Awakening (Book One of the Eklektos Series)

Chapter Sixteen

Hermes surprised her by being completely professional in his class after lunch. She kept shooting him suspicious glances, sure he was up to something, but he was the picture of innocence. When the class was over, he called her over and gave her a reading list, to catch up if she was interested.

When she took the paper from him, his hand closed gently around hers and he pulled her closer. To her surprise, he pulled her into his side and put his arm around her, like a friend. Before she could process things enough to react, he said "So I hear Ares has posed a little challenge for you, for this month's assessment."

"How do you...of course you would know that." She scowled, looking away. His arm was still around her shoulders, and he was steering her out of the classroom. She squirmed slightly, but forgot that she wanted to escape when he started speaking again.

"He isn't easy to impress." Hermes pointed out, grinning at her pout. Didn't she know how tempting those lips of hers were? "You'll have to do something pretty spectacular if you want him to honour his end of the bargain."

"Yeah? Like what?" She flinched inwardly at her tone; this was still someone she should respect but she was acting like a bratty kid.

His grin widened "Like put him on his back."

Her eyes snapped back to his face in disbelief and she stopped in her tracks. "Hermes...he's a god. In case you hadn't noticed, he's too strong for me." Grimacing, she added sarcastically, "At this rate the only way to get him on his back would be to sleep with him."

"I thought you would have a little more imagination than that." He teased, feigning disappointment. When he was certain he had her attention again, he lowered his voice and leaned closer. In their current position, his lips brushed the side of her neck and he loved the way her breathing hitched at his proximity. Still, he let her step away, his wolfish grin still in place. Quietly, he continued "You should know that Ares has even more pride than you do. He doesn't think things through, and he's stubborn. Regardless of his strength, he would be the easiest one of us for you to overpower because he is certain that you are weak."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Kali muttered "Thanks for the heads up." She knew he was just trying to get on her good side. She still couldn't understand why, but she wasn't going to question it. That didn't mean that she was going to let him touch her again.

When Kali looked back up, Hermes' face was hovering mere inches from hers. He looked deep into her eyes, murmuring "Grateful?"

She was sick of being on the back foot. Sick of being hunted and feeling like prey. No matter what the contact did to her, it was only because she wasn't used to being chased by a man like him. That was all. It wasn't about him. Just like his attraction wasn't about her.

Kali moved fractionally closer as though to kiss him and then whispered, "Not that grateful."

Hermes just laughed and moved back again with a shrug, like it didn't really matter. She would never admit it to him, but she couldn't help but admire his confidence. Confidence that she had never had. He was utterly certain that he would be able to bring her around to his way of thinking. It was a strangely attractive quality. Even as angry as she was that he pushed her off balance, out of her comfort zone, she wouldn't argue that a part of her liked the attention.

More whispers followed her after that, but it was hard to find the energy to care. The gossiping, at least, was like every school she had been to. It was almost a grounding factor. Which was sorely needed, when her life made no sense to her. Everything had changed so much, so quickly, and the ground was still spinning beneath her.