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Set passed him some plates and cutlery. Rafael took the hint and started setting the table.
"Bells has never been in this position before, so give her some slack and breathing room if you can," Set said finally. "She doesn't like people often, and she liked you instantly. Enough to almost kill Laverna yesterday and then sleep with you."
"You forgot she also went and threatened Rita Costa to her face in public," Rafael added.
Set pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just great. Now I do have to ring Rom."
"I'm not going to do anything that will make her job harder," Rafael said. Maybe he should have had some self-control. Bellona made him lose his common sense completely.
"Bells feels like she almost lost you yesterday, and she was so scared of what she might do, she called me in. It's hard for someone like us to admit we are worried about losing control because when we do, lots of people die," Set said. He pulled a tray of bacon and another with eggs baked in some kind of red sauce from the oven and placed them on the counter. "Bellona will get over her freakout and be trying to jump your bones again in no time. She likes you too much to stay away now. But, kid, whatever you do, don't break her heart. The world can't handle any more global crises right now."
Rafael didn't really know how to process that. "I have no intention of breaking her heart. Especially if she lets me get close enough to it."
"You really aren't worried about how much blood is on her hands? How old she is? What she is? Because she can't change any of that." Set carried the food over to the table and sat down.
Rafael took the seat opposite him. "I don't want to change anything about her. I just want…" His tongue caught on the words. He knew exactly how he felt about Bellona, and it should have scared him. Instead, it had never felt so right.
"Just want what?" Set demanded, an overprotective tone burning into every word.
"I just want to love her," Rafael replied, heat spreading over his face. "That's all I want. I like who she is, and I'm not afraid of her. I know she could kill me in a heartbeat, but she won't. She makes me feel safe and alive at the same time. I know it probably all sounds ridiculous to a big, tough war god, but I don't really give a shit what you think. I want her just how she is."
Set's expression softened. He pulled out his phone and showed him a picture of him and a smiling woman. "This is Ayla. You remind me a lot of her, so no, it doesn't sound ridiculous. If it's a sign you're going to mean as much to Bells as Ayla does to me, you are in for a ride. Bells is only just starting to figure out how she feels about you too, and it's scaring her. She's never been scared before."
"You know her best. What should I do?" Rafael asked.
"You already know what to do." Set looked at the picture of Ayla again before putting the phone in his pocket. "Just love her."
15
Bellona's whole body felt strange. The energy that was always a wild scream in her veins was quiet, and it was disorientating and unnerving her the more she noticed it. Sex had never done that to her before. She had been sleeping so deeply that she hadn't woken to Set coming in and making himself at home.
"Get your shit together," she snarled at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
Bellona pulled her hair back into a tight braid and tried not to analyze the wild look in her eye. It was unsure and unbalanced. A few orgasms shouldn't have her so unnerved. She couldn't regret coming so hard she almost passed out, but something wasn't right.
Bellona found her phone and messaged Medusa to see if she had an update and went downstairs. Set and Rafael were chatting around her table like they were the ones that were old friends. Her heart clenched and expanded with all the alien emotions bombarding her—fondness, softness, affection. Set raised a brow at her as if sensing something wasn't right.
"Come and eat, Bellona. I'm starving and tired of waiting for you," he said. Rafael didn't look in her direction. Not that she blamed him for being annoyed with her after her blunder upstairs. She just wanted to protect him, keep him safe from everything.
"You must've been really worried about me to make me shakshuka," Bellona said, sitting between them at the head of the table.
"Of course I was. I'm glad to see you found another way to channel your energy than a massacre," Set replied and piled her plate high with food.
Bellona was ravenous. She hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before and all but fell on her food.
Set told Rafael all about Ayla's work as a doctor in remote places and how she managed to find situations where both she and Set could use their skills.
"That has to be rewarding work. I own some pharmaceutical and medical supply companies. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask," Rafael said.
"Thanks. Ayla will definitely take you up on that," Set replied.
It was hard for Bellona to look at Rafael and eat at the same time. It would've been so much easier if he wasn't so relentlessly gorgeous all the time. Casual Rafael in jeans and a T-shirt was making her brain short-circuit. He still looked tousled and sex-mussed around the edges, and Bellona couldn't help but recall that perfect face between her thighs. She cut into her toast with frustrated vigor.
The gold on Rafael's forearms glowed in the morning sun, catching her eye and making parts of her clench up. She had never done that during sex before either. It was like her power had poured out of her and marked him.
Mine. Mine. Mine. Bellona tried to shake the possessive tone out of her head. Rafael wasn't an object that she could just keep because she wanted to. That kind of logic was why she came into being in the first place. Screaming, kidnapped women. Bellona rubbed at her temples as the echoes of their cries began in the back of her mind again. Rafael's foot touched hers under the table.
"You okay, Bellona? You look like you're about to throw up," he asked.
