Free NocC 007 - Stephanie Draven - Mythica 6 - The Fever and the Fury - Harlequin 2012-01 by Nocturne

“So, what did old Cadmus do to get kicked out of Thebes?”
    “He slew the dragon that killed his comrades,” Phaedra said. “And in slaying that dragon, he angered Ares, the god of war. So he was exiled, sent wandering the world with only an ox to draw his cart. He found shelter here and named Budva after the creature that had so faithfully carried him.”
    “I wanted to slay the dragon who killed my men,” Luke said, bitterly. “That’s why I did what I did.” He wanted her to understand. Maybe some part of him craved the redemption furies offered…” So what happened to old Cadmus? Did he ever get to go back to his own country? Back to Thebes?”
    Phaedra shook her head sadly.
    “Yeah,” Luke said. “I guess that’s too much to wish for.”
    “What would you do if you could go back home?”
    He looked down at her. “You mean if I didn’t end up in prison?”
    “Yes. If you could go home and start again, what would you do?”
    The answer should have been ready on his tongue. He’d spent the past year hoping he’d be granted immunity and asked to testify against his superiors. Now that he could see that wasn’t going to happen, he wanted fucking revenge. And since he couldn’t die, at least not permanently, he was uniquely positioned to get it too. He’d fantasized about it a hundred times. All he needed was access to his commanding officers. He’d raise his gun and give the bastards one tap to the head, one tap to the heart. Then it would be over.
    But what then?
    Would it solve anything? Or would it just make him feel a little better? Either way, his military career was finished and he’d never considered an alternative. Funny, for a guy who had always had a Plan B. “I dunno what I’d do, Phaedra. I used to thrive on the stress of the job. The rush of combat. The responsibility of keeping my men safe. Now, I just want some peace. I guess I’d buy some place on the beach. Maybe I’d open a garage and fix stuff. I’ve always been pretty good with my hands.”
    “I can attest to that,” she said with a soft smile.
     
    When had she fallen in love with him, Phaedra wondered?
    Perhaps it was when Phaedra realized that everything she’d believed about him had been a lie. Perhaps it happened that night as they strolled the beach, faces illuminated by lamplight. Quite possibly, love had crept into her rigid little heart the moment he’d taken her virginity, or indulged her wickedest desires in the alleyway. Or maybe she’d fallen in love with Luke Lazaros in that first forbidden press of a chaste kiss upon her palm.
    All that mattered was that she had fallen in love with him. And to love him was to recognize all the ways in which she’d wronged him. It was to be consumed with guilt for which there could be no cure. Who would help a fury atone for her crimes?
    Luke was the kind of man who sacrificed everything to do what he thought was right, the kind of man who risked pain to give pleasure. He made her feel cherished. He made her feel happy. He made her feel things she’d never felt before. Things she didn’t deserve to feel.
    But Luke deserved more. He deserved the chance to start his life over. He should have his house on the beach. The little garage in which he fixed things with his hands. He should enjoy the warmth of bright sunshine on his face, to live day after day in the same skin. And if it gave him peace to make love to shopgirls on countertops, he deserved that too. The only thing Luke didn’t deserve was a life with a fury on his heels.
    He must not have been able to sense her troubled thoughts, because he cheerfully arranged beach chairs by the water, offering her a seat before opening the bottle of wine. “No glasses,” he said apologetically. “We’ll have to share.”
    Share. It was a special word. A word that admitted no loneliness. She liked it. She removed her boots and put her toes in the surf while he took a long swallow, then handed the bottle to her. She would