He was a man of his word.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Imperia
ROMULIS PACED THE white sands of Druinn, the four suns heating his skin. But those warm rays in no way compared with his fury. “Evil bitch,” he growled. “I do not need her.”
“Need who?” one of the elders asked him.
Multiple sorcerers stood along the sea’s edge. Some even hovered in the air, but all watched him with weary eyes.
He refused to speak or acknowledge the question with a response. He continued to pace, the rage inside him growing, soon consuming him. He knew Zirra had worked to regain her magic without his aid, determined to have Tristan and end her association with Romulis. And he should be happy about it.
Zirra was his life-mate, the one woman meant for him, yet still she hungered for another. Always she hungered for Tristan. A male she’d enslaved and tortured, yet Romulis couldn’t live without the bitch? Why was life so unfair?
The fury blended with pain and desperation, vibrating inside him. I will win her, and I will punish her. I will bring her to heel as I would a wild animal.
“If you were referring to me, I have never claimed to be anything different.”
The voice came from behind him, familiar, adding kindling to the fires of his fury. Romulis spun and came face to face with Zirra. The traitorous suns’ rays paid her tribute, caressing her cheeks, making her cerulean eyes sparkle. Even now, he craved her hands on his flesh, her screams of pleasure in his ears.
“Leave us,” he told the sorcerers still brave or foolish enough to linger.
The rustle of their footsteps echoed in his ears.
“What do you here?” he demanded.
Her chin rose haughtily. “I’ve come to tell you that I’ve decided to hold you to your vow to help me acquire Tristan. I expect you to do so—and I expect to have him back permanently. While some of my powers have already returned, I still need yours.”
His stomach twisted, the pain so sharp he nearly cried out. Just then something broke inside him. Mayhap it was his patience. Mayhap it was his goodwill. Whatever it was, he’d decided to tame the evil bitch, so he would. No longer would he tolerate her defiance or her obsession for another man.
“I have watched you pant for Tristan all these many cycles, waiting for you to see me,” Romulis growled, backing her into a cold, silver stone that circled the sands. “I am done waiting. You are mine. And by the time I’m done with you—and that time will come—you’ll be a well-behaved and respected member of society.”
Her eyes widened with fear and mayhap a bit of arousal, but he hardened his heart against her. She had pushed him past the point of his endurance, and now she would assuage him.
Never again would he assuage her. “Come with me. Your taming begins.”
* * *
TRISTAN SAT AT the kitchen table, silent and scowling, as he ate his breakfast. A veritable feast of pancakes, fried eggs, bacon, biscuits and sausage gravy, French toast, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. His mind remained fixated on one thought.
Julia tried to make me leave her.
She had tried to gain a confession of love from him, right after offering her own.
Shock still coursed through him. If she truly loved him, how could she even consider parting with him forever?
He didn’t doubt that she did in fact love him. She had uttered the words so many times they were branded inside his mind. And she had meant them each and every time. The truth had shone in her eyes, as obvious as the color of her irises.
His chest clenched as he remembered. When you loved something, you kept it, so you could protect you. You didn’t set it free so—
Free. The word echoed in his mind. She planned to free him, so no other mistress could harm him. Realization. She loved him more than her dream of having a family.
Lo—like for her bloomed through his heart, warm and comforting.
He lo—liked her enough to remain bound to the box, so he could spend the rest of her life by her side.
After her death—his heart twisted—a new guan ren would enter his life, he had no doubt, but he could survive anything, as long as he had a lifetime of memories with Julia.
“I want to close the shop and spend the day with you,” Julia said. She sat across from him, not really eating. Just pushing her food around her plate.
“Why do you want to do this?” She’d almost always protested the loss of income. But then, he already suspected the answer. She planned to win a declaration of love from him.
“I love you, and I want to make memories with you.” She said this so easily.
This woman deserves children.
The thought slithered into his mind, sank its fangs in, and remained attached. She had saved two rooms for her children, dreaming of the day she would become a mother. This woman who gave so freely of herself deserved to have her greatest dream come true.
How can I not love her?
He almost gave her his declaration just then, but managed to stop himself in time. But when it came to Julia, he was finding he was a selfish man. He’d given so much to so many for so long, he was ready to take. What if they adopted? Or provided a home for orphaned children?
And what if your next mistress demands you harm one of those children?
Acid trickled into his stomach. He mentioned none of his thoughts to Julia. “What would you like to do?” Her wish, his command. They would absolutely make memories together. He would give her what he’d never given to another: a full-on boyfriend experience.
“We can
