Immortal Dreams (79 page)

"You can see her?" Devin questions, seeming intrigued.

"Vaguely, and only because I'm a direct descendent of Prometheus."

"I can't see her at all," he says in a huffing manner.

"That's because she's very shielded, more so than I.  We can discuss the ins and outs of our world at a different time though.  Right now, we need to train her Aphrodite half.  You're the key to that,” she says to Devin.

He frowns slightly, and I finally sit up and out of his lap.  I can't train my Aphrodite half because it wants to be with Devin so badly it's painful.  If I give in again, it'll be worse.

"I don't have to listen to you.  I'm getting somewhere the other way," I lie.

"You're not getting anywhere.  You can hate me as fervently as you want to, you can even try to kill me later, but right now, I'm going to get you where you need to be in order to survive.  So get up, dust yourself off, and get ready to learn."

I stand up, take a deep breath, and then something bizarre and unexpected happens.  I punch her as hard as I can right in the face.

She flies backwards into the lake - that is rather far away - and I turn to walk in as if I'm not rattled by my incredible strength.

Holy fucking shit.

Kry and Ther let accidental laughs escape, but everyone else is wide-eyed and mum.  I'm not listening to this bitch.  I'm not having anything to do with her.

I'm not using my Aphrodite half for a thing if I don't have to.  I'm tired of feeling pain.  I'm tired of the foolish tears.  I'm sick of the people who inflict me with both.

For the first time, I use my speed and flash up to my makeshift room.  Everything around me blurs, and my legs feel to be moving in slow motion even though they're carrying me too fast for the human eye to see.  I almost get queasy from the velocity I wasn't expecting.

Talk about a head rush.

I find the room and flop on the bed.  Soft footsteps are not too far behind, and I know Devin is in my room when his incredible scent engulfs me.

"I'm sorry she's here, but she's right.  There's no way we can beat your self-destructive deadline without her.  You have two titans and Aphrodite in you - and that's just what we know.  We have to do something fast because I'm not going to watch you die."

"I don't really care what you do or don't want to do.  I'm not letting that woman anywhere near me.  Please go away.  My head is already killing me as it is."

I sniffle a little as a few tears escape.  How did this happen?  My life was so normal just yesterday.  I was heartbroken, but normal.

He climbs into my bed and wraps his arms around me.  I can feel my goddess half warming up, and I fight to suppress it.

"I'm not going anywhere until I know you're okay," he whispers while nestling his head into my hair.

I turn to face him, and his hand grazes my cheek.

"I can't do this.  You know how badly you hurt me.  You watched it.  I've never been so destroyed in all my life.  Please, just go away."

His eyes are rippling with pain just as Persia enters the room while rubbing her sore, aching jaw.

"Okay.  Now that you've gotten that out of your system, let's get to work," she sighs.

Devin shakes his head woefully before standing up and leaving me alone with Mrs. Bitch.

She takes a deep breath, and I swear she's as nervous as I am.  She finally steadies herself enough to talk.

"You need to train now.  I know you don't want me here, but I'm the only one who knows how to teach you.  I've survived this long just to be here when you reached this age.  Your adoptive parents will have to see you ripped apart from the inside out if you don't listen to me.  Your brother will have to see you like that.  Clara will see you like that.  Don't do this for me, Devin, or anyone here.  Do it for the ones who have loved you in my absence."

How does she know so much about me?

She's right.  My parents would be destroyed by such a thing.  I hate her, but I love them.

I slowly stand to my feet and glare at her.

"This doesn't mean you and I will ever be anything more than teacher and student."

"I understand," she says with a pained whimper.

I barge by her and flash down the stairs - that wild head rush coming in again.  Everything blurs by me vividly, and my stomach slaps my throat from the inside.

Devin is drinking a glass of scotch, and Kry is pouring a glass of his own when I reach the bottom.  Exhaling heavily, I stalk toward them very deliberately.

"I'm going to assume immortals can still get drunk since the two of you are always drinking."

Kry shrugs.  "It takes more for us than mortals, but it's still doable."

I take Devin's glass from his hand and turn up the remaining liquid.  I hand him the empty cup, and then I take Kry's from his hand and turn it up as well.  Kry laughs a little when I finish my little breakdown.

"I'm about to go train with Persia.  I suggest you take cover," I mumble.

Kry laughs a little harder, but Devin follows me outside with a solemn air.  He keeps his distance this time, but Persia is already out there.  How'd she get by me?

Devin's eyes seem to bear the burden of a thought I don't share.  I'm not sure if he knows something I don't, or if he's just sulking from our previous conversation.

"So, in order to train Aphrodite, you have to get your inhibitions a little lower.  It's obvious the two of you are in a bad patch, but Aphrodite doesn't give a damn.  She's a beast with an appetite.  You have to get your lust under control before you can control anything else."

Oh.  This can't be good.

She turns to Devin.

"Okay.  Kiss her," she demands very bluntly.

"I can't do that," he says with a nervous chuckle while strumming his hand through his already tousled hair.

"You have to.  Otherwise, Aphrodite sleeps until she wants to control her.  Aphrodisia is different from us.  Her entity lies in wait to take control, where as the rest of us just draw off the power of the ancient ones.  If she's to be trained, we need her awake."

His laughter fades, and he looks at me with pained eyes.  Turning back to her, he sighs in reluctance.

"I'm not kissing her until every bit of her wants to kiss me," he murmurs gently.

I cross my arms in protest.  I don't get a say in this?  She's such a bitch.

How can she waltz in here and act as though she has a say in anything?  She can't order him to kiss me.

"Kiss her," she says, her eyes turning green.

Nothing happens, and she seems a little taken aback by that.

"You're immune?" she almost whispers.

"Look, I don't want to take advantage of her!" he barks, ignoring her question.

Immune to what?

"If you don't wake Aphrodite, then none of this is going to work.  It just requires a little effort from you.  Otherwise, she could die."

He flinches at the mention of the fatal possibility.  He steadies his breath before whispering to her, but I can still hear it.

"She doesn't want me to."

"It doesn't matter what she wants.  It matters if she lives or not," she whispers back.

He flashes to me, and his eyes connect with mine.  The goddess within is awakening against my wishes.  His hands grip me, and I struggle lightly against his touch.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs as his lips take mine.

I can't fight him.  I need him right now.  Aphrodite breaks free and takes me over as my hands wrap around his neck and then move to twist in his hair as he lifts me up.

My legs wrap around his waist, and the kiss deepens with more fire and intensity than I've ever felt.  I can hear something happening, but my eyes barely gauge anything around me as he grips me tighter and they close again.

The steamy scent of boiling water invades my nose, but it doesn’t snuff out the entrancing scent of Devin Cole's passion for me.

"What's going on?" Theia questions, but I can't stop what's about to happen - even if it is a little crude to do in front of his mother.

My nails dig into his back, and he squeezes his hands against me tighter in response.  I'm not in control anymore.  I'm not me at all, but then again I am.  It's all so confusing, dreadful, incredible, and surreal at once.

"Now.  Please," the goddess and I beg.

He starts walking away with me still firmly attached to him, and Theia calls to us.  "We need to train.  The whole lake is boiling.  Can you two break it up for a minute?"

Devin ignores her as he carries me toward the house, and I hear Persia talking in a low murmur.

"Unfortunately, this is how you train Aphrodite."

I feel the wall crack as he falters in his stride and my back claps against it.  He doesn't attempt the stairs.  I can feel us crossing a threshold, but I don't pay any attention to the room around me.

The bed is suddenly beneath me, and he separates from me long enough for me to rip his shirt over his head.  His mouth quickly regains control over mine, and his hands scour my body, making up for lost time.  My hips rise and fall against his and my jeans feel as if they're burning off of me.

He rips them free from my body, and then he hoists me back into the air to force my back into a shattering armoire.  The splintered wood splatters around us, but that only fuels my lusting fire.

He pushes me harder against the wall, and I balance myself long enough to pull my shirt off.  His lips stroke my neck, and I'm so fucking doomed at this point.  My lips return to his, and I feel the desperate, unkempt desire I've been dying to give into.

Aphrodite seizes her moment, consumes me, and takes both of us into the flames.

"Do you hate me for
that?" Devin asks guiltily while we lie in a shattered bed surrounded by an even more shattered room.

I think about that for a second, and I know I can't hate him no matter what - certainly not for that.

Day turned to night during our ridiculous amount of time in here.  I don't know what I'm supposed to feel, but Aphrodite has been sated, and I still want him so badly.

"No.  I don't hate you, but I don't see how having sex with you has helped anything... other than the obvious," I mumble.

He stifles a grin, and I roll over to face him.

"What do we do now?" I ask softly.

His eyes soften, and they start trying to pull me in.

"Anything you want," he says with an underlying meaning.

I feel myself inching toward him, surrendering, and finally giving up my endeavor to stay away.

"I want you."

The honesty in my words is raw, leaving me all the more vulnerable.

"I'm yours."

His lips cover mine, but there's a knock at the door to interrupt the new stirring.  I cover up with the remainder of the sheet that has been scorched from the heated encounter, and Devin pulls on his eye-catching, low-hanging pants.

"Yeah," he says with a bit of agitation.

The door creaks open, and Ther walks in with a huge smile that only forces me to blush.

Damn immortal super-hearing.  There's no telling what wild, raw, carnal sounds came out of us during that.

"The others are here now, and Persia isn't happy about so many knowing about Dissy, so we could use your help."

I roll my eyes.

"My name is Adisia."

Devin laughs a little, and Ther's eyes dance excitedly.  I pull the scorched sheet a little tighter, and Devin moves between me and Ther to block his view.

"I'll be out in a minute," he says in a scolding tone.

"Yeah.  Take your time.  I think we can manage for a minute.  By the way, the two of you blew out the power for ten miles.  Your dad went to get some supplies."

I blush deeper as I clap my hand over my face, and Devin snickers a little as the door shuts behind Ther.

He turns back to me and steps over the shattered furniture trail we've left behind.  The bed is even setting at an angle after we collapsed half of it.

I smile as he pulls on his shirt.  "So,
was
this your room?"

He laughs louder as he climbs back onto the bed to be beside me.

"Yes, it was.  I may have to do a little redecorating before I can sleep in it again."

"I don't know.  I think it has a savage appeal now," I flirt.

His eyes hold mine as he kisses the back of my hand, and the goddess tries to awaken.

"You could stay in the room I'm in," I breathe, losing all the humor I had in my earlier tone.

"I wasn't planning on staying anywhere but with you," he smolders, and my lower lip feels the bite of my teeth as I stare into his swirling eyes.

He pulls me into his arms, and his lips trap mine.  I feel the heat of his hands forcing my body to spark.  He pulls me under him, and then there's another knock.

Devin smirks as he answers the interrupter.

"Yeah."

"So, I know you're with a sex goddess and all, but we could really use you out here," Kry says impatiently.

Devin laughs wildly as I blush again.  He kisses my forehead, and I whisper to him before he gets up.

"Don't hurt me again.  I can't-"

He kisses me to stop my ramble, and then he draws back slowly to meet my eyes.

"I never wanted to hurt you the first time.  I have to be with you.  I need to be with you, and I'll never let you go.  I couldn't let you go even after I let you go.  I-"

Another knock interrupts us yet again.

"Yes," he growls.

"Some crazy bitch is threatening to open the skies on our asses if we don't go.  Can you please help us out?" an unfamiliar voice pleads.

Devin smiles playfully as though he finds humor in Persia's madness.

"Be right there," he chuckles out.

I pout slightly when he turns back to me, as if he's asking for permission to leave.

"Go.  Kill my mother if you have to."

He laughs again, but I can see his reluctance to get up.

"I do want to be with you.  That's never been in question since I started stalking you the first time," he teases.

I smile foolishly, and he disappears out the door, leaving me only his scent to drown in.

I stand up and pick up my jeans.  A gasp breaches my once sealed lips when my eyes fall upon the charred fabric.