The Dragon Legion Collection 9 by Deborah Cooke Read Free Book Online

decided she might as well tell him all of it. “I asked him to marry me.”
    Alexander flinched at that, but Katina had no satisfaction from his response.
    In fact, she felt sad and empty. He was back but she had to send him away, because of choices she’d made. She knew Alexander’s opinion on pledges and promises.
    She lifted his hand from her shoulder, kissed his fingertips, then dropped his hand and stepped back. “You must leave now.”
    Alexander didn’t move. “Was he kind to Lysander?”
    “He wasn’t unkind,” Katina acknowledged, sure that Alexander would hear the difference. “He wasn’t pleased to raise another man’s son, which is why he’ll be glad that Pelias came.”
    “He’s not here?”
    “He was gone, trading. He’ll return tonight.” Katina frowned at Alexander’s obvious dissatisfaction with her answer. “Cetos never treated Lysander badly. He just ignored him.”
    That still wasn’t enough. Alexander’s voice dropped low. “Was he kind to you?”
    “I made a vow,” Katina said softly. “You, of all people, should respect that.”
    “No!” Alexander retorted. He was furious, as outraged at injustice as only a man of honor could be. “No, I’m back and I will stay. You don’t love him, Katina, and you never did.”
    “You don’t know that...”
    “I do know that. Your body told me the truth of it.” Alexander watched as she caught her breath. “If you loved him, I would never have been in your bed again. We both know that to be true.” He put out his hand in invitation and offered her heart’s desire to her, as easily as that. “Come away with me. Let’s be together. Let’s go now.”
    Katina was tempted. But now she remembered all the moments in her marriage to Alexander when she’d had doubts, when she’d known that Alexander hadn’t been telling her all of the truth for whatever reason. When they made love, she felt a powerful connection, but otherwise, he’d often been impassive and beyond her reach. She remembered her own fear that he would discover her secret, and how he might react.
    She’d asked Cetos to marry her and he’d kept his vow. Cetos had ensured that she and her son survived. Cetos put no stock in the stories told about her, and even if he saw the truth, she didn’t think he’d care. She wasn’t nearly as certain what Alexander would think.
    Alexander lifted a hand to her in appeal. “Katina, I love you...”
    She was swayed more than she knew she should be, for love might not prove to be enough. “Will you ever leave me again?” she demanded.
    Katina saw the answer in his eyes. He made no promise and she knew the meaning of that, for Alexander didn’t make promises he couldn’t keep. She saw the doubt in his eyes, and it was all she needed to know.
    Her compromise was better than having nothing at all.
    “If ever you cared for me, leave before Cetos finds you here,” she whispered. She saw a strange sparkle in Alexander’s eyes in the same moment that she heard her husband’s step approaching the courtyard.
    “Hide!” she muttered, then swept past Alexander to welcome her husband home.
     
    * * *
     
    Cetos whistled to himself as he led his burro toward the house he shared with Katina and her son. It had been a long journey, but he was pleased with the results. A weight of extra coin jingled in his purse, the sound making him smile.
    His trade had been terrible. The price of olive oil had dropped, due to a large supply after the last harvest, and he hadn’t been able to sell his for a price that was worth his trouble. No one wanted Katina’s pots, but that wasn’t new.
    Still she had provided an unexpected asset to him, one that made all the difference.
    Talk about an offer Cetos couldn’t refuse. He’d sold Katina’s son, simultaneously making up the difference in bad prices for olive oil and ridding himself of a nuisance. The boy wasn’t much trouble: it was the look of him that caused the problem. The brat so strongly