by Max Henry
Zeus sits back, his lips wet with my arousal before he licks them clean. “You make one hell of an argument, girl.”
“For what?” I say with a laugh.
“For why I should say fuck what your dad thinks and make you mine.” Zeus sucks his finger clean and then climbs back on to the sofa with me, settling himself over top of me once more.
Only this time, the evidence of his arousal is undeniable between us.
I close my eyes as he kisses me, hard and slow, and thread my fingers through his hair. He pulls back, a look of sheer adoration on his face as I tighten my hold and press my nose to his.
“Fuck what Dad thinks; I’ve always been yours, Zeus.”
EIGHTEEN
Zeus
John turned in two hours ago, opting to stay up late on a Saturday to keep his body clock on work time. He spent the first forty minutes after I called it a night on the phone, in the dark, talking to Cerise while he sat in the lounge. He was so absorbed in whatever bullshit she fed him that he didn’t notice me walk through to the kitchen to get a bottle of water.
He didn’t notice that my door was half-open when he went to bed either. Enough for me to know that he doesn’t bother checking on his daughter.
Sucks for her. Great for me.
It’s been a day since I kissed her, a day since I tasted her. More than twenty-four hours that I’ve had to run through the pros and cons of taking this further in my mind, and every damn time I come up with the same result: I don’t fucking care either way.
I’ll do what I want, what she wants, and we can deal with the consequences—John—later.
I thought that the weekdays had been hell, having her shut me out in the mornings and avoid me at night. But damn—I had no idea what hell really is. It’s the purgatory I’ve been in having John around today, forcing myself to keep a respectful distance and act indifferent. It’s the indescribable ache in my chest when she passes by with worry in her eyes, the relentless cramp in my muscles as I hold back from reaching out like I want to, and the unwavering tension in my gut while I wonder with every breath I take and every look I cast her way if John has figured out my true intentions for his daughter.
Does he suspect anything? Does he see a change in her? Those two thoughts alone should be enough to keep me from continuing what I started last night, and yet only one answer stands true when I think about the risk I take: I. Don’t. Care.
I’d like to think I could take things slow for Belle’s sake and give her time to adjust to the idea that she’ll have to lie to her father. But who the fuck am I kidding? I give myself permission to chase this wild fantasy, remove the huge fucking warning sign I mentally placed over that girl, and I guarantee control will be the last thing I possess.
The first will be her.
That thought alone drives me to be where I am now: poised in the hallway with all intentions of cementing my place in hell. The house is dark and quiet, John turned in and out for the count until mid-morning tomorrow. I stand for what feels like forever, waiting, assessing, and listening.
Nothing. Nobody is awake at this hour except for the delinquents and the troublemakers. I slip into Belle’s room, greeted by the sound of her turning in bed as I quietly close the door behind me.
“Zeus?”
“Ssh.” I lift a finger to my lips and step lightly across her floor to the curtains beside her bed.
I want to see her, read her reaction, when I go past the point of no return.
Pulling the drapes back an inch, I let the soft glow of light into her room to shine a path across her bed. She sits up, leaning back on her palms as the light slices a path across her beautiful face.
I’m going to burn in hell for her. But fuck me, she’s so worth it.
“You want me to leave?” I ask as I crawl on her bed to settle beside her.
“No,” she says with a confused smile. “I just wondered why you’re in here.”
“I can’t sleep,” I admit. “Can’t rest when you’re right across the hall.”
She swallows, a frown twitching on her brow as she works through this next step. “What is this, Zeus?”
“It’s me, needing you. And you, wanting me.”
She glances up at me before averting her gaze to the door while she speaks. “We could get caught.”
“We won’t.” I loop a hand around her ankle and guide her leg out straight. “So lie the fuck down and let me hold you.”
She pushes her other leg out and scoots down the bed to mirror my position, her hand on my chest. “You make it sound like if we follow our gut, like you told me I should, everything will be okay.”
“Won’t it?” I trap her hand beneath mine, holding it against my heart.
“Twenty years doesn’t vanish simply because two people want it to,” she says.
“Seventeen,” I correct her. “There’s seventeen years between us.”
“Exactly. You could be my dad.”
“But I’m not.” I tug her hand and coax her to climb on top of me. “Why do you choose to look at it like that?” She settles her legs either side of mine and straddles me.
“I look at it how everybody else does,” she admits, wide-eyed and fuckable above me.
“Screw what everyone thinks. What do you think?”
She takes a moment to mull the situation over, perhaps choose her words. The hesitation kills me, the wait too long. I pass the time the only way I can think how and run my hands over the heated flesh of her thighs. Her hands rest on my forearms, the connection sublime.
“I think,” she whispers, her voice wavering as I let my fingertips dive beneath the cotton of her sleep shorts, “you’re the only person who has ever truly understood me, and I’m the only person who’s really ever understood you.”
Home run. “Exactly.”
“I’ve always felt comfortable being me around you,” she continues. “Until lately, of course.” She chuckles as I skim where her thighs meet her pussy. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to admit how I felt to you? How sure I was you’d just laugh the whole thing off and tell me to stop being so silly?”
She’s got no idea. “Imagine how it feels to realise that the woman you married was simply a practice run until the woman you really want was old enough to reciprocate those feelings.” I cock an eyebrow at her. “That is fucked up, when you think about it.”
“When did you know?” She reaches forward and places her palms to my chest, resting her weight on me.
One shift of my hips, one tiny movement, and she’ll know how badly she affects me. “The minute I found you in that damn kitchen doorway, a cheeky smile on your face once you realised you’d been caught. I might not have known exactly what it was, dove, but I knew right then with one look at how gorgeous you’ve become that the little girl I knew was long gone.”
“Everything changed,” Belle whispers, watching her hand as she strokes a path down my chest to my stomach. “I’ve thought for so long that you’re hot.” She huffs a laugh, seemingly to herself. “Had a crush on you since I was fourteen, but that day in the kitchen it wasn’t just adoration. It became something more.” Her eyes find mine. “Something unstoppable.”
“He didn’t deserve you, you know.”
“Who?”
“That jackass who took your virginity.”
Her eyes glaze over as she stares off to the side. “I know.”
“It doesn’t change anything,” I assure her. “Doesn’t make me want you any less.”
“I still can’t believe that you want me at all.” She turns her face back to mine with a smile.
“Makes me want to show you what it’s like to have a man’s touch.” I slide my hold around to her tight little butt and shunt her forward. “To have somebody tell you with their hands how beautiful you are, convince you with their mouth how precious you are to them.”
Her hips roll, and she lets out a heavy breath. “Zeus. You already did that.”
“Not in the way I’ve though
t about it.”
She leans in, pressing her chest against mine as she places a gentle kiss to my lips. “We need to be careful.”
“I know.” Like hell I’m stepping over this line only to fuck it all up with reckless abandon. “That’s why when your father is home, we keep it PG.”
She frowns, her lips quirked up on one side.
“I’m here to sleep, dove. As much as I want to do other filthy things to you, make you scream the fucking house down, I’m tired and having you in my arms is the only way I’m going to get any rest.”
Her eyes close as she presses her nose to mine in the way I’m growing to love. “Okay.”
I shift my hands up to the back of her shoulders and then slide them together, crossing my arms over her body as she settles on top of me. Belle fits perfectly in the confines of my hold, small and delicate amongst my raw mass. She was built to lie with me, and I was built to love her.
In all the ways that I have.
Her blankets slide to the floor as she tangles her legs in mine. I kick the corner of the sheet off my foot, confident that body heat alone will be enough to keep us warm tonight. I don’t plan on letting her go until I wake—even then it’ll be hard. She’s the most Belle I’ve ever seen in this moment: pure, unchecked, and real. She’s everything.
And I’m the most scared I’ve ever been in my fucking life.
NINETEEN
Belle
My eyes open on the telltale yellow hues of morning light. It’s serene—for a second at least—before the awareness of who I share the moment with strikes me.
I turn to face Zeus, his arm hot and heavy over my waist, and hesitate. He’s so at peace with the world while he sleeps, so unaffected by the things that plague him while he’s awake, that I witness what a carefree life would look like on him.
It’s breathtaking.
Annoyed at having to ruin the moment, I place my hand on his shoulder and rock his huge body back and forth. He rolls to his back with a groan, and stretches both arms over his head, narrowly missing me with his elbow.
“Oh, hey.” His voice is hoarse from sleep.
“You need to get back to your room,” I whisper-yell.
He blinks a couple of times, looking at the light that penetrates the thin curtains, before where he is registers. “Shit.” He bolts to a seated position, closing his eyes as his head presumably swims. “I overslept. What time is it?”
I roll away and smack the home button on my phone. “A bit after eight. Do you think he’s up?”
“Fucking hope not.” Amusement taints his words as he smiles over at me.
“Go.” I smack his arm with the back of my hand, stifling my own laugh.
Zeus leans over, a hand possessively wrapping around the back of my head as he steals my breath with the intensity of his kiss. “Morning, dove.” He presses his forehead to mine briefly before pulling away and slipping out of bed.
I flop back on my mattress and unashamedly watch his sexy back and arse as he creeps across my floor and hesitates at the door. Zeus looks over his shoulder and flashes me a wink before he slips out the door, and returns everything back to normal.
Well, as normal as it can be after spending the night in your father’s best friend’s arms.
“Time to face the music,” I murmur as I throw the blanket back and slide out of bed.
Zeus must have pulled it over us some time in the night, because last I remember I drifted off to sleep on top of him with the sheet and blanket on the floor. Like the creeper I am, I pull the pillow he used to my nose and breathe deep, relishing the masculine scent of his body wash.
How are we going to do this? How many times can he slip in here at night before Dad catches wind, or he really oversleeps? We’re playing with fire, and in a way, I hope we get burnt.
Only then will I know if he takes heed of the warning, or falls in love with the flames like I already have.
I tug on a pair of jeans, the morning cooler than usual, and a loose T-shirt. A few runs of my fingers through my hair, and the straight locks assume some sort of order as I step from my room.
I enter the kitchen to find Dad in his pyjama shorts, making himself a coffee.
“Hey, sweetheart. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“I don’t think so.” I busy myself pulling the bread out to make toast. “Any plans for today?”
He dumps his teaspoon in the sink with a shrug. “Not many. You?”
“I thought I might see what Kate’s up to,” I lie, knowing full well she’s busy with Brock.
“That’d be nice.” He carries his steaming drink to the table, always one to have a liquid breakfast before filling up on the real thing later. “If you do go out, make sure you’re back by dinner. I want to have a talk with you.”
My skin rushes with heat, the rapid cool-down afterward leaving me with goosebumps. “What about?”
“A few changes around here. Nothing major.”
“Oh, okay.” I place the bread in the slot and push the handle down.
“Morning, everyone.”
I can’t look at him for fear I’ll give it all away. “Morning,” I mumble, head down as I retrieve a butter knife.
“Z,” Dad greets curtly.
I have no idea what the fuck is up between those two, but the thought Dad could have busted Zeus in my room sets my heart racing. Unless he already knows? My appetite vanishes instantly.
“How did things go with Jodie the other day?” Dad asks as Zeus takes a seat at the table.
“Good.” He looks my way. “Leave the toaster out when you’re done, Belle. I’ll use it.”
“Sure.” My hands shake as I twist the lid off the Vegemite.
“Sale all settled then?”
“Signed and final,” Zeus remarks. “Got a second viewing on that place over on Fraser I told you about.”
“The change might be good, huh?” Dad sips his coffee without so much as giving Zeus the common courtesy of eye contact.
“The change is needed. Yes.” Zeus shuts down before my eyes as I wait on my toast to pop.
His whole mood shifts, so starkly different to the man who crawled into my bed last night.
“Any plans today, Belle?” Zeus’s gaze tickles the length of my spine, exactly how his fingers did as he drifted off to sleep last night.
“I thought I’d see what Kate is doing. We haven’t really hung out since school finished.”
He nods, acting as though he doesn’t already know she’s occupied like I do. “You, John?”
“A couple of loose ends to tidy up on a project.”
The way my father holds Zeus’s gaze turns my stomach as I pull the hot toast from the machine. “How many slices you want, Zeus? I’ll put them in.”
“Two. But don’t turn it on just yet; I’ll make eggs.”
“Sure.” I occupy myself with the mundane task of spreading butter and then Vegemite on my toast with such meticulous care that I’d laugh at the absurdity myself if I wasn’t so focused on ignoring Zeus as he moves around behind me.
His scent drifts past me as he moves, stirring memories of last night. I rush my way through putting the condiments away, and then plate my toast with such urgency the pieces damn near slide off the other side.
“You okay?” Zeus asks.
“Hungry,” I mutter, joining my father at the table.
Dad eyes me a moment before downing the last of his coffee. “Glad you got over that stomach bug.”
Kill me now. “Yeah. Me too.”
“Ever find out exactly what it was?”
“I think you were right.” I examine my toast. “Something viral. I must have caught it off someone at school.”
“Anybody else come down with it?”
I shrug, aware Zeus watches me in my periphery. “Not sure. I haven’t really kept up with anyone since school got out.” I glance up to meet Dad’s stoic stare, thankful I’ve left my hair out so my pink ears should be covered.
“Well, I’m
going to have a shower and then shoot out to get a head start on these things I have to do.” Dad stands, tapping his knuckles on the table. “Say hi to Kate for me. It’s been an age since she’s come around. Tell her she should come over for a barbecue soon.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Dad leaves; the daggers Zeus shoots at his back pique my interest. Listen to my gut, he said. Yeah, well right now my gut tells me that Zeus knows more than he’s let on.
I continue to eat my toast, watching Zeus as he prepares his eggs. He plates his meal and carries it over, settling in the chair adjacent to mine.
“What’s going on?” The distant sound of water running in the bathroom tells me Dad’s safely in the shower.
“Nothing.” He leans down to shovel a forkful of toast and egg in his mouth.
The points of his jaw roll and bulge as they work. I drink in every detail of him while I can freely stare without fear of being caught by Dad. “You’re lying.”
“Nope.” He takes another bite.
I narrow my gaze and huff, frustrated that he chooses to be so stubborn. “I’m not stupid.”
“Good.” He gives me a cheeky smile before eating more.
I kick his leg under the table.
Zeus shifts his fork to the left hand, and then reaches beneath the table with his right to rest it on my knee. I lean both elbows on the table, smiling at him like an idiot while I finish my toast.
For a second, I pretend that this is us, that nobody else matters, and that in some far stretch of the world this could actually end well.
I’ve set myself up for the worst heartbreak of all, but for now at least it’s easy to forget when the high is so great.
For now, it’s easy to pretend that I’m not eighteen, he’s not thirty-five, and that none of it matters.
Easy to pretend that maybe, he truly loves me.
TWENTY
Zeus
We started something that neither of us know how to handle. But as with anything new, you persist and you learn from your mistakes, keeping on until what was once unknown and terrifying is as routine as tying your shoes.
I just hope the mistakes I make with Belle aren’t too major.
