Lycus returned to the nymph cave, only to find it empty. Where in the bloody hell were those nymphs? He strode through the caverns, one by one, but no one greeted him. Just as he was about to head back to the giants’ fortress, feminine shrieking crossed his ears, far into the distance.

Racing, he flashed through the air, toward the nymphs’ cries, panic flooding him. By the gods, what was wrong? Landing hard, he whipped up his head and scanned around. There. A grouping of cloaked females cascaded down the mountainside on sleds?

Their shrieks were of laughter. High-pitched bubbling chimes and squeals erupted as they raced down the snowy hills on wooden sleds. In their midst, was Airla.

Relief and frustration warred through him. A part of him had yearned to rush to her aid, to prove that, as her mate, he was her protector.

She certainly didn’t require protection from the mountainside. Shrugging, he decided to join them. Lycus stomped through the snow, up the hill, toward Airla. As he approached, she grabbed her sled and, instead of waiting for him, zoomed down the hill, whooshing right past him. A spray of snow blasted straight into his face and her tinkling laughter echoed from below.

“Saucy nymph!” he snarled, lunging after her. “I’ll have retribution for that!”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Have to catch me first.” Facing forward once more, she steered her sled harder, veering away from him.

Lycus shifted into his wolf form and loped down the embankment. She was fast, but his wolf was far swifter. Within seconds, he’d caught up to her, bounding alongside her sled. She cast him a glower and focused fiercely upon the bottom of the hill. Ah, so it was a race. Tearing his gaze from her, he concentrated on pounding his paws across the surface of the snow, harder, faster.

Finally, they neared, and her sled inched ahead of him. Damn, no. Growling, he leapt into the air, performing the morphos into his human form as he soared above her, and then tackled Airla to the ground. Gently, he swung her around in his arms, so he took the brunt of the landing, and together they tumbled, rolling one on top of the other, until at last they came to a halt at the base.

Airla’s heaving exhalations rushed across his face, her delicate form straddling him. She peered at him, her cheeks flushed a rosy hue and her eyes bright with excitement.

His panting stilled while he devoured her beauty.

“You cheated,” she rasped, wheezing for air.

“You were the one with the sled.” He cocked one brow, his lips quirking.

“That’s how it’s supposed to be done, centaur.”

“Oh, aye? Well, apparently I haven’t been here long enough to learn your secrets. When I heard your shrieks, I feared something had happened to you nymphs. Now, I see you’re quite well.” He dropped his perusal across her body, the full curves of her bosom rising and falling so enticingly. “Very well indeed.”

Her lips parted, the slender, creamy column of her throat flexing. Such a beguiling female she was. She could make even breathing bewitching to him.

“Well, we have to do something with our days, other than just survive.” Extending her hand, she stroked her fingers across his forehead, smoothing his furrowed brow. “Otherwise, we might go mad.”

Sparks shot through him from their contact, and he swallowed hard, uttering gruffly, “What else do you nymphs engage in for amusement?”

She edged forward, close enough for him to snare her lips, if he so chose. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

* * *

Airla’s words might have come out cool and assured, but inside, her heart pounded wildly within her chest, ramming against her ribs. Astride Lycus, it was impossible to ignore the bursts of his desires, the hardness of his body beneath hers.

If she shifted lower, not even her thick clothes would conceal his rigidness.

“Do you wish to try it again?” Clearing her throat, she straightened and shuffled off him, rising to seize her sled. “On one of these?”

“Well,” the corners of his eyes crinkled in mischief, “you’d have to make it worth my efforts.”

She tilted her head at him. “How so?”

“If I beat you—in a fair race—I demand a prize.”

“Hmm.” She tapped one finger against her lips. “What prize would that be?”

With predatory agility, he rose and placed his hands on her sled, leaning in close. “A kiss.”

Her lips twitched. Predictable male. “Fine, but when I win,” she ignored the growl deep in his throat, “I have something far better in mind.” She pointed into the distance, toward a vast, snow-covered field. “Beneath that meadow lies a pond. My sisters and I love to skate on it, but the last storm covered it. I would have you clear the snow.”

He chuckled. “Deal.” Lycus hefted her sled onto his left shoulder and offered her his right hand. She pursed her lips before accepting his aid to ascend the hillside. Together, they climbed, puffing at the exertion of scaling through the deep snow. Midway, she released his hand and climb ahead of him over a particularly steep section. His hand pushed up against her bottom, and he grunted, “Just helping.”

She scoffed and tossed her head.

Finally, they reached the top and Lycus set down her sled. He chose another from a pile stacked near the top and plopped his beside hers. They each mounted their own sleds and he cast her a devious grin. “Ready?”

“Oh, I’ve been ready for a very long time.” She shoved off, her sled soaring down the slope.

Lycus howled as he raced beside her, their sleds nearly matching pace, until his heavier weight gave him the advantage, and he edged forward.

Damn him.

She paddled through the snow on either side, gaining on him once more, but it wasn’t enough. By the time she skidded to a halt at the bottom, he was already standing, propped against his upright sled, smirking at her.

“I believe you owe me a kiss, nymph.”

“Oh, do I?” she intoned, nimbly rising to her feet. “That’s not what we agreed upon, centaur.”

“What do you mean?” His pale pools narrowed, the grin wiped from his handsome features.

“You won a kiss, Lycus,” she glided to his side and murmured, “but I never said it was from me.” She sauntered from him, sashaying her hips.

“Bloody nymph!” Lycus grated behind her, making laughter bubble on her lips.

She couldn’t resist one more jab. A hand on her hip, she whirled around. “The giants always welcome fine company, if you’re so inclined, Ly—”

He no longer appeared irritated. Instead, he’d frozen, his lips slightly parted and a frantic look in his wide eyes. “Airla, duck!”

Before she had the chance, he launched to her side and tackled her to the ground, flattening her against the cold, hard-packed snow. She opened her mouth to question him, but a screech shattered the air above them, followed by a blast of icy wind.

Oh gods, no. Not one of them.

* * *

The creature’s razor talons slashed across his back but, thankfully, didn’t find purchase. Lycus ground his jaw against the searing pain, and rolled to his side, uncovering Airla long enough to catch a glimpse of the massive winged beast circle back for a second attack.

He lunged to cover Airla again, but she wiggled out from beneath him, yanked on his hand, and hauled him toward the mountainside cliffs.

Half-dragging his feet as he stumbled forward but kept his attention on the creature encroaching on them, he followed her lead. “What are you doing?”

“Surviving,” she snapped, wrenching harder on his hand. “Don’t look back. You’re slowing us down. Just follow me. Trust me.”

If not for the imminent danger, he might have jolted at the demand for her trust. Shaking himself, he did as she commanded and they neared the rocky wall. “Airla, there’s no path through.”

“Yes, there is.” She clasped his hand ever tighter and he squeezed his eyes shut at the impending contact with solid rock.

Another blood-boiling shriek echoed from above, but no piercing talons snatched him.

No cliff smacked into him, either.

Airla jerked to a stop and Lycus teetered on his feet before peeling open his eyes and glancing about. “What in Hades…”

Spinning around, he witnessed the snowy field they’d just crossed. Their rushed footprints glittered in the snow. The beast was there, too, landed in the meadow. “What is that?”

It resembled a bird, but not a bird. Nay. A gilded, feathered crest adorned its eagle-esque head, but its body was beast-like—a lion. A dashing vest of feathers draped across its upper body and gigantic wings spread from the creature’s back. Those cuts on Lycus’s back hadn’t been made by talons, but rather claws. Lethal, dagger-sharp lion’s claws.

“Sweet Zeus. A griffin?” He tossed his head in disbelief. “I thought they were extinct.”

“I wish.” Airla dusted the snow from her cloak and gown. “Nasty creatures.” She scrunched her nose. “They always assume we’re after their stores of gold. Can’t a nymph enjoy the mountainside in peace, without the threat of being torn to shreds?”

Her casual tone loosened his tightly clenched jaw. How could she be so relaxed about these fearsome monsters near her home? “There are more of them? By the gods, why do you come out here?” Fool-headed nymph. She’d get them killed. Make a nice meal for the behemoths.

Airla paused in her dusting and arched one brow. “What else are we supposed to do? Hide away in our caves all day and beg the giants to protect us?” She snorted. “No, thank you. These invisible walls shield us. We can handle a griffin, or even two. If you don’t believe me, watch.”

Oh, he did. He gaped as she crossed through the invisible wall and marched straight to the griffin.

* * *

Males. Airla blew out a puff of icy breath into the wind. Then she focused on taming the beast. The one outside, not the one inside. A griffin was far easier to manage than a lustful centaur after his mate.

“Well, that was quite unnecessary.” She advanced to several paces away from the creature and held up one hand, commanding her roots.

From behind her, the other nymphs stepped forward, out of the invisible boundaries, and copied her movements.

The beast backed up, eyeing the snaking roots suspiciously.

“We’re not your meal, griffin. Nor are we after your gold. Now, leave us be, or we’ll trap you here for the next millennium or so.”

The beast lunged forward, squawking once, before flapping its massive wings and, beating them hard enough to cause swirling clouds of snow, ascended to the skies once more.

Airla nodded in satisfaction at her sisters before glancing toward the rock wall. Lycus watched her, those pale blue orbs incandescent with intensity, with possession. Until he gave a pained grimace, gripped his side, and staggered to his knees.

“Lycus!” She raced to his side. “What’s wrong?” He didn’t have to answer. The blood-soaked tatters of his shirt spoke for themselves. “Damn that griffin.” She winced in empathy and ducked beneath his shoulder and helped him to his feet. “Let me take you home and clean those wounds.”

He didn’t protest, hobbling along beside her to their cave. First, she mixed a potion of healing herbs to aid him and coax him to slumber. After he drank, she bade him onto the bed, lying upon his stomach. Since his clothing was already badly torn, she grabbed a dagger and cut off his shirt. Inhaling sharply, she finished slicing through the stitching and peeled off the bloodied strips of cloth. Four inch-wide gashes of almost a foot long each slashed diagonally across his back. The wounds puckered and dribbled fresh blood down his flesh.

She squeezed her eyes and inhaled a steadying breath before focusing on the task. This was going to hurt. The very notion of causing any living being harm made her stomach coil, but this must be done.

Airla strode to the hearth and poured the pot of warm water into a basin, then dipped a cloth inside, wrung it, and pressed it to his wounds.

The ropy muscles of his back and shoulders jerked, but he uttered no sounds.

Brave and strong. Was that because his hearts were cold?

No, she didn’t believe that. Today, he’d been the lad he used to be. Engaging in games with her, teasing and jesting. His deep, rumbling laughter echoed in her ears.

Yet this male before her was so hardened from that lad. If the tales he spoke of regarding Krete were true, this current torment must be nothing new for him.

She padded around him to rinse the cloth once more, but he seized her wrist. “Airla. You’re one damned brave nymph. Thank you. For today. For saving my life. Gods know I don’t deserve,” his eyes shuttered and the drink’s effect took hold as he yawned, mumbling, “you.”

* * *

The night passed in a dizzying blur. Lycus attempted to speak, but his words slurred together, and besides, whenever he did, Airla pressed her fingers to his lips and hushed for him to be silent.

“Sleep, Lycus. And you will heal.”

The soft pads of her fingers against his lips tempted his tongue, and he licked her fingers, groaning at her taste, sucking first one, then another into his mouth.

Airla mewled or, at least, he thought she did, before twisting her fingers free. “There’ll be none of that, centaur.” She tsked, but her admonishment did nothing to ease the heavy weight of his cock pressing into the furs. He longed to roll over and request her assistance with that as well, but each time he tried, the searing cuts across his back reminded him of why that was a very bad idea.

He must have whimpered or uttered some other pathetic noise, for she huffed and sank onto the bed beside him, cradling his head into her lap. Her fingers smoothed across his forehead, while a soft tune hummed on her lips. “There now, better?” She paused and shifted as though to move aside, but he shot out his hand and clasped her thigh.

“Nay, don’t leave me.” What a wretched bastard he was. Reduced to pleading for his mate’s comfort.

“It was never my choice to leave you, Lycus.” Her tone hardened a little, but anguish rang in her words, too. “You took everything from us.”

“I didn’t mean to curse the nymphs.” He sighed, defeated by himself.

“I don’t mean the nymphs.”

He forced open his eyes and tilted his face toward her. Those were definitely tears glistening in her eyes. She blinked and one salty drop landed on his lips.

“I loved you.” Her eyes squeezed and a handful more drops fell. “We could have been so much. Yet you never trusted me. Look where that has brought us.”

His mind was fuzzy, her words blending together and echoing, round and round. “Airla, I never stopped loving you. Vow to be mine and we’ll build our future together.” He reached to brush the tears from her cheeks, but she shook her head, away from his hand.

“Pray pardon, but I can’t.” Gently, she lowered his head from her lap, onto the bed, and padded from the room.

Leaving him alone.

Alone. Like he had been for a century.

Mayhap, that was his true destiny.

He stared after her, the heat shared from her body draining from him. Cold. Lonely. Frozen. He was bloody tired of being those things. Not when the opposite was almost within his grasp. If he closed his eyes, he viewed a different future awaiting them. One full of warmth and laughter and light. He only had to prove to her that it was still possible. It would take time to earn her forgiveness. Time and patience, and an iron-clad will.

Because, bloody hell, no. He didn’t wish to be alone anymore.

He wanted to fight.

For her.