Blood of Zeus (Blood of Zeus #1) - Meredith Wild Page 0,33

here.”

“But what if—”

“I can handle it, Maximus.” Also not a lie. I show him as much with the steady surety of my eyes as our gazes tangle once more. “I can handle you.”

All of you.

I’m not sure when I’ve yearned for a challenge more. I hope he sees that truth in my eyes, but I’m not sure. Because this time, when I pull away, he lets me go.

Chapter Twelve

Maximus

“This is…wow.”

I’m not looking at Kara as I declare it, but her soft hum tells me she’s heard me. “Well, it doesn’t seem as overwhelming from up here. That’s for sure.”

I don’t miss the bleak notes in her reply as we look out over the trendy sprawl of Los Feliz and Hollywood. The downtown skyline, several miles away, is drenched in the hues of a sultry September sunset. From up here, the huge buildings look like miniatures constructed on a movie’s special-effects set.

After a quiet moment, she steps across the packed dirt of the Griffith Park Firebreak Trail to stand a little closer to me. She’s near enough to touch, serving up temptation I don’t try to ignore. For once, it feels right to give in. To pull her close and tuck her against my side. It feels even more right as she settles there, splaying her touch affectionately across my stomach. I wrap my hand around her shoulder and stretch my fingers in, gently fingering the wisps of hair that have escaped her cute ponytail.

Everything about the moment is more connective than seductive, if a little heavy with the anticipation I’ve been holding on to all day about meeting her here. But now we’re just…together. As if we’ve been this way for a lot longer than eight days.

She leans her cheek against my shoulder. “I had a hunch you’d like it.”

“A ‘hunch,’ eh?”

I utter every syllable with deliberate intention. Maybe her gifts are more intuitive than psychic, but I haven’t forgotten what she confessed this morning in my office. The vibrations she feels. The way she feels them from me. The way I overwhelm her. I still can’t unpack everything that I’m experiencing in return.

“This trail is usually a little lighter with foot traffic,” she goes on, sidestepping my comment. “People opt for the easier route rather than trying to plow straight up the side of the hill on this one.”

“I don’t mind the tougher way,” I assure her with a chuckle. While her answering laugh spreads warmth that rivals the sunset, I add, “But you had a hunch about that too, didn’t you?”

Kara tilts her head up, tossing me a soft smile. “Some things about you are easier to understand than others.”

“Meaning what?” I’m only half kidding. I manage to keep my tone light before realizing the effort is useless. The emotions percolating under the surface have likely already given me away. My energy. My enchantment with her. My sheer and happy surprise that she’s chosen dirt and trees over some stiff, stuffy restaurant.

Sure enough, Kara words her reply with obvious care. “Your propensity for physicality isn’t exactly a well-kept secret.” She swallows before gliding her touch up to my chest. “Not that I’m complaining.”

At once, there’s a fresh glow in my blood. “Kara Valari,” I tease in a low rumble. “Are you flirting with me?”

Her head darts back up when she laughs. Her velvety browns are sprinkled with gold flecks. Her lower lip disappears beneath her teeth. All too quickly, she interrupts my fascination with the move by answering me. “Do you…want me to be?”

With gruff scuffs in the dirt, I turn to fully face her. “Can’t you tell?”

Again, with intimacy that feels so natural, I move one hand to grip her hip. I’m so goddamned tempted to roam that palm farther down, not that she’s helped the matter by dressing in a pair of denim shorts that would make Daisy Duke blush. I’m grateful when Kara keeps her own touch planted at the center of my chest, a small anchor helping me control my physical lust.

But no force on this earth can stop what’s going on with the rest of me.

It’s happening all over again. The awakening to her. The awareness of her. That burst of fire and light and color, racing between her blood and mine, as brilliant as the gilded sunlight all around us…

Sunlight that’s suddenly alive with swirling stars.

I keep the quixotic impression to myself. It’s a thought, not a feeling, so it should be safe from her. The early twilight breeze turns into a