Page 59 of Taken By the Blood God

“I don’t really have an answer for that,” I admitted, “other than to say that I just do.”

The tension in the room ratcheted up a few notches. “I’ve mentioned before that I wasn’t worth knowing then, little witch. It’s not a lie. You would have despised me even more than you do now.”

“I don’t despise you,” I argued, interrupting whatever he’d been about to say. “You wouldn’t be in my bed if I did.”

His hand crept across my waist, coming to rest on my hip. His thumb stroked a path over my hipbone, back and forth.

“Who I was then is…” He paused, searching for the right words, “long dead. At least that’s how it feels to me now. It’s been so long since I left that part of my life behind that I feel like I’m completely different now.”

I could see that. He’d been beneath the mountain over a thousand years. While he hadn’t admitted it to me yet, I knew that he’d seen what was happening to the world as he slept. He would have been much more confused when he woke if he hadn’t.

I lifted my hand, cupping his bicep. Slowly, I swept my palm up over his shoulder to his neck. The muscles beneath my fingerswere tight, as though he expected me to push him away. My thumb rested on the curve of his jaw just below his ear.

“So, there’s nothing about your past that you’d want to share with me?” I asked.

I could feel the muscles of his jaw clench beneath my thumb. He was silent for a long moment, that tiny muscle jumping beneath my touch. Finally, he answered, “No.”

There was a sinking sensation in my chest. As though he could feel it, Talant added, “But only because I can’t bear for you to look at me the way you once did.”

“How did I look at you? And when?”

“Like you wished you could bury me back beneath the mountain and leave me there forever.” His tone was dry and a little amused when he continued, “And you only stopped looking at me like that last night when you looked up and saw that I’d followed you into the woods.”

I didn’t know what to say to him. All this time I felt like he was looking right through me, yet he had no idea how I really felt.

“I don’t wish you were still beneath the mountain,” I finally admitted. “Though, there have been times in the past few weeks that I wouldn’t have minded if you spent a couple of days back in that cave.”

He chuckled. The sound moved through me in a warm wave. He hugged me closer, as though I were his favorite teddy bear. With a light touch, I placed my fingers on the back of his hand where it rested on my hip.

“Most of the time I don’t mind having you here,” I continued.

My words made him laugh again. “Stop, you’re making me blush.”

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. When he was like this, I understood why my niece liked Talant so much. He was funny. And, in rough sort of way, kind of sweet.

“I’m glad you don’t think last night was a mistake,” he said.

“I believe I said I wasn’t sure yet,” I corrected.

“That’s not what I heard.” Talant lowered his head to place his lips against mine in a barely-there kiss.

“Ah, but you always hear what you want to hear,” I retorted.

Our lips brushed as I spoke, and our breath mingled. When he hummed in response to my statement, I felt the vibrations all the way down into my chest. My lips tingled, and my chest grew tight.

Even if I hadn’t witnessed the power of his magic, the way my body responded to his touch would have made me believe Talant was a god.

“I heard something else, too,” he said.

“What’s that?”

“That you need me to convince you that it wasn’t a mistake.”

I couldn’t stop the smile that curved my mouth. “I’m always open to a compelling argument.”

“Hmmm.” Talant’s lips moved down my jaw to my throat, landing on the spot an inch or two below my ear that made me shiver as he kissed it. “I guess I should make my case, then,” he murmured.

Talant rolled over on top of me, his lips and tongue blazing a path down my body. His hands moved to my inner thighs, shoving them up and apart.

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