Chapter 1

He should stay away from her.

William knew that. So, why did he find himself pacing in his room with her asleep in his bed?

Known through the ages as William the Ever Randy, AKA William of the Dark, AKA Sexy, the immortal warrior had shown little care for anyone but himself for centuries. And why shouldn't he care for just himself? He was fucking awesome, not to mention he was as handsome as they came. He had jet-black hair free of split ends, thank you very much. He also had piercing blue eyes and a muscle mass that mere mortals could only hope to possess. Women had been throwing themselves at him for as long as he could remember. Sure, they'd gotten him in trouble a time or two, had even gotten him cursed and imprisoned, but he loved women almost as much as he loved himself. He had never thought to deny them.

Until her.

Until Gilly.

He had spent the better part of his existence doing whatever - and whoever - pleased him. After his imprisonment by Zeus all those centuries ago, he'd been determined to stay out of the radar of the gods. Now, he found himself smack dab in the middle of the war between the Lords - immortal warriors of the gods – and the hunters, mortals who sought to rid the world of the Lords and the demons they each possessed.

He looked over at the young mortal beauty on the bed and felt a pressure on his chest he couldn't explain. All he knew was he felt an uncontrollable urge to protect this girl in any manner necessary, even if it meant living among the cursed warriors, who got on his nerves more often than not. He'd long ago stopped trying to figure out why he couldn't tear himself away. He just knew he wanted to slay all of her dragons. And 17-year-old Gillian Shaw came with plenty.

Smiling a secret smile, he once again commended himself for his recent act of vengeance- the justified and gruesome murder of Gilly's deranged mother and stepfather - who had done so many terrible things to her that she'd been forced to leave home at 15 and take care of herself for two years before the Lords took her in.

He thought killing them would help ease this ache somehow. It didn't. What he really wanted to do was erase those memories from her, such terrible memories that caused her to wake up from her nightmares calling his name. No one so young and with such a gentle heart should have those kind of nightmares. How he wished he could wipe them away.

For some reason he'd never understand, the girl had taken a liking to him immediately; even now, she was still shy and skittish around the other warriors. But not him; never him. Realizing quickly that she had developed a perfectly understandable crush on him (hello, he was a stunner), he'd tried to set her straight, warning her away by telling her the truth; he had sex with women and left them with not a care in his heart. Yet, she hadn't listened, and he could see the longing in her eyes grow the more time he spent with her.

Every day, he told himself he should leave this fortress and leave Gilly, with her haunting chocolate-colored eyes and sun-kissed skin. He glanced over at her sleeping form, her dark hair fanned out on his pillow, surely covering it with her vanilla scent. She looked as young and defenseless as ever. Especially now, as the war between the Lords and the hunters grew unstable, he couldn't leave her to fare for herself. Her fucking parents had left her to do that for long enough. Sure, there were the other warriors to look after her, but damn it, he wanted to protect her. Needed to protect her.

These days, need was all he knew.

"Liam?"