Fantasy Lover

Julian shook his head, unable to believe her words. It was the curse. It had to be. No one could love him. No one ever had; not since the moment he'd been born.

For Grace to love him…

It would be a miracle. It would be…

Pure bliss. And he had not been born to feel bliss.

You will suffer as no man ever has.

This was just another trick of the gods. Another cruel hoax sent to punish him.

He was tired now. Weary and exhausted from the fight. He just wanted peace from the pain. A haven from the frightening feelings he felt every time he looked at her.

Grace clenched her teeth at the denial she saw in Julian's eyes. But then, who could blame him?

He had been hurt so many times. But somehow, some way, she was going to prove to him just how much he meant to her.

She had to. Because losing him would kill her.

Chapter 15

Julian kept a distance between them for the rest of the weekend. No matter what Grace tried to do to break through the intangible wall around him, he pushed her away.

He wouldn't even let her read to him. Disheartened, she went to work on Monday morning, but she shouldn't have bothered. She couldn't focus on anything except celestial blue eyes filled with unshared turmoil. "Grace Alexander?"

Grace looked up from her desk to see an incredibly beautiful blond woman in her early twenties standing in the doorway. Looking as if she'd just stepped off a fashion runway in Europe, the statuesque beauty was dressed in a red silk Armani suit with matching hose and shoes.

"I'm sorry," Grace said to the woman. "I'm closed. If you want to call tomorrow-"

"Do I look like I need a sex therapist?" Offhand, no. But then, Grace had learned a long time ago not to make snap judgments about people's problems. Uninvited, the woman sauntered into her office with a graceful, arrogant stride that seemed oddly familiar. She walked over to the wall where Grace's certificates and degrees were hung.

"Impressive," she said, but her tone implied otherwise. She turned to give Grace a thorough once-over, and by the sneer on her lovely face, Grace could tell the woman found her seriously lacking. "You're not pretty enough for him, you know. Too short, too wide. And wherever did you find that dress?"

Completely offended, Grace went rigid. "I beg your pardon?"

The woman ignored her question. "Tell me, doesn't it just pain you to be around a man who looks like Julian, knowing if he had a choice, he'd never want to be with you? He's so lean and graceful. Strong and fierce. I know you've never had a man like him want you, and you never will again."

Stu

She didn't have to; the woman continued without pausing. "His father was like that, too. Imagine Julian with black hair. A little shorter and stockier, and not nearly as refined. Still, that man had a way with his hands that was… mmm…"

Aphrodite smiled reflectively, her eyes unfocused. "Of course, Diokles was scarred abysmally from his battles. He had this one horrible mark that ran the whole length of his left cheek."

Her gaze narrowed in anger. "I'll never forget the day he took a dagger to Julian's face, trying to scar it like his. I would say Diokles lived to regret that transgression, but I made certain he didn't. Julian is physical perfection, and I shall never let anyone mar the beauty I gave him."

The cold, calculating look Aphrodite delivered to her chilled Grace all the way to her bones.

"I won't share my son with you."

The possessiveness of Aphrodite's words ignited Grace's anger. How dare she show up now and say such a thing. "If Julian means so much to you, then why did you abandon him?"

Aphrodite glared at her. "Do you think I had a choice? Zeus refused ambrosia to him, and no mortal can live on Olympus. Before I could even protest, Hermes swept him out of my arms and took him to his father."

Grace saw the horror on Aphrodite's face as she relived that moment.

"My grief at his loss was beyond human measure. Inconsolable, I locked myself away, and when I was finally able to emerge, fourteen years had passed on earth. I barely recognized the baby I had suckled. And he hated me."

Aphrodite's eyes turned shiny as if she were fighting back tears. "You have no idea what it's like to be a mother, and have the child you carried in your womb curse your very name."

Grace sympathized with her grief, but it was Julian she loved, and Julian's pain that concerned her most. "Did you ever try to tell him how you feel?"

"Of course I did," Aphrodite snapped. "I sent Eros to him, offering him my gifts. He sent them back with words no son should ever utter about his mother."

"He was hurt."

"So was I," Aphrodite shrieked. Her entire body shook with her rage.

Apprehensive and more than a bit scared of what an angry goddess could do to her, Grace watched as Aphrodite closed her eyes, took a deep breath and calmed herself.

When Aphrodite spoke again, her tone and body were rigid and sharp. "Even so, I sent Eros back with more offerings for Julian. He spurned every one. I was forced to watch as Julian vindictively swore his loyalty and service to Athena." She spat the name as if she despised it.

"It was in her name he conquered cities with the birth gifts I had bestowed upon him; the might of Ares, the temperance of Apollo, the blessings of the Muses and Graces. I even dipped him in the river Styx to make sure no mortal weapon could ever kill or scar him, and unlike Thetis with Achilles, I coated his ankles so that he would have absolutely no vulnerable spots."

Aphrodite shook her head as if she still couldn't believe what he'd done. "I did everything in my power for that boy, and he showed no gratitude to me. No respect. Finally, I gave up trying. Since he refused my love, I made sure no one would ever love him."

Grace's heart stopped at the selfish words. "What did you do?"

Aphrodite lifted her chin haughtily like a queen who was proud of her cold-blooded war. "I cursed him the way he cursed me. I made sure no mortal woman can look at him without wanting his body, and no mortal man can be around him without feeling his heart swell in envy."

Grace couldn't believe her ears. How could a mother be so cruel?

And as soon as that thought finished, another, even more horrible one ripped through her. "You're the reason Penelope died, aren't you?"

"No, Julian did that one himself. Granted, I was enraged when Eros told me what he had done for his brother, that Julian had gone to him and not me.

"Since I couldn't undo Eros's love arrow, I decided to dull its effects. What Julian had with Penelope was empty, and he knew it."

Aphrodite moved to the window to stare out onto the city. "Had Julian ever come to me, I would have lifted it from her. But he didn't. I watched him go to her night after night, taking her over and over again, and I felt his restlessness, his anguish over the fact she didn't truly love him. Still, he denied and cursed me.

"It was my tears over his betrayal that first set Priapus against him. Priapus has always been the most loyal of my sons. As soon as I saw Priapus was out for Julian's blood, I should have stopped it. But I didn't. I was hoping Priapus's anger would make Julian seek me out. Ask for my help."

She clenched her teeth. "But he never did."

Grace felt for her, but it didn't change what she'd done to her own son. "How did Julian get cursed?"

Aphrodite swallowed. "It started the night Athena told Priapus that he had no man as courageous and strong as Julian. She dared him to pit his best general against hers. Two days later, I watched Julian ride into battle, and knew he wouldn't lose. When he beat the Romans back, Priapus became enraged. Once Eros let slip to him what he'd done, Priapus immediately went after Iason and Penelope. I had no idea what the repercussions of that event would be."