Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon
He placed her hand to his face so that she could feel his earnest expression. “None.”
Before she could stop herself, she pulled him into her arms and held him close. His strong arms surrounded her with warmth as she breathed his scent in. He held her as if she was unspeakably precious. As if he loved her …
But she knew better. In fact, he could be lying about everything. Most men, in her experience, did.
She felt his jaw tensing as he tightened his arms around her and cupped her head in his hand. He took a deep breath in her hair then released her.
“I can’t believe no man has married you.”
“Who says I want to marry?”
“Don’t you?”
She shook her head. “I refuse to answer to anyone for anything. My life is my own, as is my body. No one is ever going to command me. Have I offended you yet?”
“Not even a little. I cherish your spirit and I hope you always have it.”
She frowned. “Why do you say that?”
Styxx fell silent as his past churned inside him. He might have held her conviction at some point in his life, but he couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t felt like a tired, whipped dog. “Life has a way of breaking even the strongest among us.”
Bethany’s breath caught as she heard his underlying agony. “The strongest of metals is forged under the most violent of conditions, my lord. It is buried deep in the hottest coals and then beat and pounded until it is bent into shape. Then it becomes the strongest, most lethal of weapons. A thing of absolute beauty and force.”
But only when it’s wielded by the right hand
. Galen’s words whispered to him and he finally understood what the old man had meant about the reasons to fight.
For this woman’s safety, alone, he would battle.
“You have the most amazing outlook, my lady.”
“And you don’t?”
“Mine is much bleaker. It is one of responsibility and expectation. But I would much rather see this world through your eyes than mine.”
“But my eyes are blind.”
“And yet, as you said, they see so much more than others.… My beautiful Bethany. I feel like I’ve known you a lot longer than one day, and I don’t know why.”
Bethany fell silent. She felt the same and it made no sense whatsoever. Why did he call out to her when others never had?
What floored her most was that he wasn’t grabbing at her or even trying to kiss her. He was so respectful of her space and her body.
Her Hector was unlike any man she’d ever known.
He sighed. “It’s getting late and I don’t want you out alone in the dark. I need to let you go.”
She had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about this meeting. “Will you visit me again?”
“Would it please you?”
“It would.”
“Then I shall come.” He stood up then helped her to her feet.
When she bent over to pack her basket, she bumped heads with him. “Ow!” they said simultaneously.
Laughing, Styxx righted himself and realized that once again, all the voices in his head were quiet. He never heard them when he was with her.
Why?
“I hope I didn’t concuss you, my lady.”
She rubbed her head. “Not yet, but I fear you might be trying.” Rising up on her toes, she pressed her cheek to his. “Until next we meet.”
He closed his eyes and savored the sensation of her body next to his and her breath falling against his neck. “I will be counting down the heartbeats.”
Styxx handed her the basket and pole and watched as she vanished into the forest. He didn’t move until she was completely gone from his sight.
There was nothing he wanted more than to stay with her forever. But it was an impossible dream. He’d be more likely to convince his father to return Acheron to the line of succession.
And yet …
She is just another trick of the gods sent to torture you with something you know you’ll never be worthy to have.
It was true. Why else would she be here?
July 26, 9532 BC
“Styxx! Come in here, there’s a matter of great importance I need to speak to you about.”
Resisting the urge to let out a frustrated breath, Styxx turned on the stairs and headed for his father’s study.
Just what I was looking forward to. Another lecture on how I’ve disappointed you.
He entered the room and shut the door behind him. “Yes, Father?”
“Have a seat.”
What did I do now
?
Styxx complied as his father sat back in his own chair to stare at him with an unsettling intensity. Yes, this was going to go badly for him.
His father stroked his beard as if seeking the right words. “A troubling matter has come to me.”
The blood left his face.
He knows I’m a whore.…
Don’t overreact. Calm yourself
.
“And that is, Father?”
“You haven’t sired any bastards.”
A relieved breath left him so suddenly that he was slightly dizzy from it. How was that a bad thing?
“I learned that the last whore I paid off wasn’t yours and so I went and investigated the others only to learn that none of them had slept with you either.”
If his father had only listened to him, he’d have known it a lot sooner. “How did you find out, Father?”
“None of them had knowledge of your scars.”
That would do it. Not like any of them could be hidden from a lover.
Styxx sighed. His poor father. The only thing he’d been proud of was bastard children Styxx didn’t have. “I don’t see how this is a problem.”
“It disturbs me that I can find no woman you’ve ever touched.”
His anger exploding with that comment, Styxx rose to his feet. “This is not a discussion I want to have.”
“Sit!”
He debated the wisest course of action. Well, not necessarily the wisest, but the one that would leave him with the most dignity. Unfortunately, it was the last action he wanted to take.
He sank back into his chair.
His father moved to stand beside him. Cupping his chin, he forced Styxx to meet his gaze. “Are you Ganymede?”
Styxx screwed his face up at the accusation. Not just because he wasn’t, but because his uncle and others had used him as if he were. “No!”
“It’s all right if you are. While I prefer a woman’s soft sheath, I have been known to spear a worthy ass or two in my day.”
Styxx cringed at a thought that made him want to vomit. There were things no one wanted to know about their parents and this was definitely at the top of his list.
But his father took no mercy on him as he continued. “Really, Styxx, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Estes has always had a preference for men, and it’s never bothered me.”
Styxx sat in stunned silence as hatred flowed thick through his veins.
You knew how he was and you turned me loose with him?
What kind of father would do such a thing?
His jaw went slack.
“But my brother has taken women on occasion. When he told me he’d seen to your training in Atlantis, I’d assumed they were female whores he used.”
Oh, this just got better and better. “What all did he tell you about my time in Atlantis?”
“Don’t be angry at Estes. I merely voiced my concern that you haven’t been acting as most men your age … that you passed on the women I’ve sent to you for your pleasure. And that I worried the priests might have damaged you.”
Styxx rubbed at his face, wanting to punch his father. Yes, they had damaged him, but not in the way he meant. Gods … how much more of this shit would he have to suffer?
“Estes told me that when you were first with a lover you were quite bashful because of your scars, but that once you got started, you forgot about them. He said I shouldn’t be worried about your ability to perform. That he’d seen you erect himself. However … when I learned that the maids had lied about your using them … I am worried. How can you be king with no heirs?”
How could he sit here with his father talking to him in this manner and not die of abject horror, shame, and humiliation?
The wonders of the world never ceased to amaze him, either.
“So I’ve taken it upon myself to set you up with a mistress.”
Styxx gaped at him. “I don’t want a mistress, Father.”
“Then a tsoulus. Male or female. Your choice.”
“I damn sure don’t want that!” he growled as more pain slammed into him.
That ignited his father’s fury as he glared down at him. “Then explain to me what is going on with you? Why is my son as chaste as my daughter? It’s deplorable.”
Deplorable.
Maybe you should have thought of that before you left me to be manhandled by your priests and gods. Or better yet …
Your perverted brother.
Styxx rose slowly to his feet and forced his anger down before he made his father do something neither of them would forget or forgive. “I don’t need your help getting laid, Father. Really.”
When he opened his mouth to speak, Styxx held his arm up to his father’s face so that he could smell his skin. “I have a woman. Not that it’s any of your business.”
His father smiled in relief as he caught Bethany’s unique feminine scent of lilies and eucalyptus. “You’re in love?”
Styxx nodded. “It’s where I disappear to when you can’t find me.”
“Thank the gods of Olympus!” His father drew him into a hug. “Is she noble?”
“No.”
“Then why haven’t you set her—”
“It’s my concern, Father. I’d appreciate your staying out of it and away from her … please. She’s a good, decent woman and I would never shame her in any way.”
“How can being a prince’s mistress shame anyone?”
How indeed?
There were times when he truly hated the man who’d sired him.
“I want her left alone. I mean it, Father.”
His father held his hands up in surrender. “Fine. I will stay out of your affair, except to say this … you will have to marry a princess at some point and breed an heir with her.”
“I know. But I’m not king yet.”
“No. You’re not.” His father clapped him on the arm. “Very good, then. I shall see you at dinner.”
Styxx inclined his head to him then headed for his room. His father would really shit if he ever learned that he had yet to kiss the woman he loved. That all they’d done to date was sit and occasionally hug.
But that was more than enough for a man who’d been given so few that he remembered every one he’d ever received.
August 18, 9532 BC
Bethany smiled as Hector read his philosophy lesson to her while she reclined in the quiet circle of his warm, muscular arms. She had her hands curled around his forearm, which lay against her stomach while his chin rested on top of her head. His body was so hard and ripped, yet at the same time extremely comfortable. She loved spending afternoons with him like this. He’d read his assignments out loud and then they’d discuss the ideas for days. In all her life, she’d never met anyone more intelligent or thoughtful. Anyone more kind and humble.
Even now, his erection pressed against her back, but he didn’t say a word about it. He never did. Nor did he press her for anything more than the pleasure of her company.
He was content just to hold her and talk about absolutely nothing for hours on end. She’d never known a man like him. Reaching up, she laid her fingers against his jaw so that she could feel the hard muscles there work while he spoke in that deep husky voice that soothed her better than nectar.
As she swept her hand against his lips, his erection jerked in response. Still, he read to her between gentle, playful nips to her fingers.
After a few minutes, he paused and placed his scroll to the side. He leaned back against the tree behind them and cupped her cheek in his large hand.
“Bethany?”
“Yes?”
He bit his bottom lip as he hesitated. She felt his heartbeat quicken against her shoulder blade. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was afraid of something. But her Hector was always fearless and forthright.
Hector took a deep breath before he spoke again. “Would you mind terribly if I kissed you?”
Her smile widened. “No, my sweet. I’ve been wanting you to for weeks now.”
Still, he hesitated.
“What’s wrong?”
He swallowed hard. “I’ve never kissed a woman before. So please, don’t be offended or think badly of me if I screw it up with my ineptitude.”
Her poor sweet Hector. He was so bashful at times … but always so preciously sincere and honest. Wanting to please him, too, she pulled his lips down to hers.
Styxx growled in pleasure as her tongue swept playfully against his. Never in his life had he tasted anything better. With the most dulcet of laughs, she nipped at his lips then gave him a kiss so scorching it left him dizzy and breathless.
Bethany sank her hands into his soft curls as she explored the sweetest mouth she’d ever tasted. For a man who claimed he’d never kissed, he was exceptional at it. She could breathe him in all day.
And when he finally pulled back, he placed his thumb to her bottom lip as if savoring the feel of it.
“That was so much better than I’d imagined. Thank you.” He kissed the tip of her nose then her forehead.
Closing her eyes, she snuggled back into his arms and let him hold her again. “Why are you so reserved with me, Hector?”
“What do you mean?”
“Most men wouldn’t be so content with a mere kiss. Nor would they have waited so long for it. Why are you different?”
“It is not your kisses I come for, my lady. It’s your tender company that means so much to me … though now that I’ve had a kiss from you…” He placed a chaste one on her lips.
She laughed then gave him a much deeper kiss. Mmm … the taste of him and the length of his long, hard body … He was so insanely delectable. Never in her life had she wanted any man as much as she wanted this one.
Human or not.
Wanting to please him as much as he pleased her, she took his hand into hers and led it to her breast.
Styxx sucked his breath in sharply as he felt her through the soft linen and his body hardened to the point of pain. Slowly, he ran his hand over the contours of her breast then swept his thumb over the taut nipple. His body on fire, he wanted to sink himself deep inside her so badly that he could already taste it.