She gritted her teeth in frustration. Damn him and his obsession with her fictional love life. “I told you, we’re just chatting.”
“But you are not speaking with anyone else? And you’ve been using your time getting to know his culture? You’ve asked me numerous questions about basilisks.”
“Yes, but…” She bit her lip. Her hounding him for answers about basilisks had apparently backfired in this instance. “We didn’t do anything wrong, Hektor.”
“Not yet,” he qualified. “Place yourself in his shoes, Zara. If a man you truly liked did what we did with another woman, even if you had no understanding, how would you feel?”
Once he said it, she found it hard not to imagine Hektor with another woman.
His mouth, hands, and tail on her.
Jealousy rose in her, stabbing her in the chest.
“See? It does not feel great, correct?”
Damn him and his logic.“I guess not,” she murmured.
“Zara, from what I can tell, you are a decent, respectable, and trustworthy woman,” he began. “I know you would never betray your partner and I expect nothing less if you were my mate. If anything, it was my fault, letting my instincts get the best of me.”
Double damn. Did he really have to bring that into this?
“We should just forget this ever happened.” He turned his back to her. “Before anyone gets hurt.”
Zara took a deep breath. She was on an emotional high, thinking she had made progress tonight. Her instinct told her to keep pushing, to break down the walls he was starting to put up before they blocked her out completely.
But perhaps for now, it was best to back down, retreat and consider her next steps.
It would be a lie if she agreed with him, as she doubted she could ever forget what happened.
So instead, she said, “We won’t talk about it.”
For now.
His shoulders relaxed. “Good. Let’s get back to the others.”
The team stayed in Orunai for one more night and they managed to visit a few of the other herds and found a few more of Zeus’s children. There were still other herds that they couldn’t contact because they were settled on the far corners of Orunai and could only be reached by centaurs—or on horseback. However, Corinea and the other chiefs promised they would send out people to those herds and warn them of the possible danger. Thechiefs also promised they would stay in touch with their office and update them if they uncovered any pertinent information.
Confident that the centaurs were sufficiently warned, they made the long drive back to Alindale. That had been days ago, and once they arrived, it was pretty much back to normal for everyone.
Well, almost everyone.
Zara was about to take the first sip of her coffee when she heard footsteps in the hallway. They were much too heavy to be Perseus or Medusa and her siblings were seated at the round dining table, devouring their breakfast. They must have heard the footsteps too or saw the way her entire body froze because Liora shot her a pointed look and Elian hid his expression behind his mug.
Ignoring them, she shuffled out of the breakroom and nearly collided into the hulking Drakkon form lumbering by.
“I—oh!” They locked eyes as she stumbled backward. In a split second, she saw him reach out to grab her then hesitate, and she continued her downward trajectory until her ass hit the floor. “Oomph!”
“M-my apologies,” Hektor spit out, complete surprise on his face. “I did not see you there.”
Wincing, she scrambled to her feet. “I, uh, didn’t see you either. No worries.” She dusted her hands on her thighs. “I’ll be fine.”
Truth be told, the fact that he would rather let her fall than touch her bruised her more than the floor.
Did he really not want to touch me that bad?
Perhaps she’d been wrong about what happened in that tent. That she had misinterpreted the whole thing.
How could you possibly misinterpret what he did to you with his mouth and hands? And what he almost did to you with his tail?
