Were the centaurs of Thessaly pretending to be courteous, or were they in truth this accommodating? Rhoetus didn’t dare trust a soul. Well, other than Minthe. Her motives were entirely too pure.

Frustratingly so.

However, he wasn’t accustomed to being alone, and this journey thus far had been incredibly lonesome. In the caves of Mount Ida, there was always someone wandering about, interrupting his privacy. Hell if he ever had a moment of peaceful respite in those crammed caverns.

Not to mention, feminine companionship was rarer still. As the future King, he couldn’t exactly seek comfort freely amongst his subjects. Those times he’d been desperate enough to traverse to the human villages hadn’t ever left him sated.

There was also the fact he’d never laid eyes upon such exquisite loveliness. Minthe was an extraordinary beauty indeed.

Perhaps, there wouldn’t be any harm in pursuing her, after all.

They strolled down several winding staircases toward the gardens. The evening air perfumed his lungs, sweet from the flowers within the gardens. “Shall we?” He offered his arm and she slid her hand into the crook of his elbow.

The rightness of her touch drove him onward. “Light my path, nymph.” In truth, the simplicity of his schemes eluded him. It had been so easy when he’d discussed these plans with his brothers in Krete.

Actually being here and beholding those he must betray… Well, doubts loomed between him and his course of action.

She released his arm, formed the dust in her palm, and blew it toward him.

He grimaced at the glimmering particles, squinted, and traced their path. Except, instead of leading him toward the King’s chambers or the dining hall, or anywhere else, they swirled about Minthe’s skirts, casting her in a sparkling illumination.

Damn.

Her breath hitched and she lifted her face to his.

Sweet Zeus. He shook himself. Nay, this didn’t mean his destiny had changed. It simply signified he required her companionship. To take the peak off his frustrations. Indulge in a few moments of bliss. Right?

He scratched the back of his neck and paced a step toward. “Does your dust ever lie, Asteri?”

Her lips bowed at one corner. “No, it doesn’t.”

There was his answer. He seized two strides forward, slipped his hand through her locks to the back of her head, and claimed her mouth. A growl rumbled inside him. Her intoxicating taste engulfed him and her sensuous body left him entranced. Silken lips. Velvety tongue. Lush curves pressed up against him.

She grabbed the edges of the strap across his chest, tugging him harder against her mouth.

He could have her, right here, in these gardens, but what if someone came across them? “Hold on.” He broke their kiss, scooped her onto his back, and dashed to his chamber, faster than either of them could catch their breaths.

As he set her down, her legs buckled beneath her and he steadied her, both of them panting.

“Looks like we’re alone now, sweetling.” After transforming into his human shape, he nipped at the corner of her mouth, then trailed his lips along her cheek and down the column of her neck, eliciting sweet moans from her throat.

His cock was so hard, he feared it might burst through his breeches. “I need you, love.” He groaned, lowering a hand to grip her bottom and shove her against him.

“Mmm I can see you do.” Tauntingly, she escaped his grasp and gave him gentle nudges backward, til he collapsed onto the bed.

Balanced on his elbows, he admired her undressing, slipping first one shoulder, then the next, out of her gown. The fabric billowed and pooled at her feet, and she stepped out of the garment to pose right between his legs.

He wasn’t accustomed to relinquishing this much control, but he’d never bedded a nymph either, and curiosity won his acquiescence.

She was so lovely.

“If you desire me, centaur,” she trailed one fingertip along his thigh, circling teasingly close to his bulging erection, “you’ll let me do what I want.”

His throat tight with thirst, he simply nodded.

This sudden, crazed passion consumed him. He’d never suffered from anything like it before. If the nymph promised a cure, he’d be damned sure to accept it.

* * *

A triumphant smile tugged at Minthe’s lips. Finally, Rhoetus was surrendering to this attraction between them. Good thing, because she was starving. Hungry for the kind of satiation only a male like him could provide.

Since he was being so compliant, she wouldn’t torment him long. A few swift tugs and she had him out of his breeches, his long, thick arousal so rigid it had to be painful.

Taking pity on him, she cupped his length between her hands and drew him inside her mouth. He tossed back his head and hissed in delight while she flicked her tongue across his slit in slow, torturous circles. His width throbbed in her hands, demanding. She wasn’t about to refuse. Climbing upon him, she straddled his hips and descended onto his shaft, spearing his tip inside her.

His eyes shot open and he howled deep, meeting her gaze. There was nothing but feral lust in those depths.

And she knew exactly what do to with it.

Undulating and moaning, she sank onto his thickness, easing to accommodate his large size. He was bigger than the other males she’d been with, but his rigidness was so delightful. And his muscles. Sweet gods. Admiring, she skimmed her hands up and down his abdomen, along every tight line and chiseled edge. She grew so wet and needy just looking at him. Mewling, she rocked against him, pumping along his hips.

“Aye, ride me, nymph.” This majestic male, so cocksure and determined, rested beneath her, at her mercy. His features were tense and his jaw clenched, while mismatched eyes hooded, as though this pleasure was out of the ordinary for him, too.

Makes two of us.

It was as if every graze of her skin against his brought spikes of blissful ecstasy coursing through her. How could such be possible? This magnetism alone was beyond comprehension, this craving making her desperate.

He gripped the sheets on either side of him, and the sheen of perspiration forming on his skin served to accentuate those decadent muscles.

How she could lick every inch of him clean.

She traced her tongue along her lower lip in anticipation. Suddenly, he tensed, seizing her hips and halting her undulations.

Swiftly he plucked her off his shaft, grunting while hot seed shot from the head. “Gods,” he growled, pulsing his essence across his abdomen and the sheets.

What?

Rhoetus panted and whipped his head. “That was close.”

“Close?” She scoffed. “Hardly.”

“Forgive me, lass.” He shuffled, wiping his seed from his body with the sheet. “I didn’t mean I was finished with you.”

“Clearly.” Crossing her arms, she puffed. “You didn’t have to do that, and ruin it.”

“Indeed, well, I don’t spill my seed inside anyone, nymph. Future Kings don’t have such privilege.”

Future Kings? “K-King?” she croaked.

His skin paled and he clamped his jaw.

Fine. If he didn’t wish to share, she wouldn’t stay around to press him. “Just so you know, Future King,” huffing, she hopped off the bed and snared her gown, “nymphs are only fertile when they wish to be. Not that you’ll ever have the chance to try again.” After she shrugged on her gown, she marched to the door and droned, “Your loss.” She twisted the knob and stormed into the hall, being sure to slam the door behind her.

* * *

Watching her leave, Rhoetus scraped a hand down his jaw. Future King. He winced. No one here was supposed to know that, not until it was too late.

Well, damn. This hadn’t gone as he’d planned. Not one bit. The urge to spill his essence inside her had been so strong, he hadn’t been able to control himself. He’d barely gotten out of her in time. A King couldn’t stomp around, planting his seed everywhere. Such would only lead to questions of legitimacy for future heirs.

Legitimacy. He snorted. Ha. He was the last person to argue on that basis.

After all, he wasn’t even a legitimate heir.

He grimaced and glanced toward the balcony. His parents had begged him to guard the secret, and he had. For more than a century. Concealment had become even more dire, since he was the only heir and hope his people had.

What would they think if they knew the truth?

He had no more right to sit upon that throne than any of them did.

Sighing, he scrubbed his face in his hands, then rose and stormed to the balcony. After shifting into the eagle, he launched into the sky, beating his wings as hard as he could muster.

Bloody eagle. Zeus had gifted each of his siblings grand abilities, but of course, he’d had to bestow Rhoetus with the one reminder he could never escape.

I’m his son.

He screeched into the night air, not caring who heard.

More than a century ago, the centaur King Cyllarus and Queen Hylonome of Krete had been desperate for a child, an heir, a legacy. They hadn’t been able to conceive on their own, and so had pleaded at a temple on Mount Ida for the god Zeus’s aid.

Zeus had only been too happy to fulfill their request, transforming into the body of Rhoetus’s father and mating with his mother.

Aye, Rhoetus resembled his father, except for his mismatched eyes. The blue one was a constant reminder he wasn’t whole.

He was half.

Half god. Half centaur. Half an heir.

He veered east and landed upon a tall branch of an oak tree. No one alive knew the truth. His parents had never revealed his lineage to anyone, save himself. That was how he’d known to lead the others to Mount Ida when the minotaurs had attacked. He’d fled the palace long before his parents had succumbed. Along the way, he’d seen to the safety of as many as he could.

Never had he imagined what would await him on Mount Ida. The cavern he’d led everyone to had been dark upon their entry, but at his presence, the temple brightened and the brilliance of the god had beamed down at them. Zeus.

My father.

Centaurs were descended of the gods, but to have direct parentage, to be a half blood, gifted Rhoetus with more than the abilities of his kin. He was stronger, faster, invincible.

Traits he’d had to hide his entire life. Because one slip, one mistake, and everyone would know the truth. He no more belonged on the throne than Minos did.

His father was a true descendant of the royal line. His mother had simply been a peasant centauress he’d wed. Thus, there were other centaurs alive with more claim to the throne than he.

Yet every time he tried to relinquish his title, he couldn’t. Images of the disappointment he would cause in his siblings prevented him.

Their pure faith in him kept him to this false path.

For the first time, he questioned whether even a demi god was strong enough to stay its course.

* * *

The fever of Minthe’s passions cooled, as did her temper. What had happened between her and Rhoetus was neither of their faults. A crossing of words and intentions. After all, she was the one who never shared a man’s bed twice.

What did she care if things ended badly between them? Not like she would ever attempt to contact him again.

What about Mother’s persuasion? Ah, yes, blast it. Well, not everyone can be helped, Mother. She huffed. A King? Rhoetus’s true path was clearly clouded, even to her. She wasn’t the right nymph for the task.

Where does this leave me? She couldn’t stay forever at Great Meteoron. Asteriae weren’t like other nymphs, who might be tied to a particular tree or river. She roamed freely, just as the stars circled the evening sky. Even as an infant she hadn’t resided in one place. As a nymph of the breezes, Ekho meandered, too. But their destinies no longer followed the same course. At last, Ekho was following her true path. Minthe had to allow her the time to do that.

Yes. She’d pack her things and journey from here, following the celestial beings which had always guided her. Minthe opened a sack on her bed, prodding through her meager belongings. Everything she’d possessed had been taken from her when she’d been captured. At least, the centaurs were generous in providing new clothes. She stuffed a gown into the sack, frowned at the empty contents, and shrugged.

“Going somewhere?”

The familiar baritone tingled down her spine. “Nowhere that I desire your company.”

“Oh, come now, Minthe. We had an understanding.” Rhoetus stepped in front of her and crossed his arms.

“What else could you possibly want of me, hmm? We’re finished.”

“Are we, though?” He leaned close, unfolded his arms, and pegged her with those irresistible mismatched orbs. “I know your mother persuaded you to aid me. Believe me, I’d love as much to be freed from the obligation as you do. I can’t have you trailing after me forever, nymph.”

“Who says I planned to?” She tilted her chin in irritation.

“I can see it in your eyes, Asteri.” He bent close, too close, and flashed her a wicked grin. “We’re not finished yet.”