“All of it,” he growled.
After a pause, sensing he meant it, I explained, “I met Josh through a company I worked for years ago.We started dating, and before I knew it a whole year had passed.We had fun, and it was comfortable.Heck, I even considered a permanent relationship with the guy.
“He was handsome, charming, and successful.”I felt Darius’s arms stiffen.“But the more intense our relationship grew, the more I realized how much of my life I put on hold to bolster his.Josh’s clients.Josh’s parties.Josh’s pleasure came first.After a while, I got sick of canceling my plans to suit his.Then it got worse, because instead of being honest with what he wanted, he would guilt me into giving in.If I loved him as much as he loved me, I’d skip my conference.If I had half his devotion, I’d agree to hostess his business social.”I frowned, still not sure why I’d put up with his bullshit for so long.“It took a while, but I finally found me again after too much time playing second to him.”
I paused to focus on Darius’s intense gaze.“Now I find myself caught inyourmess with an evil sorcerer from another world.And man, I cannot believe I just said that.It sounds like something from a bad movie.”
I’d been talking nonstop.Darius had yet to speak.So I waited.
A few seconds passed before he asked, “Do you still have feelings for this Josh?”
I knew he could have probed me for answers, and I appreciated the fact that he avoided doing so.
I gave his question some thought.“You know, I don’t.Not anymore.At the time, I thought I loved him, but what I really loved was the feeling of being important to someone else.”
I wondered if relationships in his world worked like the ones here.From all I knew, he understood sex and making babies.But emotionally, did he get loving dynamics?
Could he fall in love with a woman not from his world?
Would he, could he, ever love me?
Chapter19
Darius
My thoughts collided with my conscience.I could feel the pain of Samantha’s failed relationship throbbing in her heart.She wanted to be first with a lover, and why shouldn’t she?
She was a beautiful, caring, hard-working woman who deserved to be treated like a queen.Unfortunately, she had to once again take a backseat in a relationship.In this instance to the battle waging between Sin Garu and Tanselm.
Just as Josh had hurt her, I too would play the part of self-important lover.Through no fault of my own, I’d been placed in the role.But unlike Josh-the-Asshole, I had no intention of letting Samantha go.
Why I was suddenly so sure of her importance in my life, I had yet to understand.Our chemistry went beyond anything I’d ever experienced.The raw emotion that followed our sexual encounters stunned me.
Those physical attractions boiled down to hormones, breeding chemistry.The affection I felt for her was so much more.
How could I put into words the irrational idea that destiny had brought us together?That I, Darius Storm, the Prince of Fire, had finally found a mate in a world so completely foreign to me?
And that my mate would most likely be averse to being my bride for the exact reasons she’d left Josh?
My head pounded, and I closed my eyes, keeping my arms locked around Samantha.All of a sudden, I was exhausted, and I realized I hadn’t slept much in the past forty-eight hours.How much sleep had Samantha managed?
As if in answer, she rested her head on my chest and sighed.In seconds, her breathing evened and she fell asleep, much to my satisfaction.My need to be with her unnerved me and yet made me oddly happy.Though I hated to concede to Arim, I understood, deep down, that I’d met my affai.
My heart, my future.
Now if only Samantha would play her part without too much persuading.
I snorted.As if the she-devil in my arms would make anything easy.Hell, since I’d met her, I’d been in one predicament after another.Yet she excited me like no other, made me ache for her touch, for a whiff of her scent.
I’d found no fragile flower here, but a firebrand with as much passion as a firewalker.I grinned as I studied her golden skin, glowing under a haze of stray sunlight beaming through a half-shuttered window.
Fiery and confrontational summed Samantha Brooks in a nutshell.Not to mention passionate and sexy as hell.
I prayed to the Light for patience, a trait I knew I sorely lacked.I couldn’t afford to screw up this attempt at courtship, not for Tanselm and not for Samantha.
With any luck, I’d have time to convince her to accompany me home.Before I explained about what being an affai meant and that she’d have to give up everything she held dear to save both my land and my life.
Right.No problem.
