Chapter NineLuna
Chapter Nine
Luna
Salvator found me again in my dreams, where he had always existed even when I was on the other side of the world. His touch felt like velvet on my skin, tantalising me and leaving me restless with a need clawing inside me. It had been too long since his body had owned mine, his lips tracing over me in an assured ownership that made me breathless.
This place between dream and reality was where he belonged to me.
Every time I tried to move on with my life, he had reached out to me and made everything else worthless. My back arched as he teased my breast with his tongue, his hand massaging my other breast, leaving me sensitive and squirming. His fingertips contained a special kind of magic that left trails of devastation in their wake, the nerve endings in my skin pulsing with a need to feel his touch.
For a few moments, I had returned to where I belonged, time and distance eradicated in this place. His thick hair teased me as he kissed a path from between my breasts to my pelvis, his soft lips leaving tingles behind them.
My fingers lodged in his hair, my legs widening to accommodate the width of his shoulders as he settled between my thighs. His tongue was a weapon that possessed the ability to destroy my sanity, driving every thought from my head and leaving me defenceless against him.
This was normally when my dream stopped, Salvator stolen from me by the darkness, leaving me trembling and frustrated. His tongue continued to torment me, my leg wrapping around him to pull him closer to me.
Pressure built deep in my stomach, my flesh becoming ultra-sensitive with every flick of his tongue until I exploded in a mass of twitches and muscle spasms, falling back to try and catch my breath. He would disappear at any moment, leaving me alone with nothing but memories, and my body still craving him.
My eyes flew open when his lips caressed mine, his hands holding either side of my face. Sex had always been phenomenal with Salvator, but his kisses had the power to drug me with passion. They had the ability to make smart girls make bad decisions, like wrapping my arms around him to draw him closer to me.
Salvator had always been my ultimate weakness because he was the only person I would sacrifice my magic for.
His kiss deepened, his tongue touching mine in a silent language that whispered all our secrets. Time stood still as I lost myself in the movement of our mouths, our lips teasing, our teeth nipping at each other.
We rolled together on the bed, my hips rubbing against Salvator’s as I straddled him, his hard length making me clench my thighs as it brushed against my sensitive area between my legs. I rocked back and forth, the divine friction of his cock stimulating my clit, and making me moan. His hips thrust up and I moved faster, my fingers digging into his shoulders until we both came together, our bodies coated in perspiration, and our breathing ragged. I pressed my forehead to his, my eyes closed.
“Why can this never be real?” I whispered. “All I ever wanted was for us to find a small corner of this world and be happy.”
“You were all I ever wanted.” His voice was deep and husky. “Everything.”
I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him again, his hands sweeping around to hold my ass. If wishes were granted, then I would spend every night in Salvator’s arms. If dreams became real, then we would have had a family and freedom to love.
“I can’t do this,” I sobbed, suddenly overcome with emotion. “I can’t keep living in a world without you.”
This dream was too real because his arms wrapped around me to keep me safe, the steady beat of his heart against my ear lulling me into an exhausted sleep while he stroked my hair.
It was only when I woke as light crept across the room in golden fingers that I realised the man under me wasn’t a dream, but made of flesh and bones. His messy hair begged for my fingers to straighten it, and he had a stubble since we’d been on the road for days with little rest. I sat up with the sheet wrapped around me, watching as his chest rose and fell, his left arm raised above his head, his right arm still touching me from where he held me.
How much of last night had been dream and how much reality?
I crept out of the room and to the bathroom down the hall. Once again I was dressed in a large T-shirt that came half way down my thighs. My panties were gone and I swear my lady bits still felt sensitive. Dried cum coated my thighs and ass, telling me which parts of last night were real. We may not have had full sex, but we’d done everything except that, including me rubbing myself on his cock until Salvator came all over my ass and thighs.
“What the hell am I doing?” I asked myself in a hushed whisper.
The woman in the mirror had lips still swollen from too many deep and penetrating kisses, her eyes were bright and there was colour in her cheeks. I stared at myself, waiting for the shame to arrive, but it didn’t. All I wanted to do was climb back into that bed and finish what we started last night. He was the only man I had shared my body with, and he had reawakened the sensual side of me that I had ignored.
After I cleaned myself up as best possible, I wandered down to the kitchen to make some breakfast, hunting through the cupboards and fridge in search of food. There were limited options, but I discovered he kept a well-stocked freezer in this apartment since he didn’t seem to use it often.
I was in the process of defrosting items when Salvator padded in wearing just his black underwear. Our rendezvouses in the past had been in the dark, some of them quick and passion-filled with both of us clothed throughout. I only got to see his body under moonlight, but he stood in front of me now, in nothing more than tight black trunks that did little to hide what he possessed.
His muscles moved as he trailed his fingers through his hair, yawning and stretching like a lithe predator limbering up to stalk its prey.
“Morning,” Salvator said, opening a cupboard I hadn’t investigated yet, and lifting out coffee that he proceeded to add to the sleek, black machine in the corner. He turned to face me when I didn’t reply. “You okay?”
I held the fabric of his T-shirt out. “I seem to be wearing your clothes,” I said.
“Yeah, you fell asleep on the sofa.” He continued to move around the kitchen, distracted in his search for food.
“I was wearing my clothes at the time I fell asleep,” I pointed out.
He had been bent over in a cupboard, and glanced up at me for a moment. “They didn’t look comfortable,” he replied. “I don’t like being restrained by clothing when I sleep.”
I released my breath slowly before I strangled him. “My panties do not restrict me when sleeping.”
He stuck a chocolate bar in his mouth as he straightened, biting into it, and ripping off almost half in one bite. “I didn’t take your panties off, Luna.” His eyebrows rose but he didn’t comment further.
I needed to find a separate bed to him because I obviously couldn’t behave when my inhibitions lowered in sleep.
Instead of continuing the conversation, I moved around the kitchen to create a meal out of what I had found in the freezer, trying to avoid the piercing intensity of his eyes. For four hundred years, I had imagined what life would be like with Salvator in it, and now that he had reappeared, I was confused and shy.
“Where do you live now?” Salvator asked, settling himself at the breakfast bar.
“I have various homes around the world,” I replied, pouring coffee and adding lots of sugar to his since I saw him making it yesterday. “But I mostly stay in Ireland.”
“Is it not cold?” His head canted to the side and stared at me as if he could see into my very soul. “And wet?”
I laughed, and for the first time in days, my reaction felt natural. “Very wet,” I replied. “It’s green for a reason. The trees are well watered by nature.”
He wrinkled his nose at the thought of getting wet, and sipped his coffee.
“The internet revolutionised the Chimaera Foundation,” I continued. “We no longer had to meet to convene a coven and share information, and the era of the lone witch evolved.”
“Lycans are still pack animals,” Salvator muttered, taking a longer drink from his hot coffee.
“We have vampires and lycans in our worldwide coven,” I replied. “And other shapeshifters. We’re basically there to help anyone who finds themselves lost in the ever-increasing human world.”
His dark gaze rose to mine and all my words evaporated with the heat that burned in his eyes. “And yet my pack has never heard of this worldwide coven?”
“It wouldn’t be a secret coven if everyone knew about it,” I commented, and lifted my coffee to take a sip, wincing at the bitter flavour. “We rarely enter the Americas unless we need to evacuate someone, as it is well known the packs have carved up this land and guard it fiercely.”
“And yet, here you are,” Salvator said.
I set my mug down and opened the oven to lift out the bread I had put in earlier. “This is still my home. I make a pilgrimage here every so often to pay respect to my parents and siblings.” I paused. “I returned a few years ago for the archaeological digs since I had been there when those souls were sacrificed for the ambitions of greedy men.”
He sat back on his stool. “I was meant to be there, but was called away because one of our wolves had gone missing. I joined the second wave of digs.”
Fate had been toying with both of us, teasing us with the possibility of finding one another. I placed a plate in front of Salvator, retreating to my own side of the breakfast bar to nibble at the crispy bread.
“I’ll check my computer and then we’ll head out,” Salvator said. “Someone doesn’t want anyone to know they murdered us yesterday. That house wasn’t in my name and had nothing to connect me to it. They had to have known you were with me.”
I chewed, thinking the situation through from different angles. “They either have a physical tracker on you or have a clairvoyant who is watching you,” I replied. “My amulet doesn’t allow anyone to view me, not even those closest to me.”
“My vehicles are only ever kept in one of our secure parking lots,” Salvator said. “I don’t believe that wolf is in our organisation. I have spent time with every single pack member, and know their scent. His was a unique fragrance from the rainforest that borders Peru and the Amazon.”
“Then they are working with clairvoyants and you need protection,” I replied. “You said you have witches in your pack, do they not create amulets?”
He wandered over and filled his mug again. “We do and they are supposed to. Your sister Aisha oversees that part of our organisation, personally writing spells and enchantments.”
“I don’t know who you’re working with, but I felt Aisha’s death about two hundred years ago,” I said, my mind travelling back in time to that day. “I have felt the pain of every one of the other priestesses’ deaths. Mother priestess died a few days after she sent us away. They tortured her, the pain ricocheting through our bond making me so ill that the people you left me with thought I was going to die. Most of them died within the first few years, and then every so often, I would sense the death of another, and I relive them all again.”
“What do you mean she died? She returned home about a hundred years after the empire fell, seeking protection from those who still chased her. She set up the magical arm of our group.” His brow was furrowed, and I desperately wanted to reach out and smooth that concern away.
“I can only tell you what I felt. Maybe I’m wrong, or something happened to make her experience immense physical pain, but I believed Aisha to be dead.” I was being diplomatic, because in my heart I knew what I had felt.
“I’ll have to investigate this,” Salvator said, bracing his ass against the worksurface as he drank his coffee, watching out the window.
“Maybe I’m wrong,” I replied. “It’s been a long time and a lot of deaths.”
His gaze snapped to me. “You were never wrong, Luna,” he said in a soft voice that made goosebumps rise on my skin. “You never saw your true worth in that place, but you always possessed an inner power that others craved. Mother priestess tried to keep you hidden, even from Balor.”
“I need to find a way of making you into a mortal man, one that is invisible to a clairvoyant who is looking for an alpha dire wolf.”
His full lips tipped up into a half smile. “If only life were that easy. Mortals live such a short life, throwing precious time away and discarding love as they search for ideals which don’t exist.” His eyes met mine and I was frozen in their power. “Immortals know the significance of mates and the connection that spans a thousand lifetimes.”
I finally tore myself from his hypnotic stare and set my mug in the sink. “I’m going to grab a shower. Could you bring my big case in from the car? It should have a small kit in it that will allow me to make an amulet for you.”
He nodded once, and I went to walk past him. At the last moment, his fingertips touched mine and I felt pulses of energy radiating up my arm and into my chest.
“You can’t keep running,” he said, his voice low as he stepped behind me, his heat infusing into me.
“I’m not running,” I lied. “I spent nearly my entire life grieving you, Salvator. I need time to try and process everything that has happened.”
His fingers lightly touched my waist and I fought the urge to melt into him, to find the safety in his arms that I had always craved in the darkness of night.
“The more time we spend together, the harder it will be for me to resist marking you.” His lips touched that sensitive spot behind my ear, and I bit into my bottom lip to suppress a moan. “There is only so much I can take and your scent is driving me insane.”
The tips of Salvator’s claws dug into my waist and every instinct in me screamed to tilt my head and grant him permission to bite me. He could have done it a thousand times over while I slept beside him, forcing a mate bond. The fact that he hadn’t told me he still possessed the integrity and respect he had all those years ago.
“I need to make sure you’re hidden from prying eyes before they attack us again,” I whispered, desperately struggling to contain my emotions. Every moment he touched me lowered the defences I had placed around my heart.
He released me, and my legs wobbled as I stumbled toward the door.
I wrestled with my thoughts and feelings while the hot water pounded down on me. It wasn’t that I didn’t want Salvator, he was the only man I had ever wanted to be with from the moment I bumped into him in the darkness when I had to collect firewood to sustain the fires during the night.
Salvator had been left on guard duty outside our area to ensure no predators got into our temple. His eyes had glowed amber since it had been a new moon, but instead of feeling fear, all I had felt was safe. When he stepped forward and I saw the man who had once lived in my village, I had been relieved, and our relationship developed. That was the night he recognised me as his mate, and I felt that connection in the depth of my soul. The rest of our time together had been filled with passion and desire, both of us sneaking away to be with each other.
He was no longer the young wolf under the control of harsh masters, and I was no longer the young witch who had to obey the orders of a demon in the guise of a priest.
I pressed my head to the wall. Why were things more complicated when we had to follow no rules other than those put in place by us? The problem was that I had given my word to protect an entire network of witches and magical creatures who all relied on the wards and enchantments I had put in place to keep them safe. There were people in our organisation that no one knew about except me, and if anything happened to me, they would be left vulnerable.
Salvator sat in front of his computer, chewing the side of his mouth as he concentrated on what was on the screen. He glanced up for a moment.
“Your bag is in the bedroom,” he said, returning his attention to whatever he was studying.
“Problem?” I asked, sensing a change in his mood.
“No one has tried to reach me,” he replied. “I checked my SIM card. Not a call, text, or message. Nothing.”
He had spent his life protecting this place and the people who lived here.
“It isn’t that strange,” I said. “Magic isn’t what it used to be, and the creatures walking this world contain an evil none of us could have predicted four hundred years ago.”
Salvator sat back and watched me. “This has nothing to do with magic or creatures, I’m alpha to that pack and no one has realised I’m missing. I normally check in every single day.” He shook his head. “This is crazy.”
“Maybe not,” I replied. “We’ve been tracking creatures that have been breaking through the veils from other realms. Some of them have abilities never seen before.”
His brow furrowed and he continued to stare at me.
“I’ll get an amulet created for you and then we can talk,” I said, moving out of the room. At this moment, I had no idea who could see or hear us, and I preferred my conversations to be private.
Everywhere I went in the world, I carried an emergency magic case that was disguised as a makeup kit. Inside the jars and boxes were the basics of spell casting. An amulet was an object worn for protection or to host a spell which would affect the person wearing it. In my kit, I always carried the basic foundation to create a new amulet in case something happened to the one I was wearing. I infused each piece of it with different elements, bringing them together and plaiting them to form a stronger structure that would be unbreakable to anyone trying to reach the wearer.
I added extra wooden beads with sacred symbols etched on them to increase the potency of the spell. Then I infused it with an enchantment to ensure it stayed on Salvator’s body even when he shifted form.
“I normally only tend to wear my quartz,” Salvator said from behind me, startling me back into the room since I was in an almost trace-like state.
I turned around to find him holding the quartz pendant I had given him so long ago. “Sometimes we need to upgrade our security.”
“And sometimes we got it right the first time,” he replied, his focus set on me.
Every time he was close to me, my body responded and right now was no different. I wanted to crawl to him on my hands and knees, and beg him to hold me. He exuded an energy that shouted to everyone not to fuck with him or they would end up dead, and in anyone else that would terrify me, but with Salvator all I felt was safe.
I removed a long, thin pin from my kit and held it up. “I need a drop of your blood,” I said. “It will make the amulet unique to you and strengthen the power of the enchantment.”
He eyed me warily. “Why does everything involve a sample of your blood?” he queried, rolling his eyes.
“Do you often get asked for your blood?” I queried, my inner witch taking interest since blood was your life source and could be used to charm or curse you.
“More than I would like,” Salvator replied, holding his hand out.
I pricked his finger, turning his hand over to allow a drop of blood to land on the amulet. I muttered the incantation to connect Salvator to the protection stone, sensing the energy change as both components combined to form a new structure. Magic was a living entity, and the most important component was the spell crafter, followed by the subject of that spell.
“Here.” I held it out to Salvator. “Try it on and see how it feels.”
His fingertips touched my hand as he took the amulet, sliding it around his neck and fastening it on the leather strap I had put it on since that suited him better than a chain. He shook his head and rolled his powerful shoulders back.
“It feels weird,” he commented. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
I could guess, but I needed more time to study what had been happening.
“Okay. That’s both of us cut off from anyone watching us,” I said, standing and stretching my arms. “I’ll pack this up, and then I’m good to go.”
Salvator nodded once, giving me an assessing stare before he walked out of the room. I carefully packed my supplies away since they were already starting to dwindle on this journey. Before I left the room, I took time to re-energise my own amulet and cleanse my aura since we seemed to be surrounded by negative energy.
I found Salvator pacing in the kitchen, his hair standing up as if he had run his fingers through it a thousand times.
“Problem?” I asked.
He stopped, turning toward me. “I have no idea. A lot of chatter started a few minutes ago on our servers about the same time you gave me that amulet,” he replied. “There have been some calls to my phone as well.”
“This is the last place they could track you to. We need to go,” I said. “We can talk in the car.”
He nodded absently, collecting our bags and closing down his computer. We had climbed into a different car in the parking lot when I noticed a tall man arriving, his energy dark and oppressive. I touched Salvator’s arm, nodding in the direction of the staircase we had walked down only a few minutes ago. He went to open his car door, but I shook my head.
“We should go.” I had a bad feeling, and tended to listen to my vibes.
Salvator’s gaze met mine, and I swear he had the ability to look inside my head. “Okay, but we need to have a long discussion about all this.”
We drove out slowly, and I uttered a low incantation to ensure we weren’t noticed. Our car would confuse anyone viewing it instead of them noting the make, model, and when they saw it.
“Your magic has changed,” Salvator commented. “It feels different on my skin.”
“Mother priestess said not to use our magic as Balor could track it.” I shrugged. “So I learned a different way to use magic from the other witches I met along the way.”
He watched me from the side of his eye. “I knew you from the temple, and I wouldn’t have recognised you.”
“You shouldn’t have recognised me,” I replied. “There is a powerful enchantment in my amulet to repel anyone from seeing the real me.”
His sigh seemed to come from the depths of his soul. “Luna, you are my mate. There would never be a situation when I wouldn’t recognise you.” He turned toward me and our eyes met for several moments.
My stomach clenched and my breath caught in my chest.
As much as I wanted to protect my heart, a small voice in my head whispered that I had lost it a long time ago to this man, and he would always own it.