her words to tell the truth, but also make the listener assume something completely different. 'So you can dream about it,' he said, 'but you can't actually have it? Is that what you're telling me?'
Jewel's eyes widened. She hadn't expected Gray to fully realize what she was doing. Suspect, yes, but not call her on it. 'What's to keep another ruler from stealing me? What's to keep someone who thinks I'm dangerous from killing me?' she added in a whispery, hollow tone.
A muscle ticked in his jaw. 'You need to learn self-defense. You need to learn how to evade your enemy.'
She snorted. 'Evade an entire army?'
'It can be done. Believe me.'
'I've seen many of your missions, and I doubt I will ever learn to fight and evade as you do.'
'You'll do what you have to do to survive.' He squeezed her hip, rubbing his thumb along the curve of her waist.
She shivered.
'I was sent to Gillirad, a planet rife with magical wars. Their armies had spells for everything, from freezing someone in place, to spells of sickness. They were destroying each other, and I found myself in the middle.'
'Why were you even there?' she gasped, horrified.
'OBI sent me in. I was to do recon, nothing more. To observe them, find out how they practiced such powerful magic, and leave. I had a team of psychics with me. When one of the Gillradian armies spotted us, they cast some kind of spell over my group, a spell that killed everyone but me.'
She grabbed his hand, linking their fingers. 'What saved you?'
'I think it was the fact that I was the only nonmagical being there. I had no magical qualities, so their magic didn't stick. They realized that and chased me all over the planet. I overhead one of them say they wanted to study me, to experiment and use me against their enemies.'
'How did you escape?'
'The same way I survived when I first arrived in Atlantis. It's all about blending into your surroundings, knowing when to strike and when to back away.'
'My face is recognizable. One look at me, and everyone knows who I am.' 'Maybe you need to disguise your face. Color your hair.'
Her shoulders slumped, and she fought back a wave of gloom. Some part of her had hoped he'd ask her to return to the surface with him. Another part had yearned to hear him vow to stay with her always. 'That is no life, hiding my true identify. That is not freedom.'
'Is there no one you trust to help you, then? To fight in your behalf?' 'I trust
His hand slid up, up, to the edge of her breast. A lump formed in her throat, and she gulped. Fire licked through her, heating her blood.
'Besides me,' he said, his voice suddenly hard. 'Someone who knows Atlantis and its people.'
She tumbled the question through her mind, then shook her head sadly. 'I could go to the dragons, I guess, but it wouldn't last long. Someone would sell my location and I would be stolen.'
'What about your father?'
'As I told you, I have yet to find him. And when I do, I can't be sure he'll be able to help me.' Gray was silent for a long while. Finally he said, 'I'll think of something. I won't leave you helpless.' She paused. 'You could take me with you.'
Gray liked the idea. A lot. A whole hell of a lot.
He liked the idea of having her in his house, in his bed. Just thinking about it got him primed; it hardened and excited him. He could strip her every night, sink into her warm wetness. He could enjoy her at his leisure.Be her first man.
His hand fisted at his side as pure, undiluted desire rocked him. He'd teach her the way he liked to be touched, and he'd learn the sensitive spots on her body. They'd make love in every position imaginable— and some positions that weren't.
God, he was tempted. So tempted.
No matter how much he might want her with him, however, he was going to leave her here. OBI would find out about her, take her, experiment on her, and lock her away, just as the people of her own world did. There was simply no way to get her through the portal without their knowledge. They had men stationed outside of it twenty- four hours, seven days a week.
'Sorry,' he told her, forcing his tone to be as unbending as steel. 'I can't do that. You have to stay, and I have to go.'
Her eyelids squeezed shut for a brief moment, and she let out a shaky breath. He knew he'd hurt her, and he hated himself for it. 'I wish I could, Jewel, but it's impossible.'
'I understand,' she said softly. 'I do. You don't have to explain.'
Frustrated, he raked a hand through his hair. Pain oozed from her voice, and he realized he would rather kick his own ass than hear that again. 'You would face the same dangers on the surface as you do here, if not worse. Here, at least, the kings and queens do not hurt you physically.'
'Sometimes I think that would be better than the emotional pain I'm forced to bear.'
God, she was tearing him apart inside, and she didn't even realize it. 'Like I said, I'll teach you to defend yourself. We've got the next three days together. I can whip you into a fighting machine in that time.'
They came to a white stone building, music humming from the doors, a soft melody that seduced. No one was entering or leaving the place, so Gray couldn't get a look past those doors. Intrigued, he stopped and read the sign. 'The Happy Hoof.'
'A centaur bar,' Jewel supplied. 'With dancing.' His silver gaze whipped to her, just as his stomach clenched. Electric currents raced through him as he imagined holding her in his arms. Pulling her close, meshing her breasts into his chest, swaying with her to the gentle melody. He forgot about his aching body in that instant, his arms itching to hold Jewel, his palms burning to caress her. To sweep away her sadness. 'I promised you dancing lessons, sweetheart, and I'm a god of my word.'
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jewel trailed behind Gray as he barreled his way past the double doors and inside the bar. The soft sounds of a flute drifted through the laughter and chatter that permeated the room. Centaurs were scattered in every direction, some sitting at tables, resting on their haunches, others prancing on the dance floor in a tangle of chestnut, blond and carmine fur. Several sirens were also present, their skin glowing incandescently, their dark hair silky and flowing. Then—
Everyone stopped, paused, and turned toward them, staring. Even the music ceased, cutting to quiet. Jewel shifted uneasily on her feet.
Gray stepped forward, and several people gasped, muttering, 'Human.'
As he jumped wholeheartedly into his role of god, his brows arched into his forehead, and his lips dipped into an imperial frown. He waved a hand through the air. 'I have arrived,' he said, his superior voice cutting through the silence. 'Why do you not bow? Do you dare disrespect me?'
The fluidity of his words, as if he'd spoken her language his entire life, still amazed her. She'd never before considered the abrupt syllables sensual, but when Gray spoke them, a hungry shiver traipsed along her spine.
'You can't truly expect us to bow to you, human,' a huge centaur snapped, darting forward menacingly. His arms were tanned and thickly muscled, his chest bare and laced with scars.
Jewel's mouth went dry. The centaur planned to snap Gray in half like a twig. She read the thought so clearly in his mind.
'I am Adonis,' Gray said, layer upon layer of power in his voice, 'and you
That voice... compelling and enigmatic, hypnotic, laced with an all-encompassing authority that left no room for argument. Half of the people in the room gasped and stepped toward him, wanting to touch the god who had
