A STERIUS carried her through the garden. Mikki wouldn't normally like being carried around as if she was a child, but she wasn't sure she could walk on her own. Her insides felt weak and sick. And she needed to be in his arms. She needed to feel his heartbeat against her own to reassure herself that she really was alive.

"Hatred tricked me," she said faintly, her head resting against his shoulder.

His arms tightened around her. "That's what Dream Stealers do. They infect mortals until their poison actually twists thoughts so that dreams sicken, and eventually, die. Do not punish yourself for falling prey to that which has been destroying mortal dreams for uncounted ages."

"I thought awful things. I was filled with . . ." She shivered convulsively, not able to continue.

"You were poisoned by hatred, envy, fear, and selfishness. They weren't your thoughts, Mikado, they were sick shadows of your infected imagination. You must not punish yourself for their evil, for that is a type of a victory for them. If they can taint your life, even after they've been banished, then they haven't truly been defeated."

"I'll never let them fool me again. And I'll never go into that damned forest again, either." She raised her head and stared at him. "How do you stand it? How can you go out there and collect the threads of reality and know they're out there, too, watching and waiting for a chance to attack?"

"It is my destiny to battle them. Many of them are old, familiar enemies."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Only when I think about what would happen if I failed and allowed them to have their way with the realm."

"But you won't ever fail," she said.

"No. I cannot."

She thought he sounded incredibly tired, and she hoped desperately that he wouldn't have reason to battle the Dreams Stealers again until he was well rested and - "Oh, God! Put me down! You have to go back and make sure the rose wall is okay and that no part of those things stayed in the realm."

"The realm is safe. The north wind blew the last vestiges of their evil deep into the forest."

"But shouldn't you go back and make sure everything's really okay?"

"All is well, Mikado. When Dream Stealers have been faced and defeated, they are loathe to attack again soon. They know that once they have been recognized for what they are, their power to taint lives is drastically weakened. They must retreat to lick their wounds and plot a new attack for another day."

"I remember Hatred said he is never finished."

"He isn't. We must always guard against him."

Something she had read once surfaced in her mind, and she spoke the words softly aloud. "Good defeated is stronger than evil triumphant." She touched the side of his face. "You fight on the side of good."

"And I will not allow evil to triumph."

"I won't let them taint my life; they won't defeat me." She lay her head back on his shoulder and then said, "How did you save me from dying?"

"I beseeched a boon from Cronos," he said quietly.

Her head snapped up again. "Your father?"

He nodded.

"You talked to your father?"

"Briefly."

"How long has it been since the last time you talked to him?" she asked, wondering at the odd, wooden expression that had hardened his face.

"I have never before spoken to him."

She studied him, feeling angry as hell at the arrogant Titan who had so cavalierly created and then discarded a son, wishing that she could erase the centuries of pain and loneliness in his past. Not knowing what else to do, she kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Thank you for saving my life," she said.

His face softened into a smile. "I was just returning the favor, Empousa. Remember, you brought me back to life once, too."

"That's right." She nipped his jaw. "And I like you better this way."

"Because you find that you are weary of walking, and you enjoy being carried about by your beast?"

Mikki laughed. "Well, the myths do say that the Minotaur was half bull, but I don't think bulls make very good beasts of burden. Rumor has it they're not docile enough."

"In this case, the rumor," he said, giving her a quick, hard kiss that ended in a growl, "is true."

By the time they reached Asterius's lair, Mikki was tired of being carried, even though when he finally put her down the cave rocked a little under her feet. Especially after she realized that her chiton was hanging in shreds from her body, which was sticky with drying blood.

She groaned through clenched teeth. "I'm going to puke my guts up if I don't get this stuff washed off me." She glanced up at Asterius. "You may have to carry me up the stairs to my baths."

He swung her into his arms again, but instead of leaving the cave, he strode to his bedroom.

"Okay, I realize that my head is truly screwed up right now, but I do believe you're going in the wrong direction. Not that I don't want you to take me to your bedroom, but after I've washed this mess off of me."

"We keep forgetting to finish your tour of my lair."

"We don't forget; we get interrupted," she said.

"Then allow me to show you the rest of my lair without interruption." He carried her through his bedroom and then to a rounded doorway that fit neatly within a corner Mikki hadn't noticed before. It opened to a torch-lit tunnel, at the end of which was another rounded doorway, which, Mikki noted with surprise, was framed in sunlight.

"You know, this place isn't really very lair-ish. I mean, it's actually comfortable and beautiful. I think you should call it," she paused, thinking, while he took them closer and closer to the light. Then he stepped from the tunnel and into a large round room, the ceiling over the center of which was open to show the clearing morning sky. And also to allow the rising steam from the contained hot spring bath to escape. "I think you should call it paradise!" she breathed.

He laughed and put her down. In seconds, she'd stripped off what was left of her chiton and, with a satisfied groan, walked down the smooth steps and sank into the deliciously hot water. From behind her, she heard him speaking quick, sharp commands in the magickal language he used to call things to him, and she turned her head in time to see two baskets burst into being. One was filled with soaps, clean towels and lengths of soft chiton material. The other - she sighed happily - was full of food.

Asterius lifted a crystal bottle from the first basket and then smiled at Mikki. She grinned back, wondering at why he suddenly looked so shy.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Your soap," he said, holding up the bottle.

"I didn't mean the bottle. I meant what's that expression on your face about?"

"I would like to ask you something."

"Okay." Then she laughed. "You look a little mischievous." Feeling much revived by the warm mineral water, she gave him a sexy smile. "Are you feeling like being a little bit naughty?"

"I - I would like to bathe you," he said in a rush. And then he thoroughly shocked Mikki by flushing a deep red against the bronze of his skin.

"I would love that."

He walked to the edge of the rock pool and put down the crystal bottle. Then he took off his leather cuirasse and the short tunic he wore underneath. She loved looking at his body, watching as more and more of it was exposed. He was so physically powerful, such an amazing blending of extremes - man and beast, just as his mind was a blending of extremes, too. He was fierceness and compassion - childlike innocence and ancient knowledge mixed together to form a being truly unlike any other who would ever exist in any world. She was so distracted by her happy contemplation that it wasn't until he entered the pool that she realized the blood that spattered his body had come from more than her wounds. His arms were covered with slashes and bite marks.

"They hurt you!" She pulled him down so she could begin soaking the wounds in the hot water. "I'm such an idiot! Do you have bandages? Ugh - some of these look like they need stitches. There has to be a doctor in the realm. Let's get these cleaned up and I'll call for her, and - "

Asterius caught her wrists. "I do not need the healer."

She frowned at him. "Look, I worked at a hospital. Just take my word for it. You need a doctor."

He smiled and kissed her gently. "Your care for me warms my spirit."

"Lovely. I'm glad it does. It would warm my spirit if we'd get the doctor in here."

"Mikado, I am an immortal. I do not require a healer. The wounds already heal themselves."

Still frowning, Mikki lifted his arm and stared at it. "You're right! They are healing."

"Are you satisfied?" he asked.

"I'm dumbfounded," she said. "But definitely relieved." She splashed water over his arms, touching the newly healed bite marks, watching as the flesh knit itself together. "Is there any wound you can't recover from?"

"If you said you no longer loved me, it would destroy me."

She met his eyes. "Then you will live forever."

Asterius took the crystal bottle from the edge of the pool. "Let me show you how much I cherish you, Mikado."

She stood so the pool's water covered her only to her waist and then took the bottle from him and poured a generous amount of the heavy liquid over her neck, arms and breasts before putting it back on the ledge. The heady fragrance of the Empousa's anointing scent mixed with the heat of Mikki's skin, subtly changing it and making it unique to her.

Slowly, Asterius slid his hands over her slick skin. He caressed her neck and shoulders before moving to her breasts and the seductive flesh of her stomach. His hands dipped below her waist, carrying the rose-spiced scent to her thighs. Mikki felt as if she had turned to liquid heat as his hands slicked over her skin. His fingers found their way briefly between her legs, where he used his thumbs to stroke her with quick, circular motions, but then those knowing fingers would glide away, to tease her stomach or breasts before returning again to her core. She felt as if his touch was calling awake sleeping parts of her body that the warmth of the water continued to caress even when his touch had moved on. He turned her, and this time took the bottle himself and poured the soap in a thick line down her spine. Weak-kneed, Mikki leaned forward against the edge of the pool while his hands caressed her back and then dipped down to knead and cup her ass.

"Remember the last time I came to your dreams?"

She felt his breath hot against the middle of her back as he stayed on his knees and worked his clever hands across her skin.

"I remember," she said huskily.

Both of his hands slid around her body. She leaned back against him as they caressed their way slowly up her thighs.

"We were in a pit of roses." His deep voice rumbled across her skin, sending little ripples of pleasure through her body. "I was on top of you. You opened your legs to me." His fingers found the center of her excitement. The tempo of his caresses increased. "I was engorged, and when I pressed myself against you, rubbing and stroking, I could feel your wetness and heat and how your body gathered itself and then exploded with release." With a choked cry, Mikki climaxed, hard and fast.

And then he turned her to him, and in one swift motion lifted her through the water and impaled her while her body still pulsed and throbbed. Mikki arched to meet him, using the edge of the pool as support. His hands gripped her hips, and with a throaty growl, he extended his claws. His sex plunged in and out of her, exquisite in the barely controlled strength of his thrusts. Mikki didn't close her eyes. She wanted to see him, to watch the terrible beauty of his face as he loved her. Her skin was tight and overly sensitive, and jolts of pleasure were sensual shocks every time his claws shallowly pierced her skin. The liquid sound of him moving in and out of her coupled with his growls and the husky way he moaned her name, and it became an erotic symphony, the crescendo of which broke through her body with pleasure so intense it verged on painful.

She collapsed against him, breathing hard and feeling limp and replete. She was smiling contentedly against his chest until she realized it wasn't just his breath that was causing his chest to shake. He was trembling violently. Mikki pulled back to see that his eyes were closed and tears were slowly tracking their way down his face.

"Asterius?" She put her hand against his cheek. "What's wrong?"

He opened his eyes and kissed her palm. "It is only that I have been alone for so long - I find that I am unprepared for the happiness you bring me." He reached up and felt the tears on his face as if he hadn't realized until then that he was crying. "Does this make me appear foolish and weak to you?"

"No, my love. It makes you appear human."