A lovestruck demigoddess, unaware of her royal status, makes a shocking discovery on her eighteenth birthday and attempts to flee to the underworld with Hades to escape Zeus's wrath.
...
Lexi's eager response to Luke's request had his manhood reaching full sail, and he felt her heart race behind her ribs while his own pulse kept time. He leaned into her mouth, touching her lips with exquisite tenderness, like a horticulturist handling a rare and prized flower.
He savored her softness and the delicate fragrance that sweetened her skin as she responded to his kiss, pressing into him, sharing her excitement through the swift rise and fall of her chest. Luke knew Lexi's adrenaline was pumping. He knew the rush was superb. He felt it too, and his hand made a bold move upward to the nape of her neck. To her auburn hair.
He had dreamt of her hair, of sifting his fingers through it just before a kiss, like now. Only now Lexi was real, and her pelvis lunged forward in a rhythm that weakened Luke's composure and set off fires inside his body.
As their exchange intensified, he ventured in with his tongue, licking Lexi's lips as he teased her with another piece of forbidden fruit. She indulged eagerly, dipping her tongue into his mouth with unabashed intent, tasting him, devouring him, and coaxing a guttural moan from his throat. The cord was cut, and Lexi seemed damned glad to be rid of it as she offered Luke the kiss of his life.
A powerful rush of chills caught him off guard, fueling his emotions and hauling them to the surface. This was followed by a strange, vulnerable feeling that tried to drag him down like an undertow. Was this impassioned lust or the start of something deeper? Had Luke's motives shifted? This he could not allow. Not here, and he stepped reluctantly away from Lexi's mouth.
Luke had been warned that his practice of wooing and subduing women would eventually backfire. Empathetic indifference was his form of survival, and if he stayed at the Maxwell estate much longer, Lexi could be his undoing. Yet he found it impossible to tear his gaze away from her damp lips, flushed cheeks, and searching eyes. She dazzled him with her bold, unashamed actions.
"I don't think I'll ever forget my first kiss." Lexi spoke in a sultry whisper, making it difficult for Luke to recover himself, but he managed a well-practiced smile.
"Thank you for the privilege of giving it to you." With some trepidation, Luke looked deep into Lexi's eyes despite the weakness he felt doing so, but he wanted her to know he truly did feel privileged. The hard part would be resisting the temptation to let her enchant him further. "If you're ready to forgive your father, we should head back to the estate. I don't want your family coming after me with pitchforks."
Lexi lowered her gaze, a clear sign she was disappointed, and Luke didn't blame her. He was disappointed too, but her determined spirit won out, and the next moment, she was reaching for his hand to tug him back onto the path. "I'm expecting you to stay up until midnight tonight. My family has a special surprise for me when I officially turn eighteen."
Luke pasted another smile on his face but he groaned inwardly. He had a feeling Lexi's special surprise would take the form of a life-changing secret her family and friends had kept from her, waiting until she was old enough to accept her fate with grace and good humor. Even Luke knew this would not be Lexi's reaction. Her spirit was too strong to be tempered.
Another emotion Luke had abandoned for practical reasons creeped in. It was pity, and any hopes he had of leaving the party early to attend a false engagement was shoved under the proverbial rug.
"Of course, Lexi. I wouldn't miss it."
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