Finding Paradise (The Gods of Oakleigh Book 1)

by Juanita Kees

  He tried to keep his voice calm and even as he asked, “When are you heading home?”

  “On Friday.”

  Two days? That’s all the time he had to come up with a plan? Would she still want to see him once she returned to her normal life? He’d have to come up with a damned good excuse to want to fly back with her and Penny, a reason to play the role of the enamoured lover. It was tempting to take a look at her thoughts but he resisted. Was she thinking about their interlude in the room? Had he really put that dreamy look in her eyes? His heart swelled with an emotion far too close to infatuation.

  No, he wouldn’t peek, no matter how tempted he was. Zeus had been perfectly clear on the rules — no cheating, no magic that might let on as to who or what he really was. So Jax reined in his godly powers as best he could. It would be so easy to simply place her under a spell and sweep her away to Olympus, but that wouldn’t win her over or keep her safe and it sure wouldn’t help his mission to redeem himself in Zeus’ eyes.

  “Jax?” Arian’s sweet voice broke into his thoughts. “Should we ask the hotel to do up a picnic hamper for us?”

  Her hand on his forearm chased away any lingering thoughts of Zeus. Every time she touched him, he felt the bond grow stronger between them. Earning her trust was a good thing, right? “Yes, great idea. Odys, why don’t you and Penny go on up and arrange that?”

  Penny began to protest, but Odys cut her off. “Great idea. Trust me, Penny, if you see what Jax thinks is appropriate picnic fare, you’d be glad we’re organising it.” He led her away.

  Jax took Arian’s hand in his and they walked through the open doors of the bar onto the terrace. “Looking forward to going home?”

  Arian shrugged. “I like it here, but I guess the holiday has to end sometime.” She hesitated and turned to him. “Will you look me up when you get home?”

  Did he have a choice? His fate lay in whatever the outcome was of the challenge he’d been set. If she took over the reign of Paradise successfully, he would be free to live in the modern world forever, his honour as a chieftain would be restored and peace would descend on the world once more. He should be excited about that, yet the future stretched before him filled with emptiness and a lifetime of meaningless wandering. No different really to what he had now.

  He drew her closer and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Try and keep me away,” he replied and prayed with all his heart he could keep that promise, if only to stave off the loneliness.

  ***

  Two magical and fulfilling days later, Arian fought against the heaviness weighing on her chest and the sense of foreboding churning in her stomach.

  “It’s not goodbye, my beautiful Faerie Queen, only kali antamosi. Meet me at the airport when our flight comes in? We’re on a flight out tomorrow.”

  Arian wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye and nodded. Right now, she couldn’t trust her voice. He had come to mean so much in such a very short time. She would miss the warmth of his body next to hers, the comfort of his arms around her as they slept and the feel of his lips on hers.

  Now, as their flight boarding call echoed through the cavernous airport building, Arian stood on her tiptoes to taste his mouth one last time. He took his time to kiss her thoroughly until her head spun and his image was burned into her mind. She felt his reluctance to let her go, but he did. Her hands slipped from his and she turned to follow Penny towards border control. Arian took one last look as they were ushered through. I love you.

  I love you too.

  “Come on, Arian. He’s got your number,” urged Penny. “Tomorrow he’ll be breaking down the door of the apartment looking for you.”

  “I’m not so sure about that. I have this awful feeling that something bad is going to happen.”

  “Ignore it and think happy thoughts. You can entertain me all the way home with his awesomeness in bed.”

  “I am so not going to tell you every little detail,” Arian laughed through her tears.

  “Well, at least you’ll have more to tell than me. As sexy as Odys is, he didn’t even try to make a move on me. I’m not even sure he really likes me that much.”

  “Don’t be silly, Penny. What’s not to like about you? Did you want him to make a move?”

  “Nah, not really.”

  Arian laughed again. “Now you’re lying.”

  Penny sighed. “Okay, maybe just a little. But I think there’s something going on between him and Helen.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Well, while you were cuddled up doing the horizontal rumba and setting off fire alarms all around Paradise Beach, Odys and Helen spent a lot of time huddled together on the boat.”

  “Really? Because I can tell you, Odys definitely had his eye on you … and the fire alarms were pure coincidence, by the way,” Arian reassured her.

  “Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens when they return to Oakleigh.”

  They made their way up the ramp and onto the plane. Handing over their boarding passes, the hostess looked at them and smiled. “Ah, Miss Kendrick and Miss McKenna. We’re happy to inform you that you’ve been upgraded to first class.”

  “Oh, wow,” said Penny.

  “Who ...?” began Arian. It could only be the work of Jax and Odys.

  “A parting gift from our Greek boys?” Penny asked her as they followed the hostess towards the stairs leading to the upper floor of the plane.

  “Who else could it be?”

  “Well hell, then let’s enjoy the luxury.” Penny laughed. “I could get used to travelling like this.”

  “Far better than spending the next twenty-five hours in cattle class. I’ll have to send Jax a text to thank him when we arrive home.”

  “Do you really think we’ll see them again?”

  Arian sunk into the comfort of her seat and clipped in her belt. “I hope so. We’ve done what we can to stay in touch — swapped details, made promises. Will you come with me to meet their flight, Penny?”

  “I think you two swapped a lot more than just your contact details. And I’m not sure making promises while screaming yes, yes, yes in the heat of the moment counts,” Penny teased. “Of course, I’ll come with you. I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to stir up the great god Odysseus.” She chuckled.

  Arian sighed. “It’s too good to be true, Penny. I’m like a kid on a roller-coaster ride. It all happened so quickly. After what happened with Craig ...”

  Penny took the in-flight blanket the hostess offered her and shook it out. “Hey, I’m not a big believer in love at first sight but let me tell you, Jax has it bad for you. Forget Craig, he’s your past and that’s where he belongs. It’s time to look forward to the future. Stop overthinking and enjoy whatever comes next. What’s the worst that can happen?”

  Chapter Six

  A little fresher than normal thanks to the first class facilities, Arian and Penny arrived at Melbourne airport twenty-six hours later. The sense of foreboding grew and rattled at Arian’s nerves. She shook it off as they checked in at border control. The flight had seemed like it would never end and not even their upgraded seats could take the edge off her mood. She missed Jax already, the warmth of his arms, the feel of his skin against hers.

  In silence they waited at the carousel for their bags. Arian wondered what Jax was doing now. Was he down at the beach with Helen and Ermioni?

  “Excuse me, Miss Kendrick?”

  Arian turned to see a customs official behind her. “Yes?”

  “Your bags have been taken care of and are waiting for you outside.”

  “Oh.” Confused, she looked at Penny who shrugged. “Are Penny’s there too?”

  “Yes, now, if you’ll follow me?”

  Arian’s heart skipped a beat. Had they found something illegal in her luggage? She visualised the contents of her suitcase and ruled out her Greek purchases. No wood, no fruit or food, and she’d declared her duty free shopping. With a puzzled look at each other, they followed
the officer out of the crowd fighting to reach their luggage.

  Instead of leading them into the customs hall as Arian had expected, he took them down a long corridor and out through the doors into the arrivals hall. As the doors slid open silently, the foreboding Arian battled in her tight chest sank to clench at her stomach. Cameras flashed and an excited buzz filled the hall. Reporters called out questions she had no answer for. Her eyes adjusted to the artificial lighting supplied by the television camera crews.

  “What the hell is going on, Arian?” Penny hooked an arm through hers.

  “I don’t know. I have a really, really bad feeling about this ...”

  Panic clamped her mouth shut as she spotted Craig’s football mates huddled with their WAGs near the door leading out of the terminal. Uh-oh. The press, his entourage, his fans … that could only mean—Craig swept her up in his arms against his muscular chest and swung her in a circle. Cameras flashed as applause and cheers broke out. She looked down to see his face a little below her chin.

  “I’ve missed you, Arian,” he said loudly, before letting her slide down his professional-football-player’s chest. “I have something really important to say.”

  “Uh-oh, now I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Penny looked from Craig to Arian.

  Arian tried to wriggle out of his hold, but he tightened it. Anger warred with embarrassment as she pushed against his chest, nausea rising rapidly in the wake of panic.

  “Arian Kendrick, will you marry me?”

  The crowd roared with excitement, setting off the cameras again. Craig kissed her, slowly, tenderly and far too familiarly for someone who had dumped her only a month before. His kisses used to stir her into passion, set her blood on fire. Now they left her cold. She tore her lips from his and glared at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she whispered angrily.

  He placed his lips to her ear. “Play along. I’ll explain later.”

  “I will not play along. Whatever it is you’ve cooked up, forget it. Let me go right now.” She pushed hard against his chest. The crowd heckled and teased at her resistance.

  “You’re making a fool of me.” Craig’s arms tightened around her.

  “You do that quite successfully without my help.”

  “I made a mistake. Please forgive me. I can’t bear to be without you anymore,” he begged loudly then whispered, “For God’s sake, play along so I can get us out of here before you make it worse.”

  Arian opened her mouth to speak, but the pleading look in his eyes made her close it again. He’d better have a damn good reason for pulling this move and she couldn’t wait to hear it.

  Slipping an arm around her shoulders, he waved to the crowd as he moved her towards the exit. “Sorry, folks,” he said as reporters waved their microphones at him, “I’m sure you can understand we have a lot to talk about and some making up to do.” He winked suggestively at the cameras.

  The good-natured ribbing of his teammates followed them out the door and to the waiting limousine. As he dragged her towards it, Arian looked back at the pavement where Penny stood abandoned in the crowd. “What about Penny?”

  “Simon will make sure she gets home okay.”

  “Craig ...” It took all Arian’s self-control not to yell. She dug her heels in against his insistent tugging. “You’d better have a damn good explanation for this. Simon will be lucky if he gets home in one piece. Penny’s ready to rip him a new arsehole after his behaviour at the same after-party where you slept with the coach’s daughter. What kind of game are you two playing this time?”

  “Save it, Arian. I’m not in the mood.”

  “Oh, you’re not in the mood? I’ve just flown across the world to be met by the boyfriend —”

  “Fiancé.”

  “— ex-boyfriend who dumped me, then proposes to me in some stupidly concocted publicity stunt and you’re not in the mood?”

  “I upgraded you to first class, didn’t I? Good God, I haven’t even put the goddamn ring on your finger yet and already you’re nagging like a fishwife,” Craig snarled.

  The crack of Arian’s palm against Craig’s cheek echoed through the crowd, stunning the media chatter into silence. Cameramen and reporters surged forward, the scent of a real story stronger than a romance as Craig wiped a drop of blood off his lip. Arian stepped back from the limousine.

  “Naff off, Craig. I’m not in the mood to play your stupid games. It was over the moment you willingly hopped into the sack with someone else.” She turned and moved to where Penny had pushed their baggage cart away from the whispering crowd. “Come, Penny, let’s go home.”

  They walked away towards the taxi rank, ignoring the uproar behind them. Her palm stung and her heart pulsed erratically in her chest. A month ago she would have been over the moon if Craig had proposed. Now it left her cold and empty. She should have stayed in Mykonos.

  ***

  Hades rubbed his cheek. Okay, so maybe posing as the Faerie Queen’s football star ex-boyfriend wasn’t such a good idea after all. Bloody little hellion. If he didn’t want her queendom so damn much, he’d have sent her straight to his dungeon where he’d torture the little hellcat into submission with whips and chains.

  He heaved a sigh. How had such a brilliant plan gone so wrong? It should have been easy. Sweep her off her feet, put her in the limo, take her to Paradise, get her sworn in to the throne and marry the bitch so he’d be king. A year or two — give or take — would be enough time to win over the inhabitants to the dark side, then she could die mysteriously in her sleep and Paradise would be his.

  And he’d gone to so much trouble to make sure Ajax the Not-So-Great and his entourage couldn’t be on the same flight. It cost him a fortune getting all those exiles on the plane to fill up the seats. Fake passports were damn hard to come by, with all the best forgers living it up in the courtyards of hell. With such short notice, he’d had to use some two-bit thief who’d extorted a ridiculous amount of euros from his pockets. There’d be a special reservation downstairs for him very soon.

  Never mind. Tomorrow was another day and there was enough time to hatch a new scheme. Two for the price of one … bargain.

  ***

  Jax reared up in bed, his cheek stinging and pulse racing. Arian. The remnants of the dream he’d had remained, burned into his mind’s eye. He’d seen Arian slipping away from him, being drawn into the deep, dark shadows of a place where he could no longer reach her. With each fading glimpse, he thought he felt his soul die a little. Premonitions sucked … big time.

  He pushed the too heavy covers away from his naked body and swung his feet to the floor. Raking a hand through his hair, he stood then pushed aside the heavy drapes—a perfect day on Paradise Beach except for the storm brewing on the horizon. Angry black clouds gathered and lightning spiked in the distance. The sign of trouble afoot, for sure.

  “Jax, open up,” called Odys, hammering on the door, shaking it in the frame.

  With a sigh, Jax grabbed his boxers and stepped into them. “Hold your horses, Odysseus.” He walked over and unbolted the door. “What’s up?”

  “Zeus wants a word with you up in Helen’s room.”

  “He’s here?” Jax shivered. If the big man had come all the way to Mykonos to see him, he’d be in deeper shit than he was already.

  “No, but he’s not happy, in case you haven’t noticed the storm he’s kicked up. Here —” Odys pushed into the room and grabbed a t-shirt from the foot of Jax’s bed, “— put this on and get your butt upstairs.”

  With a sigh of relief, Jax slipped the t-shirt on and followed Odys out the room and to the lift. Two floors later, they pushed through the lift doors into the corridor leading to Helen’s room. The door stood ajar and Jax could hear Helen’s soothing voice. Thunder crashed outside, shaking the windows.

  “Ajax is here now, Zeus,” Helen said, turning around, her mobile phone clenched to her ear, knuckles white.

  Jax cast Odys a resigned look and shook his head.
This is bad, very bad. Lightning struck so close to the window that all three immortals jumped back. Helen handed the phone to Jax.

  “Zeus.” Jax pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache begin to pulse behind his eyes.

  “You’re a fool, Ajax the Great.” Zeus’ voice boomed down the line and bounced off his eardrum to echo in his head. God knows why Zeus bothered with the phone when Jax was sure he could be heard all the way from Mount Olympus, irrespective of the sonic boom of the storm he brewed. “You know how I hate bloody modern technology, yet you force me to use this … this unreliable device with its lousy reception because showing up down there to beat the snot out of you would cause a goddam riot.”

  What could he say to that? “Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”

  “Do you have any idea how many software updates I had to go through to make this connection work? Five. Five, I tell you.”

  Jax held the phone a little further away from his ear and waited for his punishment to be handed out. He wondered if Zeus realised how hot the phone was getting with all that anger radiating through it.

  “I hand you the queen, neatly packaged, all wrapped up like a newborn in a blanket, and you let her slip through your fingers.”

  “We couldn’t get on the plane, it was full. I have her number. I’m looking her up when we get back to Melbourne. We’re only a day behind them.”

  This time the phone almost ripped from his hand as Zeus roared in unison with the thunder.

  “Idiot. Trusting Earth’s medieval technology will cost you your soul.” Lightning flashed inside the room, scorching the bedspread on the king-size bed. A newspaper bounced onto the pillow, front page up. “You should never have let her go back alone. You blew it. You delivered her right into the hands of your enemy.”

  Jax picked up the paper, avoiding the smoking, singed edges. Mistake … he’d made a big mistake, and if his brains and balls hadn’t been so baffled by her beauty and enticing body, he would have seen this for the set-up it was.