Page 99 of Summoned
Nicole finally turns. At first, she freezes, as though unable to reconcile what she sees with what she thoughtshe knew. Her gaze drifts over my face, then my chest, tracing the runes that cover my skin…
Then it lands on the shadows behind me.
Well, now she’s seen theharvests.
31
Nicole
My lips part in shock at the sight before me.
Shadows. Dozens of black silhouettes, extensions of the darkness itself. Twisted outlines of bodies. Silent, faceless figures that send a chill through my bones, unlike anything I’ve ever felt.
Souls.Harvests.From the tally on the wall.
They seem to be watching me, too, though, they remain clustered around Gaetano. He stands in the center of the room, naked, his body covered in black runes that weave into complex patterns across his skin. There’s something ancient in them, predatory… yet they’re beautiful in their brutality.
I meet his gaze, and everything inside me stills. An emotion too pure to hide shimmers in his eyes. Without words,I understand why shadows circle him, but leave me untouched. He’s the one who exposed himself, allowing them to see the truth beneath his magic.
He did it for me.
Gaetano says he stopped trying to prove himself. But he’s still doing it. Not for the world. For himself.
As the shadows writhe around us, I’m not scared. The only thing I feel is pain that I can’t help them. Even so, there’s something I can do for him, just as he once did for me. I can tell him the truth about himself.
“Can we be alone?” I nod toward the shadows.
A flicker of relief crosses his face. He raises a hand, and they fade behind an invisible barrier.
“Thank you.” I approach him, circling him, tracing everyline of his body—the broad strength of his shoulders, his sculpted arms, the runes on his back that converge in tangled, arcane designs. I allow myself to get lost in them, fingers itching to follow their path.
When I face him again, my gaze drifts downward, across the taut lines of his abdomen and the sharp curves of his hips. To his thighs, and how his muscles move beneath my attention. He doesn’t need illusions to make my jaw drop.
“You’re handsome,” I say.
Doubt settles into every muscle of his face. “Handsome? I’m made of shadows, Nicole. I can’t be anything but a shadow of a once-man.”
I’ve seen the shadows, the scars, the curse.Yet nothing in him repels me. “No, youarehandsome. Even more than when you’re wrapped in magic.”
His lips twitch in what could have been a smile, if it weren’t filled with so much disbelief. I step forward until I’m standing directly in front of him.
Then, I drop to my knees. My gaze once more moves over the runes carved into his legs and the smooth skin. I stop at the sight of the hardness, already standing to attention.
I look up and say, “I submit to you.”
His eyes darken with hunger. The muscles in his thighs tense, and his arousal pulses between us.
Gaetano raises his hand, tracing the line of my jaw, then down my throat. “Nicole…” His voice drops to a raw, dark timbre that burns in my core.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing.”
His fingers slide into my hair, sending a shiver down my spine. Between us, his length hangs heavy, tempting me to touch it. Before I do, his grip tightens, tilting my head back and exposing my throat. Not rough, but possessive.
My breath hitches, caught between the ache building inside me and the unspoken warning in his touch.
He releases my hair and kneels before me.
“I don’t want to break you. I want to worship you,” he says.
