“Are you angry with me?” she asked.
“Angry?” Osiris echoed. The word puzzled him. It tasted thick and wrong on his tongue. “No. I’m not angry with you.” What he felt for Isis had nothing to do with anger, though the heat of such an emotion did burn within him. As he looked at her, dazzling in the light of the moon, he considered her the way he did when he came across a rare and most beautiful flower.
The delight he experienced at finding such a thing was almost heady and it filled him with euphoria. He’d cup the blossom between his hands and inhale its delicate scent. Then he’d study it and its surroundings. Carefully and painstakingly he’d watch over it for an entire life cycle taking copious notes, and then, when he was finally ready to take possession of it, he’d bring it home to the perfect spot and lavish all his attention on it until it thrived under his care.
That was what he longed to do when he looked at Isis. He wanted to cup her exquisite face in his hands and figure out what she needed, how he could make her flourish. Of course Osiris couldn’t say such a thing to her. Not without consequences. He knew her well enough to know she couldn’t just take such an admission into her heart and store it away. No. She would want to act upon it, and he could not allow that to happen.
While he worried over these things, Isis rose from her seat and approached him. In her eyes, he could see the eternity of the cosmos, the birth of stars, the churning of nebulas. They transfixed him, cast a spell upon him, and he felt intoxicated by the moonshine reflected in them. But that didn’t matter. He needed to tell her what he’d come to say. “Seth . . . overreaches,” he said finally.
“Seth?” she questioned, a look of puzzlement on her face. “Why do you speak of Seth?”
“He wants something from you.”
She lifted a shoulder, as if she gave no thought to the matter. “Seth has always sought our approval.”
“No. This is different. He . . . he desires you.”
Isis frowned. “I think you are mistaken.”
“I am not. Do you think I cannot discern when a man wants a woman?”
“I did not think you cared to notice such things.”
“In your case, I do.”
Tilting her head, Isis considered his words. “I see.” Then she nodded. “Thank you for making me aware of it.”
She made as if to leave, but Osiris took hold of her arm to draw her back. “I . . . I need to know. What do you intend to do about it?”
“About Seth?”
Osiris inclined his head and held his breath for her answer.
It was a full three heartbeats until she spoke. “I suppose I’ll need to talk with him about it.”
“Ah.” Osiris let go of her arm and sucked in a breath. “But . . . but what do you plan to say?”
She shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know. I’ll consider his words first and then make a decision. There isn’t much for me to do unless he declares his intentions.”
“Right.”
This time she did turn to go and Osiris hurried to block her path before she exited, taking hold of her shoulders. “Don’t,” he said. “Just . . . don’t.”
“Don’t what? Leave? Talk to Seth? Walk home? What don’t you want me to do?”
“Don’t consider him.”
“And why not?”
“You know why not.”
“Your reasons are not the same as mine.”
“They should be.”
“But they are not,” she answered, her chin lifted defiantly. “You cannot make my decisions.”
“Perhaps not, but I am affected by them.”
“How so?”
“If you choose him, I will . . . suffer.”
“Yet you still refuse me, do you not?”
“That is correct.”
“Then you want me to suffer instead.”
“No. That’s not—” He sighed. “I don’t want you to suffer, Isis. It’s just . . . Seth isn’t right for you.”
“Then who is?”
Osiris chose not to answer her. Instead, he took a step closer, cupped her cheek, and stroked her soft skin with his thumb. Soothingly, he murmured, “You are as delicate and lovely as a moonbeam.” Bringing his other hand to her face, he traced the line of her jaw. Giving in to temptation, he drew her close, relishing the feel of her palms on his chest. Then he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I would not have Seth tarnish your light.”
Isis slid her hands up and twined her arms around his neck before saying, “Then give me another option.”
Before Osiris could respond, Isis lifted her mouth to his, and all thoughts of what he was going to say escaped his mind. When she angled her head and pressed closer, he groaned and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, actually lifting her from the ground. Her wings fluttered, and a part of him was aware that he was no longer holding her weight. Then she tucked her wings and fell against him once more and he thought nothing in his life had ever felt so good, so right, as holding the weight of her in his arms.
Isis was the brightest star in the cosmos. And she was his for the taking. He was caught in her orbit and he’d burn up in her presence. But he didn’t care. He wanted this. He wanted her. More than he’d ever wanted anything since his life began. And yet, he knew he couldn’t have her.
Gently, he set her down and stepped back. The cruel distance separating them was like a living thing taunting him just after they’d been violently ripped apart. Her eyes were soft, shining. Packed with promises.
The lips he’d just kissed were full and lush and tempting and it would be so easy to lower his head and taste them again. The slow smile that built as she lifted a hand to stroke his hair was heartbreaking, and he knew the becoming flush of her cheeks was something he’d treasure for the rest of his days.
Capturing her hand, he brought it to his lips and pressed a tender kiss on her palm. “I’m sorry,” he said. It was a pathetic echo of what had happened between them before. But that time he’d been running from the consequences of what she’d proposed. This time he was running from his own feelings. And there was no denying it now. The feelings he had for Isis were very real. The only question was what he would do about them.
“What?” she asked, blinking back in confusion.
“I said I’m sorry, but I need to go.”
“Go?”
“Yes. I need to think.”
He quickly headed down the gazebo steps and onto the moonlit grass.
“Think?” she cried out, obviously upset. “By all means then, run away and think, Osiris! But just be warned that I plan to do a lot of thinking myself!” With that, Isis leapt from the gazebo, opened her wings with a snap, and disappeared into the starry night.
From the shadows of a tree, Seth watched, eyes glittering as Isis took to the sky and Osiris stormed off. Things were not proceeding as planned, but Seth thought he might still be able to turn them in his favor.
Chapter 4
Grafting