The Grey God

For once, let someone take care of you. She didn't know what to feel at his words. She'd never thought she needed someone to take care of her. She worked hard to keep it that way. Dependence on others created not only potential liabilities but made her weaker as well.

Jenn's gaze swept over Darian.

Trust. It wasn't something she did. It wasn't something she thought she'd missed. Standing in the kitchen with the man meant to be her mate, she couldn't help feeling a small kernel of longing deep inside her. An ache that remembered what it'd been like to trust someone else. An ache that wanted to trust someone again.

Darian.

Fear trickled through her as she recalled the amount of pain trusting someone could cause. Of all the evil in the world, she feared this the most.

"Coward," Darian murmured.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"About destroying worlds," she shot back.

"Have another cheeseburger," he said and handed a plate to her.

"You don't have enough cheeseburgers to keep me distracted forever."

"You really want to do this right now?" he challenged, meeting her gaze. "You're half-starved and powerless. You think you can take me?"

"I thought you learned that lesson," she reminded him. "I don't need magic to twist you up in knots."

"You need it to run away again. You throw down now, we'll have us a little talk, and you've got no escape plan."

She snatched the plate and walked into the living room.

"Damn that felt good!" Darian shouted.

"Cheap shot."

"I learned that from you."

Jenn resisted the urge to smile. Frustrated and off-center, she couldn't help finding his triumph entertaining. The part of her that loved to mess with powerful creatures also knew she was damned good at it. That she'd had a god off balance for so long-and it took losing her magic for him to finally score-was an accomplishment. Of course, any advantage she had over him was over now.

She was enjoying the challenge and their repartee. More than she liked. Darian had a quick wit that was as unpredictable as his actions.

"I also learned the best time to take advantage of someone is when they're off-center," he said, joining her with another plate of cheeseburgers.

Stop it, she directed him mentally.

He winked in response, saying, "No more secrets."

"I'm not afraid of you, Darian," she replied and wolfed down another cheeseburger.