain the last six years, without actually telling her why he was home. “Working in business management,” he replied cautiously.

  Capri gasped in horror. Her demeanor changed from curiosity to anger instantly. Aires wasn’t used to seeing Capri angry. Hell, now that he thought about it, she never got mad. Unless it had something to do with…oh crap!

  “For a small business?”

  Leaning back, Aries replied softly, bracing himself. “More like a Corporation.”

  “So you worked for the man!” she shouted furiously.

  And there was her temper.

  Capri didn’t care what he did, but whom he did it for. He should have known better. Capri Sun Chantilly was an avid supporter in defense against anything governmental or business. From an early age, she, Moon Goddess and the rest of the Celestial Chapter of Progressive Wiccans would always find some faction that needed to be brought to their knees. Hell, one time they even put a curse on a young man who was trying to talk Apollo into building a Super Wal-Mart on the outskirts of town. Not that Apollo would have let the evil corporation do such a thing, but that didn’t sway the ladies. One day the man was in perfect health, the next he was fleeing town as if the hounds of hell were nipping at his feet. It was quite comical at the time. Of course, Aires wasn’t on the receiving end of their wrath, as he was right now with Capri. There was something endearing about her lust for life and everything natural and organic that had always drawn him to her. Only now, he wondered if maybe he should have taken the time to think about what he was going to say instead of winging it.

  “I’m sorry, Capri.”

  “You’re sorry!” she shouted again. “Do you know what those corporations do? They bleed corruption and deceit into the atmosphere, tainting everything around them. And you are their spokesmodel!”

  “It’s not like that,” Aires tried to explain, hoping it appeased her sensibilities.

  “You have been defiling your body for six years just to attain something that doesn’t belong to you!”

  Aries froze. Had she figured him out? Was she that smart? Could see through his lies? Oh, Goddess help him if she could. He didn’t want her to know why he was home. If she found out, he would never be able to look her in the eyes ever again. It was bad enough he felt dirty and unworthy of being in her presence, but to have her condemning him for his need to succeed, well, he couldn’t handle that. It wasn’t like he went to Washington DC, and said, “Hey, I think I’ll run for President!” Regardless of his thought, Capri continued to ramble on as if she had every right. “Do you know how long it’s going to take the universe to right what you wronged? Eons! And don’t get me started on the impact of what working for the man did to your chakra. Poor Phoebe is going to need oxygen after she gets you all righted.”

  Aquarius sighed and sat down next to him as they both listened to Capri go on and on about the hindrance and corruption of such vile entities. “You should have just told her you were a beach bum,” his brother whispered. “She would have accepted that and then we wouldn’t have to listen to this.”

  “I wasn’t thinking,” Aries replied.

  “Apparently,” his brother quipped then asked, “So are you home for good now or are you just visiting?”

  Aries turned to look at his brother and felt horrible. It was bad enough that Capri was still berating him on the foul uses of megalomaniac corporations in the world, but to have his brother look at him like he killed a puppy was too much. He knew that he hurt Aquarius when he left, but he couldn’t stay in Celestial. He couldn’t really explain it, but he felt that if he stayed he would fade away into nothingness. He needed to see what the universe provided and experience life other than what the town of Celestial offered. It was one of the hardest decisions he’d ever made. Looking back, he knew his concerns were completely unfounded and that he just wanted to get out of town and experience other things, but he never meant to hurt the two people he loved the most. He made a mistake, a big one, and being home, he knew that he was going to have to pay the preverbal piper. “That depends. Do you want me to stay?”

  “I never wanted you to leave,” his brother barely whispered. When his words registered, Aries felt awful. He foresaw lots of groveling in his future.

  “What can I do to make it up to you?” he asked, ready to start the process immediately.

  “Make her stop.” Aquarius smiled, motioning with his head toward Capri, who was on a wild tangent and looked as if she wasn’t planning on stopping anytime soon.

  Sighing, Aries sat there for a few more minutes, trying to figure out how to stop the woman he loved and hurt from talking herself to death. Capri was a passionate woman and believed in many things. That was why Aries loved her so much, but he couldn’t stand to see her get upset over something she had no control over. It wasn’t her fault he fell into the deep well of commercial commerce. He just did what he had to, to survive. Getting to his feet, he stepped in front of the feisty woman, wrapped his arms around her and leaned in to kiss her.

  “Isn’t it strange that in the last six years you’ve been gone, you still feel that a kiss will make everything better,” Capri whispered, halting his movement. Aries absently stroked her long crimson hair, his fingers combing through her thick, silky strands as he stared at her. “Why’s that, do you think?”

  She knew that she shocked him. She meant to. She was still angry at him. This was a first for her. Generally she would be so stumped, she would be tongue tied, when what she really wanted to do was to put him in his place. She never knew the right thing to say, until after the fact. In six years, it looked as if she had grown up a bit because Aries stood before her, stupefied. She didn’t want him to know how happy she was that he was home, because what she really wanted to do was to jump into his arms and kiss him until he couldn’t breathe. She missed him terribly, but she was angry and confused. Oh, she wasn’t angry that he left town, she was angry that he worked for the “man”. He knew better. He was brought up right and he was conceived the right way for goddess sakes! He should have repelled the notion and volunteered at some halfway house, that way his chakra, aura, and soul would be free, but he wasn’t and she refused to associate with an entity that wasn’t pure.

  The sound of laughter drifted from behind her. She and Aires both turned to find Aquarius snickering happily at them. “You should see yourselves. Brother your expression is priceless, and babe, if you get any angrier, you’re going to set my apartment on fire.”

  “Well, I guess it’s a good thing the town has two firefighters then.”

  “The town has firefighters?” Aries asked. “Since when? What happened to Old Bob?”

  “See—” Capri jumped on that comment immediately. “If you hadn’t been working for the root of all evil, you’d know what was going on in the universe.”

  “I was in New York, Capri. How in the hell would I know what was going on in Celestial?”

  “Because the cosmos would have told you!” she shouted at him. Taking a deep breath, Capri added, “I don’t have time for this. I have to go find Leaf and Rainbow and get them ready for my next class. Then I need to go head over to the Love Den and get everything set up for my next seminar. Aquarius, meet me there in an hour, with your computer and stuff so we can do that web thingy for the retreat.”

  “Awe babe,” he moaned. “I was going to check out my new shipment of chilies I got from Guatemala yeste
rday.”

  “You can smoke them later. You promised to help me and I’m holding you to it.” With that, Capri turned and left the apartment. She was so flustered, she needed to calm herself before talking to anyone. In her state, she was liable to actually use foul language.

  Aries watched as she silently stormed out of his brother’s apartment. Confused and unsure what to do next, he asked his brother, “She’s changed. How long has she been this way?”

  “Since November 12, 2008,” Aquarius dryly replied.

  Aries didn’t say anything because on some deep level, he knew that his leaving not only hurt his brother, but hurt Capri as well. Regardless, he was back now, and he wasn’t ever leaving again. He just had to find a way to prove that to Capri and make her see how sorry he was. He could do it, too, especially if he enlisted his brother. “What did she mean by enlisting help?”

  “Capri is going to start holding monthly spiritual retreats,” Aquarius replied nonchalantly as if he were bored with the conversation.

  “Why in the hell is she doing to do that?”

  “She teaches the masses the many different applications of sexual spirituality.”

  Aries rounded on his brother and shouted, “She teaches sex!”

  “Well.” Aquarius grinned.

  “What do you mean well? Either she does or she doesn’t.”

  “She’s more like a sex therapist-guru. She teaches the spiritual application of sex more than how to fuck. She teaches technique through mental and visual stimulation.”