Free How to Worship a Goddess by Stephanie Julian

placing one palm on his front and the other on his back.
    Her hands warmed him through his shirt and, for a few seconds, aggravated the pain. His breath hissed in but then oh, Jesus, that glow started again.
    He looked down and saw that the glow was now contained in her hands. They had turned translucent, like someone was shining a flashlight through them.
    He had a momentary flash of fear that she was going to burn him to a crisp and the pain flashed into agony. His groan echoed through the bar and his head fell back on his shoulders.
    Seconds of pain that felt like an eternity. And then the pain ended. It was just… gone.
    Lucy stepped back, her hands falling away from him. She stared at him steadily. “Go ahead. Move it.”
    Heart pounding, he took a deep breath. And flexed his shoulder.
    Holy shit.
    No pain.
    No fucking way.
    He stared at her, trying to figure out if he was going to pass out or fall on his knees in front of her and kiss her feet. He’d never passed out in his life unless he’d gotten his head knocked into the boards. He wasn’t starting now.
    â€œHow—” His mouth snapped shut, cutting off the rest of his question. She’d told him how. Magic.
    â€œWould you like a drink?” she asked.
    â€œYeah, I think… Yeah. Whiskey. Just get the bottle.”
    Lucy turned to grab a bottle and two glasses from behind the bar, then motioned for him to follow her through the kitchen and up the stairs into the living room.
    Brand stopped to look at the amazing murals on the walls and realized not only did he recognize them but that now he realized they probably weren’t just showing mythological scenes.
    He lowered himself to sit on one of the chaises, almost missed the edge and nearly fell on his ass on the floor. He shoved back before he embarrassed the hell out of himself.
    Lucy sat next to him, cracked the bottle and poured healthy amounts for both of them.
    After a few good pulls, he set his glass, now nearly empty, on the table in front of him.
    â€œExplain the comment about not being born,” he asked, lifting his gaze to hers. “Are you human?”
    She nodded, her expression solemn. “Yes, I am as much human as you are, except for the aging and… dying. I also have abilities you don’t.”
    He realized she’d sidestepped an explanation for being born and figured maybe he didn’t want to know the answer to that one just yet. “Abilities like healing. And glowing.”
    She smiled and his gut twisted. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
    â€œActually, what I do is harness the power of the moon and manipulate it to my needs.”
    â€œHow?”
    She shrugged. “It’s what I do.”
    â€œBut how ?”
    She frowned. “After you learned how to skate, did you have to think about how you do it every time you go on the ice? No, it’s instinctive. It’s the same for me. I don’t think about how I do it anymore. I just can.”
    â€œAnd when did you learn how?”
    She smiled, but it looked almost painful as her gaze sank to the ground for a second. “Long before you could ever imagine.”
    Okay, he’d let that one go. For now.
    â€œBut you weren’t born?”
    Her gaze dropped for a brief second as she shrugged. “That one’s a little more difficult to answer. We came to be because our people had a need for us yet we do have parents, of a sort. We never age. We cannot be killed by conventional means and we don’t die of natural causes.”
    â€œYou’re immortal.”
    â€œSo far, yes.”
    Holy shit. Just… holy shit. She was dead serious. And he was fucking crazy to believe anything she said.
    But he did.
    She’d healed his shoulder. And she’d glowed like the fucking moon.
    Now, he wasn’t the sharpest blade on the ice, but he’d been smart enough to get an academic scholarship as well as a hockey scholarship to