June 19, 2016.
Kell had tried. He really tried.
He needed to get that girl out of his head. He had already been on edge before she showed up. Now the sexual frustration wore down on him more.
No. He was going to prove it to Acheron. Prove it to himself. He didn't need a woman to keep him together.
Damn!
The blade that he had been pounding out melted… again.
Yeah, he could melt, solidify, manipulate, even lift insane weights of metal. But, a good blade still needed to be processed for optimum strength. Looked like he was starting over on that one.
Who was he trying to kid?
He was a mess. His powers were out of control and caused problems. Once, he caught his rug on fire. Another time, he melted his sink with the fricken psychokinesis shit. He had even woken up burning, three times, since Lily left his forge.
In his sleep, he kept dreaming of her. Of the things that he wanted to do to her. To taste her. To feel her warm, slick body wrap around his manhood as he slowly made love to her. To tease her until she screamed his name.
Then the dreams would shift and he would remember his wife and children. He would hear their screams. His panic would set in. Something telling him that he needed to protect Lily, no matter what. Before she suffered the same fate as his family.
Then he would wake up to another doppelganger version of himself out on the streets, trying to find her. In daylight!
Fortunately, he would wake up and run to some shaded corner quickly enough to shut down the doppelganger and be whole again. In his room. Where it was safe.
But, that was three days of being too close to being exposed. Dealing with the pain of the burns he suffered. No relaxing sleep to help him heal. He was seriously screwed. Acheron was right. He needed someone to anchor him.
So, without any other choice, he grabbed his keys and left the split second it was safe to leave the house in his black Hennessy Venom GT. He preferred his Valkyrie for comfort. But, the Venom was the fastest car he owned. Hell, it was the fastest street legal car in the the world.
Once he hit open road, Kell used his powers to create his doppelganger in Houston. It was risky to do it over that large of a distance for the time needed, but he had practiced through the centuries. Even with the way Kell drove, it would be a couple of hours to get to Houston from Dallas. And with sunset close to 8:30pm that time of year, there would have been no other way to catch Loukas and his dinner reservations at 8:00pm.
Kell walked into The Grove. It was a trendy place in the middle of Discovery Green, the park that sat directly across from the convention center where the comic fest was up and running. Loukas saw him and stood to flag him down.
"I am sorry that I am late." Kell mumbled.
Loukas shrugged his shoulders. "No worries, I already paid to have the tables until they close. Everyone is running late with the Cosplay Competition. Gave us time to chat."
Kell shook his hand and then Niko's. "Everyone?"
"Yeah, he brought a whole crew this year." Niko chuckled.
Taking a deep breath, Kell tried to relax. He had come to find Lily. But, he didn't want it to look like he was ungrateful for time to visit with friends. Plus, it sounded like others were coming, so Kell focuses on catching up with the brothers and hoped that Lily would be among the late attendees.
"I am telling you guys. These kids today. Ouff. They are lazy. I have never seen students like this before." Niko ranted. "I almost want to wash them all out."
Loukas scowled. "Ahh. What about Lily?"
That caught Kell's attention.
Niko simply shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, most of the grad students are bright. But, even there, she is the acception. That girl is hard working. Too hard working. We just need to get her out of that damn lab more often."
The two brothers paused and looked up meaningfully at Kell.
"What?" He frowned.
As the clock ticked closer to nine, Kell was starting to fidget. He didn't have a backup plan if she didn't go to the restaurant. Just as he was about to swallow his pride and ask Loukas about the girl, the sound of vibrant laughter caught Loukas and Niko's attention.
With a wide smile, Loukas jumped up. "Aidan! It's about time you made it."
Kell turned to see a handsome blonde man walk through the tables carrying a woman who laughed the whole way. Kell didn't pay attention to who the man was, his eyes were solely focused on the woman in his arms.
Lily.
A wave of jealousy ripped through him so forcefully, that the other part of himself nearly lost control of the car. He had to fight to regain his composure before anyone noticed. Doing this while split into two parts was difficult enough.
"Lalita Margarite Kyrkos." A woman scolded. "Why are you letting that poor boy carry you?" A petite woman walked in behind them. Her curly auburn hair surrounded a face very similar to Lily's.
Wait. Did she say Lalita Kyrkos?
Oh hell! Kell was fixated on his friends daughter! That was just a whole new level of screwed. And wrong!
"Mama, I tried to tell him to stop and put me down." Lily turned to look at her mother as she was lowered to the ground. But, in the leather sandals that she wore and the angle she was twisted, she didn't quite get her feet under herself enough and went slipping down into Kell's lap.
His hands quickly wrapped around her to keep her from hitting the table or falling to the floor.
"I've got you."
She was an absolute vision. She was dressed in a red silk peplos of Ancient Greece, covered in leather armor painted in gold. Complete with a brass shield and spear. Her long brown hair was down and curled at the ends with just two braids from the temples, tied in back.
Her rich brown eyes were bright and her cheeks were pink from the laughter as she came in. His body roared to life as he finally filled his senses with her scent. Peppermint. And woman.
He tried to commit every detail to memory. Lily was beautiful. No. Lalita was beautiful. That was her name. It suited her. He liked the way it sounded more sensual.
It took Kell a moment to remember that she had come in with another man. He shouldn't be staring at her when she was obviously with someone else.
Lily was mortified. "Oh my God. I am so sorry I fell on you." She quickly moved to climb out of his lap. "I swear, I am a clutz of extreme proportions sometimes." Her wiggling to climb back out rubbed at a particularly sensitive piece of his anatomy. It made his breath catch. The other man offered her a hand until she was more stable.
Kell had to bite back a growl as he let her go.
"Oh, that was damn entertaining." Loukas roared. "Don't worry about it boy. Lily is one bright girl, but can't seem to keep from hurting herself. Thanks for catching my baby girl."
Kell looked over to his friends. Both Loukas and Niko smirked like they knew something. It was all grating on Kell. He felt like he had been set up, but he didn't understand it.
He should just leave. He didn't need to be tortured as he watched Lily with another man. He certainly didn't need to be a fool in front of her father, his friend.
"Molly, love, let me introduce you to my friend Kell Devora." Loukas stopped the older woman. "Kell this is my beautiful wife, Molly."
Kell offered his hand and she smiled brightly. "You are the Kell that the old bear is always talking about? What a delight to meet you."
"Hephaestus?" Lily questioned. What was her father up to? To have her go out to deliver some gift right after her long flight. She barely had time to get to her hotel room, shower, and meet them for dinner before she thrust that request on her. And for what? The guy was there. It could have waited.
"Athena? I am guessing." Kell's deep, accented voice rolled over her skin.
Her face split into a wide smile, her eyes sparkled as though he had just given her the greatest gift. His heart stopped.
"No one guesses right." Then she wiped the smile away, remembering that she was still angry at him for his rudeness before. "You look different with clothes on." Yeah, he looked yummy and very intimidating in high end black designer jeans and a nicely fitted black t-shirt.
"Excuse me?" Loukas growled. "Just what kind of 'innocent poking' had you really been doing?"
Niko nearly fell out of his seat laughing.
Kell quickly put his hands up in surrender. "I was in the forge. I was dressed, just no shirt on. That's all. I swear."
The guy behind Lily finally broke his silence. "Yeah, I am so not looking forward to my girl growing up."
Just as he said that, a little girl's voice rang out. "Aunt Lily!"
"Hey there Cuddlebug!" The little girl ran to hug Lily. She appeared to be around the age of nine or so. She was followed by a stunningly beautiful woman with long black hair and pale blue eyes. If he didn't know better, Kell would think she was Oneroi. One of the dream gods. But, he felt no power from her.
However, as the woman approached, she wrapped her arms around the other man's waist. He smiled widely. "Everyone, this is my wife and our daughter."
"I'm Leta. This is Kari." The woman introduced. Though her eyes narrowed and her head tilted slightly when she looked at Kell.
That was odd. Still, it went a long way to getting Kell to calm down. Lily wasn't with the guy. At least not with, with him.
"Sorry, I just kind of met you. What was your name again?" The man asked.
"Kell." He offered his hand to the couple.
"Aiden O'Conner." He shook his hand. It wasn't until the man introduced himself that Kell looked at him enough to recognize the Academy award winning actor. He supposed it made sense that Loukas and Molly would be friends with actors. And a comic convention certainly brought several out.
Everyone sat down around the tables with Lily next to Kell. Alright, he could do this. He had a chance to get to know her a little. Even if it was directly in front of her father. Damn, now he knew what Colt felt like with Roxie. Awkward was the understatement of the century.
