From Origins (Descendant Prophecies Book 3) (21 page)

Oh, my imagination ran wild in a naughty way. I had to shake the thought out of my head.

“Right now? Right this minute?” Nick leaned into her as if he was about to kiss her.

“Uh huh,” Kayla answered, with eyes full of desire.

I needed to turn away, but before I did, Nick yanked Kayla into his arms and took off so fast they were gone before I could blink.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Sky,” I murmured to myself, and headed to my room to take a hot…or perhaps a cold shower…I wasn’t sure which I needed more.

One thing about
friends at New Olympus, they sure knew how to party. Music blasted in the air, and table after table was covered with trays of the best food. The dining hall was filled with people coming and going, eating, laughing, talking, and enjoying the magnificent view through the glass window that took up the whole back wall.

Twinkling lights adorned the trees, brightening up the night, and the stars above made me feel like we were somewhere magical. In a way we were, but it was our reality. Last time we were there, Mason had lit up the whole place. I giggled to myself, recalling when Zara had caught us. I was certain Mason wouldn’t do that again. Mason took me to a bench in a secluded area, so we could have a quieter place to eat and talk.

“It’s nice to see my parents back together again. Did you see them holding hands?” I asked, taking a bite of a rib I held with two fingers.

“I’m happy for you, Sky. Your happiness is all that I want, more than anything in this world,” Mason said, smiling at me. “Is your dad moving back in with your mom?”

“I didn’t ask, but I’m going to assume; or they might end up staying here.”

Mason chewed, swallowed, and placed his fork on the plate. “We need to talk about us. I know you want to finish your college degree and I support you with that, but how about you move in with me during the weekends? What do you think?”

I stopped twirling noodles with my fork and pushed up the edge of my lips. “I practically live at your place, Mason.”

Mason snorted. “That’s true.” He seemed a little nervous and Mason was never nervous, except for the time he proposed to me. I wondered where he was going with this.

After some time of comfortable silence, Mason placed his empty plate down and wiped his mouth with a napkin. Boy…he could eat. He scooted closer and stared at me. “Where are you going tonight?”

“I’m here.” I took a sip of my drink. I knew where this conversation was headed, but I wanted to toy with him a bit. I loved it when he chased after me.

He raked his hair back. “I meant, where are you going to sleep? Are you going home with your parents, or will you come home with me?”

“I don’t know.” I placed my empty plate down. The pile of food was gone. Not having had a good meal in days, I felt like a bottomless pit. “It depends.” I scooted away.

I saw the frown on his face, though he tried not to show it. I knew he knew I was playing when I saw that “to die for” smirk spread across his face. I didn’t know how long I could resist him. When he stretched his arm along the top of the bench, showing the curve of his muscles I loved to touch, he was playing too.

“Depends on what?” He slid closer, caging me. There was nowhere for me to move. My heart pounded faster from his knee touching mine, and from the small idle caress that was traveling along my arm, to my shoulder, up my neck, then along my lips. “Can I tempt you?” His words came out hot and wicked.

“Uh….” I stood up just as he was about to kiss me. That’s when I heard an intake of breath from him. I was sure he heard me giggle.

“Sky, you want to play hard to get?” His eyes sparkled with silvery lights.

“Mason....” I started to say as I backed away, not knowing what was behind me. “I might take the next semester off since I didn’t register yet. What will I do?”

Mason took small slow strides, like a lion that had just found its prey. “You can come work with me. I need to rebuild Bella Amore.”

“Oh yeah,” I said softly, recalling it burned down, thanks to the vultures.

Mason reached me when I bumped into the tree behind me. Taking both of my hands, he pinned them against the tree and leaned in.

Blistering heat blasted through me, as I thought of running my hands up his pecs. But then I thought about how I didn’t want to get caught if any of the others had the same idea as us and headed out this way. So I thought of a solution…get us far away from the castle.

“Catch me if you can.” My words stayed where he stood. Before he could comprehend what had happened, I was standing at a nearby tree.

“Sky.” Mason chuckled. “You know I can. And I will. You might be just as fast as I am, but I have a goal. I’m going to give you the biggest love shock.”

Before I could move, Mason was in front of me. He was just about to get a hold of me, but I escaped and ran to the tree behind us. He chased me from tree to tree until he outsmarted me. When I ran to the next tree, Mason got there a second before I did.

“Got ya.” He pinned me to the tree as our chests moved up and down from being out of breath, mine more than his. Something about the chase, this moment, made us burst into laughter.

We both laughed so hard and loud that I was sure everyone could hear us. It felt good to laugh. It seemed so normal, so good. I noticed Mason had stopped laughing when I saw that dangerous glow in his eyes…the kind of glow that made my stomach tingle. That kind that travelled to my very core, and left me so I couldn’t think…I couldn’t breathe…and then…his lips covered my mouth, and they felt right at home.

My body quivered when Mason pressed his body to mine, and when his hands explored my body, my knees weakened. I knew I had gripped his hair too tightly when I heard a groan. It only made him kiss me harder. My lips ached from missing his lips tasting mine, and his tongue intertwining in a frantic way. I’d missed those strong hands of his caressing me, hypnotizing me, making me want more.

“I missed us so much,” he said, between taking breaths and gingerly kissing my neck.

I opened my eyes to see the twinkling lights blend together on the trees, then I saw colorful dots and streaks explode in the sky.

“I see fireworks, Mason,” I mumbled, dipping my head back from the pleasure he was giving me. We needed to stop, but my hands traveled down his chest. I wanted to touch all of him, every part of him.

“I see them too, but you’re making me explode inside, Echo. We need to stop or I’ll end up showing more than I should.”

I knew what Mason meant, and it made me giggle when he pulled back, panting and looking dazed.

A noise behind the bush made us turn, alert. Mason and I got ready to shoot our lights.

“Come out,” Mason ordered.

Raising their hands, out came Jack and Mona from behind the bushes. “It’s just us.” Jack gave an innocent smile and a nervous chuckle.

“What were you doing there?” Mason asked. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“Don’t be silly, Mason,” Mona added. “We were admiring the stars and eating our dinner out here. It’s too loud in there with all the music blasting. We’re kind of old for that.”

“Speak for yourself,” Jack spat. “I’m not old. I still got the smooth groove in me.” Jack did a funny twirl with his hips.

“Oh, not that. Please not that.” Mona shook her head and covered her eyes with her hands, then placed them by her side.

Mason grabbed my hand. “Well…have a good evening. Sky and I will be heading home soon. We’re going to say our goodbyes to everyone first. So we’ll start with you.”

When they didn’t get the hint, Mason tugged me along after we said goodbye, and started walking toward the castle.

“I told you he was a great kisser,” Mona said. “He’s got a nice ass, too.”

I didn’t know if it was for Mason to hear, but his lips twitched to a grin.

“Stop staring,” Jack grumbled.

“You’re just jealous.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Those two sure know how to entertain themselves.” Mason squeezed my hand and kissed the back of it. “It’s good to see things are getting back to normal.”

“It sure is,” I seconded, as I happily looked up at the fireworks shooting from above.

“Well…well…well
…look whose styling.” Nick whistled, as Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades entered Bella Amore.

All three wore jeans and black T-shirts that clung to their chests. Talk about being hot in there. I was sure they’d turn heads, looking like cover models on a runway.

“Hades forced me to,” Zeus said, strutting toward us with his chin held high. “I feel so strange, almost naked without my cloak. Hades told me this…” He waved across his body with his hand…“is what people wear.”

“Never mind, Zeus,” Poseidon said, giving a shoulder rub to his brother. “He’s upset we didn’t teleport.”

“How did you get here?” Mason asked, moving a chair off to the side. He was rearranging the tables. There was still a lot to clean up and fix. Luckily, the fire was mostly isolated to one side of the restaurant. Thank goodness, Noah and Tim were able to put out the fire before it had spread.

Hades slowly raised his lips into a smirk. “I did. I drove a car. I watched you and I learned by…how do you say...hands on driving? Oh, don’t worry….” He tossed a set of keys up in the air in front of Mason and watched them land in Mason’s hand. “It only has a few minor scratches. Oh…and you might need a new bumper. At least I returned it to you in drivable condition.” He patted Mason on the back. “You were right. Driving is so much fun.”

Mason stood in total silence with his jaw dropped practically to the floor, staring at the set of keys in his hand.

“It’s just a car. Get a new one.” Nick nudged Mason to snap him out of his stupor.

“When did you…? How?” Mason sneered.

“I wanted to know what it felt like to drive one, so I took one of yours. I didn’t think you’d mind. After all, you told me I should try it.”

“I didn’t mean
my
car,” Mason grumbled.

I thought for a second he was going to lunge at Hades. Nick must have thought so, too. He locked his arms around Mason. “Steady, Mace.”

“You have a nice…what do you call…restaurant?” Hades said, gaping about. “You need to tidy up this place. No one will want to dine here.”

“It’s under construction,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “And be considerate and ask next time. That’s what people do.”

Hades winked at me. I almost smiled back at him. It was difficult to resist his charm, and I couldn’t blame them for trying things they’d never done before. I was sure they were curious about new inventions, and having to adapt must be daunting.

“What’s that smell?” Poseidon’s deep blue eyes twinkled. “I smell food.”

Before we could reply, the three gods dashed into the kitchen, scaring Everett. He had his hand over his heart while exhaling air just as fast he was inhaling.

“Who invited them?” Everett asked, turning down the flame.

Nick pushed through between Hades and Zeus. “Well…you see….” He scratched his head. “I had a bit too much to drink at the party two nights ago, and suggested that maybe they could blend in with us. We could let them rent one of our houses, and offer them a job when Bella Amore is finished.”

“Are you crazy?” Mason spat. “Too much to drink? So then you must have been really wasted to have such thoughts…yeah…you weren’t thinking.”

Hades’s eyes flared up as he moved closer to the burners. “You think we can’t hold a job and act like humans? They don’t believe in us anyway. Maybe it’s time.”

“No.” Zeus looked at Hades sternly. “They can’t know about us. It’s the reason why we want to follow the Grand brothers, and perhaps we can…you know…the word when you spend time together.”

“Hang out?” I answered hesitantly.

“Yes.” Zeus nodded. “Hang out. So we can properly act among humans without exposing ourselves. How are we to learn the ways of humans if we don’t understand them?”

“True,” Everett said, stirring noodles with a spatula inside the huge pot that could hold enough for an army. “I guess I can teach you to cook in this kitchen, since we won’t be ready to open for at least a month.”

“Sounds good,” Nick said, folding the kitchen towels into a pile. “I can teach them how to be waiters, too.”

“Excellent,” Poseidon said.

“Cool.” Hades looked so proud. “I can say ‘cool’ right?” He looked at us for confirmation.

Everett gave him the thumbs up. Then Hades repeated Everett’s action.

“We might as well start now.” Mason arched his brows, most likely thinking this was an awful idea. “But let’s do one thing at a time. We’ll set up the living arrangements after the restaurant opens.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Zeus agreed, with a grin.

“I agree too, but….” Hades bent low and looked at the flame burning underneath the pan. “Why is this fire so low? How do you expect it to even cook anything?”

Before we could answer, Hades released fire from his hand. Not only did he char the chicken and the pots and pans, he started a fire in the kitchen that shot to the ceiling, spreading across the top. Suddenly I felt wet all over. The emergency sprinkler system kicked in. Then it felt like a bucket of water was thrown at me. Water was dripping down my hair and over every part of me. I slowly looked up, my teeth chattering as I shook from the cold. Poseidon looked absolutely astonished. We were all drenched, except for Zeus and Poseidon.

“Uh…sorry. I kind of lost control there.” Poseidon posed a nervous half grin.

“Out!” Mason’s temper was at its limit. Light flashed from his eyes and out from his fingertips.

Everett looked mortified. “That…that was my chicken…my special recipe.”

“It’s a sign that it sucks, Everett.” Nick chuckled. “I’m definitely not eating it now.”

“Maybe it’s time to go back to Olympus,” Zeus suggested.

Mason rolled his eyes and released a long sigh. “You can come with us to our house. We need to dry off and change. I’ll order pizza.” He took my hand and started walking out the door, but stopped to turn to Hades. “Oh, by the way….” He handed the car keys back to Hades. “You can have the car. Next time, please ask. I know gods don’t have to in your world, but in mine, you should. It’s just uncool.”

Hades nodded apologetically. “Sorry about the fire.”

“Yeah…well…that’s fine. It’s going to be more than a month for sure now until the opening. What’s another couple of weeks?” Mason said, then started walking again.

“What’s pizza?” Zeus questioned Poseidon from behind us.

“I’m just clueless as you. I’m sure we can eat it, don’t you think?”

“Write it down so we can tell the others. The more they know before they assimilate, the easier it will be.”

“Cool,” Hades said, as we exited Bella Amore to Mason’s car.

I had to admit…they were brave trying to adapt to the new environment and to the new culture. They were pretty cool themselves.