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  “About what?”

  Grace laughed. "You are definitely a man," she said. "You know, the guys give me the hardest time during my sessions. They come in, spend one hundred and twenty-five dollars an hour to basically say nothing. I'll never figure it out.”

  His gaze dropped to his lap and she saw the way he rubbed his general's ring idly with his thumb. "You said you were a sex therapist. What exactly is that?”

  She started back into traffic. "You and I are sort of in the same business. I help people who have relationship troubles. Women who are afraid to be intimate with men, or women who love men a little too zealously.”

  “Nymphomaniacs?"

  She nodded.

  "I've known a few of those," he said with a sigh.

  "I bet you have.”

  “And the men?" he asked.

  "They're not so easy. Like I said, they don't talk as much. I have a few cases of men who have performance anxiety—”

  "What's that?”

  "Something I'm sure you'll never have," she said, thinking of the arrogant way he constantly pursued her.

  Clearing her throat, she explained. "They're men who are afraid their partners will laugh at them while they're in bed.”

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  "Oh.”

  "I also have a couple who are verbally abusive to their spouses and girlfriends. A couple who want to have their sex changed—”

  "Can they do that?" Julian asked in a shocked tone.

  "Oh, yeah," she said with a wave of her hand. "You'd be amazed what the doctors today are capable of.”

  She turned toward her house. Julian was quiet for so long that she was about to show him the radio when all of a sudden he asked, "Why do you want to help these people?”

  “I don't know," she answered honestly. "I guess it goes back to my childhood when I was very insecure. My parents loved me, but I didn't know how to relate to other kids. My father was a history professor, and my mother a housewife—”

  "She married a house?”

  Grace laughed. "No, she just stayed at home and did mom things. They never treated me like a child, really, and so when I got around other children I didn't know what to do. What to say. I would get so scared, I would tremble. Finally, my father started taking me to counseling and after a while, I got a lot better.”

  "Except around men.”

  “That's a whole 'nother story," she said with a sigh. "I was an awkward teenager and the guys in my school never came around unless they wanted to mock me.”

  "Mock you how?”

  Grace shrugged nonchalantly. At least now, those old memories had ceased to bother her. She'd come to terms with it long ago."Because I have no boobs. My ears Dark Hunter Series (1) – Fantasy Lover – Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 137 of 340

  stand out, and I have freckles all over me.”

  "Boobs?”

  "Breasts.”

  She swore she could feel his hot, prolonged stare on her chest. Glancing sideways, she was able to confirm it. In fact, he looked at her as if he had her shirt off and was in the midst of—

  "You have very nice breasts.”

  "Thanks," she said awkwardly, and yet somehow the unorthodox compliment warmed her. "What about you?”

  "I have no breasts.”

  He said it in such a serious deadpan tone that she burst out laughing. "That's not what I mean, and you know it. What were you like as a teenager?”

  "I already told you.”

  She gave him a menacing glance.” Seriously."

  "Seriously, I fought, ate, drank, had sex, and bathed. Usually in that order.”

  "We're still having this whole intimacy issue, aren't we?" she asked rhetorically.

  Then, falling into her role as a counselor, she moved on to something that was hopefully a little easier for him to talk about. "Why don't you tell me how you felt the first time you went into battle.”

  "I felt nothing.”

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  “You weren't scared?"

  "Of what?”

  “Of dying or being maimed?"

  "No.”

  The sincerity of that single word baffled her. "How could you not be afraid?”

  “You can't fear dying when you have no reason to live.”

  Haunted by his words, Grace pulled into her driveway. Deciding it was best to leave off so serious a discussion for the time being, she left the car and opened the trunk.

  Julian gathered the bags before following her into the house.

  They went upstairs and Grace reached into her top dresser drawer to get her comfortable jeans. Then, she made room for his clothes in her chest of drawers.

  "So," she said, grabbing the empty bags and tossing them into the wicker trash can by her closet. "It's Friday night. What would you like to do? Quiet night in or would you like to go out on the town?”

  His hungry gaze ran down the length of her body, making her hot instantaneously.

  "You know the answer to that.”

  “Okay, one vote for jumping the doctor's bones, and one vote not to jump the doctor's bones. Can I hear another option?”

  "How about just a nice quiet evening at home, then?”

  “Okay," she said, heading to her phone on the night-stand. "Let me check my messages, then we can start dinner.”

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  Julian finished putting his clothes away while she called her answering service and talked to them. He had just tucked away the last item when he heard an alarmed note in Grace's voice.

  "Did he say what he needed?”

  Julian turned to look at her. Her eyes were slightly dilated and she had a firm, tense grip on the phone.

  "Why did you give him this number?" she asked angrily. "My patients are never to receive my home number. Do you have a supervisor I can talk to?”

  Julian went to stand beside her. "Is something wrong?”

  She held her hand up to tell him to be quiet as she listened to the other person.

  "All right," she said after a long pause. "I'll just have to get my number changed again. Thanks." She turned the phone off and set it down. Worry knitted her brow.

  "What happened?" he asked.

  She let out an irritated breath as she rubbed at her neck. "The answering service hired this new girl who slipped up and gave out my home number to one of my patients who called in today.”

  She talked so fast, he could barely follow her.

  "Well, he's not really one of my patients," she continued without pausing. "I would never have taken such a man on as a patient, but Luanne, Dr. Jenkins, isn't so picky.

  And she rushed out of town last week, on some personal emergency. So Beth and I had to divvy up her patients who had to have counseling while she's gone. Still, I didn't want this creepy guy, but Beth doesn't work on Fridays, and he has to have Wednesdays and Fridays because of his release program.”

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  She looked up at him with panic in her light gray eyes. "I still didn't want him, but his case worker swore to me there wouldn't be any problems. He said the man wasn't a threat to anyone.”

  Julian's head ached from all the information she unloaded, and the words she used that didn't make sense to him. "Is that a problem?”

  “Just a little scary," she said, her hand shaking. "He's a stalker who was released from the mental ward.”

  “Stalker from a mental ward? What is that?”

  As she explained it to him, he actually gaped. "You let these people loose on your society?”

  “Well, yes. The idea is to help them.”

  Julian was aghast. What kind of world was this that the men in it refused to protect their women and children from such?”Where I come from, we didn't let people like that near our families. And we damn sure didn't le
t them loose on our streets.”

  "Welcome to the twenty-first century," she said bitterly. "Here, we do things a little differently.”

  Julian shook his head as he thought about all the things in this time that were so alien to him. He just couldn't comprehend these people and the way they lived. "I really don't belong here," he said under his breath.

  "Julian

  ”

  He pulled away as she reached for him. "Grace, you know it's true. Let's say we break the curse; what good does it do me? What am I supposed to do here? I can't read your language. I can't drive your car, or work. There's so much I don't comprehend. I'm lost here.”

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  Grace flinched at the underlying anguish he was trying so hard to conceal. "You're just overwhelmed by it all. But we'll take it in tiny steps. I can teach you to drive and read. As for work

  I know there are things you can do.”

  "Such as?”

  "I don't know. Other than be a soldier, what else did you do in Macedonia?”

  "I was a commander, Grace. All I know how to do is lead an ancient army into battle.

  That's it.”

  She cupped her hands around his face, and gave him a hard stare. "Don't you dare give up on this. You said you weren't afraid in battle, then how can you be afraid of this?”

  "I just am.”

  Something strange happened then as Grace realized he had let her inside him. Not very deep, but she could tell by his face that he had made himself vulnerable to her by admitting that. She knew in her heart that he wasn't the kind of man who often made such admissions. "I will help you.”

  The doubt in those blue eyes twisted her gut. "Why?”

  "We're friends," she said gently as she brushed his cheek with her thumb. "Isn't that what you told Cupid?”

  “And you heard his response. I don't have any friends.”

  “You do now.”

  He leaned down and kissed her forehead, then pulled her against him into a tight hug. The warm scent of sandalwood filled her head as she listened to his heart beating fiercely under her cheek while his tanned biceps flexed next to her face. His Dark Hunter Series (1) – Fantasy Lover – Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 142 of 340

  tender embrace went deeper than just a momentary physical gesture, it touched her profoundly.

  "All right, Grace," he said quietly. "We'll try this. But just promise me that you won't let me hurt you." She frowned up at him.

  "I'm serious. Once I'm shackled, don't release me for any reason. Swear it."

  "But—”

  “Swear it!" he insisted sternly.

  "All right. If you can't control yourself, I won't let you go. But I want you to make a promise to me.”

  He pulled back and looked at her skeptically, but left his soothing arms around her.

  "What?”

  Grace braced her hands against the strength of his biceps. She felt chills spread over his arms the instant her palms made contact with his flesh. He glanced down at her hands with one of the tenderest expressions she'd ever seen.

  "Promise me that you won't give up on being free," she said. "I want you to try to beat this curse."

  He gave an odd half-smile. "Very well. I shall try.”

  “And you will succeed.”

  He laughed at that. "You have the optimism of a child."

  She returned his smile. "Peter Pan all the way."

  "Peter who?”

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  Reluctantly, she withdrew from his arms. Taking his hand, she led him toward the bedroom door. "Come with me, my Macedonian love-slave, and I will tell you of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys.”

  "So, this boy never grew up?" Julian asked as they made dinner.

  Grace was actually amazed he hadn't complained when she asked him to make a salad. He seemed to like using knives on food. Unwilling to investigate that little idiosyncrasy, she concentrated on her spaghetti sauce."Nope. He went back to the island with Tinker Bell.”

  "Interesting.”

  Grace dipped a spoon into the sauce. Cupping her hand under it, she blew across the top of it, then took it over to Julian. "Tell me what you think.”

  He bent down and opened his mouth. Grace fed it to him and watched the way he savored it. "It's delicious.”

  “Not too much salt?”

  “Perfect.”

  She beamed.

  "Here," Julian said, holding a piece of cubed cheese for her. Grace opened her mouth for it, but he didn't give her the cheese. He took advantage of her open mouth to kiss the daylights out of her.

  Goodness, but someone ought to be able to bronze a tongue that could move like his, or do something to preserve it. Such a treasure should never be lost. And those lips

  Mmm, she didn't want to think about those delectable lips and what they were Dark Hunter Series (1) – Fantasy Lover – Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 144 of 340

  capable of.

  He splayed his fingers against her lower back and pressed her against his hips where he bulged in his jeans. Mercy, the man was heavily endowed, and she trembled at the thought of having all his sexual powers unleashed on her.

  Would she even be able to survive it?

  She felt his body tense as his breathing changed. He was seriously getting into this and she was seriously beginning to fear that if she didn't stop it, neither one of them would be able to pull away.

  As much as she hated to leave his hot embrace, she stepped back. "Julian, behave.”

  His breathing ragged, she saw him fighting with himself as he dragged a hungry look over her body. "It would be a lot easier to behave if you didn't look so damn good.”

  His words shocked her so much that she actually laughed at them.

  "I'm sorry," she said as she saw the irritated look on his face. "You have to remember that, unlike you, I'm not used to people saying things like that to me. The biggest compliment I've ever gotten from a guy was from Rick Glysdale when he came to pick me up for the prom. He took one look at me and said, ' Damn, you cleaned up better than I thought you would.' “

  Julian scowled. "I worry about the men of your time, Grace. They all seem to be great fools.”

  Laughing again, she kissed him lightly on the cheek, then went to get their pasta off the stove before it over boiled. As she dumped the noodles into the sieve, she remembered the bread. "Can you check the rolls?”

  Julian moved to the oven and leaned over, gifting her with one luscious view of his rear. Grace bit her bottom lip as she forced herself not to go over there, and ran her hand across that tight, firm butt.

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  "They're about to burn.”

  "Oh, shoot! Can you pull them out?" she asked, trying not to spill the boiling water.

  "Sure." Julian grabbed the dish towel from the counter, and started to pull them out.

  All of a sudden, he shouted an expletive that caught her attention. Turning, she saw the cloth had caught fire.

  "Over here!" she said, moving out of the way. "Drop it in the sink." He did, but not before part of it caught her on the hand. Grace hissed.

  "Did I get you?" he asked.

  "A little toasted.”

  Julian grimaced as he took her hand in his and examined the burn. "I'm sorry," he said an instant before he placed her fingertip in his mouth. Stunned, she couldn't move as he ran his tongue around the sensitive flesh of her finger. In spite of the burning sensation, it felt good. Really, really good.

  "You're not helping my burn," she whispered.

  With her finger still in his mouth, he smiled wickedly, then reached behind his back to turn on the cold water. He twirled his tongue one last time around her finger before opening his mouth and moving her hand under the cool stream.

  While he held her finger there with one hand, he reached to her potted plant in the win
dowsill and broke a piece off her aloe plant with the other.

  "How do you know about aloe?" she asked.

  "Its curative powers were known even before I was born," he said.

  Chills swept up her spine and coiled around her stomach as he rubbed the gooey gel Dark Hunter Series (1) – Fantasy Lover – Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 146 of 340

  over her finger. "Better?”