Worth It - Lisa Oliver Page 0,43
education to speak of, and I don’t have any work skills either. I’m hopeless in crowds, and…”
“Nope.” Paulie found a hand slapped over his mouth; Ali’s expression was fierce. “You do not get to be a downer on yourself. Zeus is the problem. Not you.”
Paulie pushed Ali’s hand away. “Zeus is a god!”
“Zeus is a dick!”
Paulie opened his mouth and then stopped. “Yeah, he is rather.” He and Ali shared a long look and then he chuckled. Paulie felt lighter than he had in a long time. Still, he had to ask. “But that still doesn’t explain why I’m here.”
“Because Zeus can’t see you in another god’s realm.” Ali winked. “While he can see you, he can play you like a fiddle. Drop in when he feels like it, get his rocks off and then disappear, and there’s nowhere on earth you can hide from him. You, being a shifter, will always cave to his demands, because your tiger knows he’s your mate. So…”
“If he can’t see me, won’t he just forget about me?” Any good feelings Paulie had disappeared rapidly as he imagined Zeus courting some other shifter he’d saved from a fate worse than death.
“You don’t know a lot about paranormal mates either, do you?” Ali patted his hand. “That’s okay. Zeus might think he has the upper hand because he didn’t say the claiming words. But I smelled you on him, and that was a few days after you’d bitten him. The mating is already a done deal. Zeus just doesn’t know it yet. But he will.”
“But if he doesn’t want to be with me…”
“Oh, he does. You should’ve seen how he reacted when I mentioned you being ogled by other gods on Olympus. He’s a lot more possessive than he’s telling you.” Ali sounded so sure. Paulie really wanted to believe him.
“It’ll take time, but in the meantime, there’s no reason you can’t meet other gods, enjoy yourself on this realm, and give Zeus time to get over his misgivings. Now, how about some lunch?” Ali stood up. “You can meet Hades and Folsom. Do not let Folsom talk you into shopping for him on earth. Honestly that demon makes me laugh, but he would try the patience of a saint.”
“No shopping for the demon, right.” Paulie got to his feet. “Incidentally,” he said as he followed Ali out of the room, “why doesn’t Zeus want a shifter mate? If it’s not me personally, then why?”
“He’s fidelity-phobic and he doesn’t like the idea that only one person would ever control his hard-ons once mated.” Ali grinned. “He’ll get over it. Remind me to introduce you to Poseidon, Zeus’s other brother. Claude, his shifter mate, will have you in stitches telling you all the antics Sei went through after Claude bit and claimed him. It was hilarious, and yet they’re happily raising twins now with Claude’s pack in Tulsa. You won’t find a more devoted couple – well, except for me and Hades of course.”
“Their mating stuck, even though Poseidon didn’t claim Claude in return?”
“The Fates, bless their hearts, have a soft spot for us shifters. It stuck, just like yours will with Zeus. Now, before we go through to the dining room, do you have any issues with seeing a pregnant man? Only Hades is due any day now and he’s a bit self-conscious about how big he’s gotten.”
“Congratulations.” Pregnant men? Who knew? But then after what Paulie had been through, and what Zeus had told him about Athena, he wasn’t sure anything would surprise him anymore. I guess gods really can do anything.
Chapter Fourteen
Appearing in Paulie’s apartment at the designated time, Zeus frowned as he didn’t sense the tiger’s life force anywhere. He’d purposefully refused to check in on Paulie all day, determined to break what was becoming a habit. But as the hour approached to when he was supposed to meet Paulie again, he found himself excited, almost happy to see the young man again. Zeus had already decided a little white lie could explain his abrupt disappearance the night before – gods always had emergencies, it came from being responsible for so many other beings – and Paulie need never know he’d actually run from a feelings tsunami.
Zeus had planned another meal, and then thought he could take Paulie somewhere remote and hidden so the shifter’s animal half could come out and play. He’d even worn one of his ornate gold collars to keep the tiger’s teeth out of his neck. And then,