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He turned to her with a smirk and that dimple. “How about you ask me something simple, like what my favorite color is?”

“Fine, what is your favorite food?”

“That’s not simple, that’s hard. Excruciatingly hard. How could I choose? I do love grapes. Well, let’s narrow that down to fermented grapes.”

Valeen laughed. “Wine isn’t a food. I should have known you’d be a lush.”

“Hey now, no need to take digs at me. I haven’t been drunk in ages. I don’t know if I can get drunk—it doesn’t affect me much.”

“I think that’s how it is for most gods. But I have some drink that would knock you on your ass guaranteed.”

“It’s probably best I don’t ever drink it then since I’m such a lush,” he said, making her laugh. “You have one of the best laughs I’ve ever heard. It’s like velvet and joy and an endless night.”

She couldn’t help but stare at him and the way his dark hair moved in the breeze. His light blue-green eyes popped against dark lashes. He was much different than she expected. She expected someone militant and stiff, like Synick. “Do you want to swim?”

“Trying to get me naked already?”

Valeen set her bouquet beside her, stood, and tugged the bottom part of her dress over her head and dropped it next to the flowers. This left her in a plum purple suit that cut high in her hips but covered her torso and revealed only a bit of cleavage then tied around her neck. She glanced down at Hel to see if it gave the effect she wanted. His mouth hung open and his eyes trailed up her long legs. She smiled. “It’s rude to stare, you know.”

He jumped up and tugged off his shirt. “I just didn’t expect you to wear that. I thought it would be a full-body suit. You seem so very—prim.”

“I am very prim,” she said with a smile. “But we’re swimming.”

Suddenly huge white feathered wings shimmered into existence from his back. Now it was Valeen’s turn to gape. “You have… wings. I’ve never seen that before. Well, except dragon wings but yours are feathered and gorgeous.”

“It’s magic, love, for which I am the god of. I can do pretty much anything I want.”

“They’re stunning. I almost wish I had a pair myself.”

“I could give them to you.”

“Perhaps another time.’’ Then she leapt off the cliff into a dive. She hit the warm water and kicked back up to break through the surface. Hel jumped and with his massive wings spread wide he dropped into a glide and landed on a boulder a few feet away from Valeen. He crouched and with his wings half spread he looked like a statue.

She smoothed her hair back and waded in place. “So, your favorite color is red, and you don’t like water.” She tapped a finger against her lips. “You’re good with a blade but prefer magic. You have a type, not physically per se but you like the chase, the ladies you think are hard to get. Then once you have them, you get bored, and move on looking for the next high. You vowed to never marry or if you do it’s for power, but there’s a small part of you, somewhere deep down that wants love. Real love.”

He tried not to smile. “How could you know all that?”

“Because I’ve known many males like you. I’m old, remember?”

“You’ve never known anyone like me, love.”

“We’ll see.” She raised a brow. “You’re not coming in?”

“You just said yourself, I don’t like water.”

“Come and swim.”

He smiled and tucked his wings before they shimmered out of existence. “I’ll go in there for one thing.”

Valeen kicked her feet up and floated on her back, staring at the white puffy clouds. “Name your price.”

A moment of silence passed. “A kiss.”

Her heartbeat picked up and she pressed her lips together forcing back a smile. “Well, if you want one, you’ll have to catch me.”

“But then I might get bored,” he teased.

“I very much doubt that. You can never really catch the night.” She flipped over and dove underwater. Groups of colorful fish swam away as she went deeper. Long strands of seaweed danced in bunches and shells and other colorful creatures scattered across the sandy seabed. She kicked around to see if he’d jumped in yet. He had not.