It had taken him the entire night, but Lycus had managed to scavenge a decent meal of nuts, berries, and a hare. Determination had thrummed through him, to show his mate that he could provide for her, better than the giants could. He roasted the hare over the fire, and sure enough, the savory scent brought Airla to him. Dawn crept across the horizon, mingling with dusk, into an eternal day. This far north, the sun only set once a year.

“Good morning. That smells wonderful.” She settled across the fire from him and tucked her legs beneath her.

“You must be hungry.” He quirked his lips at her and sliced off some of the meat, plating it with the nuts and berries, before handing it to her.

As their fingers brushed, her gaze flicked to his, and another hunger definitely simmered in those green depths.

He’d resigned himself to a life of chastity, of reconciling that his mate would claim others. She was a nymph, after all. Such was natural for a creature like her.

Now, reunited, he was certain he could have her, and only one thing stopped him. A vow from her. The past was behind them, but if she ever took another after him, it would kill him. He’d rather not have her at all.

Sharing had never been one of his virtues.

“Thank you.” She nibbled on the meat, licking her tongue across those luscious lips. Forcing himself back, he ate with her. Curiosity consumed every glance she sent him.

“If you wish to know, Aella, then just ask.”

She set down her plate and worried her bottom lip. “When did you know and why did you never tell me?”

He cocked his head. “I knew the moment I met you and scented your sweetness. I never told you because I believed we had all the time in the world. Sending you away was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I searched for you, for a long time, but I couldn’t figure out where I’d sent you. And later, I determined you were better off, anyway. Especially with how things were in Krete.”

“How are they?” She leaned forward, and he couldn’t evade the question any longer.

“As bad as you can imagine. After King Minos had the Minotaurs ravage everything, he locked them away, and rules now with a cruel hand. The surviving centaurs hid in desolate caves on Mount Ida, where we awaited a sign from the gods. Finally, Zeus granted us permission to stir an uprising, and bade us gather ourselves an army. Four months ago, my bloodsworne siblings and I left Krete, each in a separate direction, with the hopes of finding our salvation. I never dreamed that, in heading north, I would come across you again.”

His throat tightened, and for an instant, he viewed the young maiden he’d once known, sitting across from him. The trust and light in her eyes. The kinship and warmth in her heart. The possibility of every future together.

“You shouldn’t have taken away our choice. One moment, you could have spared one moment to discuss the matter with us, and deferred the direction of our fate to our judgment. Instead, you stole that from us.”

Her accusation snuffed out his vision, and he blinked, viewing now the fierce nymph in front of him, the one who didn’t trust, with no warmth for him in her heart and no possible future between them.

“I saved you,” he ground, repeating the same argument.

“We would have been better off. Now, all we have is the possibility of retreating to our other realm. All we have is the hope of dying. Of freezing when our trees do.” Her slender hands curled into fists in her lap.

“Well, I didn’t bloody know that then, eh?” he snapped. “I had just watched my family massacred, the blood of hundreds flowing like a river across the valleys, staining them crimson. My siblings made me flee to Mount Ida, but after Zeus blessed me, I had to try to save someone. You don’t want to know what happened to the other nymphs.” Bile rose in his throat at the blurring memories, smeared by the tears misting in his eyes. Sniffling, he blinked them away and lowered his head in defeat.

* * *

“Oh, Lycus.” Guilt speared into Airla’s heart. She rose and padded to his side, kneeling. “Forgive me. It’s wrong of me to blame you for the horrid actions of those monsters.” Tentatively, she set her hand on his arm, and they both flinched at the jolt sparking between them. “In truth, you provided us with more time in this realm, and we are grateful. Our lives have not been entirely terrible.”

He snorted, as disbelieving of her words as she was.

She pressed her lips tightly together against a smile and trailed her fingers along his arm, slipping inside the tear in his sleeve. His skin was smooth and hard, warm enough to sear her fingertips. She skimmed them upward, to where the bonding mark pressed ever so slightly against them. Right beneath his skin, the thin ropy band was invisible to her eye, for now.

“How do centaurs bond?” It was different for every species, and the giants only knew about their own matings.

Lycus cast her a sideways glance, yearnings stirring in his pale eyes. “Through a ceremony.” He studied her face for a moment, before peering once more at the fire. What passed through his mind?

She bit her lip in indecision. Why wouldn’t he ask her? Even more, why hadn’t he claimed her yet? She didn’t sense any shyness from him, so there must be another reason.

Airla shifted forward, rising and lowering herself to straddle his lap. Her nymph powers told her how intense his arousal was, and well, no missing the hardness rising to greet her. She wrapped her arms about his neck and settled against him, humming. He felt so good, even just to be close to.

“What are you doing?” the words grated from deep in his throat.

“Making up for lost time,” she chimed, rocking against him.

He groaned, shooting out his hands to grab her bottom. Swallowing thickly, he crushed the fabric of her skirt in his fists.

“I want you to have me, Lycus, to take whatever you need.” She dipped one hand between them, beneath the waist of his breeches, until her fingers closed around his smooth, rigid fullness. His panting grew labored and shallow, almost painful.

She edged down his body, tugging his breeches along with her, baring him. His shaft popped free, jutting so thickly and proudly from his body. As magnificent and hard as the rest of him. The giants always had to adapt themselves to fit the nymphs. No need for adjustment here. Lycus’s size was perfectly decadent. His hands gripped the boulder on either side of him while he hissed in a breath. She palmed his heavy weight in her hands, sliding them across his firm flesh, and then wrapped her lips about him, drawing him deep into her mouth.

His hips bucked and jerked while she pleasured him, coaxing such fierce snarls from his lips and rumbles from his chest, reminding her of how much of a beast he’d become.

His masculine spice enveloped her, and she thirsted for all of him. She teased his tip with her tongue, slashing it across his slit until the salty taste of him burst inside her mouth and a roar cascaded across the cavern. He shoved himself deep inside her mouth, his thickness throbbing until the last pulses drained from him.

She lapped up every succulent drop, the ecstasy of him spiraling through to her core and making her cry out with her own release. The crushing waves commanded her body and she screamed against him, her hands clutching for support. He linked his fingers through hers and she held on, struggling to survive this unbearable bliss.

It was so much more than she’d ever had, and he hadn’t even touched her yet.

As she gasped for air and her muscles finally calmed, she gulped in shuddering breaths. Sweet gods, but Lycus had spoken truth.

She just might drown in the sea of his lust.

* * *

His disobedient cock was already hard again. Lycus grimaced. At himself, at his loss of control. Well, at least he hadn’t claimed her. Yet. How long could he fight against something the Fates had ordained? The sweet nymph at his feet licked his seed from her lips, peering up at him with dazed wonderment and flushed cheeks, as though anticipating even more.

Oh, aye, he wanted more, too.

Only not in the way she presumed.

Her feminine licks and mewls wouldn’t work on him again. He’d muster greater strength, somehow.

He shifted forward, nudging her backward, while he tugged up his breeches and rose above her. Lycus curled his finger under her chin and tipped her face to his. “Did you fancy that, nymph?”

“You know I did. So did you.”

Her lips glistened, so pink. He bent and snared a kiss, grunting at the taste of himself in his mate’s mouth. “Well, enjoy those drops, love, because this won’t happen again.”

“What? Why?” She pulled back, scrunching her lovely pixie nose.

“Because my seed belongs to my mate and her alone. Just as I won’t share myself with anyone, so I do expect as much from her. Until you can make me those vows, nymph, I’m not your mate, either.”

He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and left her gaping after him, as he retreated into the snowy world outside. Once out of her view, he braced a hand on the rock of the mountainside and wheezed in several deep inhalations. A century, he’d waited for that experience, and it had been like nothing he could have envisioned. Yet something about it had disappointed him as well. Which only strengthened his resolve. He would have his mate, or nothing at all.

Lycus squinted at the sun, then cast his gaze toward the black fortress. Airla had implied the giants were trapped here, too. He had to learn why. It couldn’t be a coincidence that two races would find themselves cursed together in such a vast expanse.

First, he’d have to gain entry to the castle without the King chopping off his head. Lycus flinched at the recollection of fighting—and biting—the King. Probably not the best first introduction. Hopefully, this second one would go better.

Straightening, he marched toward the castle. Two statuesque guards loomed before him, as solid and menacing as if they’d been etched into the side of the castle. At his approach, they swung open the foreboding doors. Eyeing the guards, he strode through. They didn’t stop him, nor did anyone try to seize him. The doors slammed shut behind him, echoing into the empty hall. So much less inviting than it had been when he’d stolen inside this place. As he explored, his breath swirled about his lips in icy wisps. Though he didn’t suffer from the cold, what about the giants? Before him, a spiraling staircase split in twain, each side descending one opposing wall. A black crystal chandelier hung from the peak of the chamber, but neither it nor the torches on the walls were lit.

Frowning, he prowled through the enormous hallway to the right, toward the faintest flicker of warmth.

“Been expecting you,” a voice rumbled from one massive armchair perpendicular to the hearth. “Come. Join me.” An arm as thick as a tree trunk swept toward another armchair.

Lycus complied, hopping onto the large chair. The seat was big enough to accommodate three of him. He tilted his head and studied the giant King. The last time they’d met, he hadn’t concerned himself with a proper introduction. “I must apologize for our previous meeting. My actions were barbaric and unwarranted.” He slanted his gaze toward the King’s shoulder, but nothing revealed a hint of injury.

The King rolled his shoulder. “No harm done. I well grasp your intentions.” He gave a quick jerk of his head toward Lycus’s arm.

How in Hades did the giant guess?

“My dear brother was mated, too, once.” A wistful cloud crossed the King’s somber expression. “That was long ago.”

“When?” Now was his chance to learn the truth.

“Many moons before we were cursed to this place.”

“Cursed?” The same word Airla used, yet who else had the power to damn an entire race?

The King bowed his head, curled locks falling across his forehead. “By the sun god. My brother’s mate, Celaeno, was one of the Harpies. In his voracity, Apollo coveted her. When she wouldn’t have him, he murdered her. Then he cursed my people to remain forever in this place, where the sun sets only once a year, so his ever-watchful eye can ensure the eternity of our suffering.”

“How…horrible.” Lycus sank against the chair, the sadness in the King’s tone twisting through his gut. To lose one’s mate was the worst torment possible.

“Why would he keep you prisoner?”

“He couldn’t kill us without losing the support of our father, Boreas, god of the north wind. Yet because we refuse to join him, nor can he trust us not to side with his enemies.”

“So he keeps you here, instead.” Lycus huffed.

“Aye. Apollo watches everything that moves beneath the sun, but when the sun is set, he cannot see what happens. He is blind.” A flicker of defiance passed across the King’s features. He was planning something.

“Do you intend to escape?”

“Now, that would be impossible.” A quirk settled on the giant’s lips as he straightened and leaned back.

The lack of illumination. No beams of sunlight cascading through the darkness. Everything made sense. Lycus narrowed his eyes, liking this male more than he ever envisioned he would. “Indeed, it would be.”