Blood of Zeus (Blood of Zeus #1) - Meredith Wild Page 0,79

feeling like this. Already it’s threatening to consume me.

He folds his arms around me and binds us tightly, lifting me off my toes. We’re sharing breaths. And heat. And connection. So many chains of connection…but not nearly enough.

He moans my name. It’s a desperate sound that reflects my own thinning patience. My own raw desire and commitment to fulfilling it. He captures my face and holds my gaze for another long moment.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” I promise.

“We have time,” he whispers.

“No, we don’t.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Maximus

I believe her. Even the last conviction she utters, with all three of the words threatened by the sob she’s struggling to hold in. It’s not the first time that’s happened tonight, but this moment is different—in the best and worst ways.

This time, I feel her anguish too.

It’s not telepathy or sorcery or any of the crazy reality twists we’ve experienced together before. Right now, in this moment of our shared breaths and fitted bodies, it comes down to simple human chemistry. Her tremors are mine. Her heartbeats too. That means all her fear and despair are mine too.

And every desperate drop of her lust…

Especially that. It’s thick smoke in my blood, clinging tar along my limbs. As our gazes meet again, the heat in her eyes confirms her own losing battle with it. And her confirmation of how we’re going to get rid of it. The only way.

By searing it off with a fire we can’t fight anymore. A passion we can’t control.

No. Not can’t. I just won’t.

Not now. Not even after today, when every valid objection I had to this was justified by a paparazzi invasion to rival a biblical locust swarm. Her family. Her unique place in that family. My job and all the ways this relationship continues to threaten it.

But all the dread that had churned in my head couldn’t touch the fear of watching her flee from me. An intensity of feeling trumped only by the elation of now. The wonder of holding her like this, as rain beats at the windows and a flash of lightning flares through the room. Blue-silver light leaps across the air, illuminating the burnished nudity of the gorgeous creature in my arms. For an incredible moment, she’s an angel of brilliance and boldness. Her gaze is like starfire, full of wonder that’s born of innocence.

Innocence she’s giving to me. Only me…

And I refuse to deny how I feel about that. To myself or to her. The truth is that I more than want it. I pledge to deserve it. To cherish the gift she can only give once.

I make that silent vow with a soft mesh of our lips first, using the moment to coax her body higher against mine. As soon as she spreads her thighs and locks them around my waist, I settle their apex along the burgeoning bulge of mine.

“You feel…so good,” I murmur once we’ve pulled back to catch our breaths. As soon as she responds with an approving sigh, I go on. “And I’m going to make all of it good for you, beautiful.”

“Maximus.” Every syllable is a perfect whisper, curling through me more thoroughly than her gentle fingers in my hair. “I need you to promise me something.”

“I’ll promise you anything,” I husk. “You know that.”

She tightens her twists, prickling my scalp in all the best ways. “Promise me you won’t hold anything back.”

The plea cuts through my haze of desire just enough to make me tense and really think about that. Not holding anything back. In every fantasy I’ve ever had about taking her this way, I’ve done just that. But deep down, I knew if it came to this—having her in my arms, ready to give me everything—I couldn’t unleash all of that onto her.

I force myself to relax and brush a gentle kiss across her lips. “How about you let me drive, little temptress.”

A frown mars her brow. “All of me for all of you. That’s how this works. You don’t have to be gentle with me.”

“The fuck I won’t be gentle.”

Her lips purse. “We’ll see about that.”

“The fuck we’ll see ab—”

She cuts me off by ramming her mouth against mine. Fiercely. Flawlessly. Just like that, the woman has stolen my breath again. I deal with it by taking hers. In the moment I plunge my lips back across hers, a new flash of lightning spears the room. Every cell of my blood feels jolted by the same energy. It sizzles between our mouths, arcing and sparking