Page 185 of A Tribute of Fire

Wanting to break my vows seemed even more sacrilegious when I pushed him up against one of the goddess’s trees.

“Are we sparring again?” He almost purred the words. “Is it my turn to lunge?”

I intended to tell him no, that this had all been a mistake and that I had to go back to the temple.

“Will you block my advance?” he asked as he approached.

No longer able to form words, I shook my head. My skin hummed in anticipation of his touch, my pulse slow and heavy.

He didn’t kiss me. He stood so close that our breaths intermingled.

His right hand went to my waist and he dug his fingers into my hip bone. “What would the goddess say about this?”

I understood that he was giving me a chance to stop. To remember myself and the promises I had made, oaths that he was well aware of. “She told me it was time for things to change.”

The corners of his mouth turned up. “The goddess speaks to you, does she?”

“Sometimes.”

“What else does she say? Has she told you that she sees a tall, dark-haired, handsome, gentle, and patient man in your future?”

“She hasn’t.” Or had she? Was that the reason for the dreams I’d had since arriving? She’d obviously used dreams as a means of communication with me. What if she was sending me those interactions with Jason deliberately?

Maybe he was meant to have a bigger role in my life than I’d allowed. I kept dismissing him, pushing him away, telling myself that nothing could come of it.

What if he was destined to be something more?

Or was I just using what she had told me as rationale for my current behavior?

He tugged me forward so that I was flush against his muscled body. I tried not to sigh. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back to Locris?”

While I’d decided to stay in Ilion at least until I’d exhausted every possibility of finding the eye, I had considered what it would be like to return home. “Would you take me?”

“Yes.” He kissed my forehead softly.

I screwed up my courage and asked him the question I most wanted an answer to. “And would you stay there with me?”

He made me wait an agonizing amount of time. “My family is in Troas. My life is here. And at sea.”

I couldn’t believe how disappointed I felt. “Your life couldn’t be in Locris?”

“You have no idea how much I want that.” He murmured the words across my closed eyelids. “To go there with you. Start a life together.”

My heart fluttered with happiness. Was that him saying yes? Agreeing to go with me?

There were female voices headed toward us. I shoved Jason between the wall and the tree, covering his body with my own.

I could see from his expression just how much he liked it.

The women revelers were clearly drunk and paid us no attention. They didn’t even glance over their shoulders as they walked by.

“We’re going to get caught,” I said sadly as I backed up and let him out. This hadn’t been nearly enough time with him, but the festivalgoers were spreading out all over the surrounding neighborhood. We would be found.

“As I’ve told you once before, we have to get off the street.”

“I’m not going back to a hetaera house again.” I was in no mood to watch them fall all over him.

He grinned. “No. I have an idea. Do you want to come with me?”

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