Fantasy Lover

The next few days were the best of Grace's life. Once she got used to Julian's rule of no kissing and hot, intimate touches, they fell into an easy relationship that amazed and delighted her.

She spent her days at work, often meeting Julian and Selena for lunch, and her nights lying in Julian's scrumptious arms.

But with every day that passed, the knowledge that he was going to leave at the end of the month cut her all the more.

How would she be able to bear it?

Though the subject was never far from her mind, she refused to bring it up again. She would just live for the moment, and worry about tomorrow when it arrived.

Saturday night, they met Selena and Bill at Tip's in the Quarter. Though more touristy than the original Tippitina's, it was Zydeco Night and she wanted Julian to hear the music New Orleans had made famous.

"Hey!" Selena said as they approached the tables in the back. "I was beginning to wonder if you were no-shows."

Grace felt her face flame as she remembered what had kept them. One day, she was going to learn to lock the bathroom door when she bathed.

"Hi, Julian, Grace," Bill greeted.

Grace smiled at Bill's plaster cast, which Selena had painted with fluorescent colors.

Julian inclined his head to Bill as he held a chair out for Grace, then took a seat beside her. As soon as a waiter came over, they ordered beer and nachos while Selena kept the beat on the table with her hands.

"Come on, Lane," Bill said, his voice testy. "We'd better dance before I kill you over that incessant noise."

A little envious, Grace watched them walk off.

"Would you like to dance?" Julian asked.

She loved to dance, but she didn't want to embarrass Julian. There was no doubt in her mind that he had no idea how to do a modern dance. Still, it was incredibly sweet of him to offer. "That's okay."

He didn't listen. He rose to his feet and held his hand out to her. "Yes, you do."

As soon as they reached the dance floor, Grace realized the man could dance as good as he looked.

Julian knew every step as if he'd been born to it. In fact, he had perfect moves, graceful, yet incredibly masculine and sexy. Grace had never seen anything like it. And judging by the envious glares the women around them were directing at her, she figured none of them ever had either.

By the time the band ended the song, she was breathless and hot. "How did you-"

"It was a gift from Terpsichore," Julian said as he dropped his arm over her shoulders and held her tightly against his side.

"Who?"

"The Muse of dance."

Grace smiled. "Remind me to send her a thank-you note."

When the next song started, Julian did a double-take as he looked to his left.

He frowned.

"Is something wrong?" Grace asked as she followed the line of his gaze.

He shook his head and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I must be seeing things."

"Seeing what?"

Julian looked back through the crowd, searching for the tall blond man he'd seen out of the corner of his eye. Though he'd barely caught a glimpse of the man, he would have sworn it was Kyrian of Thrace.

Standing an easy six foot five, Kyrian had always been a hard man to miss in a crowd, and he'd owned a very distinctive and deadly swagger.

But Kyrian here, in this time, was impossible. It must be the madness returning to him-it was making him see things.

"Nothing," he said.

Putting the matter out of his mind, he smiled at her.

The next song was slow. Julian pulled her into his arms and held her close as they swayed gently to the beat. Grace wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest where she just breathed in the warm, sandalwood scent of his body. She didn't know what it was about his smell that literally turned her inside out, but it made her mouth water for him.

With his cheek against the top of her head, he stroked her hair as she listened to his heart pounding. She could have stayed like that forever.

But all too soon, the song ended. And after two more fast ones, Grace had to sit down. She just didn't have Julian's stamina.

As they headed to the table, she realized Julian wasn't even breathing heavily, but his brow was damp from sweat.

Julian held the chair for her. Sitting close beside her, he reached for his beer and took a deep drink.

"Julian!" Selena said with a laugh. "I had no idea you had moves on you like that."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Lusting again, Lane?"

Selena punched her husband in the belly. "You know better than that. You're the only boy-toy I want."

Bill cast a skeptical look to Julian. "Yeah, right."

Grace saw the shadow fall over Julian's face. "You okay?" she asked.

He smiled those dimples at her and she forgot her question.

They sat in silence, listening to the band while she and Julian fed each other nachos.

As Grace pulled her hand away from his lips, Julian captured it, then brought it back to his mouth to lick a bit of cheese from her fingertips. His tongue brushed against her skin, setting fire to her entire body.

Grace laughed as desire spread through her. How she really wished they had stayed home. She would love to strip Julian's clothes off his body and lick cheese from it for the rest of the night!

She was definitely going to add Cheez Whiz to her grocery list.

His eyes glowing, Julian moved her hand to his lap, and nuzzled her neck just a bit before pulling back and taking another drink of beer.

"Here, Selena," Bill said, drawing Grace's attention back to them. He handed her a napkin. "You might want to wipe the drool off your chin."

Selena rolled her eyes at him. "Hey, Gracie, I need a bathroom break. C'mon."

Julian leaned back to let her rise. He watched Grace vanish into the crowd, then almost on cue, women started moving in.

His stomach drew tight. Why did they always have to gravitate toward him? Just once, he'd like to be able to sit in peace, and not have to fend off the hands of women who didn't even bother to learn his name before they started groping.

"Hey, baby," an attractive blonde cooed as she stepped up first. "I like the way you dance. Why don't-"

"I'm here with someone," Julian said, narrowing his eyes on her in warning.

"You and her?" the woman laughed while indicating the direction Grace had vanished with her thumb. "C'mon. I thought you'd lost a bet or something."

"I thought she was his pity date," another woman said as she and a black-haired friend joined them.

Two men appeared out of the crowd. "What are the three of you doing back here?" the men asked their dates.

The women passed a regretful look to Julian.

"Nothing," the blonde purred as she cast one last glance at Julian, then turned around and left.

The men glared at Julian.

He arched a taunting brow at them as he took a casual drink of beer. They must have realized the stupidity of fighting him, because they gathered their women and left.

Julian sighed in disgust. No matter the time period, some things never changed.

"Hey," Bill said, leaning forward over the table. "I know you've been spending a lot of time with my wife lately, you better not be moving in on my territory. You hear me?"

Julian took a long, deep breath. Not him, too. "In case you haven't noticed, my only interest is in Grace."

"Yeah, right," Bill sneered. "Don't get me wrong, I like Grace a lot, but I'm not an idiot. I can't believe you're the kind of guy who goes for a cheeseburger when there are so many filet mignons waiting for you."

"I personally don't give a damn what you believe."

Grace hesitated as she and Selena rejoined Julian and Bill. The tension around Julian was tangible. His grip on the beer bottle so tight, she wasn't sure how he kept from shattering the glass.

"Hey, Bill," Selena said as she draped her arms over her husband's neck. "You wouldn't mind if I had a dance with Julian, would you?"

"Hell, yes, I'd mind."

Immediately, Julian excused himself and went to the bar.

Grace quickly followed.

He ordered another beer as she came up behind him.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Fine."

He didn't sound fine. He definitely didn't look fine. "You know, I can tell you're not being honest with me. Now, 'fess up, Julian. What's wrong?"

"We should leave."

"Why?"

He cast a glance over to Selena and Bill. "I just think it would be wise."

"Why?"

He growled low in his throat.

Before Julian could respond, three men came up beside him, and by the looks on their faces, Grace could tell they weren't happy.

Worse, Julian appeared to be the source of their ire.

The biggest was a body-builder monstrosity who was about three inches shorter than Julian, but quite a bit thicker and wider. He curled his lip as he ran his gaze over Julian's back. And it wasn't until that instant that Grace recognized him.

Paul.

Her heart hammered. Physically, he'd changed a lot over the years. His face was broader, with premature wrinkles around his eyes, and he'd lost a great deal of hair. But he still had the same sneer.

"He was the one messing with Amber," one of his flunkies said.

A deadly calm fell over Julian, and it sent a shiver down her spine. There was no telling what Julian might do, and judging by what she saw, Paul hadn't changed nearly as much inside as he had outside. A frat-boy poster-child, Paul had always traveled with an entourage. He believed in making a show of power in everything he did. That macho ego of his wouldn't let him leave until he pushed Julian into a fight.

She only hoped her general had more sense than to fall for such a stunt.

"Do you need something?" Julian asked without looking at Paul or his friends.

Paul laughed and slapped one of his friends across the chest. "What kind of faggot accent is that? I thought you told me Pretty-boy here was after my girl. From the look and sound of him, I'd say he was after one of you."

Julian turned and cut a glare to Paul that would have made anyone with sense back away.

Paul, of course, had no sense. He'd never had.

"What's the matter, Pretty-boy?" Paul mocked. "Did I offend you?" He looked at his friends and shook his head. "Just what I thought, he ain't nothing but a pretty, faggoty coward."

Julian laughed, but the tone of it was more evil than happy.

"C'mon, Julian," Grace said, taking his arm before things got any worse. "Let's leave."

Paul turned that sneer on her, until he recognized her. "Well, well, Grace Alexander. It's been a while." He clapped the short, dark-haired man next to him on the back. "Hey, Tom, you remember Grace from college, don't you? Her little white panties put me over the top of our bet."

Julian froze at the words.

Grace could feel the old pain swell, but she refused to show it. She would never again give Paul that power over her.

"No wonder he was after Amber," Paul continued. "He probably wanted to try a woman who doesn't cry all over him when he screws her."

Julian whirled on Paul so fast that she could barely follow the motion. Paul swung. Julian ducked and sent a fist into Paul's ribs that knocked him five feet into the crowd.

Cursing, he ran back at Julian.

Julian moved to the side, tripped Paul and flipped him into the air.

Paul landed on his back.

Before he could move, Julian placed his foot on Paul's throat, and smiled a cold, small smile that chilled her all the way to her toes.

Paul grabbed Julian's shoe in both hands and tried to remove it. He shook from the effort of it, but still Julian kept his foot where it was.

"Did you know," Julian asked in a casual tone that was truly terrifying, "that it only takes five pounds to completely collapse your esophagus?"

Paul's eyes and arms bulged as Julian increased the weight on his neck.

"Please, man," Paul begged as he tried to push Julian's shoe off his throat. "Please don't hurt me, okay?"

Grace held her breath in terror as Julian applied even more pressure.

Tom took a step forward.

"Do it," Julian said in warning, "and I'll rip your heart out and feed it to your friend."

Grace froze at the deadly look on Julian's face. This wasn't the tender man who made love to her at night. This was the face of the general who had once laid waste to Rome's finest.

There was no doubt in her mind that Julian could, and would, carry out that threat. Judging by the pallor of Tom's face as he stepped back, she could tell he knew it, too.

"Please," Paul begged again as tears fell down his face. "Please don't hurt me."

Grace swallowed as those haunting words tore through her. They were the same ones she had once cried in Paul's bed.

It was then Julian met her gaze. She saw the fury in Julian's eyes, as well as his desire to kill Paul for her.

"Let him go, Julian," she said softly. "His entire body isn't worth one molecule of yours."

Julian looked down at Paul and narrowed his eyes. "Where I come from, we butchered worthless cowards like you just for practice."

Just as she was sure Julian was going to kill Paul, he stepped back. "Get up."

Rubbing his throat, Paul rose slowly to his feet.

Julian's cold, dead look actually made Paul flinch. "You owe my lady an apology."

Paul wiped his nose on the back of his hand. "I'm sorry."

"Say it like you mean it," Julian said quietly.

"I'm sorry, Grace. Really. I'm very, very sorry."

Before Grace could respond, Julian draped a possessive arm over her shoulders and walked her out of the club.

They didn't speak until they reached her car, but Grace could sense something was profoundly wrong with Julian. His entire body was tense, like a spring coiled way too tight.

"I wish you had let me kill him," Julian said as she fumbled in her jeans pocket for her keys.

"Julian-"

"You have no idea how much it hurt for me to walk away from him. I am not the kind of man who just walks away." He slammed his hand onto the top of her car, then spun around and growled like a cornered lion. "Dammit, Grace. I once fed on the entrails of men like him. And I went from that to..."

Julian hesitated as two thousand years of repressed memories flooded through him. He saw himself as the respected leader he'd been. The hero of Macedonia. The man who had once made entire legions of Romans surrender as soon as they recognized his standard.

And then he saw himself as what he had become. An empty shell. A coveted pet, performing at the beck and call of his summoner.

For two thousand years he had lived without emotions, lived without speaking more than a handful of words.

He had gone into survival mode. And he had lost himself to it.

Until Grace had reached out and found the human side of him...

Grace watched a myriad of emotions cross Julian's face. Anger, confusion, horror, and finally agony. She walked to his side of the car, but he refused to let her touch him.

"Don't you see?" he said, his tone raw from his emotions. "I don't know who I am anymore. I knew who I was in Macedonia, and then I became this." He held his arm up so that she could see the words Priapus had burned into his forearm. "And then you changed that," he said, looking at her.

The anguish in his eyes tore through her. "Why did you have to change me, Grace? Why couldn't you have left me as I was? I'd taught myself to feel nothing anymore. I just came, did what I was told, and left. I no longer wanted anything. And now..." He looked around him like a man caught in the middle of a nightmare he couldn't escape.

She reached for him. "Julian-"

Shaking his head, he stepped away from her grasp. "No!" He raked his hand through his hair. "I don't know where I belong anymore. You don't understand."

"Then tell me," she begged.

"How can I tell you what it's like to walk between two worlds? To be despised by both? I am neither man nor god, I am a hybrid abomination. You have no idea how I grew up. My mother passed me off to my father who passed me off to his wife who passed me around to anyone who could get me out of her sight. And for the last twenty centuries, I have been bartered and sold. I have spent my entire life searching for someplace to call home. Someone who would want me, and not my face, or my body." The tormented look in his eyes burned her.

"I want you, Julian."

"No you don't. How could you?"

She gaped at his question. "How could I not? My God, I've never in my life wanted to be with anyone as much as I want to be with you."

"It's lust you feel."

Now, that made her angry. How dare he dismiss her feelings as something so trivial. Her feelings for him ran much deeper than mere lust, they reached all the way to her soul. "Don't tell me what I feel. I'm not a child."

Julian shook his head, unable to believe her words. It was the curse. It had to be. No one could love him. No one ever had; not since the moment he'd been born.

For Grace to love him...

It would be a miracle. It would be...

Pure bliss. And he had not been born to feel bliss.

You will suffer as no man ever has.

This was just another trick of the gods. Another cruel hoax sent to punish him.

He was tired now. Weary and exhausted from the fight. He just wanted peace from the pain. A haven from the frightening feelings he felt every time he looked at her.

Grace clenched her teeth at the denial she saw in Julian's eyes. But then, who could blame him?

He had been hurt so many times. But somehow, some way, she was going to prove to him just how much he meant to her.

She had to. Because losing him would kill her.