power pulled at me, made my flesh tingle.
Turning, I lifted a brow, studying the woman before me.
A woman of myth and legend. Her blond hair hung like a fall of golden water down around her feet. She wore no clothing, and the hair—as though charmed with a life of its own—always seemed to be strategically placed in such a way so as not to reveal more than tantalizing peeks of her radiant flesh.
Dropping to a knee, I bowed before the goddess of love herself.
Aphrodite’s violet eyes shimmered with laughter. “I heard you call for me, Ragoth Nur. Why?”
Wiggling her fingers, she motioned for me to stand. I did, leaning against the windowsill. “I did not call you.”
“Oh, but you did, dragonborne. I felt the weight of your heart; it grieves me to see one so loyal as you in such a state.”
Twisting my lips, I shook my head. “You can only listen to a soul in love. I am not—”
Her smile was knowing. “Aren’t you? If, as you say, I can only listen to a soul in love, then why else would I be here?”
I turned my face to the side. The knowledge of what I felt, confirmed to me from her lips, brought not a measure of peace. In fact, it made me feel ill.
“Zelena Hermosa,” she whispered, “a morphling due to marry the king of hearts. Yes, I know all about her.”
I wasn’t sure why she was here. Wasn’t sure what pearls of wisdom she could possibly impart to me. “Alwyn says I cannot mate a woman not of royal blood.”
She shrugged. “What does your prig of a brother know about love anyway?”
Aphrodite swatted at my words as though swatting at a gnat.
My heart trembled. “Are you saying I can?”
Looking upon the goddess of love, it was hard not to find myself attracted to her. But my attraction to her was unlike what I felt around Lena. There was a heated passion that burned through me with the goddess in my room, a desire to strip her down and mate with her.
But even as I felt it, I knew it to be a result of her glamour. Of who she inherently was. Aphrodite was the epitome of female beauty and sexuality. You’d have to be dead not to want her.
Beyond the attraction though, there was nothing else. I did not wonder about her life, did not care to ask her how her day had gone or who she’d spent it with. I did not worry that someone had treated her ill.
I merely wished to slack my lust upon her.
With Lena, it was just the opposite. I wanted her body, but I wanted her soul too. I wanted every part of her.
“There is a season for all things. A season to love, a season to lose, and a season of rebirth. None can happen though, without that first step. And between you and me, she’s hawt!” She winked, and her laughter sparkled like golden threads through my room.
My lips twitched. I wasn’t exactly sure what she’d said, but I thought I understood the meaning. I bowed my head.
“Thank you, Goddess, I have much to consider.”
“Well”—she laid a hand on her hip and cocked her leg out to the side—“don’t take forever. The night is short and soon your chance will be gone. What you do tonight, decides the entire course of your future. So, my darling dragon, choose wisely.”
Then with a wink and a finger wave, she vanished in a plume of magenta-swirled smoke.
I’d be required to meet with my tutors in only a few minutes. Burying my impatience, I knew I would go to her. Knew what I would do.
If Aphrodite was behind me, then I could not lose.
Grinning, I planned it all out in my head. I would offer myself to the hag in the king’s stead, tell her of my not-so-insubstantial worth, and have Lena as my very own from now until eternity. This would work.
Of course my mother would try to kill me and eat Lena. Not to mention Alwyn’s displeasure, but as my English tutor would always say, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way, dragonborne.”
Humming the song Lena sometimes would when she walked up the path to meet me, under my breath, I ran a talon across my palm, bleeding
Turning, I lifted a brow, studying the woman before me.
A woman of myth and legend. Her blond hair hung like a fall of golden water down around her feet. She wore no clothing, and the hair—as though charmed with a life of its own—always seemed to be strategically placed in such a way so as not to reveal more than tantalizing peeks of her radiant flesh.
Dropping to a knee, I bowed before the goddess of love herself.
Aphrodite’s violet eyes shimmered with laughter. “I heard you call for me, Ragoth Nur. Why?”
Wiggling her fingers, she motioned for me to stand. I did, leaning against the windowsill. “I did not call you.”
“Oh, but you did, dragonborne. I felt the weight of your heart; it grieves me to see one so loyal as you in such a state.”
Twisting my lips, I shook my head. “You can only listen to a soul in love. I am not—”
Her smile was knowing. “Aren’t you? If, as you say, I can only listen to a soul in love, then why else would I be here?”
I turned my face to the side. The knowledge of what I felt, confirmed to me from her lips, brought not a measure of peace. In fact, it made me feel ill.
“Zelena Hermosa,” she whispered, “a morphling due to marry the king of hearts. Yes, I know all about her.”
I wasn’t sure why she was here. Wasn’t sure what pearls of wisdom she could possibly impart to me. “Alwyn says I cannot mate a woman not of royal blood.”
She shrugged. “What does your prig of a brother know about love anyway?”
Aphrodite swatted at my words as though swatting at a gnat.
My heart trembled. “Are you saying I can?”
Looking upon the goddess of love, it was hard not to find myself attracted to her. But my attraction to her was unlike what I felt around Lena. There was a heated passion that burned through me with the goddess in my room, a desire to strip her down and mate with her.
But even as I felt it, I knew it to be a result of her glamour. Of who she inherently was. Aphrodite was the epitome of female beauty and sexuality. You’d have to be dead not to want her.
Beyond the attraction though, there was nothing else. I did not wonder about her life, did not care to ask her how her day had gone or who she’d spent it with. I did not worry that someone had treated her ill.
I merely wished to slack my lust upon her.
With Lena, it was just the opposite. I wanted her body, but I wanted her soul too. I wanted every part of her.
“There is a season for all things. A season to love, a season to lose, and a season of rebirth. None can happen though, without that first step. And between you and me, she’s hawt!” She winked, and her laughter sparkled like golden threads through my room.
My lips twitched. I wasn’t exactly sure what she’d said, but I thought I understood the meaning. I bowed my head.
“Thank you, Goddess, I have much to consider.”
“Well”—she laid a hand on her hip and cocked her leg out to the side—“don’t take forever. The night is short and soon your chance will be gone. What you do tonight, decides the entire course of your future. So, my darling dragon, choose wisely.”
Then with a wink and a finger wave, she vanished in a plume of magenta-swirled smoke.
I’d be required to meet with my tutors in only a few minutes. Burying my impatience, I knew I would go to her. Knew what I would do.
If Aphrodite was behind me, then I could not lose.
Grinning, I planned it all out in my head. I would offer myself to the hag in the king’s stead, tell her of my not-so-insubstantial worth, and have Lena as my very own from now until eternity. This would work.
Of course my mother would try to kill me and eat Lena. Not to mention Alwyn’s displeasure, but as my English tutor would always say, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way, dragonborne.”
Humming the song Lena sometimes would when she walked up the path to meet me, under my breath, I ran a talon across my palm, bleeding
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