The biker didn't duck, and Julian caught him one hard blow to the chin that made him stagger backward.
Totally befuddled, Grace looked back and forth between the woman and Julian.
How could they possibly know each other?
"Eros, baby. No!" the woman shouted again, waving her hands around her face like a bird about to take flight.
Selena moved to stand beside Grace.
"Is that the Eros Julian was trying to summon?" Grace asked.
Selena shrugged. "Maybe, but I never thought of Cupid as a biker."
"Where's Priapus?" Julian demanded as he grabbed Eros and forced him back against the wooden railing above the water.
"I don't know," Eros said as he struggled to loosen Julian's two hands from his black T-shirt.
"Don't you dare lie to me," Julian growled.
"I don't know!"
Julian tightened his grip as two thousand years of pain and rage swept through him. His hands shook while he held Eros in his fists. But worse than his desire to kill was the unrelenting questions that screamed through him.
Why had no one ever answered his summons before?
Why had Eros betrayed him?
And how could they have done this to him, then walk away and leave him to suffer?
"Where is he?" Julian asked again.
"Eating, belching, hell, I don't know. I haven't seen him in forever and a day."
Julian pulled Eros away from the railing. All the wrath of hell was branded into his face as he released him.
"I have to find him," Julian said between clenched teeth. "Now."
A muscle in Eros's jaw twitched as he brushed his hands down the front of his T-shirt to straighten it. "Well, shaking the shit out of me isn't going to get his attention."
"Then maybe killing you will." Julian reached for him again.
Suddenly, the other bikers started for Julian.
As the men closed in, Eros ducked Julian's blow and whirled to stop his friends.
"Leave him alone, guys," Eros said, grabbing the one closest to him by the arms and pushing him backward. "You don't want to fight him. Trust me. He could rip your heart out and feed it to you before you hit the ground dead."
Julian scanned the bikers with a glare that dared any of them to approach him. The cold, lethal look terrified Grace and she held no doubt he could do just what Eros said.
"What are you, crazy?" the tallest one asked as he raked a disbelieving stare over Julian. "He don't look like much to me."
Eros wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and gave a half-grin as he saw the blood on his thumb. "Yeah, well, take my word for it. The man has fists like a sledge-hammer and the ability to move a hell of a lot faster than you can dodge."
In spite of his dusty black leather pants and torn T-shirt, Eros was incredibly handsome, and lacked the worn-out look of his companions. His youthful face would have been very pretty if not for the dark brown goatee surrounded by a three-day growth of whiskers, and the military cut of his hair.
"Besides, it's just a little family squabble," Eros said with a strange glint in his eyes. He patted the biker on the arm and laughed. "My kid brother always did have a nasty temper on him."
Grace exchanged a stunned, disbelieving gape with Selena.
"Did I hear that?" she asked Selena. "Surely he can't be a brother of Julian's. Can he?"
"How would I know?"
Julian said something to Eros in ancient Greek. Selena's eyes bulged and the smile faded instantly from Eros's face.
"If you weren't my brother, I'd kill you for that."
Julian's gaze shot daggers. "If I didn't need you, you'd already be dead."
Instead of becoming angry, Eros laughed.
"Don't you dare laugh," the woman said angrily to Eros. "You better remember he's one of the few people capable of carrying out that threat."
Eros nodded, then turned to the other four bikers. "Go on," he said to his friends. "I'll catch up later."
"You sure?" the tall one asked, sliding a nervous look to Julian. "We can hang if you need us to."
"Nah, it's all right," Eros said with a dismissive wave. "Remember, I told you I had to meet someone here? My brother's just pissed at me, but he'll get over it."
Grace stepped back as the bikers walked past her. All of them except for the stunning woman. She folded her arms across her leather-clad, amply endowed chest and eyed the two men warily.
Oblivious to her, Selena, and the woman, Eros walked a slow circle around Julian, looking him up and down.
"Keeping company with mortals?" Julian asked as he raked an equally cold sneer over Eros. "My, Cupid, has Tartarus frozen over while I was away?"
Eros disregarded his angry words. "Damn, boy," he said in disbelief, "you haven't changed a bit. I thought you were mortal."