Page 86 of Taken By the Blood God

Talant stared at me in awe before he fell to his knees. His hands reached for my hips, but he stopped before he touched me, looking up for permission. At my nod, his fingers curved around my hips as he moved even closer to press his lips to my belly.

“I have been doubly. No, triply blessed,” he sighed. “The three of you are a reward I don’t deserve.”

I reached down to cup his face, tilting his chin so he looked up at me. “I think you’ll work hard every day to take care of all three of us. But that isn’t why you deserve us,” I said.

“Why then?”

“Contrary to popular belief, gods aren’t perfect.”

He smiled a little at my words but kept silent when I laid my thumb over his lips.

“You’ve made mistakes,” I continued. “But you’ve spent centuries paying the price. Since you’ve awoken, you’ve done what you could not only to protect me, but to protect my niece. A woman that I love like a daughter. You carry more humanity than you realize, and humans deserve love and family, no matter how imperfect they are. So do you.”

He got to his feet, sweeping me into his arms. Instead of carrying me through the house, he portaled straight to my bedroom.

As he laid me on the bed, Talant brushed his hand over my abdomen again.

“I’m so happy I waited for you, my little witch,” he murmured. “You are worth every year I spent in that stone tomb.”

More damned tears filled my eyes. “Thank you for waiting for me.”

His eyes moved from my belly to my face. His expression became achingly tender when he saw the tears streaming from my eyes. “I’m glad I don’t have to wait any longer to tell you that you’re mine.”

“I’m yours?”

“We exchanged blood, Minerva. Other than Davian, no one else has ever taken my blood. We were connected from that moment on. The more blood we share, the tighter the bond between us will become. I hope that you will let me mark you as my mate, not only with blood but with magic.” He stretched out on top of me. “Our children will bring us even closer together, too.”

“You’ve already vowed to be mine. Do you think a mating mark is necessary?”

He nodded, pressing his lips to mine. “I want everyone who sees you to know that you and I belong to each other.”

I couldn’t hold back the shiver that worked its way through my body at the touch of his mouth. It had been weeks since he kissed me, and the simple caress was nearly enough to melt my bones.

“Kiss me again,” I whispered.

“I’ll kiss you forever.”

Epilogue

Poppy

I was tipsy and heading toward drunk.

As a wolf shifter, it was a difficult state to achieve, but my best friend, Zeke Marshall, and I had plenty of practice at reaching it.

At least once a week, we got together to watch movies or play poker at my house. Booze was always involved, and Zeke either picked up a couple of pizzas or I cooked something for us to eat. Tonight, we started out playing cards and eventually moved into watching movies. I’d suckered him into watching a romcom with me.

That was when Zeke told me what his father was up to.

Zeke was the son of the local cat alpha. His father had all kinds of expectations regarding his only son. Expectations about who he should be, what sort of job he should have, and who he should mate.

Expectations that Zeke had been fighting against his entire life.

The regional meeting for the cat clans was next month and his father was pressuring him to attend and sign up for the mate search.

“Why don’t you want to do it?” I asked, ignoring the twinge in my chest when I voiced the question. Most shifters were eager to find their mate. Especially shifters well into their prime. Like Zeke.

And like me.

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