Acheron

Even Artemis withheld her blood from him in an effort to control him. If he didn't please her, he starved. More than that were the memories of being force-fed by his father's guards. Shovel it down his throat. Hold his mouth and nose shut until he swallows. And when he'd choked on what they were brutally pouring into his mouth, they'd punched and slapped him, too.

He hated to eat.

Tory reached for the cheese and froze as she caught the strange look on Ash's face. If she didn't know better, she'd swear he was afraid of the food in front of him. 'What's wrong?'

'I really don't eat breakfast.'

This time she heard the underlying note in his voice that reminded her of a small, fearful child. Before she could stop herself, she walked over to him and stood by his side. He continued to look at the plate.

Gently, she took his whiskered chin in her hand and turned his head so that he was looking at her. 'I won't force you to eat against your will, Ash. But I don't want to see you starve. Please, eat something.'

Ash stared at the vein on her neck that throbbed with the vitality of her life. He could hear her heart beating… that was the food he craved.

His incisors elongated at the surge of hunger that went through him. His senses sharpened as he felt his eyes turning red.

Eat…

But he couldn't bring himself to feed from her the way Artemis had done him when he'd been human. Even though he could make it pleasurable for her, he couldn't do it. It was such a feeling of being violated to have someone drain the blood out of your body. Have them rip through your flesh with their teeth while you were powerless to stop them…

I won't do it.

She reached down and cut a small bit of the eggs off before she brought the fork up to his lips. 'Would you please take one bite?'

His instincts were to shove her away from him as his teeth receded. Instead, he found his lips parting so that she could place the eggs on his tongue. The taste stunned him. He hadn't tasted food since before he'd died.

But even better than the food was the satisfied smile on Tory's face. She reached out and stroked his jaw with the backs of her fingers.

Closing his eyes, he savored the tenderness of that touch as his cock hardened forcefully. In that moment, it took every ounce of strength he had not to pull her to him and kiss her. Or more to the point, strip her naked and sate the hollow ache inside him.

Never in all of his existence had he tasted lust like this. It was more than a mere craving, it was a raw, demanding need.

She broke off a piece of toast and held it up to his mouth. Dutifully, he parted his lips and let her feed him again.

Tory couldn't explain the peculiar sense of satisfaction she had from feeding him, but there was no denying it. She felt as if she were taming a feral lion. And when she fed him a piece of bacon, he gently nipped her fingers.

A shiver went over her.

'It's not so bad, is it?'

He shook his head.

She gave him another bite of the eggs. He swallowed them, then took a swig of beer. She couldn't see his eyes, but she could feel the weight of his gaze on her and it made her entire body hot.

'Now that I've placated you…' He pulled her against him and captured her lips.

Tory moaned as his tongue touched hers. Never in her life had a man kissed her like this-as if he were breathing her in. Possessing her. His kiss was hot and demanding as he cupped her face in his hands.

Ash was on fire from the taste of her, of the feeling of her tongue against his. Over and over, he could imagine himself buried deep inside her. Feel her hands on his back, stroking him with the same tenderness she'd used to touch his cheek.

Unable to stand it, he trailed one hand down her arm, and around her hips to press her closer to him.

Tory's body throbbed with an unbelievable demand. She wanted to strip those jeans off and taste every inch of his body until she was blind from ecstasy, but at the end of the day, she wasn't stupid.

A man like this didn't date a woman like her. It just didn't happen.

'Whoa, boy,' she said, pulling back. 'Down. We just met. For that matter, I don't even know what your eye color is.'

Ash wanted to whimper as she stepped away from him. His gaze dropped to her nipples that were plainly visible beneath the tank top she wore. All he wanted was to shove her shirt up and take one of them into his mouth.

Would she hold him like he mattered?

Or would she slap him after he'd pleased her and kick him out her bed?

That last thought went over him like ice water. He didn't want to feel used anymore. Not to mention he had one large, red-headed problem who would beat him until he had no skin left on his body if she ever found out he'd kissed another woman.

Damn it. His life had never been his own.

'I'm sorry,' he breathed. 'You're just extremely irresistible.'

'Strange, men have been resisting me for years.'

'Yeah well, they were idiots.'

Smiling, she reached up for his glasses. 'Can I take these off?'

Ash swallowed as fear tore through him. 'I wish you wouldn't.'

'Why?'

'Because they'll make you uncomfortable. No one likes to look at my eyes.'

She scowled at him. 'What are you? Rosemary's baby?'

'Kind of.'

She shook her head at his fear. 'Well in case you haven't noticed, I'm not most people.'

No, she wasn't. But not even the gods could look at his eyes without curling their lips in disgust. 'Just remember, when you do this, there's no going back.'

Tory froze at those dire words. Now she had to know what they looked like. Reaching up slowly, she pulled the sunglasses off his eyes.

Ash looked down at the floor, preventing her from seeing their color. But dayam, the man was even more gorgeous without the sunglasses on. Never had she seen a more perfect set of features.

'Look at me, Ash.'

Ash ground his teeth as he remembered Artemis telling him the same thing. Back then, he'd been afraid of her hurting him over them. Now there was no fear of Tory doing him harm, but even after all these centuries he knew how seldom people met his gaze without curling their lips or cringing. He hated for anyone to see the evidence of his godhood.

Tory stroked his brow with a light, gentle touch. 'Please, Ash?'

Bracing himself for her horror and fear, he looked up and met her gaze levelly.

Tory stared in shock at the swirling silver color. Never in her life had she seen anything like them. The color was so pale and pure. They reminded her of mercury. 'Are you blind?' Even as the question left her lips, she knew it was absurd. He could see plainly.

His features were stoic. 'No, I'm not blind. It's just an unfortunate birth defect.'

She saw the shame in his eyes as he spoke and it made her chest tight that something so beautiful would hurt him so much. 'It's not a defect. Your eyes are beautiful. Unique… like you. I think they're very cool.'

He glanced away.

She caught his chin and forced him to look at her again. 'Who hurt you?'

His gaze was guarded. 'What?'

Tory stroked his jaw as she realized how shrewish that must have sounded. 'I'm so sorry, that was so nosy of me. It's just, you're so guarded and private about even the most innocuous thing. Like you're afraid to let anything out for fear of it being turned against you. And it's everything, right down to your eye color. I'll bet black isn't even