Climbing back in his jet, Titus could still taste the flavor of Desdemona’s lips on his. The memory of the last time he had kissed her, two thousand years ago, unraveled inside him, gripping his heart and enlivening his soul. Desdemona didn’t remember what happened in their previous life. And she didn’t seem to want to know either.

When he’d told her that he’d only ever wanted what was best for her, that was the truth. She had been so young. Desdemona had been twenty-one when she died, and just seventeen when she had come to the temple. In those five years, she had learned the skills of a talented witch and had grown in her power and beauty. In those days, a witch could spend centuries at the temple, honing her skills. Fast marriages for young immortals were not common in those times. They had all the time in the world for that, even with the war raging all around them. Desdemona could have been one of the greatest witches alive back then. She only needed time and training to become what she would be.

But at twenty-one years of age, she was still a young woman with the heart and desires of a young mortal girl. She had been enamored with him from the first day, and he had known it. He could have smelled her arousal and attraction from a hundred leagues across the sea. But at that time, Titus was three thousand years old. He had seen time and change in a way that young Patrice never could have comprehended. To bring her into his world would have been an insult to her development.

These thoughts plagued him as he flew his jet into the clear winter sky. They were back at his skyscraper in no time and quickly climbed out of the jet to make their way indoors. They would take the town car to the Superdome. When Titus and Desdemona arrived on the street in front of Silverdrake Tower, the car was waiting. She climbed in before him and he sat beside her while the driver closed the door.

Desdemona watched the city streets fly by out her window. He wished he could explain to her that his disinterest in her all those years ago had been to protect her. After five hundred years, perhaps she would have been ready for what she’d wanted. Then he would have done anything to be with her. But they didn’t get that time. And, of course, Kyran had to interfere the moment he knew Desdemona’s feelings for Titus.

Kyran’s interference still galled him and the fact that there was a question about his missing energy generators only helped to reopen the old wounds.

When they arrived at the Superdome, Titus and Desdemona climbed out into the cool afternoon air. They hadn’t eaten since breakfast, but he had something planned for them in his VIP suite overlooking the stadium. They went through the private back entrance and took the elevator upstairs to his suite. No one else was there when he escorted Desdemona inside.

The kitchen along the wall gleamed with marble. They walked pasted the mahogany bar, the top shelf bottles of fine liquor gleaming in the warm light. He showed her to the long black leather couch overlooking the field. Holographic glass pads projected the events below in vivid detail. Titus sat beside her. The smell of her skin still stirring the deep need inside him that he’d felt since the first time he’d met her. If only he could make her understand.

He’d tried to explain it back then. But she wouldn’t hear it. Her young heart was too big and too stubborn to listen to reason. Today, she was the one who wanted to wait, now that her soul had been tortured for two thousand years. Titus gritted his teeth, thinking of the journey she’d had through mortal lifetimes. All the memories lost forever in time. His stomach sank.

Desdemona gasped beside him, and he looked up at her pretty young face. Her black hair cascaded around her shoulders and her round breasts rose under the knit Nordic sweater she wore. He wanted to touch her in that moment, but his eyes turned away and focused on what had caused her to gasp. Out on the field, the teams were gathering in their bullpens. The holographic screen panned over the scene.

Titus hadn’t asked Ajax about who would be playing in these immortal matches for the “morale” of the people. But now that he saw who it was, playing against the Silverdrake team, he nearly burst into dragon form right then. The opposite team was the Blackrose coven. Their black and red uniforms emblazoned with the Blackrose of their clan. And he was here too. Kyran. The bastard second in command of the coven. Titus’s own infernal ally. The man who’d caused him so much pain.

How could Ajax bring the Blackrose coven here when there was still a question about shipments? Titus had been forced to send a second shipment over land to the Lakes Region. And it had cost him a great deal. His missing generators would have been worth millions in the old world. In this one, it was worth an entire year of trade: of fish, timber, and other commodities. His deal with the Lakes Regions had taken a month to complete and was now at risk of collapse.

And Kyran hadn’t done a damned thing about it. The energy device shipment was seen last in the port of Chicago. Memories of Kyran’s interference with Desdemona back in the days before the veil, tightened Titus’s chest. He gritted his teeth so hard that his jaws started to ache. Titus forced himself to calm his anger.

Desdemona’s face was a mask. She was unreadable, staring at the screen.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” she whispered.

“Who?” he growled.

“The one. The one who loved me.”

“The one that loved you?” Titus growled.

“He gave me his rose,” Desdemona breathed.

“Kyran was a cad. He was back then and he still is now.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“It might help me remember my past life.”

“You already know what you need to about him,” Titus growled, crossing his arms.

"I know as much about him as I do about you," she said.

"The game is starting," Titus said as the players ran out onto the field and took formations.

It was vampires versus dragons, everyone in their humanoid form for fairness. Dragons were allowed one shift per game but any more than that was a penalty.

Titus rubbed his face and groaned inwardly, glancing over at Desdemona as she stared down at the field. His worst nightmare was manifesting now that Kyran was in the picture. Desdemona's eyes were wide, and he could smell the scent of her excitement. Ajax should have asked him before bringing the Blackrose coven here.

Kyran was playing quarterback for the Blackrose team. Ajax was the playing offensive linebacker. The teams met on the field, the ref tossing a coin to see who would possess first. The toss came up Blackrose so the ball was handed to Kyran. The teams took position. When the whistle blew, they clashed in the field. Kyran threw the ball as his teammate flew across the field to catch it. Ajax was there, jumping on the vampire with the full power of his dragon-infused human form. The teams piled on and the whistle blew to end the play.

Titus stood from the couch and pivoted around to the bar, he pulled a chilled glass of champagne out of the fridge and popped the cork. Desdemona turned around and looked at him questioningly. He gave her a cool smile and she turned away.

His heart felt like ice, as frozen as the ground outside. He had to get Desdemona out of here before Kyran saw her, or smelled her.

He poured champagne into flutes and carried them to the couch to offer one to Desdemona. She took it, looking up at him with those big brown eyes. He glanced at the soft curve of her breasts under the scooped neckline of her sweater. Her eyes glinted and he smelled her arousal.

No matter what she remembered, she was still the same girl she was then. Titus had no doubt about that. Desdemona could play games with the best of them. Her youth gave her the advantage in that department.

Would she do what she’d done the last time? Run off to Kyran the first chance she got? The night at the ritual, when he’d kissed her. He’d told her they had to wait. That he couldn’t commit to her yet. That they had to take things slow to see how it played out. She hadn’t wanted to listen. She wanted him to commit to her then and there. No matter if it was what was best for her.

She refused to understand, too young and impulsive to hear him. She only knew she felt heartbroken and disappointed. She couldn’t see the wisdom in his choices. She couldn’t understand how deeply he truly loved her.

Titus was afraid he would hit the same wall this time around. They were expected to have a baby as soon as possible. Something that wasn’t such a necessity before the veil. The witches, who many called birth goddesses, could often have a child a year for hundreds of years without stopping.

The world had been full of immortals at the time of the veil. Individual witches were not required to breed. Waiting was always better for them so they understood who they really were. Desdemona had never wanted to wait.

As precocious as she might have been two thousand years ago, and as precocious as she remained today, Titus doubted she could handle the demands of the life she’d believed she’d wanted back then. Her magic was as young as her body. Both would suffer the pressure of embarking on a life as a birth goddess at such a young age.

But she wanted to give him that. It was her deepest inner desire. To bring his children into the world to flourish and grow. Not even Orion and Lucia had many children back then. As Lucia was the Arch-Priestess of the temple, her duties had precluded her from doing so. And then they had lost all their children but Ajax in the war. It was one of the reasons Lucia had been willing to accept Gama’s spell. She’d been heartbroken by all the death.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of immortals died in the constant battle against the Surge. Millions of humans died. So many had died that humans collectively forgot what had existed before the veil.

It was during this time of turmoil that Desdemona wanted to leave the safety of the temple to embark on a life as his mate and the mother of his brood. He couldn’t see her do it, not until she was at least five hundred years older. Then it would have been appropriate. But at twenty-one? Never.

He turned to her, her eyes still glued on the screen in front of her. The players clashed on the field below. Even with Titus’s love of the game, he was too distracted to enjoy the novelty. When half-time rolled around, the entertainment came out onto the field. A collection of female dragons and vampires sang and danced on the field, their immortal beauty shining on the big screen. The humans in the stadium went wild for the grand finale when the singers displayed their supernatural talents on the field, fireworks bursting into the air.

When half-time was over, the loudspeakers in the stadium announced Titus and Desdemona’s presence in the VIP suite above the field. The cameras panned over to their faces behind the glass. Huge screens showed Titus’s dark expression and Desdemona’s shock. Ajax had a microphone in his hand, his helmet in the other.

“At this point in the game,” Ajax started, “I want to invite my uncle Titus Silverdrake down onto the field.”

Titus pinched his lips together, and glared at Ajax across the wide expanse, his grimace huge on the big screen, and shook his head slowly.

“Come, Uncle. You don’t want to disappoint the fans,” Ajax taunted.

He knew that Titus had a responsibility to the humans of the city. His position was in question with the clan and the allied immortals. Everyone expected something from him. Even his betrothed was no support.

He gritted his teeth and stood, nodding his head and giving the crowd a fake smile and staged wave. He drew out his glass pad and flicked his finger down the screen to activate the speaker in the stadium.

“I’d be happy to join the game,” Titus said in a tightly enthusiastic voice.

The crowd cheered. Desdemona looked bemused. Titus shoved his glass pad into his jacket pocket and downed the rest of his champagne. So much for wooing his virgin bride. He started out of the room and Desdemona drew up behind him and spoke as he reached the door.

“You’re going?” she asked, sounding irritated.

“I must. It is my duty to please the people.”

“What about me?”

“You will be comfortable here, won’t you? There is food and drink.”

“Right. Everything but you. That sounds familiar.”

He stared at her for a long time, dumbfounded at her cruelty. It stabbed into his heart.

“I’ll be back to take you home at the end of the game,” he said, before stepping out the door.