“I regret I am unable to… aid you in that way.”
She drew her hand back and crossed her arms in a huff. “Why not? Do you not find me comely?”
“I do, it’s just—”
“Then what is it?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“I am mated,” he blurted.
Her blue eyes turned cold as ice, and rage danced in the corners of her expression.
“I can’t control it. A mated dragon is unable to… perform with anyone other than their mate. The bond is too strong.”
“I’m familiar with the customs of your kind. What I am unfamiliar with is this mate you speak of. You’ve never mentioned her before. You were not mated when I brought you here.” She raised a brow.
He closed his eyes and chided himself for entertaining Hera’s advances when he’d first arrived. They’d never gone so far as to become lovers, but there had been unspoken promises in their flirtation, possessiveness in her touch. He licked his lips. She would know if he lied.
“It happened when I returned to Paragon.” Not a lie. His dragon had voiced his claim on Medea at the time she’d projected his ghost to the Obsidian Palace.
“Who is she?” the goddess asked through clenched teeth.
He sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. “No one of importance. Not a goddess. Not a princess. Just a girl who happened upon a dragon who cannot forget her.”
Hera grunted in disgust. “Typical,” she murmured. The goddess rolled her eyes. “Bring me the book as soon as you have it. Come directly to me, do you understand?”
He swallowed. “Yes. If my siblings find it, I will bring it to you.”
The goddess glowed brighter and bared her teeth. “She’d better find it, dragon. Do not misunderstand me. I’m tasking you with this, and I will not be appeased until I have it.”
A muscle in his jaw tightened to the point of pain. “Yes, goddess.”
Chapter Nine
“What was it like?”
Medea lowered her chin and gave Isis a secret smile.
Both of her sisters were huddled with her at the base of the tanglewood tree, desperate for information. They’d witnessed the kiss from behind the cover of a large tree in the apple grove. She should have known they would. There was absolutely nothing more exciting in any of their lives as a man in their midst. She couldn’t deny them the information they sought so ardently.
“The kiss was warm and soft.” Her cheeks heated as she remembered it. “But his body was hard. Hard everywhere, like the muscles of your calves. And his skin was hot like he’d been standing by a fire. That’s because he’s a dragon. They run hotter than the rest of us.”
“What about his…?” Circe raised an eyebrow.
“Circe!” Isis elbowed her in the arm.
“More than adequate,” Medea said with an impish grin. “Everything we’ve read about as far as I could tell. I mean, we didn’t…”
“We know.” Circe sighed and gave her a wicked wink. “Although how you managed to stop, I can’t imagine. You must have been as curious as we are.”
“There was so much more than what I expected. My heart pounded in my chest, and a sweat broke out across my skin like when we were children playing chase. Something else, a connection. I felt it snap into place between us, almost like we were meant for each other. I think he’s my destiny.”
Isis stifled a laugh. “What do you mean, your destiny?”
“Like how we were destined to be sisters, and Mother and Father were destined to be our parents. He is my future, my next family.”
“Like Mother and Father?” Circe inclined her head.
“I think so.” Medea pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “If he feels the same way. He might not. How does one know for sure? I have no experience with this love magic.”
