She took one long, lingering look at his lush, muscular body and the way the water made those ripped muscles glow …
Yeah, it was worth it. And it always made it difficult for her to remain in her dragon’s body whenever she watched him bathe. It was why she allowed him to do so, even though it would mean her life if they were caught.
Biting her lip, she felt the heat inside her rise and it wasn’t from her dragon’s fire.
For years now, she’d been venturing into the main Apollite town in the guise of one of them to spy on him from a distance. Sometimes when he trained. Or whenever they gathered for celebrations. Always in crowds so that he wouldn’t notice her or, goddess forbid, approach her to talk.
Although there had been a few close calls when she’d been too caught up with his beauty that she hadn’t pulled away fast enough.
Now …
You’re different tonight, Urian. What else happened that you haven’t told me about?
Urian had a confidence to him that hadn’t been there before. A peculiar air she couldn’t quite place. In spite of his injuries, she sensed a peace she didn’t understand.
Most of all, she wanted to wrap him in her arms and hold him close so that no one could harm him or threaten his safety in any way.
He paused in the black water to stare up at her where she waited on the bank. Floating on his back, he gave her an uninhibited view of his entire perfect body. Every inch of it.
Her throat went dry as she felt even more heat rushing through her. All she wanted was the courage to change forms and climb on top of him so that she could take him inside her and claim him as her own.
That would be heaven. And it was the one dream she had that she knew could never be.
Especially when he finally broke the silence with words that shattered her heart.
“I fed tonight.”
An unbelievable wave of anger and jealousy tore through her as her happiness splintered at the thought of him having sex with another woman. A wave so fierce and furious that she almost belched fire at him. It made her long to do him harm. More than that, it demanded she find whatever female he’d found and pluck every strand from her head until she was bald and bleeding.
Begging for mercy!
How could he do this?
Then again, how could he not?
The truth stung like a hive of hornets, and it brought tears to her eyes as she forced herself to calm down and face a bitter, harsh truth. He had to have an Apollite to feed him. She could never do that and she knew it. With all her powers and abilities …
She could never be what he needed.
Never.
“Xyn?” He swam closer to her. “Are you all right?”
No. How could she be? The man she loved had broken her heart. He’d taken another lover and there was nothing she could do about it.
He was faithless and here she had to stand in silence while he cavorted with someone else and rubbed her very nose in it. While he laughed and went off with another, right in front of her very eyes. How could any woman be all right with that?
It was madness for him to even postulate such a question to her.
Yet in spite of the pain. In spite of the travesty, she swallowed hard before she answered in a calm, steady voice that belied her tattered heart. Of course.
With a worried frown, he came out of the water, dripping and naked, and headed for her.
Unable to bear the sight of his beauty when she knew she couldn’t have any part of him, Sarraxyn got up and flew away, wishing more than ever that she could leave this horrible place and find her own family. Be among her own kind again. At least there she wouldn’t be so horribly alone.
Forever. An outcast in a world where there was no one like her. Where no one could love her or see her for what she really was. She was a freak here.
Unwanted. Unneeded.
Judged for things she couldn’t help.
And seen for only half of who and what she really was. But one day …
One day, she’d break free and the world would know her for her real heart and force.
That would be the day they’d all tremble in fear before her.
Even Urian.
June 12, 9511 BC
“Your matera is human!”
Urian froze the moment he entered Xanthia’s home and she spat those hate-filled words at him as if they were fiery grenades launched from a parapet and meant to incinerate his entire being. Forcing himself not to react, he took a deep breath. “She is.”
Xanthia hissed and bared her fangs at him. “Why did you lie to me?”
His anger pitched and churned at her unwarranted attack. It wouldn’t take much for it to explode at this point. Xanthia had no idea how tenuous a ground she tread upon. No one assaulted him for his mother. Hellen of Delphi was sacrosanct to him and he would die defending the woman who birthed him—even against Apollymi herself.
“I didn’t lie, Thia. You didn’t ask. My mother is Greek. I am not. Now if you’ll excuse me…” He left before she pushed him further and this became the ugly situation that experience had taught him invariably followed such heated exchanges.
You should have told her about your mother.
It would have been the prudent thing to do. No doubt some asshole had run to her with the news, just to spread the gossip of it for no other reason than to wreak havoc with his screwed-up life. He’d never understood that urge that others had. To tell half-truths and pretend to know something when they didn’t. To make up whatever bullshit they wanted for whatever sick game they’d contrived for the sake of drama. As if they had some kind of inside information on a given topic when the only ones who knew the truth were those who were the actual participating parties.
The rest were just dumbasses.
“Urian!”
At Xanthia’s call, he paused in the middle of the street and turned to wait for her to catch up to him. She’d swept her blond hair up in tiny braids that teased her ears and caressed her neck. A style she knew he found fascinating. Inviting. One that left him hard with longing for those sweet, succulent curves.
Even though she was just barely three years older than he was, and in spite of the fact that Apollites aged quicker, somehow she still managed to appear younger than he did.
His mouth watered for a taste of the blood he could hear rushing through her veins. But the sting of her condemnation was raw and bitter inside his heart. He’d had enough of it in his short lifetime that he wanted no more.
He was already done with this world and the judgment people gave him.
Breathless from having to run to catch up to him, she struggled for composure and licked her plump lips. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to accuse you or lash out. The news caught me unawares. Given what had happened in my village and how you protected us, I never expected to hear that you were partly human. I assumed you hated their race as much as I did.”
A tic started in his jaw. “No one can help where they come from, Thia. Only where they go.”
“I know. Can you forgive me?”
His heart softened the moment she batted her lashes and gave him that sweet, beguiling look of hers. Probably because no woman had ever done that before. Unlike his brothers, who were used to being flirted with, he had no defenses against it. He was hopeless where she was concerned.
And horny any time she came near. Damn his hormones. He couldn’t control himself. She knew it even more than he did.
“Of course.”
Rising up on her toes, she pressed her lips to his. That melted the last of his defenses.
Urian growled at the sweet taste of her tongue sweeping against his and the sensation of her warm curves pressed against his body. It reawakened his hunger instantly.
“Come home with me, Urian. I’ve sent my children over to my sister’s so that I can properly feed you.”
That was all she needed to say to finish wrapping him around her pinkie as he imagined peeling her peplos from her body and sliding himself deep inside her while he drank until he was drunk from her blood. The more she fed him, the hungrier he became for her. It was a madness really.