Zeus (The God Chronicles) (22 page)

“You’re cheating,” I moaned. “I mean it; not now! I’m all gross!”

“I know. I don’t care,” he mumbled, pulling my shirt back down and taking one of my hands.

Kisses were feathered up my arm and down the other. Next, he moved his lips slowly over my collar bone and neck, leaving no spot untouched. Kisses showered my face before my begging finally got me a kiss on the mouth.

My strength was fading quickly, aided by his wonderful attack, but I kissed back with everything I had. His teeth caught my bottom lip, tugging softly, my back arching in an attempt to keep him there. A low growl broke through him, and his lips attacked mine again, adding to the bruises I already had. Every second was pure bliss.

Finally, when my arms felt like fifty pound weights and sleep threatened to swallow me, he stopped his ravaging and rolled over to lie next to me.

“I love you,” I said as I drifted away.

He pulled away enough to look me in the eyes and smiled.

“Marry me, Karly. Be my wife and stay with me forever.”

“I will.”

Chapter Twenty Three

“I really am very sorry. I’d hoped the nightmare would scare you enough to wake you and make you want to run.” Morpheus spoke quietly, barely above a whisper, his wings folded meekly behind his bare chest. He stayed on the other side of the room, next to the door, as if he were afraid to come any closer.

“It’s fine,” I assured him once again from my bed. “I know you were trying to help and I’m greatly appreciative.”

“We both are,” Zeus said from his chair next to me. “Who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t taken action—Kronos could have killed Karly in her sleep just like in the dream.” A soft smile graced his face as he took my hand in his, leaning against the side of the bed to kiss my forehead.

“Again, thank you, Morpheus,” I said warmly.

“It was all I could do at that point,” he shrugged, sliding his hands into the pockets of his black jeans.

“It was much more than that.” Zeus stood, moving towards him, a smile of gratitude on his face. “I would like for you and your father to come back to Mount Olympus.”

“Back?” I asked, confused.

“Long ago, my father angered our mighty King,” he nodded his head in respect to Zeus before continuing. “Because of what happened, he was banished and warned that he would be killed if he ever came back.”

“Zeus,” I said, horrified. “How could you do such a thing?”

“You mustn’t hold it against him,” Morpheus said, hints of the first smile I’d seen appearing on his face. “He was a different person then. You have done much to better him, if you don’t mind my saying.”

“It’s true, it’s true!” Zeus laughed, clapping a hand onto Morpheus’s shoulder. “I apologize for my hasty judgments. Please, accept my apology and return home, to your family.”

“Thank you,” Morpheus said, slipping from under Zeus’s grasp. “But it is much easier to work with dreams where we are now. My father is very old and sick as well—I will extend your invitation to him, but I’m certain we will stay where we are.”

“If you are sure,” Zeus said after a moment. “But you are always welcome here.”

“Thank you.” Morpheus bowed his head, moving to open the door. “I imagine Karly needs her rest, and my father will be waiting for me.”

“Thank you,” I said once more.

“Safe journeys, my friend.” Zeus returned to his seat at beside me as Morpheus left, the door clicking shut softly behind him.

“Do you think he could tell?” I giggled

“Tell what?” Zeus said, taking my hand once more.

“That we’re engaged!” I was on cloud nine, despite everything that had happened.

“How could he tell? You’re not even wearing a ring,” he laughed. “Besides, it’s not official until I get down on one knee.”

“Sure it is,” I said, tugging on his hand until he crawled up onto the bed with me.

“Well, it doesn’t count to me until then.” Wrapping his arms around me, he placed a kiss on my lips and pulled the blanket higher up around me. “Now, go to sleep. Morpheus is right, you need your rest.”

“Yeah, Mom. I know, I should have woke you up before we left, I’m sorry. I’ll remember if there’s ever a next time. Love you too.”

I clicked the cell phone shut, a massive sigh blowing through my lips.

“Were you talking to your mom?” Zeus asked as he came through the door, a breakfast tray in his hands.

“Yes. She was upset that we left without telling her—understandably—but I think it will blow over fine.” Smiling, I sat up higher in bed, gladly accepting the tray of food and kiss that Zeus presented.

“What did you tell her happened?” he said, stealing a piece of toast off my tray and flopping onto the bed next to me.

“Roommate emergency,” I replied through a mouth of food. “She thinks Jessie and her sisters were in a car accident, but that they’re fine.”

“Why didn’t you tell her the truth?” He moved in closer, resting his head on my shoulder.

“I will, eventually. I’m just not ready yet.” I laid my fork down, having suddenly lost my appetite.

“Hey,” he said, noticing my change in demeanor. Soft, comforting caresses moved down my arm. “The time will come. I’ll be there to help you, and everything will be fine.”

“If you say so.” I snuggled closer to him, deeper into the bed.

“How about some good news, to lighten the mood?” he spoke up again after a few moments of silence.

“Lay it on me,” I sighed.

“Alright,” he said, sitting up and moving the tray away. “Since I know how important school is to you, I called all of your teachers and asked about finishing the semester from home. Ironically, I told them you’d been in a car accident. After explaining that you were home recovering from multiple injuries, they all agreed to let you finish and receive full credit.”

“That’s wonderful! I bet you used your usual charm to accomplish that,” I teased.

“Maybe,” he laughed. “But, that’s not all.”

“What more could there be?” I asked, raising my eyebrows at his secretive look.

“It’s about the art show.”

“Did my painting win anything?” I inquired excitedly, sitting up all the way.

“No.”

Disappointment radiated through me at his reply. Nodding, I laid back down, defeated. I couldn’t even win a prize at a school show. How did I ever think I could be a working artist?

“It didn’t win anything because someone bought it.”

Shooting back to a sitting position, mouth gaping open, I grabbed Zeus by the shoulders.

“Are you serious?” His responding nod and smile was like a shot of adrenaline to my system. Laughter bubbled up inside me, breaking free the same time as my tears.

“Why are you crying?” Zeus said, concern etched on his face.

“I’m a real, working artist!” I laughed, grabbing his hands. “It’s been my life’s dream, and it’s finally come true!”

All of the schooling, all the practice, everything I’d gone through, hoping to realize my dream had been worth it. I didn’t need to live in San Francisco—I didn’t need to be anywhere but here with Zeus.

“Who bought it?” My face felt like it was going to spit in half, the grin I wore was so huge.

“I’m not sure,” he laughed. “But I can find out if you really want me to.”

“I do! I want to thank them.” I couldn’t wait to tell my parents, to prove I was successful.

Crawling out from under the covers and swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I gingerly moved to grab clean clothes from my suitcase. Zeus had sent someone back to the hotel to get my things and make sure no one remembered I’d been there.

“Whoa, hold on there!” He said, grabbing my arm and carefully pulling me back. “
Where do you think you’re going?”

“I can’t just lay around all day with news like this! I want to celebrate, call my parents, tell the whole world that I did it!” A struggle to escape his grasp ensued, ending with me back in bed, the covers pulled up to my chin.

“It’s only been a few days, babe,” he said softly, fingers running through my hair. “You’re still hurt, you need to rest. The healers said you can’t go anywhere for at least a few weeks. We have to know you’re okay first.”

“I feel fine,” I argued. “A little sore and tired, but I can handle it!”

“I’m sure you think you can,” he said softly.

“I know I can! Stop treating me like a child!” Anger rolled within me, fueled by my tired state.

“Karly, calm down! I wasn’t trying to treat you like anything but yourself!” Zeus slid away from me in alarm, his hands held up in defense.

“You’re acting like I’ll explode into a million pieces if I get out of bed!” I yelled.

“You almost died!” he roared back. “Do you know how that makes me feel? To wake up one morning and have you gone? Then, I discover that, not only did you run off, but my biggest enemy has captured you and plans to publicly sacrifice you! My heart stopped beating at the thought! Every minute, every second after that was like an eternity—time spent thinking I was too late, that I was going to live the rest of forever without you. When I saw that you were alive, I fought as hard as I could.”

“And you saved everyone, I know, I was there!” It wasn’t fair for him to be yelling at me like this. He’d basically said this before anyway.

“You didn’t see
you
though! You didn’t see the blood covering every inch of you, or the glass stuck in your skin. You didn’t see the cut on your neck that could’ve ended you. You didn’t see the love of your life dangling in the air, halfway strangled to death, while your own
father
readied a killing blow!”

My mouth popped open in shock. I’d never thought of how seeing me in that state would have affected him. He seemed so strong and sure of everything he did. Was it possible that he was scared of things too?

“I almost lost you, Karly,” he said, his voice getting softer, pleading. “It was happening right in front of my eyes, and I could hardly do anything about it. This I can do. I can make sure you stay in bed, rest, and get better the right way. Please, let me do that.” He sighed, laying down on the bed and wrapping his arms around me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” I whispered. “From now on, I’ll listen to what you say. If it’s that important to you, I can do it.”

“Thank you,” he said, nuzzling his face into my hair.

As the weeks passed, my wounds healed nicely. Luckily, I would only have a few scars that could easily be covered with makeup. True to my word, I’d followed all of Zeus’s instructions, but I was getting very restless.

“Am I ever going to get to leave this room? I mean, I’m on Mount Olympus! If you’re going to keep me from walking around, couldn’t you at least get a wheelchair for me or something?” I laughed at
Zeus’s pondering face. At least he’d let me start sitting in the chair beside the bed. I only had to complain about bed sores a million times before he finally said I could.

“You know,” he said, smiling as he came over and took my hands. “Christmas is next week. I seem to remember your parents expressing great desire for us to come spend it with them.”

“That would be wonderful! When can we leave?” I didn’t care where we went, as long as it was out of this room.

“Well, aren’t we eager?” He laughed.

“I do miss them,” I said defensively.

“I know you do,” he purred. The softest of kisses were placed on my forehead. “ You’re also strong enough to be out and about again. That’s why I thought we could leave now.”

“Right now?” I jumped up, excitement racing through me like lightning.

“Right now!” Zeus laughed, swooping in for another kiss on the lips.

Quickly, I helped pack my suitcase, chattering endlessly about the holiday.

“Are we going to tell them we’re engaged?” I asked as we left the room.

“We will—at the right moment,” he said mysteriously.

“How will I know when that moment is?” I laughed.

“I’ll let you know.” He winked, grabbed my hand, and we were gone from that accursed room.

“Merry Christmas!” I called, waving goodbye to Aunt Violet and her family as they drove away.

“What a wonderful Christmas Eve party,” Mom said dreamily. “We had better get to bed so Santa can stop by!”

“Mom,” I laughed. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Do what?” she said innocently, slipping back inside, her festive sweater disappearing around the corner.

“Humor your mother, Karly,” Dad chuckled as he followed her inside.

“How was your walk with Dad?” I asked Zeus once we were inside as well.

“It was nice,” he said nonchalantly.

“Well, what did you talk about? Did you tell him about
 . . . you know . . . our news?” I practically bit my lip clean through in anticipation of his answer.

“No, I didn’t. It didn’t feel like the right time.” He shrugged, walking down the hall to his room.