“I’m sorry,Cuore mio. That’s going to have to wait until tonight.” My mouth claimed hers when she whimpered in pain, and knowing the growing need in her from the astral bond, I felt like an asshole.
“I want to come with you again,” she whispered, cheeks flaming a beautiful red with her embarrassment, but driven by a desire stronger than her. She was in heat after all.
A grunt left my throat. “I know, I want to make you come more than anything, but I need to meet with D and then recharge after everything that’s happened.”
The reminder of the attack quickly extinguished the need in her, and she nodded, her gaze saddening as the memories returned.
Reaching for her chin, I stroked her jaw with my thumb, calling her attention back to me. “Above all, we need to make sure you are safe. And that includes me being at my strongest.”
Understanding filled her gaze, but so did curiosity. “May I ask you something?”
“Anything,” I assured while she began to caress my chest.
I loved it when she did that.
“Will you tell me abouther? About the woman you loved before?”
For a moment, I expected devastating pain to rip the barely closed wound I’d carried since her loss, and although pain and regret were still present, they didn’t consume me.
“Her name was Corelia,” I breathed, placing my hand over Natasha’s, and holding it to my chest. “She was beautiful and kind. The candle maker of our small village in Matera…”
“She loved you too…”
“And it was her undoing,” I confessed, my hold tightening on her hand. “I was too young and too powerful, within my first one hundred years of life. I didn’t truly understand what theTwilightwas capable of…”
“You didn’t kill her,” she whispered, sensing my pain.
“I did, but I never meant to.” The muscles of my jaw jerked as I glanced into her eyes. “I wanted so desperately to be with her that I didn’t think about the consequences of what it meant to be who I am.”
“TheLord of Twilight,” Natasha finished for me, and I nodded.
“I understood then that this life didn’t entirely belong to me. This power was a gift, but it was also an eternal debt. One I will never finish repaying because only my soul has been chosen to wield the eternal night, since the beginning of time.”
“By Hecate?”
“Not entirely. My soul originally belonged to her forbidden love—Dante,the God of Twilight. Even though they could never be together, he sacrificed himself to save her life. Being the only Goddess able to freely access the underworld, Hecate brings his soul back to life every thousand years, returning the power he forsook to save her. That is her debt of love.”
“Does she bring his soul back so they can be together?”
The slight growl possessiveness in Natasha’s voice, like she believed Hecate would come to take me from her was the most endearing, and unexpectedly healing thing I had experienced. My mouth closed over hers in a demanding kiss, reassuring her that I was only hers.
“I would let theTwilightconsume my soul before I ever leave your side,Cuore mio. I’m yours.”
“Why does she do it, then?” Her question escaped through ragged breaths, while she tried to compose herself from my kiss.
“Because she owes him her life. The curse that separates them can never be broken. They can never be together, but her love for him remains.”
“Corelia’s death must have hurt her deeply. Seeing you in pain when you are an extension of the man she’ll eternally love.”
My gut tightened at her insight. “It did. After Corelia died in my arms, I almost decimated the entire village from my sorrow, but Hecate came to me and stopped me. The Goddess knew my love for Corelia had been true, but she also knew Corelia was not written in my stars. Hecate vowed that one day the woman destined for me would find me. And now you are here.”
Emotion glistened in Natasha’s eyes, a tear escaping her. “That is why theTwilightdidn’t hurt me? It did choose me.”
I nodded, letting my finger scoop her teardrop, and caressing the length of her jaw.
“But you are the one who foundme,” she murmured, confused, bringing a soft smile to my lips.
“No,Cuore mio.I assure you,youfound me.”
