Page 71 of Taken By the Blood God

My hands grasped her hips as she rose above me, positioning my cock so that the tip of me slipped over the slick skin of herclit. Her breath caught as she shifted and sank down on me, the hot, wet clasp of her body swallowing my cock.

My fingertips dug into her ass as I pressed her body down against mine, rocking her against me. Minerva didn’t fight as I used my hold on her hips to control her movements. She followed my lead, riding me the way I wanted her to, until her skin glowed from the sweat clinging to her. Her hair fell forward as she tipped her face down to look at me. I wanted her mouth on mine, my fangs in her throat, and her blood on my tongue.

I released my hold on her ass and sank my fingers into the mass of hair at the base of her neck, tugging her face down toward mine. Our lips clashed, mouths open and tongues tangling until Minerva was panting. Using my hold on her hair, I tugged her head back, arching her body down, until my lips touched the base of her throat.

I needed deeper inside her, to imprint myself not only on her body, but her soul.

She gasped when I rolled us, tucking her beneath me, before she wrapped her legs around my waist and locked her ankles together behind me. I drove into her body, my pace slow but each thrust hard enough to shift her body. Only my hold on her hair kept her from moving up the mattress.

“Tal, I’m—” Minerva’s words caught in her throat as her back arched and her pussy spasmed around me as she came.

I struck, sinking my fangs into her soft, white skin as I drove my cock into her one last time. Her hands clutched at me, her nails biting into my back, and she screamed.

I couldn’t hold back any longer. I shuddered as I emptied myself inside her, wishing that I could make her mine for eternity.

A sly voice in the back of my mind suggested that I get her with child. That she would have no choice but to belong to me then. It was the sort of thinking I might have had longago, before centuries beneath a mountain had changed me. I ruthlessly snuffed out that thought. I would never force Minerva to accept me. When she became mine, it would be because she wanted to be. Not because she had no other choice.

Holding Minerva close, I knew that I’d run out of time. I had to talk to her about my past, who I’d once been. And about Cassia. My brother was right. If I continued to withhold the truth from her, she would never trust me again.

For tonight, we would start with my past and who Cassia had once been to me. We could talk about how Cassia’s power and memories would eventually return fully to her another day.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Minerva

For the first time since Talant came home with me, I was utterly relaxed. After he’d ravaged me until my legs were too weak to stand, Talant had held me for a long time, his hands skimming over my hair and skin with something that felt almost like reverence.

After a long while, we cleaned up and I changed my nightgown. The one I’d been wearing was soaked in sweat. Talant tugged me into his side so that my head rested on his shoulder. His hand swept over my back, warm and hard through the silk I wore.

“I need to tell you about who I was.”

At his words, I tilted my head back so I could see his face. “Who you were?”

His eyes drifted from the ceiling to my face. His face wasn’t the blank mask he’d once worn. He looked as though he were bracing for something when he continued.

“Who I was before I became…who I am now.”

Curious, I stacked my hands on his chest and turned over to rest my chin on top of them. “Okay. So, tell me.”

He took a deep breath before he closed his eyes and threw an arm over them. “I’m not sure I can tell you if you’re looking at me. Once I see your eyes change, I may not be able to continue.”

I reached across his body, grabbing his left hand. Then, I rolled until my back was toward him and his arm was draped over my waist. Talant seemed to get the hint and shifted so that his long, hot body spooned mine. He left his arm locked around my waist, and he shoved the other beneath my head as a pillow. My head was tucked just beneath his chin, and his knees bent up until the tops of his thighs cradled the backs of mine. He wrapped around me like a blanket, cradling me close and offering comfort. I reached down to my waist and laced my fingers through his.

“Now, tell me who you were,” I said.

“A long, long time ago, I was a mage for an ancient kingdom. I used magic to help the kings rule in a fair and just manner. At first. As time went on, I found myself doing things I never thought I would do. Things that I would rather forget now. Until the last king. He was raised away from the city, away from me, until it was time for him to take his father’s place upon the old king’s death. It wasn’t until he came into power that I realized he was truly evil. He didn’t give a shit about his people or about being a good ruler. He only wanted to satisfy his appetites. At first, he wanted food, wine, and women. But as time went on, the women he chose became younger and younger. One day I found him forcing himself on a girl who was barely old enough to bleed every month.”

My grip on his hand tightened at his words as I imagined what he must have walked into. The longer lifespans of magic users often jaded them. The fact that he sounded disgusted by what the king had done softened my heart toward him a little more.

“I didn’t think. When I heard her screams and saw her tears, there was no controlling myself.” He stopped and cleared his throat. “I killed him. Brutally. And I enjoyed every single second of it because the sick bastard deserved it.”

I wanted to tell Talant that I agreed, but I didn’t want to distract him from his story. It was becoming clear that he had lines he wouldn’t cross. That he wasn’t like many of the gods in the ancient texts I’d read.

“He had no offspring, so I assumed his throne. For years I tried to be a good ruler. But it was custom at the time for anyone seeking an audience with the king to bring an offering of some type to show their allegiance. At first, the offerings were things like gold, jewels, family heirlooms. Then, as the people began to understand my magic, they made offerings to help me strengthen my power. A wizard king could protect them better than a mere human. At least that’s what they believed.

As time went on, I realized that blood offerings, especially from those who carried strong magic, were the key to building my foundation of power. By the time the kingdom fell more than a century later, I no longer gave a damn about the people who sacrificed their blood for me. All I cared about was power.

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