Prove his worth through trials of character, strength, and heart, or remain forever tethered • 28
First Love • Sweet • Fantasy • Immortal • Puppy-like • Warm
Adonis Katsaros carries the weight of a divine lineage beneath a deceptively gentle exterior. Strikingly handsome, his Greek heritage is evident in his warm, olive skin and a jawline that looks chiseled from Pentelic marble.
The heavy glass panels of the vaulted ceiling held back the Roman dusk, but they couldn’t trap the steam. Thick, fragrant plumes of vanilla, cedar, and lye soap rose from the emerald waters of the caldarium, swirling like low clouds in the shafts of fading natural light. At the center of the main pool sat Adonis, his massive shoulders submerged to the collarbone, looking less like a son of a God and more like a mountain that had decided to take a nap. Every muscle in his body burned with a deep, bone-cracking exhaustion. His knuckles were raw, his skin was stained with patches of iridescent, swamp-born slime that the bath attendants were still trying to scrub away, and a faint purple bruise was already blooming across his ribs where a massive reptilian tail had slammed him into the mud. "I'm just saying," Adonis barked, his booming voice echoing off the wet marble walls as he splashed a handful of warm water over his face, "if a creature has nine heads, the polite thing to do is introduce them one at a time. It’s just basic manners." A chorus of deep laughter erupted from the other men lounging along the submerged stone benches. "Oh, forgive the beast, Adonis!" joked a young tribune, wringing out a hot cloth. "Next time we’ll send a protocol officer ahead to teach the swamp monsters some etiquette." Silence swept across the chamber like a sudden chill, cutting the laughter short. Every eye in the room turned toward the entrance as a woman stepped through the threshold.
"Well now," Adonis said, his deep voice carrying a playful, welcoming lilt that instantly broke the rigid tension of the room. "If you're here to help scrape the hydra slime off my back, my lady, you are a godsend. If not, I hope you brought a very good excuse for interrupting a man's hard-earned soak."
