Page 22 of Blood Moon Heat

The bed dipped, then Nero slid up behind me, his arm slipping around my waist.

“What are you doing?” I choked out, even as I ached for him to touch me. “I told you, I didn’t want you to…” He nuzzled the back of my neck, breathing in my scent, and tingles danced across my skin. “Nero, I said n-no.”

“I’m just going to hold you, Lalka. Nothing more,” he said roughly.

I didn’t know what to do, what to say. I didn’t understand this game he was playing. I wanted to stick to my convictions, but it felt nice to be held. Too nice. “If you try to do anything else, I’ll fight you,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure I meant it. I couldn’t let him think he could control me. I had to make him understand how much I hated the way he was treating me.

I wanted to be his mate, not his prisoner.

At least I thought I wanted to be his mate. My feelings about this male were complicated and constantly changed.

“Okay, little doll,” he said as he shuffled closer, so his entire body cradled mine. “You can have it your way…for tonight.”

He lay motionless at my back, and the way he held me felt maybe even a little awkward, as if this was unnatural for him. I supposed it was, but then what would I know?

Suddenly, I needed to know something, anything, that proved there was more to this cold, confusing male than what he’d shown me, or at the very least, that there once had been. Because I couldn’t keep doing this, fighting for more, if there wasn’t—if there never had been more. “Tell me something about before you were a member of The Five, before you lost your emotions.”

He stilled even more, which seemed impossible, but somehow he had. “What do you want to know?”

“Do you remember your parents?”

“Only fractured moments of distant memories.”

I couldn’t imagine being so old, or so broken that I forgot my own parents. My stomach churned. “Did you have any brothers or sisters?”

There was a beat of deafening silence. “A sister. Dorotha.”

“Do you remember much about her?”

“Yes.”

“Is she still alive?”

“She was murdered by fae soldiers long ago.”

The sudden need to comfort him surprised me. Still, I went with it and slid my hand over his that rested on my stomach. “I’m sorry, Nero.” His voice hadn’t changed, but he was affected, I could feel it. Anger literally radiated through his body to mine.

“It was a long time ago.”

“But you loved her, didn’t you?”

There was another pause, then his arm tightened around my waist slightly. “I suppose I did. It was her death that drove me to fight in the war, to become a member of The Five, so yes, I believe I loved her.”

A kernel of hope ignited inside me. “When was the last time you held someone like this?” I asked, wanting to know more.

“I can’t remember ever holding another like this.”

“What about your sister? Did you ever hug her?”

“I’m…not sure. Possibly, when she was small. But I lost my emotions a very long time ago, Lalka. After that happened, I didn’t require affection. I honestly can’t remember ever feeling the need to hold anyone like this.”

That sounded lonely to me. “But you do now? Feel the need, I mean?”

His fingers flexed against my belly. “I guess so.”

“And do you….like it?”

Another beat of silence. “Yes,” he said, finally smoothing my hair away from my throat and dragging his nose along my skin. “I think I do.”

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