Blood of Zeus (Blood of Zeus #1)

by Meredith Wild

The instant I touched Kara Valari, the rigid control of my mind was overtaken by brilliant color.

I openly ignore their flirtations. I can’t afford another slip in self-control. When I turn it off, bad things happen, and there are two glaring reminders in front of me. The horseshoe on the lat machine and the wheelchair under my best friend.

The mating merry-go-round just isn’t my ride. There’s something much more alluring about courting a woman. Learning her secrets. Winning her treasures. Hell, maybe Jesse’s right. Maybe I belong on another planet. Or at least in another time.

When humans break their vows, feelings get hurt. Hearts get broken. When demons break vows, someone gets punished.

“Maybe the biggest voices in the jungle have the least to prove.” She shifts her gaze from the sparkling skyline toward me. “Or the most.” I stiffen.

“I’m…different, Reg,” I finally mutter. “You and I both know it.” “There’s nothing wrong with being different.” “If you’re me, there is.” “You’re dead wrong.” She rocks back on one foot, tossing me a harsher regard while folding her arms neatly across her chest. “And one day, someone’s going to prove you wrong in the very best way, whether you’re ready for it or not. Probably not this girl, but someone will someday. So my advice to you, Maximus Kane, would be to get ready for it.”

“And all pass eagerly, for here, Divine Justice transforms and spurs them so their dread turns wish: they yearn for what they fear.”

“Well…Virgil is explaining that hell isn’t a punishment. It’s what the souls of the damned truly long for. It’s a deliberate choice.” I swallow hard before continuing. “Which is why the damned don’t deserve Dante’s sympathy.”

“Because you’re my professor?” She lets out a little huff. “I’m not exactly a freshman out of high school. Even when I was, life had taught me some tough lessons already. And I’m pretty sure we’re not the first teacher and student, even here at Alameda, who have—” “It has nothing to do with that.” She folds her arms. The sight isn’t one I need right now, since the action pulls down her cotton blouse and exposes her cleavage in all the best—goddammit, worst—ways. Once again, thank fuck for the podium—and how the wood hides my obvious arousal. “Meaning exactly what?” “I don’t know.” And that’s the bald truth. “I can only say that I’ve already thought about it more than I care to admit. About…whatever the hell is going on here and what it would be like to tell our invisible Charon to take us to the other side.” I almost laugh at myself. I’m the guy who likes studying poetry, not composing it.

“What did that feel like?” She captures her bottom lip beneath her teeth. “Imagining that jump with me?” I push air out harshly through my nose. “It felt a thousand kinds of wrong.” But a million kinds of right.

“Cerberus.” “Stick to star trivia, North. Cerberus is a hound with three heads, not one.” “Also used to not be a hound at all,” he shoots back. I push my laptop to the side and lean forward. “Says who?” It’s not a throwdown. It’s a legitimate information request. I can tell Jesse’s switched into Professor North mode, and I’m grateful for it. “Guy named Hevelius,” he supplies. “Seventeenth-century astronomer. Seven out of the ten constellations he identified are still acknowledged today. Of the three that aren’t, one was known as Cerberus—a three-headed snake that was held by Hercules. The gems in this earring are arranged in that constellation’s pattern.”

“How do you know all that? Last time I checked”—and I know this from Jesse himself—“astronomy isn’t astrology.” “The constellations straddle both,” he explains. “Which means I also have a passing knowledge of Latin, though that lettering on the earring would take the eyesight of a hawk.”

“Ex ignes,” I supply from memory, as I’ve already spent far too much time inspecting it. “That’s the top part. The bottom says victoria.” “From the fires, victory,”

“I’ve been crazy about space since we were kids, but the girl talks about the Milky Way like she’s already flown across it.” He laughs wistfully. “And I thought the only stars she cared about were the ones she followed on social media.”

“You want to know what’s going on with me?” The low and ominous tone sends a shiver of dread through me. Then I notice his hands are shaking. “Yes,” I whisper, though suddenly I’m not sure I do. “When I was eight years old, I paralyzed my best friend because I didn’t know what I was capable of…what kind of violence is inside me. It didn’t stop there.” He closes his eyes briefly—long enough for a deep V to form between his brows. “Every day of my life is about control. And that control doesn’t exist when I’m this close to you. I’ll never make that mistake again. If I unleash that shit on you, I’ll never be able to live with myself. So please, Kara. For both of our sakes, please, just go.”

I want to push her on the whiplash response, but my intuition already reins me back. Pressing her to reveal anything more than she wants, especially in the middle of this trail, is going to be an exercise in futility. I’ll have to be sneakier about the whole thing. Smoother. A task completely outside my wheelhouse. That means I’ll have to ask myself the unaskable question. What would Jesse do? Unbelievably, the query becomes my lifeline as I follow her up the rest of the hill. The final part of the trail also proves to be one of its steepest, meaning Kara’s having to show off the flex of her glutes in all their well-honed glory—and those ruthlessly sexy shorts. The only thing that saves me from rocking a full-blown hard-on once we get to the top is focusing on my conjecture of how Jesse would do this. It’s fate’s cruel joke on the pair of us. I’ve got the legs that work but the small-talk game that doesn’t. Jesse’s stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his days but can charm a nun out of her panties. I’m pretty damn sure Kara Valari’s not wearing any panties. Not that charming her out of them would be my intention here.

“After everything that happened, I needed that. I needed to believe that I could pull through. And that…” “What?” she prompts between my hesitant taps against the tabletop. “That…Jesse would too.” She takes a long sip of her wine. “So I take it you’re a fan of happily ever afters.” I smirk. “Who wouldn’t be?” “Hmm. Maybe a few very serious academic types.” “I take the texts seriously. I’ve never been much of a literary snob, though.” “Those blazers you wear with the elbow patches suggest otherwise.”

“Goddamn, you’re killing me with these shorts.” He exhales in a ragged breath. “We should stop. Kara, tell me to stop.” “Stop” sounds like the worst word I’ve ever heard, so I kiss him harder, making it quite clear that I’m not on board with that plan. At all. “Kara.” His voice is a desperate rasp between us, rough with his worry and longing. “I don’t want to stop. I want you to keep touching me. Kissing me.”

“Okay, just for giggles, let me get this absolutely straight.” Jesse’s interjection is a needed slice into my moroseness. “Are you telling me you had Kara Valari at your front door, looking like sin and smelling like the ocean, and you were a gentleman about the whole thing?” I drop my gaze and abandon the quest for my phone. At the moment, there’s a bigger concern in front of me—like controlling how much of the truth I feel okay about revealing here. No way do I want to lie to him, but what Kara and I share is still too new and special in my mind—and other places of me. It feels too vulnerable. “I didn’t say that.” “Ah! Yesss.” Jesse pumps a fist. “And here I thought that extra bounce in your step might just be from caffeine.” “It is just from caffeine.” “Which means what?” “Exactly what I said.” I move back to the chair and drop into it. “I’m a gentleman, not some horny hellhound.” “You ever think she might want a horny hellhound?” “She didn’t leave disappointed.” All right, maybe a little. “But it was just a kiss.” And groping. And stroking. And caressing. And gazing into her huge, dark eyes until my soul wanted to swim in hers for hours. “That’s all it’s really been so far.”

“Maybe I’m willing to sacrifice a life of lies to live a moment of truth.”

“Kara… You don’t know what you’re saying.” “I’m saying I don’t know if I can accept the life that’s been handed to me. It’s not fair.” “It isn’t. But you have no choice in the matter if—” “If what? You said it yourself. Everyone has a choice.” “Not when it comes to this.” “Why?” There’s anger in my demand, but it’s scratching the surface of what I really feel. “Why is this the exception?” “In our world, decisions carry consequences,” Gramps says tightly. “Consequences that follow you.

“You’re going to the fundraiser tonight, right? In the library?” “Yes.” I thread my fresh confusion into the word. “Are you?” “They’re christening the Veronica Valari Wing at eight. What do you think?” She steps close again. “That also means that by eight thirty, everyone in my family will be in limousines, heading back to the Hills for the after-party. And nobody else at the event will be caring about what’s happening in the older stacks.” My attempt at sobering my smile is a lost cause. “A rendezvous in the old library? Do you know how many new ways I just fell for you?”

“There are advantages to sleepovers with girls, you know.” “I’ll take your word for it.” “Or maybe you don’t have to?” He shoots a knowing glance at my worn-out formalwear. “Still had working eyes in my head, Professor, even with that sweet gal’s tongue knocking on my tympanum. You bugged out from the gala fast. And—surprise, surprise—Kara Valari was hot on your heels, even in those red stilts she was rocking.” My stare narrows before I can help it. “Did you really just get scientific Latin-y on me while referencing your sexual foreplay and Kara’s shoes?” “Few things finer than a combination of human biology and well-made stilettos, my friend.” “I can probably think of a few.” “Just tell me you weren’t contemplating any of them last night.”

“Don’t let me down, man. Do not tell me you turned that woman down when she was dressed like that and had eyes only for you.” I scrub a slow hand down my face. “All right. I’m not telling you that.” “Thank fuck.” He dips his head and raises his brows. “So?” I compress my lips. “It’s complicated.” “Buddy, the stock market is complicated. Rush hour traffic on Pico? Complicated. But recognizing when a stunning woman is into you and doing something about it? Maximus Kane, that’s not complicated. That’s a blessing from the gods.”

“Intuitive. That’s it? Lots of people are intuitive, Maximus. Hell, Reg and Sarah know I’ve got the flu three days before I do.”

“I want all your secrets, Kara… All the little pieces of you no one ever sees, every wild dream and ugly truth. If I’m not the man who can earn all of it, nothing’s going to feel right for me ever again. Because as crazy as you’re making me right now, I don’t want to go back to before. I’ll take the free fall. Any damn day. But I need you to be real with me…”

I slip off my shoes and tug on the string that’s holding my wrap dress in place. That’s all it takes for it to loosen and slip off me. He can’t possibly hear the flimsy fabric fall to the floor, but he looks up just then. I don’t think he’s even breathing. “Kara.” My name has never sounded like such torture. It might as well be a dying plea on his lips. Except he’s mine. My last wish. My hero. “Come here,” I say. His chest moves under labored breaths. Finally he takes a few steps closer, slowly, stopping several feet away. He swallows hard and takes me in, from my naked toes to my bare breasts, lingering on the lacy black panties I’d have stripped off too if I didn’t want to save the task for him. “I want to be with you, Maximus.” He tears his gaze away with a muttered curse. “You said you wanted all of me.” “I do. God, I do.” He slams his eyes closed and rakes a hand through his hair roughly. “Just come here,” I beg. “If I touch you right now, this is over. I can’t… I’m strong, but I’m not that strong.” “You don’t need to be. We want the same thing.” He won’t move. Won’t open his eyes. So I go to him. “Maximus,” I whisper. “Look at me. Feel me.” Then we’re chest to chest. He releases a jagged exhale and opens his eyes, looking every bit as overwhelmed as I feel. “Just kiss me.”

She’s graceful curves and sensual shadows. Sultry darkness and passionate light. Blatant need and open desire. But most of all, she’s mine. I’m going to make that true, in every sense of the word. The promise floods my veins, coils my tendons, pushes at every fiber of my muscles. It’s a physical force like nothing I’ve ever known.

“When we were together, I felt you…so strongly.” She reaches out and links our fingers lazily. “Like everything you were feeling flowed right into me, mixing with all these new sensations my brain could hardly keep up with. Usually when I feel you…you’re you. And I’m still me. I can separate the two. This was different…like everything between us wove together and became something new. Something that was just…us.”