“You look good sleep-tousled,” he all but purrs. “And I like that gown on you. You should wear it all the time. I can see your pretty nipples through the linen.”
Mywhat? He canwhat?
Why are his words such a turn on? Damn it!
Kalos’s green eyes are sleepy with arousal, and I’m tempted to get back into the bed with him.Tempted. I haven’t stopped thinking about the hungry kiss he gave me back when he freed me from Seth’s dungeon…but this feels different. Kalos isn’t normally this blatant. I eye him. From his shirt, which is open to the waist and seems like an invitation, to the bare feet that dangle just out from under the blankets.
As I watch him, he reaches down and adjusts a very prominently outlined cock through his clothing.
My mouth goes dry.
He just smiles.
“Are you…okay?” I lick my lips, and it takes everything I have to pull my gaze from that hypnotic length.
“I could be better.” He strokes his length again.
I put a finger up. “Hold that thought. I need to talk to Omos.”
With a heavy sigh, he flops back into the bed dramatically. “Always with the monk. Do I need to fight him for your attention?”
“What? No! He’s literally a monk.” I shake my head at Kalos. “And you’re not being yourself. I don’t know what this is, but it’s not you.”
“Why, because I’m attracted to you?” He curls one arm under his head, looking sleepy and tousled and sexy.
I flinch, because that stings. Is that what’s happening? Is that why he never pursues a relationship with me? Never follows up after a kiss?
Because he’s not attracted?
I know he finds mortal foods disgusting. What must he think of mortal…me?
Shaking my head, I put my finger up again, indicating he needs to wait, and grab my cloak from the peg by the door. I race outside, looking frantically for the monk. Something weird has happened to Kalos and I’m freaking out. My heart pounds as I head to the goat pen, searching for a familiar bald pate. “Omos?”
The monk’s head pops up from the herd of goats. “Just milking. What do you need, Elsie?”
I point back into the monastery, clutching the cloak closed with my other hand so Omos doesn’t see mypretty nipples. “Something’s wrong with Kalos!”
The expression on his face turns uncomfortable. “Ah, yes, I had noticed a change in his disposition this morning.”
I race to his side, frantic. “Is he okay? What do we do? How do we fix it?”
Omos avoids eye contact. “If I were to speculate, I would say that yet another one of his Aspects has been destroyed.”
Of course. I put my hand over my face, stifling a groan. It all makes sense now…and I can just guess which particular Aspect this is. Kalos is horny because he’s been taken over by Hedonism. His attraction to me isnotreal.
I don’t know if I’m crushed or relieved or horrified. Can I be a mix of all three? “What do we do?”
The monk picks up his milking bucket and gives me a puzzled look. “Do? What is there to do?”
“But…”
“I am not your father, my dear. You are an adult. You can choose to be with him if you see fit. You will find no judgment from me.”
That…that’s not what I’m asking. My face feels scalding hot. “So…what? We just wait this out and hope he goes back to normal?”
“If you like.”
“How long will that take?”
