Page 82 of Thief of Hearts

All I knew was that I was desperate for him and I needed him. Why didn’t he understand that?

He took a step back from me, but with the room so small, there wasn’t really anywhere for him to go. “Basileia, this isn’t you.”

“It is me. It’s me finally admitting what I want now that this is all over and I won.”

His expression darkened. “So you’re here to claim all your prizes?”

“You’re not a prize that I’m owed,” I said.

“Then what is this? What do you want?” he asked.

I waited several beats before I responded. “I thought it was obvious. I want you inside me.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

He had turned into a statue. It only took me two steps to be standing close to him again. Zain tried to back up but he was trapped by the wall behind him.

“We can’t,” he said.

“Oh, we very much can. It’s just you and me, all alone in a room with a door that locks.” Maybe if I reminded him of his own words, he would start responding differently.

“I thought you were worried about getting your heart broken,” he said.

“I’m a strong woman. I can take it.”

Something like concern flickered in his gaze and he finally put his hands on my shoulders, moving me toward the window and into the moonlight. “Your eyes.”

Was he about to wax poetic about my eyes? I sighed in anticipation.

“They’re a metallic gray. The color of steel. Why?”

It hurt to think. I put my hands on his chest because I needed to be touching him. “The same thing happens to Lia.”

“The queen of Ilion?”

I nodded and tried to move closer. “Whenever she does magic.”

After a few beats, he asked, “Are you doing magic?”

“Lia said she had a feeling I could do magic too, if I called on my goddess and used one of her aspects. Invara only has the two—fighting and fertility.”

“Should I be running for my life?”

I laughed. “I didn’t invoke her fighting aspect.”

“No, I’m worried that the fertility one means I’m in danger. It makes you a seductress.”

“I don’t need magic to seduce you.”

He shook his head. “Is there a way to stop this power?”

Confusion made my mind feel thick. My desire for him kept growing every second, and if something didn’t happen soon, I was going to burst. “I don’t want to. And I don’t understand. Earlier you said that tonight would be better. We made plans.”

“I’ve had time to think and I changed my mind.”

He had done nothing but pursue me since we met, and now that I was ready for him . . . he didn’t want to?

“You were right,” he said. “I think we should part as friends. This isn’t a good idea.”