Joachim swallowed. “I’ll woo her.”
So confident—for no reason!
Am I this foolish, thinking I can win the moonbeam?
“Joachim—” he began.
“No!” the male shouted. “I’ll take what’s owed to me.”
“So you’ll accept your ball-less life, then?” Shaye asked, her tone casual. “Because that is all you’re owed from me.”
Valerian admired her spirit even as frustration and fury flooded him. His cousin wouldn’t relent, and Valerian wouldn’t go back on his word.
Would he? For Shaye...
He’d taken over the army as a young lad, after his father had died in battle. Over and over again, he’d had to prove himself worthy of the honor.
Esteem your men, and they’ll esteem you. His father’s dying words.
If Valerian took Shaye, no one would naysay him—but no one would respect him, either.
And how could he expect her to fall in love with such a dishonorable man?
“I said I wouldn’t claim the female, and I won’t.” The announcement pained him. “Yet.”
Shaye closed her hands over his arms—arms still wrapped around her—and dug her fingernails into his skin to hold him in place or punish him, he wasn’t sure.
He switched to his native tongue and added, “Not without reaching amicable terms. Allow me to buy her from you.”
Once more, Joachim shook his head. “No.”
“What can I do, cousin? The woman—” he stopped, pressed his lips together “—she is my mate.”
Joachim’s grin returned, colder than before. “She doesn’t agree. She clearly hasn’t accepted you as such.”
“She will.” Believing otherwise would destroy him. “If you take her, she’ll hate you.” They both knew the ways of nymphs and their mates. The bond was inescapable. “You might seduce her, but you’ll never win her. She’ll wish she were with me. Can your pride withstand such a horror?”
His cousin clenched and unclenched his fists.
“What did you say to him?” Shaye looked between them. “Tell me.”
Joachim’s gaze remained narrowed on Valerian. “I must think on what you’ve said. Let us both stay away from her this night and discuss her ownership in the morning.”
Since he’d spoken in the surface language, Shaye understood. “Ownership?” she said between gritted teeth.
Stay away from her for an entire night? Valerian’s body recoiled in horror. Need her in my arms, now and always!
No other way. “I’m in...agreement.”
“Well, I’m not in agreement.” Shaye stomped her foot, determined to be acknowledged. “Let me save you both a lot of trouble. I don’t want either of you. Now, I’m a reasonable—”
Valerian snorted.
“—woman,” she finished, glaring at him over her shoulder. “And I’m willing to forget this entire episode of The Male Whores of Atlantis ever happened. All you have to do is take me home.”
Ignoring her, Joachim crossed his arms over his chest. “Where will she stay tonight?”
Where she will stay every night. “My chamber,” he answered in their language. “We’ll both guard the door.”
His cousin paused for a moment, running the idea through his mind. Finally he nodded. “Very well.”
Valerian released Shaye from his embrace and instantly mourned the loss of her softness and heat. She must have felt the same sense of loss, whether she would admit it or not, because she laced her arms over her middle and shivered.
“I love being disregarded, I really do.” She drummed her fingers against her sides. “So who’s taking me home?”
“I am,” Valerian answered before Joachim could respond. “When the ceremony concludes, I’m taking you home.”
With a startled gasp, she faced him. “Really? Seriously? Today’s ceremony, not some ceremony a few years from now?”
He drank her in, struck anew by the beauty of her. How could one woman make him ache so intensely? Make him forget everyone who’d come before her until only she existed?
“Yes.” Reaching out, he offered her a callused hand.
Suspicion suddenly darkened her features, but not even that detracted from her beauty. “Is this a trick?”
He knew she’d misunderstood his intentions; this was her new home. But he said nothing. Not yet.
“What makes you think I have a sense of humor?” he asked.
A smile bloomed, stealing the breath from his lungs.
Want to see that smile everyday—every hour!
“Thank you.” Tentative, she placed her palm against his.
Joachim offered his hand to her.
Seconds ticked by, every muscle in Valerian’s body knotting. If she took Joachim’s hand, simply to punish Valerian, she would encourage his cousin’s attentions and disprove the validity of Valerian’s declaration.
One heartbeat passed. Then another.
She kept her free hand at her side.
Triumph flared deep in his chest.
Valerian called to one of the remaining men. “You’re next.”
That man selected his prize quickly, leaving a single female in line.
Valerian called another name. The nymph cheered, taking the hand of the remaining female, while the other nymphs hissed with disappointment.
“Aeson,” Valerian said to one of the disappointed. “Prepare my chamber for Shaye.” Hopefully the loyal man would know what he truly desired—the removal of all traces of the human women he’d pleasured last eve.
The warrior nodded and rushed to obey.
“The rest of you are dismissed for the night,” he said. “Sneak into town, if you wish, but stay aware. Trust no one at your back.”
Off they went.
“This way.” He led Shaye out of the dining hall.
A few of the warriors, he noticed, hadn’t made it to their rooms. Couples were having sex right there in the hallways, leaning against the walls.
Moans, purrs and groans of delight echoed.
“My eyes,” Shaye gasped out. “My poor eyes.”
In a nymph household, such a sight was common. But he kept that fact to himself.
With her close on his heels, and Joachim close on hers, he ushered her past the kitchens, the training arena and the warriors’ barracks—where more moans and purrs abounded.
“Do they ever stop?” She’d probably hoped to sound exasperated. Instead she’d sounded breathless.
Primal excitement brewed within him. If she were his, he would have explored the reasons for her reaction. Namely—did she want Valerian to take her against a wall?
Soon, he vowed. Very soon.
His personal suite occupied the opposite end of the palace. An area he’d chosen for the large bathing pool and panoramic wall of windows that offered a breathtaking view of the Outer City below.
What would Shaye think of the