The Dark-Hunters (34 page)

“It’s lust you feel.”

Now, that made her angry. How dare he dismiss her feelings as something so trivial. Her feelings for him ran much deeper than mere lust, they reached all the way to her soul. “Don’t tell me what I feel. I’m not a child.”

Julian shook his head, unable to believe her words. It was the curse. It had to be. No one could love him. No one ever had; not since the moment he’d been born.

For Grace to love him …

It would be a miracle. It would be …

Pure bliss. And he had not been born to feel bliss.

You will suffer as no man ever has.

This was just another trick of the gods. Another cruel hoax sent to punish him.

He was tired now. Weary and exhausted from the fight. He just wanted peace from the pain. A haven from the frightening feelings he felt every time he looked at her.

Grace clenched her teeth at the denial she saw in Julian’s eyes. But then, who could blame him?

He had been hurt so many times. But somehow, some way, she was going to prove to him just how much he meant to her.

She had to. Because losing him would kill her.

C
HAPTER
15

Julian kept a distance between them for the rest of the weekend. No matter what Grace tried to do to break through the intangible wall around him, he pushed her away.

He wouldn’t even let her read to him.

Disheartened, she went to work on Monday morning, but she shouldn’t have bothered. She couldn’t focus on anything except celestial blue eyes filled with unshared turmoil.

“Grace Alexander?”

Grace looked up from her desk to see an incredibly beautiful blond woman in her early twenties standing in the doorway. Looking as if she’d just stepped off a fashion runway in Europe, the statuesque beauty was dressed in a red silk Armani suit with matching hose and shoes.

“I’m sorry,” Grace said to the woman. “I’m closed. If you want to call tomorrow—”

“Do I look like I need a sex therapist?”

Offhand, no. But then, Grace had learned a long time ago not to make snap judgments about people’s problems.

Uninvited, the woman sauntered into her office with a graceful, arrogant stride that seemed oddly familiar. She walked over to the wall where Grace’s certificates and degrees were hung.

“Impressive,” she said, but her tone implied otherwise.

She turned to give Grace a thorough once-over, and by the sneer on her lovely face, Grace could tell the woman found her seriously lacking. “You’re not pretty enough for him, you know. Too short, too wide. And wherever did you find
that
dress?”

Completely offended, Grace went rigid. “I beg your pardon?”

The woman ignored her question. “Tell me, doesn’t it just pain you to be around a man who looks like Julian, knowing if he had a choice, he’d never want to be with
you?
He’s so lean and graceful. Strong and fierce. I know you’ve never had a man like him want you, and you never will again.”

Stunned, Grace couldn’t speak.

She didn’t have to; the woman continued without pausing. “His father was like that, too. Imagine Julian with black hair. A little shorter and stockier, and not nearly as refined. Still, that man had a way with his hands that was … mmm…”

Aphrodite smiled reflectively, her eyes unfocused. “Of course, Diokles was scarred abysmally from his battles. He had this one horrible mark that ran the whole length of his left cheek.”

Her gaze narrowed in anger. “I’ll never forget the day he took a dagger to Julian’s face, trying to scar it like his. I would say Diokles lived to regret that transgression, but I made certain he didn’t. Julian is physical perfection, and I shall never let anyone mar the beauty I gave him.”

The cold, calculating look Aphrodite delivered to her chilled Grace all the way to her bones.

“I
won’t
share my son with you.”

The possessiveness of Aphrodite’s words ignited Grace’s anger. How dare she show up now and say such a thing. “If Julian means so much to you, then why did you abandon him?”

Aphrodite glared at her. “Do you think I had a choice? Zeus refused ambrosia to him, and no mortal can live on Olympus. Before I could even protest, Hermes swept him out of my arms and took him to his father.”

Grace saw the horror on Aphrodite’s face as she relived that moment.

“My grief at his loss was beyond human measure. Inconsolable, I locked myself away, and when I was finally able to emerge, fourteen years had passed on earth. I barely recognized the baby I had suckled. And he
hated
me.”

Aphrodite’s eyes turned shiny as if she were fighting back tears. “You have no idea what it’s like to be a mother, and have the child you carried in your womb curse your very name.”

Grace sympathized with her grief, but it was Julian she loved, and Julian’s pain that concerned her most. “Did you ever try to tell him how you feel?”

“Of course I did,” Aphrodite snapped. “I sent Eros to him, offering him my gifts. He sent them back with words no son should ever utter about his mother.”

“He was hurt.”

“So was I,” Aphrodite shrieked. Her entire body shook with her rage.

Apprehensive and more than a bit scared of what an angry goddess could do to her, Grace watched as Aphrodite closed her eyes, took a deep breath and calmed herself.

When Aphrodite spoke again, her tone and body were rigid and sharp. “Even so, I sent Eros back with more offerings for Julian. He spurned every one. I was forced to watch as Julian vindictively swore his loyalty and service to Athena.” She spat the name as if she despised it.

“It was in
her
name he conquered cities with the birth gifts I had bestowed upon him; the might of Ares, the temperance of Apollo, the blessings of the Muses and Graces. I even dipped him in the river Styx to make sure no mortal weapon could ever kill or scar him, and unlike Thetis with Achilles, I coated his ankles so that he would have absolutely no vulnerable spots.”

Aphrodite shook her head as if she still couldn’t believe what he’d done. “I did everything in my power for that boy, and he showed no gratitude to me. No respect. Finally, I gave up trying. Since he refused my love, I made sure no one would
ever
love him.”

Grace’s heart stopped at the selfish words. “What did you do?”

Aphrodite lifted her chin haughtily like a queen who was proud of her cold-blooded war. “I cursed him the way he cursed me. I made sure no mortal woman can look at him without wanting his body, and no mortal man can be around him without feeling his heart swell in envy.”

Grace couldn’t believe her ears. How could a mother be so cruel?

And as soon as that thought finished, another, even more horrible one ripped through her. “You’re the reason Penelope died, aren’t you?”

“No, Julian did that one himself. Granted, I was enraged when Eros told me what he had done for his brother, that Julian had gone to him and not me.

“Since I couldn’t undo Eros’s love arrow, I decided to dull its effects. What Julian had with Penelope was empty, and he knew it.”

Aphrodite moved to the window to stare out onto the city. “Had Julian ever come to me, I would have lifted it from her. But he didn’t. I watched him go to her night after night, taking her over and over again, and I felt his restlessness, his anguish over the fact she didn’t truly love him. Still, he denied and cursed me.

“It was my tears over his betrayal that first set Priapus against him. Priapus has always been the most loyal of my sons. As soon as I saw Priapus was out for Julian’s blood, I should have stopped it. But I didn’t. I was hoping Priapus’s anger would make Julian seek me out. Ask for my help.”

She clenched her teeth. “But he never did.”

Grace felt for her, but it didn’t change what she’d done to her own son. “How did Julian get cursed?”

Aphrodite swallowed. “It started the night Athena told Priapus that he had no man as courageous and strong as Julian. She dared him to pit his best general against hers. Two days later, I watched Julian ride into battle, and knew he wouldn’t lose. When he beat the Romans back, Priapus became enraged. Once Eros let slip to him what he’d done, Priapus immediately went after Iason and Penelope. I had no idea what the repercussions of that event would be.”

Aphrodite wrapped her trembling arms around herself. “I never meant for the children to die. You can’t imagine how many times a day I ache over what I let happen.”

“There was no way you could have stopped it?”

Aphrodite shook her head sadly. “Even my powers are limited by the Fates. When Julian started for my temple after their deaths, I held my breath, thinking that finally he would turn to me. Then, he saw that slut wearing Priapus’s robes. She threw herself at him and begged him to take her virginity before the ceremony where Priapus would claim her. Even then, Julian tried to get past her, but she wouldn’t let him. Had he been thinking clearly, I know he would have denied her.”

Aphrodite’s face darkened in rage. “If not for Alexandria, I would have had my son that day. I know he would have called on me. But it was too late. The moment he released himself in her, it was too late.”

“And still you refused to help Julian?”

“How could I choose one son over another?”

Grace was aghast at her question. “Isn’t that what you did the minute you let Julian be placed inside a scroll?”

Aphrodite’s eyes flared with such malice, Grace took a step back. “Julian was the one who refused
me.
All he had to do was call for my help and I would have given it to him.”

Grace couldn’t believe what she was hearing. For a goddess, Aphrodite was incredibly selfish and shortsighted. “All this tragedy because the two of you refuse to acknowledge each other. I can’t believe you’d make Julian strong, and then curse him for the strength you gave him. Instead of waiting for him, sending others on your behalf, did it never occur to you to go yourself?”

Aphrodite raked her with an indignant glare. “I am the Goddess of Love and you would have me crawl? Have you any idea what an embarrassment it is to be me and have my own son hate me?”

“An embarrassment for you? You had the entire world to love you. Julian had no one.”

Aphrodite took an angry step forward. “Stay away from him. I’m warning you.”

“Why? Why would you warn me and not Penelope?”

“Because he didn’t love
her.
”

Grace froze at the words. “Are you saying—”

Aphrodite vanished.

“Oh, come on!” Grace shouted at the ceiling. “You can’t just poof out in the middle of a conversation!”

“Grace?”

She jumped at Beth’s voice. Whirling around, she saw her peeping in through the door.

“Who are you talking to?” Beth asked.

Grace gestured around the room, then thought better of telling Beth the truth. “Myself.”

Beth looked skeptically at her. “You always yell at yourself?”

“Sometimes.”

Beth arched one dark brow. “Sounds like we need to have a session,” she said as she walked off.

Disregarding her, Grace wasted no time gathering her things. She wanted to get home to Julian.

*   *   *

As soon as she opened the door to her house, Grace knew something was wrong. Julian wasn’t there to greet her.

“Julian?” she called.

“Upstairs.”

She dropped her keys and mail on the table and ascended the steps two at a time.

“You’re not going to believe who stopped by…” Her voice trailed off as she reached the door of her bedroom and saw Julian with one hand cuffed to her bed. He was lying in the middle of the mattress, shirtless, with his brow damp.

“What are you doing?” she asked as dread consumed her.

“I can’t fight it anymore, Grace,” he said, his breathing labored.

“You have to.”

He shook his head. “I need you to shackle my other hand. I can’t reach to do it.”

“Julian—”

He cut her words off with a bitter, harsh laugh. “How ironic is this? You, I have to beg to chain me, while the others did it freely within hours of my incarnation.”

His gaze bored into hers. “Do it, Grace. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt you.”

Her throat tight, she crossed the room to where he lay.

When she was close enough, he reached out and cupped her cheek with his free hand. He pulled her to his lips and kissed her so thoroughly she thought she might pass out from it.

It was fierce, demanding, a kiss of longing. And one of promise.

He nipped her lips with his teeth as he pulled away. “Do it.”

She ran the silver cuff around her bolster.

It was only then Julian relaxed. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized just how tense he’d been the past week. He laid his head back on her pillows and took a deep, ragged breath.

Grace reached out and touched his damp brow. “Good Lord,” she breathed. He was so hot it practically singed her skin. “Can I do anything?”

“No, but thanks for asking.”

Grace moved to her dresser to get her clothes. As she started unbuttoning her blouse, Julian stopped her. “Please don’t do that in front of me. If I see your breasts…” He threw his head back as if someone had stuck a hot brand to him.

Grace realized just how comfortable she had become with him. “I’m sorry,” she said.

She went to the bathroom to change, then made a cold compress.

She returned to the bedroom to bathe his fevered brow. She brushed her hand through his sweat-dampened hair. “You’re on fire.”

“I know. It feels like I’m lying on a bed of coals.”

He hissed as she drew the cool cloth over his skin.

“You haven’t told me about your day,” he said breathlessly.

Grace choked on the happiness and love that filled her. Every day, he asked her that. Every day, she looked forward to coming home to be with him.

She had no idea what she would do when he was gone.

Forcing herself not to think about it, she focused her attention on taking care of him.

“Not much to tell,” she whispered. She didn’t want to burden him with what his mother had said. Not while he was like this. He’d been hurt enough in his life; she had no desire to make it any worse.