Page 53 of Blood Moon Heat

He jolted under me, making it clear what I’d just said had reached him, had gotten through, that I’d been right. Losing his sister had affected him deeply, and still did, even if he hadn’t realized it. “I almost did, Lalka. I almost lost you.”

“But you saved me. Promise me,” I said again.

He nodded, swallowing audibly. “I promise,” he said roughly.

“Thank you,” I said, keeping my hand on his chest, his cool skin against my palm, needing that contact, that connection with him even though I was literally in his lap.

He stared down at me with a look in his eyes I’d never seen before. That stare wasn’t cold, it was anything but.

“Nero?”

He slid the backs of his fingers down the side of my face again, then turned his hand to cup my cheek. “Do you think you could ever truly care for me, Lalka? Do you think…” He swallowed thickly. “Do you think you could love someone like me?”

His question shocked me, but not as much as the longing I now recognized in that unwavering stare. He wanted me to love him. He’d said it, the night of the blood moon ceremony. He’d wanted my love even then, even when he’d been devoid of emotion, even when he wasn’t capable of feeling it or returning it himself.

My love.

He’d called me that, hadn’t he? When he’d rescued me. His broken voice echoed through my head, the way he’d stared down at me while I’d been strapped to that table. “And do you love me, Nero?”

He blinked down at me. “Do I love you?” He swiped his thumb over the apple of my cheek. “I have this…constant ache in my chest, and the thought of you being hurt fills me with rage, but seeing you hurt, seeing you being hurt—it cracked me wide open. I would destroy anyone who dared lay a finger on you, and I’d enjoy their screams while I did it. I would kill the elders all over again without a moment’s thought if I could, but I’d make it slower this time. Your comfort, your happiness, your pleasure and safety, they’re all I care about now, Mina.” There was another gentle slide of his thumb across my cheek as his gaze brightened. “Do I love you? Yes, I think… No.” He shook his head. “No, I’m sure of it, my precious Lalka. I love you. I am in love with you.”

I’d never heard him speak like that. How could I doubt it? How could I doubt that look in his eyes? “I love you too.” The words slipped from me easily, because I did. It was new and fragile, and it stood on a foundation that others might not believe in. But I believed in it, in what we were building together, I believed in us.

Nero was cold, calculated, terrifying…to everyone but me. For me he burned. For me he would kill. For me he would do anything to make sure I was safe and cared for.

He was everything I didn’t know I wanted.

“You truly love me, Lalka?” he rasped.

“Yes,” I whispered and reached up to hold the side of his face like he often did mine. His cool skin was no longer a shock, it was perfect, as comforting as his scent. “I want to be your mate, Nero, in truth. Now. Tonight.”

He smiled, flashing his fangs, and the beauty of it, of a smile he felt deeply, stole my breath. “I want to make you my mate more than anything, Mina. But taking you slowly, tenderly, in this bed tonight, isn’t our way, is it, my precious little doll? When I make you mine in truth for the first time, when I claim you, when I make you my mate, it should be primal and raw. I want that for us, and I think you do too?”

He wanted to chase me, catch me, hold me down. My body heated, my heart instantly picking up speed. I nodded, my throat tight.

“Yes,” he said, and he brushed my hair back, so gently, with so much reverence my heart ached. “I thought you’d feel that way, my perfect little Lalka.”

I didn’t want to wait, I wanted everything he said, now. “When?” I asked, my voice husky with need.

He smiled again. “When you’re fully recovered?”

“When will that be?”

He chuckled low, and my stomach fluttered. “After I’ve fed you several more times and you don’t look so pale.” As he ran his fingers through my hair, I caught a glimpse of something and grabbed his hand.

There was a gold ring on his finger—old, no, ancient, the top of it was a square with a swirling design stamped into it. My gaze shot up to his. “The court made you prime?”

The muscle in his jaw pulsed. “Yes. My brothers and I are the new elders.”

He wouldn’t want that. He’d done it for me. “But…”

“All will be well, Mina. There is nothing for you to worry about except getting better, yes?” Then he kissed me gently and laid my head against his chest. “Now rest. You look exhausted.”

I wanted to argue, to ask what this meant for him, for us, but my eyes were heavy and he was right, I’d never been more tired.

I woke with my fangs buried in Nero’s throat, my skin hot and prickled with sweat and a deep throb that made me whimper. I’d been dreaming of Nero, he’d chased me, he’d—I quivered.

He was stroking my face, and I took his hand in mine and pushed it down between my thighs, spreading them to make room.

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