Fantasy Lover

How had he managed to keep his hold on the boy through all that?

He staggered back a step, then quickly caught his balance, all the while maintaining his grip on the child.

Grace steadied him with a hand against his spine. "You shouldn't stand," she told Julian as she saw the blood that coated his left arm.

Julian didn't seem to hear her.

His eyes were dark and strange looking. "Sh, little one," he said, holding the boy with one arm while he cupped the child's face with the other.

Moving only his upper body, he gently rocked the boy in the soothing, confident pattern only a parent would use. His gaze haunted, Julian laid his cheek against the top of the boy's head. "Sh, I've got you," he murmured. "You're safe now."

His actions startled her. It was apparent this was a man who had soothed children before.

But when would a Greek soldier have been around children…?

Unless he'd been a father.

Grace's mind whirled at the possibility as Julian carefully handed the sobbing boy to his hysterical mother who wailed even louder than the toddler.

Dear Lord, was it possible that Julian could be a father? If so, where were his children?

What had happened to them?

"Steven," his mother wept as she held the boy against her chest. "How many times have I told you to stay by my side?"

"Are you okay?" the father and the driver asked Julian.

Grimacing, Julian ran his hand over his left bicep as if testing the arm. "I'm fine," he said, but Grace noted the way he still favored his right leg where the car had hit him.

"You need a doctor," she said as Selena joined them.

"I'm fine. Really." Julian gave her a halfhearted smile, then lowered his voice so that only she could hear it. "But I have to say, chariots hurt a lot less than cars when they slam into you."

Grace was aghast at his misplaced humor. "How can you make a joke? I thought you were dead."

He shrugged.

As the man continued to thank him profusely for saving his son, Grace glanced at the blood on Julian's arm just above his elbow. Blood that evaporated from his skin like some weird science fiction movie effect.

Suddenly, Julian put his full weight back on his injured leg, and the pain crimping his brow vanished.

She exchanged a wide-eyed stare with Selena, who had also seen it. What the hell was that!

Was Julian human or not?

"I can't thank you enough," the father said again. "I thought he was dead."

"I'm just glad I saw him," Julian whispered. He reached a hand out toward the boy's head.

His fingers were about to brush the light brown curls when he paused. Grace watched emotions war on Julian's face before he recovered his stoicism and dropped his hand back to his side.

Without a word, he headed to the curb.

"Julian?" she asked, rushing to catch up to him. "Are you really okay?"

"Don't worry about me, Grace. I don't break and I seldom bleed." This time, there was no mistaking the bitterness in his voice. "It's a gift of the curse. The Fates forbid I should actually die and escape my punishment."

She flinched at the anguish she saw in his eyes.

But his survival wasn't the only question she had. She wanted to ask him about the child, about the way he had looked at the boy as if reliving some horrible nightmare. But the words lodged themselves in her throat.

"Man, he deserves a hero cookie," Selena said as she joined them. "Upstairs to the Praline Factory!"

"Selena, I don't think-"

"What's a praline?" Julian asked.

"It's Cajun ambrosia," Selena explained, "something that should be right up your alley."

Against Grace's best arguments, Selena led them inside, to the escalator.

Selena took the first stair, then turned back to look at Julian, who stood between them. "How did you do that thing where you flipped over the car? It was awesome!"

Julian shrugged.

"Oh, man, don't be modest. You looked like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. Gracie, did you see that move he did?"

"I saw it," she said softly, noting just how uncomfortable Selena's praise was making Julian.

She also noted the way the women around them gawked.

Julian was right. It wasn't normal. But then, how often did a man like him appear in the flesh? A man who oozed such raw sexual attraction?

The man was a walking pheromone.

And now a hero.

But most of all, he was a great mystery to her. There was a lot about him she was dying to know. And one way or another over the next month, she was going to learn it.

When they reached the Praline Factory on the top floor, Grace bought two fudge-pecan pralines and a Coke.

Without thinking twice, she held a praline up for Julian.

Instead of taking it from her hand, he leaned forward and took a bite while she held it.

He savored the sugary confection in a way that drove heat through her body, while those searing blue eyes stared at her as if he were wishing she were what he feasted on.

"You were right," he said in that low tone that sent shivers over her. "It is delicious."

"Wow," the female clerk said from across the counter. "That's some accent you got there. You must not be from around these parts."

"No," Julian said. "I'm not."

"So where you from?"

" Macedonia."

"Is that out in California?" the girl asked. "You look like one of those surfer types who hang out on the beach."

He frowned. " California?"

"He's from Greece," Selena supplied for the girl.

"Ah!" the girl said.

Julian arched a censoring brow at her. " Macedonia isn't-"

"Buddy," Selena said around her mouthful of praline, "around here you'd be lucky to find anyone who would know the difference."

Before Grace could respond to Selena's harsh words, Julian placed his hands on her waist and brought her right up against his steely chest.

He leaned down and caught her bottom lip between his teeth, then gently stroked her lip with his tongue.

Her head swam from the tender embrace.

He deepened his kiss an instant before releasing her and stepping back.

"You had sugar on your bottom lip," he explained with a devilish smile that displayed his dimples to perfection.

Grace blinked, amazed at how hot and cold his touch made her. "You could have just said something."

"True, but my way was far more enjoyable."

She couldn't argue that.

Quickly, she stepped away from him and tried to ignore Selena's knowing smile.

"Why are you so afraid of me?" Julian asked unexpectedly as he fell in by her side.

"I'm not afraid of you."

"No? Then what scares you so? Every time I come near you, you cringe."

"I'm not cringing," Grace insisted. Damn, was there an echo?

He reached out to put his arm around her. Grace quickly sidestepped him.

"You're cringing," he said pointedly as they got back on the escalator.

Even though she was on the step below, he braced his arms on each side of her, then leaned his head close to her own. His presence surrounded her, enveloped her, and made her strangely giddy and warm.

She stared at the strength of his tense, ta

"You've never had an orgasm, have you?" he whispered in her ear.

Grace choked on her praline. "This is not the place to talk about it."

"That's it, isn't it?" he asked. "That's why-"

"That's not it," she interrupted him. "As a matter of fact, I have."

Okay, it was a lie, but he didn't have to know that.

"With a man?"

"Julian!" she snapped. "What is it with you and Selena that you think you can discuss my personal life out in public?"

He dipped his head lower, down to her neck so close that she could feel his breath falling against her skin, smell the warm, clean scent of him. "You know, Grace. I can give you pleasure the likes of which you can't imagine."