Page 22 of Blood Sacrifice

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re my mate.”

He was finishing brushing my hair when I caught his hands. “Salvator, our worlds have changed. Your people need you here, and I have people who rely on me to keep them safe.”

He sighed, his chest expanding and contracting. He crouched in front of me, his dark, almost black eyes boring into mine. “None of that matters, Luna. Everything comes back to the fact that you are my mate. The great goddess decided you were the only woman I will ever want and I am the man who will rip the throat out of any man who looks at you twice.”

My lips twitched at his description because I was sure that wasn’t what being mates meant. “You’ve had plenty of time to find another mate,” I replied softly, even though I knew I had never gotten over losing a man who had left a permanent mark on me.

Salvator shook his head. “You and I both know that I could only do that if you were dead. A lot of shit is finally starting to make sense, including you being in my dreams all these years.”

My eyes widened at his admission. I had believed I was the only one fantasising about us being intimate when I dreamt.

He lifted my hair over my shoulder and onto my back. “Every time you dreamed of me, I was there with you. Every time you screamed my name in ecstasy, I could smell your scent on my skin afterward.”

Fuck!

“None of this makes sense,” I mumbled, unable to look away from his dark, mesmerising eyes. “Maybe I banged my head harder than I thought and am still unconscious?”

His finger traced down the side of my face, down my throat, and over the swell of my breast that was only enclosed in a towel. “Does this feel like a dream?” he asked.

“It feels like my world is spiralling out of control,” I admitted.

“Or maybe it’s spiralling to where it should be,” he said, his head moving slightly until I felt his breath on my mouth.

This was a dream. It had to be a dream because there was no possible way that Salvator was alive and in the same room as me. My eyes fluttered close when his lips touched mine in a light caress, his hands holding my face.

“None of this makes sense,” I whispered. “I—”

His lips stopped mine talking, stealing the words that I wanted to speak. He didn’t push me, keeping his kiss light and stoking a flame deep in my stomach. When he broke away and moved his head back, mine followed those tempting lips.

Salvator tilted my head back to stare into my eyes. “I want to do everything that I’ve craved for the past four centuries, but if I release my control right now, I’ll end up hurting you since you’re injured.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “Right now, I’m fighting the urge to throw you on and bed and claim you until every man who’s been in your life since me is eradicated and only I remain.”

What other men? I had never found anyone who measured up to the void he left in my life. No other man had slept in my bed or shared my body. He had haunted me until I gave up on the idea of trying to find love, and instead concentrated on my career, and building the Chimaera Foundation to give witches somewhere safe to practice their craft.

I gave into temptation and held onto his waist. “You were dead,” I said in a low tone. “I have mourned you nearly my whole life.”

“As I have you, Luna,” he replied, pulling me to my feet.

I stood, my eyes widening as he slowly removed the towel that covered my body, his hands tracing around my shoulders, over my breasts, and finally reaching my hips. He was the only man who had touched me like this, the only one who had that assured touch of ownership.

“You’re even more beautiful that I remember,” Salvator said, his eyes glowing a soft amber. “And I have spent a lot of time with those memories, replaying them over and over again.”

“Salvator,” I whispered, all rational thoughts evaporating in his presence. I felt the weight of his stare, as if his fingers were tracing over my skin and leaving heated trails.

A phone rang in the background, breaking us from whatever spell was weaving around us. He cursed, striding out of the room to snap at whoever was on the other end of the phone. I hurriedly gathered some clothes and disappeared back into the bathroom, closing the door and placing my back to it while I clutched my clothes to the front.

Part of me was elated to discover that Salvator was still alive, but there was a greater part of me that wanted to run. Losing him the last time had almost destroyed me. The adult version of Salvator was more magnetic, his energy drawing me to him in a way that signalled my destruction if I took that chance again.

The woman in the mirror looked like me, but her eyes were too bright and there was a flush to her skin. My trembling fingers touched my lips, remembering the sensation of Salvator’s as they caressed mine.

I was just attaching my pendant when he walked back into the room, stopping to look at the crystal around my neck.

“It makes sense that they couldn’t find you,” he said. “Your entire energy is different when you put that on.”

“Mother priestess told us to hide in plain sight,” I replied, touching the amulet. “This allows me to travel across the world without anyone realising who I am. We’ve worked long and hard to protect witches from persecution.”

“We?” Out of everything I had said, that was what Salvator honed in on.

“At first, I stayed close to the border, but the years passed and I eventually moved east.” I walked past him out of the room, needing some fresh air. “I spent decades walking this world alone, and then I began to find other women like me who could use magic. They taught me different skills, and one by one, we formed a network that now stretches across the globe. Never again will a witch be forced to use her powers or be punished for using them.”

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