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afternoon, Yodin.”
    He took her hand and tugged her toward him, pulling her until she stood in front of him.
    Smiling softly, she leaned in and kissed him. His hands caressed her back and breasts, paused and resumed his slow stroking.
    He had to relearn her. She had worked hard to put the curves she had had before her accident back in place. She still had muscle under them, but she now looked more like a woman than a warrior.
    “Are you back with me?”
    She smiled at him. “I am here for a visit.”
    To his surprise, she sat in his lap. “What are they celebrating?”
    “It is the end of the harvest time; they wish to start pregnancies now if they can. There is another orgy in the spring to bring on the fertility of the fields.”
    She laughed and watched two men grappling together. “I think pleasure is more the goal, rather than pregnancy.”
    He held her tight and buried his face against her neck. “It is possible. I missed you.”
    She stroked his jaw and smiled. “I missed you as well. I assume that you had plenty of volunteers to keep you busy.”
    “I have had no woman since you.”
    His words were stark and hung in the air between them.
    She smiled and tried to distract him. “Disappointed that I didn’t keep my warrior shape?”
    “The muscle is still here. You are no less the warrior for now looking more like a woman. You are happier this way?”
    “I am, though it takes much effort. My new physiology doesn’t like it.”
    “It is your subconscious that doesn’t like it. You are equating softness with weakness.”
    She was amused to be holding such a polite conversation surrounded by so much sex.
    Aster waved at the gathering. “You do this often?”
    He smiled and his hand shifted to stroke her thigh. “Twice a year I supervise the festivities.”
    She kissed his cheek. “I will let you get to it.”
    Shadows bound her in place and held her against him. Aster smiled at the expected response and bound him in green vines, pulling him back against his chair.
    His distraction let her slip free, and she picked her way through the couples and groupings once again. The musk was getting a little thick.
    The amber-coloured gauze dress that she wore floated around her as she moved with deliberate speed through those celebrating the harvest.
    It was reflex to travel in a zigzag pattern, and when a flash of shadow missed her by inches, she ducked behind a wall and caught her breath. Baiting him into following her had not been part of the plan; she had simply done it on impulse. It was an impulse she was currently regretting.
    She lifted her head and found the scent of a garden. She focused and put on a burst of speed, sprinting for the green space and her leafy army.
    She heard the scream above her, and Aster promised herself that Arez was going to be missing a few feathers the first opportunity she got.
    She heard footfalls behind her and kept moving. She had goaded him into action, and now, the god of war, death and sex was on her heels. This was not something she had ever considered while she was finishing physio.
     

Chapter Seven
     
     
    The shadows snapped at her heels, and when her feet touched the cool grass of the public garden, she felt herself growing stronger.
    A shadow wrapped around her ankle and tripped her.
    As she fell, she turned and a nearby bush fired a volley of razor-sharp leaves at Yodin’s face.
    She heard him gasp, and there was an evil smirk on her face as she scrambled to her feet and ran further into her domain.
    When arms came around her and bore her to the ground, she grunted in surprise.
    “You have picked up a few tricks over the last few months.” Yodin’s words were rough as he pressed her into the turf.
    “Well, I do love to learn.” She struggled, but he had her firmly wedged to the ground.
    “So, you tease me and then run away?” His breath was hot on her neck, and he grazed his teeth over her neck and shoulders.
    “We were having a calm conversation, and I