Blood of Zeus (Blood of Zeus #1) - Meredith Wild Page 0,32
we both do things we regret.”
“Like what?”
His eyes darken, transforming my spike of anger into something equally intense. Something that might land me in the second circle of hell if I weren’t already bound for worse. I take in a calming breath, cross my arms, and lean my hip against the edge of his desk.
“You’re attracted to me,” I say.
“Obviously.” The retort is low and clipped.
“Fine.” I suck in a long breath. For some reason, I didn’t anticipate his reply. The word itself, sure, but not his bluntness. “I’m attracted to you too. And that’s not exactly…normal for me.”
He frowns.
“I’m not immune to attraction,” I say. “But it’s easy for me to ignore it most of the time. This physical pull between us is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt with anyone else, but it’s more than that. There’s something special about you that I can’t figure out. Even though it’s dangerous and driving both of us a little crazy right now, I can’t let it go until I know what that is.”
For a long time, he simply breathes and stares, like he’s deciding what to do with me. I brace myself for him to insist we keep our distance again. But hopefully he’s figured out that’s just not going to work on me.
“I know I’m different,” he finally says.
The small admission stuns me. I’m afraid to say anything that will keep him from sharing more, so I stay quiet and wait.
“I just don’t know why. And until you started shoving your way into my personal space the way you have been, I was content not to know.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“Who said I was afraid?”
I unfold my arms and slowly glide my fingertips across the back of his hand. I expect him to recoil from my touch, but he doesn’t, which makes me bolder still.
“I’m different too, Maximus. Even if I couldn’t read the fear in your eyes when you pulled away from me the other night, I could feel it.” When he tenses, I decide to let him into my world a little more, even though I know I shouldn’t. “Humans…” Bad start. “Human beings give off vibrations. It’s like the way people read body language or smell pheromones and inherently know something about someone else. The way I feel it is more like a vibration. Which can be kind of overwhelming when I’m around a lot of people. Or around people with really powerful emotions.” I lick my lips, worried I’ve said too much. “People like you.”
“You sound crazy. You know that, right?”
I resist the urge to throw something at him.
“Well, if you went around telling people you could twist metal like a bendy straw, they might call you crazy too. How about we establish a judgment-free zone here, all things considered?”
He sighs. “Fine. I don’t know. Saying any of this out loud makes it seem…”
“Real?”
“Maybe. I shouldn’t be able to do the things I do.”
“And I shouldn’t be able to feel the things I feel. But here we are.”
“So what do we do now? Dedicate office hours to reveling in our shared weirdness? That doesn’t feel too constructive to me.”
I tilt my head. “I was thinking dinner.”
His eyes widen slightly. “If we so much as think about sharing a meal in public together—”
“The paparazzi will have a field day with it and your face will get splashed on trashy magazines far and wide. I know. This is my normal, remember? I have ways to get around these things.”
He eyes me warily.
I lean over him to grab another pen and scribble an address on the top margin of my ungraded assignment.
“Meet me here at six. I’ll work out dinner.”
His eyes light up, bringing me a new frisson of excitement. “Hmm. A woman with a plan.”
“Maybe.” I kick up the corner of my mouth. “Okay, probably. Just wear comfortable clothes.”
I’m ready to leave, but he grabs my hand, keeping me from moving farther away from him. Our gazes lock.
“Are you sure about this?”
I lift my brows. “About dinner?”
“No.”
He runs his thumb up and down my wrist. The gesture is gentle and sweet, and I have to restrain myself from crawling into his lap and dedicating the next hour to re-exploring his mouth, his touch, everything…
“You’re determined to figure me out. Has it ever occurred to you that you might not like what you find?”
“It hasn’t.” Not a single time.
“Shouldn’t that worry you?”
I shake my head. “If I only wanted to see the best of you, I wouldn’t be