As he filled two goblets with wine, he said, "I was going to have former lovers advise you of my wondrous skill in bed, but in the light of day that didn't seem so wise."
"Agreed," she said, nearly choking on her first sip.
"Instead, I'll tell you something about myself. Then you'll tell me something about yourself. Do we have a bargain?"
She licked her lips. "We do."
What bits of his past should he offer her? "I...had a brother," he said. Yes, as good a place as any to start, and something he rarely spoke of-though never with a woman. Shaye would be the first.
"Had?" she asked softly.
Nodding, he pinched a piece of fish between his fingers and popped it into his mouth. He chewed, swallowed. "He was my twin. He was stolen when we were children."
Her eyes widened with horror. "Who took him?"
Familiar rage filled him, but he tamped it down. "The Gorgons."
"The Gor-what?" She crossed her legs, one over the other, and leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table.
He had her full attention, her usual shields down.
"Gorgons are a race of creatures who can turn a man to stone with only a glance. Snakes slither on their heads. They are evil. Pure evil."
"Ah. Like Medusa." She motioned for him to continue. "So why did they take him?"
He slid a platter of grapes toward her. "They hoped to trade him for my father's aid-which he denied. Verryn died that very day."
"I'm so sorry."
He nodded. "He and I shared a mind connection, and when it darkened I knew he was gone. I've felt his loss every day...until you." The last emerged as little more than a whisper. "Now it's your turn. Tell me something about yourself."
WHAT SHOULD SHE TELL HIM? Shaye wondered. He'd divulged something personal and painful. She could do no less. Except...the more she shared with him, the closer she would feel to him.
Proceed with caution!
She would tell him something only slightly painful. "Once I had a stepsister who chopped off all my hair. I was sleeping and didn't know what she'd done until the next morning." The "trim" had been punishment for cutting the hair of her stepsister's favorite doll-a crime Shaye hadn't committed. That honor had belonged to her stepbrother.
The real pain had come when ten-year-old Shaye had cried to her mother about what had been done. Tamara accused her of butchering her own hair in an attempt to ruin her relationship with the girl's father.
Valerian's features darkened. "Seems Atlantis isn't the only land with demons. Your hair reminds me of moonlight and stars, and anyone who cuts it can only be spawned from evil."
Gratification filled her-he believed her. She ran her hand through the thick mass. "I...thank you."
"Living with the little demon must have been difficult."
"Thankfully, Mom was only married to her father for a year."
"You mother married your father, then this other man, then another male last week. How many mates has she had?"
"Six."
He shook his head, as if he couldn't trust what he'd just heard. "You will not share the same fate. You will have one mate. Only one." His gaze lingered on her mouth, reducing her to a trembling, aching mess.
"Tell me a happier memory now," she croaked.
He thought for a moment. "I lost my virginity to my mother's favorite servant. She carried clean clothing into my room, spotted me in the pool and decided to join me."
She struggled to catch her breath. Valerian...naked...beads of water trickling down rope after rope of muscle and-
Stop! "I would have guessed you'd lost your virginity in an orgy."
He smiled. "The orgy happened the next night."
She nearly choked on her tongue, and he laughed.
"What about you?" he asked. "Tell me about your first time."
"I, uh..." She stumbled over her words, another blush heating her cheeks. Time to admit the truth, she supposed.
Why?
Excellent question. Because...because she was an adult, and she could do what she wanted. That was why.
"I haven't had a first time," she admitted, stacking the grapes in the bowl. "Yet."
"What!" His mouth fell open. "Surely you jest."
"Hardly. Look," she said, growing defensive. "I never wanted to deal with the problems that walk hand in hand with a sexual relationship."
His brow furrowed. "What problems?"
"Well, love never lasts. Someone always gets hurt, using their feelings as an excuse to do terrible things to their partner. Those problems."
At first, he said nothing, only peered at her with shock.
"Well?" she prompted.