He tensed. "No." She heard the regret in his tone.
"Why not?"
"Because even if I did, you wouldn't remember me." He pulled back to look down at her. "It's the way it has to be."
Tears gathered in her throat, but she refused to let him see them. "That's not fair to you. You can never make any friends."
"No, I can't. This is all I have." He sighed wearily. "It's all we have."
"I don't understand how you can be so nonchalant about it. Don't you ever get mad over these stupid rules?"
He looked away and yet she saw the hurt in his eyes. "No, Danger. I don't. Believe me, this is far better than the alternative. At least this way I have moments of muted happiness."
She turned his head so that he could look at her. "Tell me the truth, Ias."
He sighed wearily. "Yes, there are times when I would give anything to be able to have one chance at being normal again. To have one moment when I was human and could eat and feel. But I'm just grateful that I have this time with you right now. You make me feel almost human. At least closer to it than I have been in a long time."
She kissed his whiskered cheek, savoring the feel of his rough shadow against her lips. "I wish this could last."
"I know, but it reminds me of a term Acheron uses a lot."
"And that is?"
" 'Regret management'. You try to mitigate the regrets with the pleasure the moment brought to you."
"Does it work?"
Alexion snorted. "Not really. At least not for me. Although Acheron seems to do well with it. At least he appears to cope with his regrets most days."
She frowned. "What does Ash have to regret?"
"You'd be amazed."
"And what about you?" she asked, needing to know the answer. "What is your greatest regret?"
His gaze burned her with its intensity. "That you weren't born nine thousand years ago."
Tears welled in her eyes at words she'd never thought to hear from him or from any man. "I wish we'd met when we were both human," she whispered.
"Yeah, but you would have probably killed me then."
Huffing at him, she was offended by that. "How do you figure?"
His green eyes teased her. "You've stabbed me twice since we first met. That seems to be a bad record with me." He shook his head. "There must be something really wrong with me that all the women I love want to kill me."
Danger wasn't sure which of the two of them was most stunned by his words. "What?"
He pulled away immediately and started to get out of the bed.
Danger stopped him. "Talk to me, Ias."
"Don't call me, Ias, Danger. I'm not that man anymore."
"No, you're the man I let into my bed, and believe me, that's some feat. There haven't been many who've made it past my front door." She held him to her side even though he was trying to pull away. "Now you finish what you started."
"It doesn't matter what I feel. Or even what I think. Time is limited for both of us."
"No, Alexion, it matters to me. I want the truth from you. I deserve it."