Finding Paradise (The Gods of Oakleigh Book 1)

by Juanita Kees

  The phone disappeared and Odys grumbled, “That curse cost me seven hundred Earth dollars.”

  “Then you were taken for a fool. Give me that phone, Ajax. Don’t make me take it by force.”

  Jax looked down at the black device and hesitated. Without it, he had no way of contacting Arian. Her apartment was surrounded by reporters thanks to that jerk, Craig McMahon. He couldn’t risk going there again, attracting media attention, having them ask awkward questions like why he didn’t have a credit card or the business he’d said he owned didn’t exist. Now he just looked like every other shady lawyer on the planet. The public sure as hell wasn’t ready to hear they’d been invaded by Greek gods.

  The phone flew from his hand and into Zeus’. Jax rubbed his palm against his thigh to numb the sting of the fiery separation.

  “No reason why you can’t communicate the old-fashioned way — by talking face to face. Far more enjoyable, in my opinion.” He leaned out the window and yelled, “Helen, I need you in here now. The harpies can fix themselves. They don’t need you to pamper them.”

  “Zeus, keep your voice down or you’ll have the whole neighbourhood awake. Imagine the chaos that will create.” Helen flapped her hands at him.

  “Bah, I stopped time. The earthlings won’t have any memory of tonight’s blasted spectacle. We have work to do before morning.” He pulled back inside, walked to the chair and plopped down onto it, rubbing his soot-blackened knees. “You two will be the death of me, I swear.”

  “The harpies are settled in the garage for the night,” said Helen, closing the back door behind her. “They’ve promised to behave and stay there until further instructions. I’ll need to take in some food and blankets before sunrise —” She looked at her watch, “— in about an hour. What’s the plan, Zeus?”

  “The media and that damn footballer are the last of our worries right now. I’ve had a message from the water faeries on Paradise. The word in the realms is that Hades is making his way there on a takeover bid. We need to get Arian there now.”

  ***

  Arian shivered against the early morning chill as she stood on her apartment balcony and watched the sun rise. What was Jax doing now? Neither she nor Penny had felt much like sleeping last night. Too many unanswered questions had twirled around in their heads so instead they’d trawled the internet for information on either Jax or Odys, and come up with nothing. Craig was right — not a mention of them anywhere. Her mind fought a battle with her heart. Surely a man who’d made love with the passion and commitment Jax had, said the things he did with such conviction, and showed her a glimpse of Paradise in a simple kiss — surely he couldn’t be the rat bastard Craig was making him out to be?

  Puffy clouds blotted the horizon in an angry shade of red as the sun did its best to rise above them. In the distance, a helicopter buzzed low like a dragonfly on a pond.

  “Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning ...” Penny pushed a warm mug of coffee into Arian’s cold hands.

  She took it gratefully and wrapped her fingers around it, welcoming the warmth that seeped through her at her first sip. “I wonder what’s going on over there. That helicopter is flying awfully close to the ground.”

  “News chopper,” said Penny. “Oakleigh had a bad storm last night. Freak winds tore off roofs and spot fires started from lightning strikes.”

  Arian frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. We had nothing here.”

  Penny shrugged. “The weather has been very unpredictable lately. Remember that waterspout in Western Australia a couple of months back? The tornado that caused that cleaned up a construction site. They’re still trying to fix that mess.”

  “Oakleigh — that’s where Jax and Odys live ...” A memory teased Arian’s mind.

  “Yep. Storms seem to follow them wherever they go, don’t they? Thing is, I checked the Bureau of Meteorology site, and other than a few standard rainclouds, the bureau had no storm warnings in place. Weird.” Penny sipped her coffee.

  Storms seem to follow them … Arian shrugged off the feeling of unease that tripped at her nerve endings. I’m being silly. The weather bureau in Mykonos had explained the storms Arian and Penny had seen there as an unseasonal pocket of humidity.

  “On the upside, the media vans have cleared out. I’m not sure Craig will be happy about being upstaged by a freak storm.” Penny peered over the edge of the balcony rail.

  Arian smiled. No, Craig wouldn’t be happy at all. “Do you think they’re really scammers?”

  “Jax and Odys?” Penny shrugged. “I never got that vibe from them, but then we haven’t been very good at judging the difference, have we? Look at Simon and Craig. I never would have picked them as dickheads and look how they turned out.”

  Arian drained the coffee from the mug and took a moment to answer. “A volatile mix of ego and fame. I wish we could find something — some sort of evidence — that would prove Craig wrong.”

  “I hear ya. Just because they’re not on Google, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. They might prefer to keep a low profile on what it is they do. Who knows what cases Jax defends that might put him or his clients in danger and, well, nightclubs attract some dangerous people too, so you can’t blame Odys for wanting to keep a low profile, I guess.”

  Arian shook her head. “I’m going to shower. It might clear my head.” She handed Penny her empty mug. “I can’t shake the feeling that there is something … unusual … about them. Not in a bad way. Just too many secrets between them.” Or perhaps it was Craig getting to her, casting doubts in her mind as he tried to sway things in his favour.

  “You’re right, and I’m sure there’s a good explanation for it. We just haven’t found it yet, and I sure as hell am not ready to give up on them. Not until we have some answers.”

  Arian pulled her jumper around her as she shivered against the cold. “I shouldn’t let Craig mess with my mind, but I can’t help wondering … If Jax shows up before I’m finished in the shower, it’s okay to send him in.”

  “Right,” said Penny, drawing out the vowels. “What makes you think he’ll show up early?”

  “He’ll want to get here before the media does.”

  “Damn, here I was thinking you’d turned psychic on me.” Penny grinned. “I wonder if Odys will come too.”

  Arian shook her head and smiled. “I thought you didn’t care what Odys does? I think you might like him more than you’re willing to admit.“

  With a pat on Penny’s shoulder, she stepped inside and walked to her room, her mind filled with thoughts clamouring for attention. The more she tried to sort through the noise in her head, the more muddled the situation became and the fewer logical answers formed. Arian collected her clothes — jeans, a t-shirt and clean undies—and headed for the bathroom, banishing all thoughts to a corner of her mind. She’d dwell on it later.

  Turning on the hot water, she undressed as she waited until the steam rose before mixing it with cold. She slipped in under the warm spray, and enjoyed the sluice of water that eased over her body, relaxing muscles and washing away the tension that had seized her back and shoulders.

  There had to be a reasonable explanation for everything that had happened, both in Mykonos and here. Penny would Google until her fingers were numb to get to the bottom of it, because that’s what her friend did best. Craig was obviously in it for no-one other than himself. How had she been so blind to his ego until now?

  She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, letting the water flow over her hair, wetting it to a darker shade of red. Arian reached for the shampoo, her eyes flying open as her hand came in contact with a warm masculine one she knew well.

  “Jax.” Her heartbeat sped up at the touch of his skin against hers.

  Jax grinned. “You knew I was coming.”

  “Yes, but I’m not sure how I knew.” She’d felt his need to reach her as she’d stood on the balcony watching the sun rise over Oakleigh, a desperation too uncanny to explore or explain.

&nb
sp; “You will understand soon, agape mou.” His mouth turned serious as he nibbled his lip. “I had to see you, Arian. We need to talk.”

  She felt the caress of his eyes over her body, which tightened in response. “Now?”

  “Your thoughts are driving me crazy. I can hear them tumbling around as you seek answers, but the truth needs to come from me.”

  “You’ve seen the news?”

  He nodded. “McMahon is wrong, Arian. We are not scammers or scoundrels. He might not have found the information he was looking for, but I promise you every moment of our history is recorded if one knows where to look.”

  “That’s what Penny said. Well, something like that anyway.”

  He looked at her through the gap in the shower curtain he’d pulled aside, and held her gaze with his. “Remember on Mykonos I said there were things I couldn’t tell you until you trusted me?”

  Arian nodded. Mykonos — where life had been a whole lot simpler.

  “Do you trust me yet, agape mou?” His gaze searched hers, begging her to look beyond Craig’s mind games and at what lay between them.

  “I don’t know. I’m so confused ...” She looked away.

  “Will you let me hold you a little? I need the courage of your touch.”

  Sensibility warred with the need that echoed in her heart. Perhaps both of them needed courage to hear the truth, to look beyond the impossible, and believe the unbelievable.

  “I want to trust you.” The man who stood before her epitomised everything she’d dreamed of — sexy, kind, and a caring lover. His eyes shone with humour while his body promised strength and protection.

  “Then look inside my heart when I hold you.” His hands gripped the bottom of his t-shirt. “May I?”

  Arian watched as he pulled it up and over his head, exposing his golden chest with its light dusting of dark hair to her gaze. “Yes,” she whispered, taking a moment to appreciate the view. No matter what lay between them, what trouble kept them apart, what she needed most right now was to feel the solid reality of his flesh against hers, the reassurance of his hands on her skin, and the sweet taste of his lips on hers.

  Her heart changed pace, slowing to a steady rhythm of expectation as he unsnapped the button on his jeans, slid the zipper down at an agonisingly slow pace and worked the denim down strong, muscular legs. Need, liquid and prickly, flowed between her own as she took in every gorgeous inch of his body.

  He stepped into the cubicle, shampoo in one hand and drawing her against him with the other. “Good morning, my Faerie Queen.”

  “We should talk first ...”

  “Later. I have a lot to explain and I’ll need you to trust me. First though, I need to hold you.”

  Arian had no intention of arguing. She felt what he did. The urgency for reassurance that what lay between them was real, that what they felt for each other deserved a chance. Reaching up, she cupped his cheeks, the brush of his beard against her palms heightening the pleasure that rushed through her.

  “Good morning.” She returned the smile that spread across his mouth and met him halfway to touch her lips to his in a too brief, sweet kiss.

  His gaze never leaving hers, he reached behind her to tip shampoo into his palm. Placing the bottle on the shelf, he began a slow, sensual massage of her scalp as he worked the subtly scented liquid through her hair.

  Arian relaxed against him as sensations spiralled through her. Lust pooled like hot lava between her thighs with each touch of his fingertips, leaving her weak and wanting. She stroked her hand across his abdomen, pleased when a growl rumbled in his chest and his erection grew harder between them. As his hands smoothed the length of her hair down her back, she angled her hips and arched her back, baring her breasts for the attention she craved.

  Jax held her hips to him, stroking her skin with one hand while the other teased her nipples to tight rosebuds, sensitive under the smooth caress of his fingertips. She arched back further, tipping back her head and letting the water stream the shampoo from her hair. Jax adjusted his hold so the smooth tip of his erection teased the sensitive nub at her entrance. Arian bit back a sigh of pleasure and squirmed against him, clutching at the rock hard forearms that supported her weight. She pulled herself up against him and raised her face for his kiss.

  “I am alive when I am with you,” he whispered against her lips as he lifted her into his arms.

  “Make love to me, Jax. Make me yours.” Arian wrapped her arms around his shoulders and stroked a path down his back. She pressed her mouth to his, tracing her tongue across his lips until he opened them and devoured her with a kiss that sent shockwaves plummeting to her core.

  Desperate to connect, to feel the silky length of him making her his own, she clasped her legs tightly around his hips, slipped her hand between them and brought him home. Spreading his legs to take her weight, he leaned back against the cool tiles and Arian welcomed the sensation as he inched deeper inside her. No longer able to control her white-hot desire for him, she clenched her muscles around him and rode, pleased when she drove him to tear his mouth from hers and cry out words in his mother tongue that left no doubt as to his own state of yearning.

  She felt him swell and plunge, took what he offered and more. Lips against his neck, she teased the corded muscles with her tongue, nipped at the lobe of his ear and sucked at the sensitive spot below it.

  “Arian!” The cry ripped from his throat and pulsed against her lips as he surged into her, his fingers gripping the soft swell of her bottom.

  She rode harder until she could no longer hold off the orgasm that rose steadily to meet his. Together they came, hard and fast, almost desperate. As he shuddered against her, spilling his life blood inside her, their lips met in a promise of commitment — to what, they’d have to find out later. All that mattered right now was that they had each other … again and again, as if too soon what they shared would be torn away from them by the storm that raged outside the window.

  Chapter Eleven

  The girls and their gods sat around the table, sipping wine and nibbling on the baklava Odys and Jax had brought with them, a present from Helen and Ermioni. Jax sat close to Arian, her hand in his, afraid to let go in case she disappeared, terrified she’d kick him out — dump him — when she heard what he had to say. Would she believe him?

  Arian squeezed his hand encouragingly. Still he hesitated. With her by his side, his heart could beat forever, but if she left him his days were numbered, and Hades waited in the wings with his chariot of death ready to transport him to an eternity in hell.

  “Should I go first, Jax? Pave the way for your story? I don’t have as much to lose as you do … yet.” Odys looked at Penny, who glowered at him across the table.

  Jax wondered if they’d had a fight while he and Arian were closeted behind her bedroom door to take advantage of every moment of happiness they had together. He shook his head.

  “No, it needs to be told and I’ll do it.” He raised Arian’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against her fingertips. “Please, trust me, agape mou?”

  He saw the flicker of confusion in her eyes and prayed he’d done enough to convince her that what he was about to say was nothing but the truth. He took a sip of wine, squeezed her hand, and stood. Restless, he walked to the window and looked out at the rain falling softly beyond the glass. The dark storm clouds had lightened to a dull, damp grey, and the helicopters over Oakleigh had gone. Clearly Zeus had things under control again. If only Jax had.

  Jax turned and leaned against the windowsill. Crossing his arms, he began. “Remember in the cove in Mykonos, the day we took you sailing? We told you we were descendants of the gods Odysseus and Ajax. We lied.”

  “What?” Penny sent Odys a black look.

  “Well, not lied exactly … perhaps we bent the truth a little. Be quiet and listen, Penny.” Odys topped up her wine glass.

  “We are ...” Jax paused and ran a hand through his hair. He braced himself and looked Arian in the eyes. He
wanted her to see the truth there, wanted most of all for her to believe him. “I am Ajax the Great. I fought the Trojan War and laid claim to the Shield of Achilles.”

  Arian looked away to study her hands clasped tightly on the table. He’d seen her complexion pale and tears glitter in her eyes before she’d dropped her gaze from his.

  “No, it can’t be true. Don’t do this, Jax. Please, don’t lie to me,” she whispered, the ache in her voice heartbreakingly clear to his ears.

  “Arian, please, agape mou ...” If he lost her now — he moved towards her, knelt next to her chair, covered her cold hands with his and begged. “Hear me out before you pass judgement on me? Zeus has granted me a reprieve. I’ve been given the opportunity to redeem my honour, to right my wrongs and earn back my soul.”

  Arian kept her eyes fixed on her hands, the knuckles white with tension. Jax placed his forefinger under her chin and tipped it so she raised her eyes to his, shimmering pools of green. He stroked a stray tear from her cheek.

  “I swear on Zeus’ honour, I am telling you the truth, my lady Arian. Athena set me up for the fall from grace. She wanted Odysseus to have the Shield of Achilles because she claimed to be in love with him. First she set Odysseus and me against each other, driving a wedge in our friendship, and then she dishonoured me with drug-induced hallucinations that led to the slaughter of the sheep.” Jax took Arian’s clenched hands in his and kissed the tensed knuckles, before laying his forehead on the back of her hands.

  “I had no choice but to fall on my sword, to take my own life, rather than face the wrath of Zeus, for I did not deserve the honour of the Shield of Achilles. Odysseus won it fair and square.”

  Arian sat as still as death beside his bowed head. Only her hands trembled against his forehead. His throat ached with the need to beg her forgiveness, her understanding … her trust. Silence echoed between the walls of the apartment, while outside the world seemed to hold its breath. No rain against the windows, no thunder from the skies … only deathly silence.