Birth of a Mortal God Read Online Free PDF

with your body!”
    She looked away from his golden gaze. “I have nothing else of worth.”
    He rushed forward, and for a moment, she thought he was going to strike her. But instead, he snatched her arm, lifting her to her feet with strength she would have thought impossible for someone of his stature. “Do you intend to become a whore? Because that is exactly what you’ll become if you stay on this path! The world owes you nothing! You are not special! You would be hard pressed to find any slave untouched by their master. That innkeeper was no more of a monster than any other slave owner within the Kingdom.”
    Tears rolled down her cheeks. “How do you know about that?”
    He released her arm, and she fell to the floor weeping. “Anyone with sight can deduce as much; your body is covered in bruises, and that nagging oaf of an innkeeper didn’t seem to mind what those guards were doing to you.”
    He watched her cry and again was visited by the strange sensation, this time curiosity overcame caution as he bent down and picked her up.
    “What are you doing?” she asked startled.
    “You invite sickness exposing yourself to the night air. Now you can shed your tears, free of the threat of ill health,” he said as he slipped her back underneath the pile of furs.
    She couldn’t help but smile at his peculiar behaviour. “You are very . . . unique.”
    “So I have been told,” he said, before starting to undress.
    Jessica looked away. “What are you doing?”
    He regarded her as if she had said something incredibly stupid. “I am preparing to sleep. Why else would I disrobe?”
    She left the question unanswered as he continued to undress. Despite her efforts, her eyes drifted, for now she saw that he was not handsome, but godlike. Even though he was short by Kingdom standards, his body was a series of ripped muscles, each perfectly proportional to the other. He seemed less a being of flesh and bone, and more a work of art, sculpted by the gods and bequeathed onto the world.
    He caught her awed gaze and suppressed a smile. “What’s this? Such an innocent flower lusting after me? I feel like a displayed sweetroll of a careless baker, and you the calculating beggar.”
    She turned scarlet from head to toe. “I wasn’t! What are you doing? Keep that on!”
    He stood with his hands on his loincloth and grinned. “All things are born naked, Jessica. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Besides, it is only fair for you to see me disrobed, since I did undress you, after all.”
    “It’s all right. You don’t have to show me,” she said oddly modest.
    “Well then, I recommend you shut your eyes. I prefer to sleep in the nude, and since this is my campsite, I shall do as I please.”
    She quickly shut her eyes when his hands moved. She could hear his footsteps on the rocky floor and felt the furs rise as he slipped underneath them. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw that he was lying next to her, hands behind his head, eyes closed, with a satisfied smile on his face. It was far from her first time in bed with a man, but he was not like the others. It brought out a part of her she had thought lost long ago. She stared at his satisfied face a few moments longer before turning on her side. “Such a strange man,” she muttered under her breath.
    Jessica stirred. For the first time since being sold into slavery, she’d had a good night’s sleep. She had woken once in the middle of the night, only to find the reassuring form of her sleeping saviour still beside her.
    Morning light streamed through the cave’s entrance, illuminating what the burnt-out fire abandoned. She turned to her saviour and felt an icy pang. Instead of the muscular chest heaving up and down, she only found overturned furs. Panic slowly started to seize her body as she frantically searched her surroundings, hoping he only sat somewhere out of sight, ready to tease her for her behaviour. But he was nowhere to be found.
    Tears