"We both have our shoes..." His words ended in a sharp gasp as she lifted her hips so that she could remove hers and it drove him in even deeper into her body. "You've been hiding talents from me."
She nibbled his ear. "I can't reach yours, though."
"Do you really want me to stop and remove them?"
"No."
Styxx lifted himself up to stare down at her while he thrust against her hips. She ran her hands over his body, raising chills in her wake.
Biting his lip, he rolled with her, making sure to stay inside until she straddled him. He reached up and removed the pins from her dress then pulled it from her. His mouth watering, he cupped her breasts in his hands, but as she rode him, unbidden nightmares overwhelmed his pleasure.
Suddenly, he couldn't breathe. Total panic swarmed him.
"Styxx?" Bethany frowned as he slid out from under her and rolled to his side. "Honey, what's wrong?"
He was absolutely trembling.
She brushed her hand against his arm.
"Don't touch me," he snarled, putting more distance between them.
Tears filled her eyes as she realized what had happened. He'd never liked the feeling of being physically restricted or tied down in any way. There were only a few positions that he could tolerate while having sex without them dredging up painful memories for him.
Her heart breaking, she cradled his head against her. "What happened to your hair, baby?"
He swallowed hard before he answered. "I grew tired of people using it to control and hurt me." Closing his eyes, Styxx allowed her to pull him to her so that she could hold him tight against her naked body. "I'm sorry, Beth. I told you I'm not the same as I was."
She kissed his cheek. "It's fine. You're always perfect to me."
Those words ravaged his heart. "I'm so broken, Beth. I don't know if I'll ever be whole again."
"You're not broken. You're wounded, and wounds can heal." She caressed his cheek before she laid a gentle kiss there. "The most beautiful heart of all is the one that can still love even while it bleeds, and especially after it's been shattered into thousands of pieces. You are the most courageous man I've ever known."
In that moment, he was glad that she'd run from him. Had she stayed, the imposter would have been with her. That would have been a blow he'd have never survived. Knowing someone else was lying with her like this ...
Perhaps the gods had given him a very small mercy, after all. And as the agony and humility of the last year washed over him, he felt the hot, silent tears slide from the corners of his eyes.
She brushed them away with her lips.
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't be, Styxx. You're stronger than anyone I know."
But he didn't feel strong. He felt battered and beaten. A shell of what he'd been. Something that wasn't helped when she brushed her hand down the scars on his side. And yet her touch made it somehow all right.
No one loved him like his Beth did. She didn't look at him as if he was lacking. She teased instead of mocked.
And as he lay with her, she kissed her way down his body until she reached his feet. A smile tugged at the edges of his lips as she removed his sandals and said nothing about it.
Then she crawled up his body to lie against him so that she could place her hand to his cheek. "I have missed you so much."
He pulled her hand to his lips and nibbled her fingers. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you my real name. I just get tired of everyone hating me for who I am."
"I know nothing of that. Only that I love you because of who you are."
Closing his eyes, he breathed her in and let her touch erase the part of him that was still jagged and bleeding. And when she cupped him, he almost felt whole again. Within a few heartbeats, she had him even harder than before. He savored the sensation of her fingers teasing him while her breath fell against his skin.
She rolled to her back and guided him inside her. Styxx gladly followed, and this time when he began to thrust against her, there was no past haunting him. It was just the two of them. He stared down into her precious face and let her touch soothe his ragged emotions.
"I love you, akribos," she breathed.
Those words, along with the softness of her touch, sent him over the edge. He buried himself deep inside her and growled as his body released itself. He lay on top of her, panting and weak, but happy for the first time in over a year.
Bethany cradled him with her body and ran the bottoms of her feet over the short hairs on his legs. As she went to nip his chin, she realized he was sound asleep on top of her. She rocked her forehead against his cheek and sighed. "I should be highly offended." If it were anyone else, she would be. But in his case, this was the ultimate of compliments.
Kissing him, she grimaced at how short he'd cropped his hair. But her anger wasn't at him for it. It was at all the bastards who'd used it to brutalize him to the point he'd wanted his beautiful locks gone.
Aching for him, she wrapped her arms around his body and held him close against her. "I promise you, Styxx. I will make this up to you."
And a promise made by her bound her eternally. If she failed this time, it would mean her life.
February 18, 9527 BC
Styxx held his cloak to his nose and breathed in Bethany's scent. He still couldn't believe she was back. He kept waiting to wake up and find it all a dream. For once, he didn't even mind coming home. He was still smiling as he reached the palace door and the guards didn't open it.
Instead, they seized him and dragged him to his father's study then forced him to his knees in front of their furious king.
"Fath-"
He backhanded Styxx so hard, his face exploded with pain. "Don't you dare speak to me, traitor!"
Frowning up at his father, Styxx wiped the blood from his lips.
"I know what you did last night. Damn you for it!"
Baffled, Styxx tried to think what about that would have his father so enraged. He'd spent the entire night with Bethany in their cottage.
Just the two of them.
"The next words out of your mouth had better be the names of your coconspirators."
I'm missing something here....
"What-"
His father backhanded him again. "Their names! Now!"
"Whose?" Styxx held both hands up as his father went to hit him again. "Please, Father. I don't know what you're asking about. What do you think I've done?"
Tears glistened in the king's eyes. "You betrayed me!"
"How?"
"You were seen! Last night. Overheard plotting my death with your friends!"