by Zoe Forward
“Aside from becoming a monstrously humiliating klutz, I have a new problem.”
His body tensed. “A klutz?”
“I fell while jogging today and tore up my knees.”
He moved as if to release her.
She gripped him tighter. “I’m good. Went to my healer. I’m all patched up.”
“So, what kind of problem? Is someone new trying to kill you?”
She smiled against his chest at his dark tone. This man would always be her protector. No matter what transpired between them, he’d be the first to annihilate anyone who posed a threat. “No. I did something stupid.”
He pried her head away from his chest to look at her face. He’s so bloody handsome—his broad shoulders, high cheekbones, and thick biceps. He’d gotten a haircut since she’d last seen him. She missed the longer strands.
His forehead wrinkled with worry. “What did you do?”
“There’s this guy…”
His body jerked, but he made no move to let go of her. Emotion darkened his gaze. “A problem guy? Is it that druid? Eli?”
“I never had anything with Eli. The man kisses like a fish. Icky.” She made a disgust face.
“You kissed him?” His eyes narrowed.
She bit her lip to hold back a smile. “Back in undergrad we needed to know. It sucked.”
“There’s another guy? A new guy?”
She almost lost her fight against a smile but pushed onward. “I fell in love with this guy, but he doesn’t want me. I know, stupid. But I couldn’t help it. It just happened. He says his boss won’t let him be with me.” She touched his cheek and traced the definition of his cheekbone.
“Oh” whooshed out of him like a deflating balloon. “You’re in love with him?”
“I…I’m in love with you. I’m sorry, but that’s the way I feel.”
He dropped his mouth to hers.
Despite the sweet relief overwhelming her with each pass of his lips, she pulled away from his kiss. “I need to know one thing. Do you want me, Alexi?”
“I’ve always wanted you.” He looked wretched.
“You want me for sex.”
“For so much more than sex, and you know it.” She read only truth to his statement.
“No, I don’t know. Do you love me?” She pleaded with her gaze for him to tell her.
“That’s two things.” His lips twitched upward.
“What?” she asked, confused.
“You only wanted to know one thing.”
“Don’t be an ass. Do you love me?” She resisted the impulse to hit him.
“Yes. But I—”
“I know…Hades.” He loves me. Elation spread through her body. She grinned.
“When I future glimpse, I don’t see this…us.”
“You once said the future is never set, that it’s about choices. If you want this…if you want us to be together, then I have a way for us to know if the gods approve.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “But before I try it, you must understand there’s no going back once this is done, if the gods approve.”
He squinted, skeptical. “What are you going to do? I’m not drinking any witch potions.”
“No potion. I can inspire a mark, probably like the one Hades gave you. If the two of us are meant to remain together, then it will appear. It’s a god-approved mark. If we’re not meant to be together, then it won’t work.”
“All right. Do your thing, then.”
She rubbed over his heart. “Can you promise this belongs to me?”
Hoarsely he said, “Ragana, you’ve owned that since the second you appeared in my life.”
She smiled and rubbed circles over his heart.
“Ouch.” He stepped back from her and tugged at his shirt to look down his collar. “There’s a new raised mark.”
She whispered, “It worked?” In awe, she stared into his startled green gaze. “That means…they gave us the thumbs-up.”
He looked down his shirt again.
“Let me see.” She pulled down the collar until she could see the red mark over his heart. “A meandros. It’s the Greek symbol for eternity. It means we’re…” She trailed off.
“Now you blush? You just put some sort of god mark on me.” He traced a finger across her cheek. “Tell me what else it means, other than the gods gave us approval to share a bed.”
“We’re kind of married, at least according to the Pleiades goddesses.”
Married? A complex joy flared in Alexi’s chest. Part of him felt like he’d won the lottery against crippling odds. But the core of him feared his responsibility to Hades would drive her away from him.
She frowned. “Buyer’s remorse?”
“Are you sure you want this? I will never be released from what I must do for Hades until I die. I must…kill.”
Serenity grew so quiet that he worried. She finally said, “I know and understand that. I love you for who you are. I have things I must do, too, because of what I am.” She glanced out the window and gasped. “I didn’t know we were here. At the house.” She looked around at the newly refurbished kitchen of the Scottish house. “How did you get them to sell? And how could you afford this place?”
A smile spread on Alexi’s lips. “I actually make a lot of money in my line of work but never really had a use for it until now. I can be quite persuasive when I want something.”
“I bet.” She glanced out the panoramic view windows. “So was this supposed to be an I’m sorry, get on with your life gift or an I’m sorry, take me back?” She slowly met his gaze.
“You are my life.” He closed his eyes and took a breath. “You are the reason I persisted with my duty to Hades and didn’t succumb to injury…to death. Before you appeared I’d lost my way. I’ve spent eleven years protecting you in the shadows and doing jobs when Hades ordered.”
“You don’t have to protect me in the shadows anymore, not that I need protecting.”
He buried his face in her hair and held her there. He shuddered and then sighed as if he’d finally come home. She knew exactly how he felt.
“I quit MI6,” she said.
“So I heard.”
“I had a vision. I don’t usually believe them to be anything more than passing wishes. But I believed in this one, which meant I needed to quit.”
“What did you see?”
“Your son. Our son.” She wove her fingers along his collarbone. “He had your eyes. Your face.”
He ghosted white. “You’re not…are you?”
“Not yet, at least not that I know of. But it’s nice to know there’s at least one thing that can freak you out.” She smiled. “Well, that and when your plan A doesn’t work.”
He gently touched her chin. “You really want this with me? Even after knowing what I must do for the rest of my life?”
“There’s never been anyone else. I love you.” She kissed him.
He smiled. “I’ve got this thing in Japan that I have to do tomorrow…”
She leaned in and nibbled on his ear. “Can I be the redhead?”
Hoarsely he said, “Ragana, you can be whatever you want so long as you follow my plan.”
“We’ll see about that.”
His gaze narrowed. “We will not do unpredictable.”
She grinned. “That’s the best part.”
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Acknowledgments
A huge thank you to Allison Collins for her magical gift to visualize how the words could be better, and the wonderful detailed edits. I’ve really enjoyed working with you and hope we have many books to come.
Thank you to the entire Entangled team. There are so many talented peopl
e behind the scenes who helped make this book happen.
A big thank you to my husband. People ask how an author with a day job and a family can get anything done. None of this would be possible without you. You’ve always encouraged me to keep at this. Thank you.
Thank you to my son for the laughs and love. You’re the best and I love you.
And my wonderful mother who’s been with me since, well, the beginning.
Thank you to fellow Entangled author Nichole Severn for your friendship and support, and a general get-it-done when needed.
To Robin Covington for sage advice at the right moment. And, Rebecca Zanetti for feedback and encouragement.
As always, thank you to the rest of my incredible family (those furry and human). During the height of edits on this book, Misty the dog ate another sock. Unlike the many before, this one didn’t pass through, requiring I do surgery. She survived…to eat another sock, yesterday.
Finally, thank you to you, the reader, who welcomed my characters into your heart and mind, and let them tell their stories. ~ZF
About the Author
Zoe Forward is a hopeless romantic who can’t decide between paranormal and urban fantasy romance. So she writes both. In addition to being a mom to one rambunctious kindergartener and wife to a conservation ecologist who plans to save all the big cats on the planet, she’s a small animal veterinarian caring for all the small furries, although there is the occasional hermit crab.
When she’s not typing at her laptop, she’s tying on a karate belt for her son or cleaning up the newest pet mess from the menagerie that occupies her house. She’s madly in love with her globe-trotting husband of ten years and happiest when he returns to their home base in North Carolina.
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