Zeus (Contemporary Mythos Book 6)

Don’t get me wrong. I was ecstatic she was curious enough to ask questions. It meant she was actually considering my proposal, but fuck me if it wasn’t going to be as painful as an ass full of razor blades. Since the age of mortals worshipping and believing in the gods, let’s just say the modern era had never painted me in the best light? I may as well have been the poster boy for everything everyone should hate.

Keira stood in the middle of the living room, her coat still on, hands wrapped around herself. Creases formed in her forehead as she turned circles, almost as if she were afraid the place was booby-trapped and one false move would cause a door in the floor to open.

“I promise you nothing will happen beyond talking—” I flashed her a grin. “—unless you want it to.” Moving behind the bar, I grabbed the decanter and two tumblers. “I brought us here because it’s soundproof.”

“If it’s soundproof, then why didn’t you bring us here before instead of yanking me into a damn holding cell?” Her shoulders relaxed, and she shrugged off her coat, making sure to fold it before draping it delicately over the chaise lounge in the corner.

“Ah, yes.” I poured scotch into one glass. “Bringing you to my lair would’ve made the ‘Greek gods are real’ conversation far easier.” Offering her a small smile, I lifted the bottle.

She scratched the back of her head. “Point taken.”

I shook the bottle. “Scotch? Could help. Trust me. This is going to be a strange conversation.”

“You’re right. Make it a double. No ice.” She leaned against the bar, tapping her fingernails on the marble as she scanned my place.

Levin came barreling around the corner, his tongue flopped out the side of his mouth.

I stopped mid-pour, slamming the bottle to the bar top. “Shit. I forgot I hadn’t put him up. Sort of well, left in a—” Stopping short as I rounded the corner, I paused at the sight of Keira squatting with my dog between her knees. He licked every dry spot on her face as she laughed and scratched behind his ears.

“You have a dog?”

A warm smile pulled at my lips, and I folded my arms, watching them. “You sound surprised.”

“I guess I am. You didn’t seem the dog type. How come I’ve never seen you walk him?” She cooed at Levin, scrunching his face within her hands. He repeatedly lifted his paw to her knee every time she dared to stop.

“I don’t tend to walk him at four o’clock in the morning usually.” Canting my head to the side, I marveled at Levin’s behavior. He never acted like that around anyone else but me. “He…likes you.”

“Now you sound surprised.” She cut her gaze to me as she sucked her lips into her mouth to avoid Levin’s slobber getting on them as he licked under her chin.

Scratching the back of my head, annoyed at the continuing confusion plaguing my every damn thought as of late, I said, “I suppose I shouldn’t be. I just don’t normally like too many people touching him on account of his past, but with you—” I trailed off and shook my head, returning to the scotch.

She stood and moved in front of me with the bar top between us. “I, what? Finish your sentence.”

“It’s nothing, Keira.” After pouring her scotch, I slid it across the bar to her.

“Every. Damn. Question.” The corner of one of her thin brows quirked.

I ran my teeth over my bottom lip, eyeing the way her chest swelled whenever she challenged me. She pushed past my lightning in that alleyway, despite the fear of death prickling her skin, despite the fear that I was about to kill that man—and I would have. She stopped me. It was enough to make me want to bend her over a barstool and fuck her brains out, but—a promise is a promise.

“I don’t mind seeing him with you. In fact, I enjoy watching you with him.” I tapped the glass, encouraging her to drink.

She took a sip, not moving her gaze from my face. “You’re a peculiar man.”

“That’s because I’m not one, my dear.”

We both drank, taking each other in, undressing one another with our eyes alone.

Levin rested his head on her lap, giving her his best puppy dog stare, begging for attention. She obliged him and scratched his head with a small smile.

“You have questions, Keira.” My shoulders tensed, mentally preparing for what I knew she would ask.

She took a deep breath and curled both hands around her glass. “The women.”

Here we fucking go.

It took every bit of strength in me not to roll my eyes. She couldn’t know the truth. How could she? Cool it.

“What about them?” I downed the rest of my drink and poured another, highly considering switching to ambrosia wine to obtain an actual buzz.

“I read some pretty crazy shit, Zane. Animals? A fucking cloud?”

I ground my teeth together and leaned on the bar top to bring our faces closer. She didn’t back away. “Alright, look. Let me make something perfectly clear. The myths were written by a bunch of horny old men who lived vicariously through the stories they created.”

“Uh-huh. So, you didn’t sleep with a bunch of women?” She raised a thin brow before finishing her drink.

“I never said that. I love women. I love sex. But I never had to turn myself into something other than what I am to seduce them. Give me a little credit here.” I poured her another double, and she immediately scooped it into her hand. “And before you ask…I don’t force myself on anyone. Besides the fact I find it wrong, it’s far sexier when they want it—ask for it.”

“Alright. So, a lot of it was made up. But why? What good did that do for them?” She shrugged, her bright blue eyes searching my face.

“A lot more than you think. It gave them excuses for their misdeeds, their taboos. It gave rhyme and reason for everything.” Holding back a grimace, I rubbed my beard. “If the King of the Gods did it himself, surely it’s okay. Right?”

“Shit. I never even thought about it that way.” Her gaze bored into me.

I hadn’t seen that look in a very long time—understanding. It damn near made my chest tighten.

“Most don’t. You see, as more and more towns throughout Greece began to worship me, they molded me into the version of myself that best suited their needs.”

She scooted forward on her stool, bringing our hands a breath apart. “And you just let them?”

“Of course, I did. And still do.” I chuckled, closing the distance between our skin, brushing our knuckles. She didn’t budge. “What am I supposed to do? Smite them?”

“No, but it doesn’t bother you? The way people think about you if it’s not accurate?” She canted her head to the side, a slight frown pulling at her lips.

“You have to understand something about a divine leader, Keira. It’s not my job to be liked. It’s to give the people what they need to thrive—to survive. And if putting me in a certain light is what does it? So be it.” I clenched my jaw as I traced my pinky finger over her skin.

She gulped, her gaze falling to our hands touching. “But you still cheated on your wife countless times.”

Fuck me sideways.

“In the eyes of the sanctity of marriage, yes. But with our agreement we made? No.”

Look at me, Keira. Please look at me.

Her eyes lifted, and she blinked. “Agreement?”

“Hera and I were an arranged marriage of convenience. For politics’ sake. We tried to make it work. We really did. Had Ares together. But at the end of the day, it just didn’t work out between us.” I leaned back and took a large gulp of my drink. “We decided to stay together and perform our duties, but anything outside of that? We’d seek elsewhere. She too had lovers.”

Keira’s head snapped back. “And that didn’t bother you? Your wife sleeping with other people?”

I traced my fingers over the hair above my upper lip, mulling it over. “No. It didn’t.”

“But the possibility of anyone in your apartment building seeing me naked when you didn’t even know if they had…that bothered you?” She narrowed her eyes at me, rechallenging me with a heated stare.

The sight of her naked ass from her apartment window sparked in my mind, the thought of another man, any of my neighbors seeing it, infuriating me. “Yes,” I answered simply.

“You sound like a werewolf with its mate in a paranormal romance novel right now. You know that, right?” A fluttery laugh bubbled from her chest.

I didn’t smile. It jarred me how spot on the nose the statement was.

“Zane. What?” Her grin faded, and she flattened her palms on the bar.

Not like this. I did not want to tell her like this.

“Nothing, Keira. Ask another question. I know you have to have more.”

She stood on the rung of her stool, gaining height on me. “I do. What the hell was that look on your face after I made the werewolf comment?”

She had one thing right. I did like her stubbornness. And it was so ass-backward.

Glaring up at her, I leaned forward, my chin in line with her collarbone. “I don’t want to tell you like this. Not right now. I don’t want it influencing your decision one way or the other.”

“Tough. Shit. Tell me.” She dug her nails into the marble, her neck turning pink.

“We have what’s called a fated bond.”

Her entire demeanor changed, the expression on her face resembling someone who’d been punched in the gut. She slowly lowered herself back to sitting, silent and staring behind me.

“It’s rare amongst our kind, but I confirmed it. I didn’t fucking believe it myself at first.” I pressed my palms to the bar’s edge, turning my gaze away from her.

“What does it mean?” She whispered in a voice that sounded like a little girl.

Sucking air through my nose, I played with my lightning bolt cufflink. “It means—our destinies are intertwined. No matter if we part ways and never see each other again, they always will be.”

The thought pained me more than I was ready to admit. I sucked on my teeth to keep my expression neutral.

“So—” She slouched as she looked at her palms, studying the lines in her skin as if they held the answers. “I don’t have a choice. It has to be you.”

“No, Keira. You do have a choice.” I hunched forward, dipping my face to look at her, to urge her to look at me. “I told you I won’t force anyone into doing anything. Coerce. Meddle. Perhaps. But at the end of the day, it boils down to them.”

Her eyes finally lifted back to mine, exhaustion settling into them. “Is there a grain of truth to anything I read? Are you as ruthless as some of the myths describe?”

Rubbing the back of my neck, I came around from the bar, sat next to her, and turned her to face me. She didn’t fight me on it.

I’d trade places with Prometheus if it meant I could avoid having this conversation, but—she deserved the truth.

“There is some truth to it. Yes, Keira.” Resting one elbow on the bar top, I leaned the other on my thigh, dangling my scotch glass with two fingers.

She folded her hands in her lap, piercing me again with her gaze, carving me a new asshole. “Then speak some truths.”

“Before I do, tell me—are you the same woman you were at age ten? Seventeen? Twenty-five?”

“Of course not.”

“Keep that in mind with what I’m about to tell you, and remember that I am thousands of years old.” I guzzled some of my scotch, focusing on her throat bobbing when I mentioned my age.

“I keep forgetting somehow, despite you sitting right in front of me.” She forced a small laugh.

With one swift thought, I pulsed my power over my arms, lightning swirling and crackling. “Does that help?”

Her fingers wiggled on the bar as if she wanted to touch the electricity again, and she nodded.

“When I initially became king, I was hungry for power. I couldn’t get enough of it. I was young. Naïve. And well, pig-headed.”

Half of her lips grinned. “You? Never.”

I squeezed her knee with a smirk, retreating my hand back to the bar.

Her eyes snapped to the spot on her skin I’d touched before lazily rising back to my face.

“I did rescue my brothers from our beloved dad’s stomach, trapped the Titans, bestowed my brothers their kingdoms, and took the Olympus throne for myself. I’d earned it.” I shrugged, still believing I was the best of us for the job to this day.

She dragged a finger over the exposed flesh on her chest, listening to me intently.

“Did I order some ruthless punishments? Yes. Did they all deserve it? Some of them, yes. Did I do some fucked up things I regret?” I clicked my teeth together. “At the time I did them, I would’ve said no. And continue to deny it for a decade later. But now? I guess I can say I do.”

“And is that what you most regret?”

The question jarred me, making the back of my head throb. Rubbing my skull, I tapped my finger on the glass. “No.”

“Then what do you regret most, King of the Gods?” She slid forward on her stool, resting a hand on my knee and staring at me with those sky-blue eyes I wanted looking at me while taking her from every angle and on every surface of this apartment.

“Ares,” I said gruffly.

She leaned back. “Having him?”

“Olympus, no. He’s the only legitimate child I have.” I drained my scotch and tossed it to the bar with a sigh. “I regret being so harsh with him. He needed it, and it shaped him the way he was meant to be, but I ruined any possibility of ever having a relationship with him.”

“Are you joking?” Keira snickered, slipping her hand to my thigh.

I frowned. “No. You asked me the question, and I gave you a damn answer. And now you’re mocking me?”

“I’m not mocking you. You just make it sound like all hope is lost. It’s called an apology.”

I shook my head and turned my gaze to the eagle statue above my bed. “No. I can’t do that.”

“It’s easy.” She grabbed my chin and turned my face to look at her. “Ares, I’m sorry. See how easy that was?”

Gently taking her hand, I moved it back to my knee. “It’s not that simple, Keira. You don’t understand what position a role like mine puts me in.”

“Fine. Explain it to me. You’re asking me to put everything aside to be Queen, and now you make it sound like a burden.”

It partially was. It really was.

I placed a hand on each of her shoulders and pushed down with enough pressure to make it uncomfortable but not hurt her. “Imagine this is a portion of the universe resting on your shoulders. It never lessens, never disappears, and if anything, backing down for a moment could make it even heavier.”

Keira winced and rolled her shoulders after I removed my grip. “Don’t you ever take breaks?”

“Do you?”

She slipped her hands under her ass. “I mean, I—”

“You don’t. Because you want to be the best, as do I—the best leader I can be. This means there is no backing down, no breaks, constantly on at a hundred plus at all times. Such are the sacrifices we make, right?” I tightened my jaw, clenching my hand into a fist on the bar.

“You’re right, but there are too many times to count I’ve done this and it makes me the opposite of what I seek to be.” Her eyes grew heavy.

Olympus. We were so much alike.

“You have a hard time sleeping, don’t you?” I pressed a knuckle under her chin, lifting it.

She nodded. “Half the time, I feel guilty when I’m sleeping. Isn’t that the craziest thing you’ve ever heard?”

Not in the slightest.

“What my people don’t see, Keira, is that I’m exhausted. My tank has been running on vapors for quite some time, but not only can’t I afford to rest, I also can’t let them see me tired.” My entire body tensed. I’d never told a soul what I just told this woman. Not a soul.

Her eyes lifted to mine and she slid from her stool, slipping between my legs and taking my face in her hands. With a tenderness only a woman could give, she kissed me—sweet and light.

After she pulled away, I rested my hands on her hips. “I reveal a weakness, and you kiss me?”

“It’s precisely why I kissed you—” She brushed her lips against mine again. “—Zeus.”

It was only the second damn time she said my real name, and just as the first, the sound of it made my dick hard.

I rubbed the back of my neck. “There’s also—Eris.”

“Eris?” She canted her head to the side and touched my forearm.

Dropping my gaze to the floorboards, I sighed. “Goddess of discord. My daughter I created in the hopes of balancing chaos. I should’ve learned with Athena. I’d created her with the intention of balancing war, to balance Ares, but all those two did was argue.”

Her grip tightened on my arm, but she remained silent.

“At least Athena turned out to be a righteous war goddess. Instead of balancing chaos, Eris caused it.” I beat my fist against my knee.

“Couldn’t you, I don’t know how it works, but simply tell her not to do it?”

Tracing a finger between her knuckles, I let out a roiling sigh. “I can’t stop a god from performing their purpose. There was no way to predict that’s what hers would’ve become.” I lifted my gaze to Keira’s. “Evil exists in the universe to shed light on the good. I only regret that I lent a small piece to it.”

Keira frowned and wrapped her arms around me. She rested her head on my shoulder and hugged me tight.

An embrace from a woman that had nothing to do with sex. I never knew how much I wanted it—needed it. Until Keira gave it to me.

Zeus. King of the Gods liked hugs now. Fucking Olympus.

“Wait.” She slapped a hand over her forehead as she pushed back. “If Greek mythology is real, does that mean Celtic is? Egyptian?” She gasped, and her eyes widened as she dropped her hands at her sides. “Holy shit. Is Thor real?”

If I could get through one more lifetime without hearing that asshole’s name once, I’d be a delighted god-king.

“Fuck Thor. He can do his little lightning tricks, but at the end of the day, I’m the one with the true power.” I pointed at myself and stood.

She blinked, and her lips slowly parted. “So, it is all real.” Her eyes panned to the floor as she went silent before snapping her gaze back to me and crossing her arms. “You sound jealous.”

“Of Thunder Nuts? Please.” I bent forward, lowering my face to hers and brushing our lips. “I’ll gladly compare bolts with him any day of the week. You can even set up the meeting.”

Keira gulped as she trailed my tie through her petite fingers and stared up at me. “The uh—trial is in two hours. I should go home and try to get some sleep.”

Clearing my throat, I squeezed her hip. “You’re right. I need you to be in top form. Give me a challenge tomorrow.” Winking at her, I took a step back.

“Oh, don’t you worry, Vronti. I’ve won plenty of cases on zero sleep, let alone an hour.” She winked back.

Walking her to the door, my hand on the small of her back, Levin trotted behind us, waiting for his goodbye pettings.

Keira chuckled and scratched behind Levin’s ears, his chest, and under his chin. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

“You’re welcome.” I opened the door and stared down at her.

Every fiber in my being told me to pull her toward me, kiss her, and slam the door shut as we tore each other’s clothes off during our trek to the bed. But no. She would be the one to make this happen. And when it did…

She bit her lip, baiting me, enticing me. “See you tomorrow.” With one last smile and a pat to Levin’s head, she whisked out the door.

After she was down the hallway, I let the door shut and pressed my forehead against it with a deep sigh.

Two more days, and I could very well be crownless.