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destiny.
    She had tried to steer him away from that idea, but as the image started, she sketched Drehl’s destiny and her mind went blank.
    True love it would have to be.
     
     
     
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    Two hours of good light turned into a sketch and some frenzied painting. Rhoda’s hands weren’t her own. She painted until Drehl came to her and removed the brush from her hands.
    She blinked up at him. “Why are we stopping?”
    He turned her gently toward her sink and helped her wash her hands. “Because you are exhausted, and I have seen all I need to know.”
    He dried her hands and pressed a glass into them. She gulped at it without examining the contents closely, and when the wash of the wine ran through her, she glared at him. “You just had to see what it would do.”
    His tattooed eyes were curious and honest. “I can heal you if you are allergic.”
    She put the glass down and staggered toward her kitchen, looking for something to slow the effect down.
    “If you had simply told me what the effect was, I would not have tried this.” He followed her as she scrambled for one of the arrangements that had been sent earlier.
    “It is freaking embarrassing. Humiliating actually.” Rhoda stood and leaned over the table as her nipples started tingling and her sex swelled and pulsed, slicking and ready for sex. Wine on Yacaro had an extreme aphrodisiac effect on her that didn’t wear off when the wine did.
    “What is?”
    “The wine is an aphrodisiac. For someone facing a scent-sensitive population, it is embarrassing. Everyone in the market can smell my heat.” She ate a few pieces off the tray and swallowed, “Sometimes, I can push it back with food, but I am not sure that it will be enough.”
    His cheeks darkened. “I can see how that would be a problem.”
    “Can you? Good. I get couriers dropping off and picking up all day, not to mention the occasional client. Reeking of need is not exactly the way to keep their minds on the women that they will have in the future.” She stomped back into the studio and froze at the image that had almost been completed.
    “Oh lord.”
    Prince Drehl came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “I like it. It is worth every credit that I offered up for it. I have to say, your skills are not exaggerated. The likeness of me is perfect and the gown you are wearing is spectacular.”
    Rhoda was looking at an image of herself pinned to Drehl’s body, one leg exposed by the gown all the way up past her hip. Her hair was upswept in a style she had never worn, but it was definitely her. The exposed skin showed jewels, chains and was as pale as hers was now.
    He whispered. “This is why you wanted to destroy the sketch.”
    “I did destroy the sketch. My part of it anyway.”
    “And yet, I was able to charm the image off the page. You knew both of me and saw me equally in that moment, and yet you didn’t try to blackmail me or curry favour.” He ran his hands down her arms.
    She was in his embrace, and the feeling of him against her back was warm and strong, a heady bit of fuel to her body’s fire.
    “What would be the point? As Prince Drehl, you are beyond me, and as a Guardian, you are so far out of my league that it doesn’t bear thinking about. Destiny got it wrong.”
    He peered at the canvas. “Do you really have a birthmark in the shape of a star fall?”
    She snorted. “Yes. Can you tell where the picture is set?”
    “My home in the hills. It has been in the family for generations, but I am currently the only one in charge around there.”
    “It’s nice. Very spacious.” She sighed. “I will have the picture ready in three weeks, the paint needs to cure.”
    He turned her to face him. “You calmed down suddenly. Why is that?”
    “Because I do not own a dress like that, nor the jewels, nor the belly chains. It seems that I am safe until I upgrade my wardrobe, which won’t be any time soon. I just paid my last round of bribes.” She