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“I want us to be simple before we are complicated,” he replied. “I wish to simply know you, know what it is you like, what you like to do, where you like to go. I wish to know who is this woman that fate has bound me to.”
“Didn’t I tell you I make my own destiny? Fate can’t tell me who my mate is.”
“Maybe you do, but I do not think the gods have left me with that sort of power.”
“The gods?” Now he really sounded like an ancient Greek, making me remember his name. “Which of the gods are you speaking of, Theseus Christian Apollo de Thorbørn.”
“You find my name humorous.” He beamed and stared me, his grey eyes on me as if I were the only thing in the world worth watching.
I nodded, picking up my paintbrush again and spreading the varnish over the art slowly. “You are legitimately named after a Greek hero, the Christian god, Apollo the Greek god of the Sun, logic and reason, among many other things as well as Thor the old Norse god of thunder, among other things. How does a Greek man end up with a last name like Thorbørn?”
“By being turned into a vampire by a Viking, of course.”
My hand slipped, and I ended up getting varnish on his gloved hand and wrist. “Sorry,” I said, quickly picking up some tissue to wipe it off.
He chuckled, not saying anything as he pulled off the glove, allowing me to clean his wrist. It was then that I noticed how long and smooth his hands were. They looked nothing like what I commonly knew as artist hands and more like the model of the hands all artist wanted to paint. Glancing up, I met his eyes. His eyelashes were long and dark, and I realized I was not just holding his wrist.
“Sorry…” I tried to let go, but when I did, he took hold of my hand, taking off one of my gloves and held it in his, my slender fingers intertwining with his. “What…”
“A moment longer,” he demanded. “As penance for painting on me.”
“I need penance for that?” I murmured, my hand feeling truly warm for the first time in a long time.
He kissed the back of my hand before he brought his face closer to mine, his grip tightening gently. “When you say sorry, are you not saying, forgive me?”
“It’s not meant to be so serious,” I replied, my eyes dropping to his lips for only a second. Why was I reacting like this? “You’re supposed to say no problem, and let it go.”
“That is not in my nature,” he replied, reaching up and touching the birthmarks on my face with his free hand. “Thorbørns do not let offenses against us go, least of all me.”
There was a flash of something in his eyes, and those words obviously held much more weight than he was willing to share with me right now. He was more interested in my face, his fingertips trailing down from my cheekbones to my neck.
“Do you go by Theseus Thorbørn or Christian de Apollo?” I asked, trying to break the through the rising tension.
“Only those close to me are permitted to call me Theseus as that is my true name, even before my rebirth. Christian is one I was given that was better suited for the changing world. Christianity being the rising faith, my family thought it was proper.”
“And de Apollo, for the gods?”
He shook his head. “Apollo was a god of Athens; it was more a homage to the place I was originally born than to the god.”
“And Thorbørn is the name of your maker?”
“My father’s surname, yes. But he has been given many names,” he stated very clearly before his eyes dropped to my lips. “Are you going to explain your name to me now, Ms. Druella Zirie Monroe?”
“I wish I had some story to tell.” This conversation was supposed to be his hint to put distance between us, and yet now, I felt like I was getting wrapped up further into him. “But sadly, I wasn’t close to my father before he passed, and my mother was the one who named me. So, I never found out why she picked a name which pretty much gave others a free hall pass to have me bullied growing up.”
“Ahh…now I see.” He was amused.
“See what?”
“Why you are so stubborn. I wonder what you did for revenge.”
“Nothing,” I lied, and he noticed, grinning. “At least I didn’t destroy a whole city!”
At that, he grinned, and so did I before I realized it, his lips were not even an inch away from me.
“You are persistent, Mr. Thorbørn.” And we were only on day two.
“Have you seen you? It would b
