He narrowed his eyes as if considering it before he answered. "Athena, except she has black hair and is usually sporting her pet owl on her shoulder. But your mannerisms are very similar, and like you, she lives a life of celibacy."
"Oh gee, thank you for that one."
He lifted her hand up to kiss the back of her knuckles. In spite of her anger, the gesture warmed her.
"It's true, but that's okay. I like that about you."
"I'm sure you don't."
He cupped her face in his hands and stared at her. "Megeara, there is absolutely nothing about you that I don't like."
"Can you honestly say that?"
He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. "Okay, I don't like it when you walk away from me, but other than that..."
She laughed. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. You transcend a dimension to come here and I brush you off. I can see where that might get annoying."
Arik smiled at her playful tone. All in all, she was taking this a lot better than he'd have thought. "You still want to find Atlantis?"
Her face sobered. "Not if it means anyone's life. I won't make that bargain. Believe me, there's nothing there worth my life and definitely nothing there worth someone else's."
A twinge of guilt went through him as he realized that he'd made that bargain without hesitation.
"Is something wrong?" she asked with a scowl.
"No," he lied. "I was only amazed by the woman in front of me. By your compassion and caring."
She gave him a doubting stare, but for once she didn't argue. Instead she changed the subject. "Tell me something, Arik. Was Atlantis beautiful?"
"Like a dream."
She closed her eyes as if she was trying to imagine it.
He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. When he spoke, his lips brushed the soft skin of her cheek, which only whetted his appetite for her. "Tonight while you sleep, I'll take you there and let you see it for yourself."
Joy glowed in her eyes. "Really?"
"Cross my heart."
Geary felt tears prick at the back of her eyes at the thought of seeing it. But more than that was the fear of what else might be waiting for them in her dreams. "Will those assassins be in our dreams, too?"
He looked away before he answered. "Probably. But don't worry about them. I can handle it in that realm. And if I can't you can always change the channel again. I have to say that was the neatest trick I've ever seen." He winked at her.
She blushed at the memory. Shaking her head, she reached up to lay her hand against the whiskers of his cheek. It was so odd to be with him knowing all the things they'd shared. "So how many women have you visited in their dreams?"
He hesitated. "Is this one of those questions that if I don't answer it correctly, you get angry at me?"
She laughed. "Probably."
Scowling, he hesitated before he answered. "If it makes you feel any better, you're the only one I've ever wanted to be human for."
Ironically, that was just what she needed to hear. "You are a fool, Arikos."
"Only where you're concerned."
She still couldn't believe that he'd come here for her. Who would have made such a bargain? "So what do we do now?"
"Well, if I can't have you naked in my arms, then I vote we stay alive."
That sounded good to her... both parts, actually. "All right. But I want to make sure we don't endanger anyone else. Do you think Solin will help us?"
"That's a hard question to answer. Solin is a bit self-absorbed and highly unpredictable. Although I have to say that it surprised me he rescued the others earlier, so there might be a chance he'd help us, too."
"Okay, then. Let's try him and see what he thinks."
But an hour later, after they'd gone to Solin's villa and explained it all to him, Geary learned that Arik had been right. The egotistical bastard had no intention of helping them.
Dressed in a pair of slacks with an open light blue shirt that showed off his tanned six-pack, he scoffed at them before he took a drink of the brandy in his hand. "They'll come for me if I help you, and no offense, no one has ever bled for me, so I'm not about to bleed for anyone else. You can all go to hell for what I care." Then he slammed his empty glass down and glared at Arik. "I've done enough helping.
You've already brought Zebulon down on my ass and now the Dolophoni. It took me centuries to reach an impasse with them and I like our cold war a little too much to jeopardize it for you."
"I understand."
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some things to take care of." He left them alone in his study.
Geary let out a sigh as she turned to face Arik, who sat beside her on the leather sofa. "He's a fuzzy-little-bunny guy, isn't he?"
To her surprise, Arik defended him. "Don't judge him too harshly. You have to remember that for centuries he was persecuted by humanity and hunted by us. His resentment and anger are more than understandable."
"Is that compassion you feel?"
Arik paused as he considered the tenderness inside him. "Yeah, I think it is."
"How does it feel?"
"Strange and comforting, but mostly disturbing." And it was. He wasn't sure if he liked having emotions or not. There were extreme advantages and disadvantages to both.
Megeara reached over to squeeze his hand. "So what's it like to live without them?"
He toyed with her fragile fingers, delighting in the sensation of her hand in his. "It's hard. Imagine a world without taste. A world where you can see the colors and all, but you can't feel it. A beautiful clear day can never choke you up. A child's laughter doesn't make you smile. You don't look at a bunny and think, How cute . You feel absolutely nothing. It's like being wrapped in thick cotton all the time."
"And when someone touches you?"
"I can feel the pressure, but not the sensations. There's no blood rushing through my veins, making my heart beat faster. No excitement or chills. But the weird part is that when I'm with you, I don't even have to touch you to feel that. I get hard for you just thinking about you."
Geary swallowed as she felt her own chills rise. No one had ever said a kinder thing to her. And as she contemplated that, she realized something else... "You've never slept with anyone in the flesh, have you?"
"No."
Amazed, she remembered the expertise he possessed. In bed, he was highly creative.
His blue eyes were haunting in their need and sincerity as he brushed his lips against her cheek, then whispered in her ear, "There's nothing I want more than to touch you, Megeara. I want to taste your skin on my tongue. To know what it's like to slide into you while you hold me close."
Her breasts tightened as warm heat seared her. She should be offended by his frankness. She wasn't. It oddly turned her on. No one had ever been so blatant and open with her before.
And he had crossed worlds to be with her.
His breath scorched her neck as he nuzzled her cheek with his.
He would be gone in two weeks. There was no hope of anything with him more than a brief physical relationship. That was the last thing she wanted. "Arik? What are the odds of your surviving this?"
His expression turned dark as he pulled back to look at her. "Hard to say. As a human, pretty much nil, but once Hades returns my godhead, my chances go up exponentially."
"So you just came here to screw me and leave?"
Arik paused. Yeah, that had basically been his plan, which Hades had changed by demanding her life for it.
I am a rank bastard.
And in that moment he had a bad epiphany. "You're right-that was my intent. I'm no better than Solin. I was so fixated on the novelty of being human with you that I never thought past my blind obsession. You gave yourself so freely in your dreams that I made the assumption you lived your life that way, too. But you don't. I think that's why you're so uninhibited in dreams. You keep everything bottled up inside you."
"Yeah," she said in a low tone. "I'm so inhibited here that it's the only place I feel free to roam without someone trying to judge me."
He nodded and for the first time ever, he felt guilt. Real, true, and bitter. More than that, he cared for her. He didn't want her hurt in any way, and he didn't know how to stop the course he'd already set into motion.
When he'd seen her there in the middle of the fighting, it had made his heart ache. He'd actually been afraid for her.
Oh, this was getting way too complicated.
"I've made such a mistake by coming here, Megeara. I'm so sorry. I should have been content to stay in your dreams." If only he'd been able to. Had he stayed there, they would have driven him out of her life completely.
Now he just wanted to stay here with her forever.
If only he could...
Geary pulled him into her arms and held him close. She didn't know what to think about any of this, but then maybe she shouldn't be thinking at all. She'd cherished those dreams with him. He was both naive and experienced. Trusting and suspicious. She'd never known anyone like him.
No kidding. He was a god turned human who lived an existence she couldn't even begin to understand.
But she wanted to.
Today he'd given her her dream by taking her to Atlantis and letting her hold a piece of it in her hands.
And if they were meant to die, then she wanted to make sure he had the one thing he'd wanted most.
Rising up from the sofa, she took his hand and pulled him to his feet.
He frowned at her. "Where are we going now?"
"Somewhere that we can be alone so that I can strip you naked and ride you into the ground."