Page 10 of Make Mine Nymph

Through my connection with the snake, I can tell he’s disappointed. Then again, so am I. Going inside means returning to an empty bedroom while my soulmate sleeps blissfully down the hall.

Ah, well. Can’t be helped. And it’s not like I haven’t taken care of my need on my own plenty of times since Daphne came blazing into my humdrum life. One day I’ll look forward to a hand daintier and softer than mine, but that’s not today.

I meet her gaze. “It’s late. I should walk you to your quarters and leave you to your rest.”

“Mm.”

I can’t help my own soft laugh. She picked up that habit of mine shortly after she came to stay at the palace so I know exactly what she means when she makes the non-committal noise: the same thing I do when I make it.

Bullshit.

And, Olympus, I adore her for it. She knows I’m full of it.

Still, what else can I do? We already ate dinner with Noelle and her husband. By the time the contest was over and we’d made our careful way through the dark woods—with only one Other creature I had to hunt to keep every hair on Daphne’s lovely head safe—it was growing past the time of Apollo’s power. It’s Artemis’s time to shine.

So though I wish I could stay in her company longer, I lead her to her doorway. If the most I can expect from my soulmate is a kiss goodnight, that’s more than I had before I met my Daphne.

However, just as I’m leaning down to take my kiss, she presses her palm against my chest. “Hang on, Alex. I was thinking… you want to come in?”

I freeze. For a second, I’m not sure I heard her right.

Did she… am I… huh?

“Excuse me?”

“What’s the matter, Alex? You look shocked. You’re the one who said that, if I invite you into my room, you wouldn’t say no. You change your mind?”

I blink. “Daphne⁠—”

“What? You’re not interested? That’s fine. I mean, Noelle made some good points.”

“I… I…”

She chuckles softly. “Never thought I’d see the day I’d render the great Apollo speechless.”

That does it. With the right buttons, even shocked, she’s going to get the real Alex. “Fine. If you call me Apollo, I’ll call you álokhos.”

Her gaze narrows. She can tell that I’m throwing a dare at her, but she doesn’t know why. “I’ve heard you call me that before. I still don’t know what it means.”

That’s because Daphne… my Daphne… is a much more dominant personality than the nymph she used to be. She’s constantly in control without even trying. She wouldn’t know Ancient Greek.

She wouldn’t know that, in my weaker moments, I call her my wife.

Because she’s not. Not yet, at least. Not until we consummate this union that Fate picked out for the both of us. And she… she invited me into her room.

Does she know what that means?

It’s only been a few months. What’s that compared to the promise of forever? I’ve been careful. So careful. I didn’t want to risk her changing her mind and leaving me, but I’ve always considered her mine… I just didn’t let her know that. But she hit a nerve—knowing Daphne, she did it on purpose—and I wanted to remind her that I’m Alex.

I’m hers.

I clear my throat. “Wife.” It doesn’t come out anywhere near as smooth as I want it to. But it’s the truth, and she can hear that in how my voice rasps out, “It means you’re my wife.”

“Good.”

Good?

She’s purring as she crooks her finger at me, backing up a few paces so that she’s in her room and I’m still standing on the other side of the doorway. “Because that’s what I am. At least, after we fuck, it’s what I’m going to be. Unless you still want to wait⁠—”