Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THANATOS
Warm, even breaths drifted over my bare chest. There could not be a more perfect day .
. . or night. Anastasia’s hair splayed across my chest, curling in wild waves on my skin that I twisted around my fingertips.
In my endless eternity of existence, I never felt so satisfied as I did the last few hours with Anastasia.
The vibrancy of human life was not lost on me.
The sights, sounds, and feel . . . Everything was overwhelming.
Anastasia was overwhelming in her loveliness.
Sunlight streamed in through the curtains and cast rays of light over the bare skin of her back and the sheet pooled low across her hips.
Her arm was slung over my torso, and she had one leg curled over mine.
I’d do anything to live in this moment, to stay here and let it last forever.
To be human was to experience everything to a heightened degree.
I didn’t realize I’d lived so long in a haze of diluted feelings and senses.
Everything was so much more. My love for her was that much deeper.
The sound of gentle waves and birds singing filtered in toward me.
This was contentment. This was what life was supposed to be.
Being death made me live a dead existence, consumed with my duty and nothing else.
But was it selfish to want a moment for myself?
A love for myself? This was why humans valued love, sex, connection above all else, because it felt fucking amazing.
A contented sigh escaped my lips and Anastasia’s even breaths halted for a moment. Tension stole through her body, and she tilted her head back, looking up at me. When I met her gaze, I couldn’t help but smile down at her. “Hey there.”
“You’re still here.” Her voice was thick with that groggy sleep.
“I am.”
“I thought you were a dream.” She didn’t move off me. She just lay there staring up at me, holding too still.
“And yet I am here, and I am real.” I ran little circles on her shoulder with the tip of my finger.
Her brow furrowed and she sat up, pulling the sheet up with her and holding it over her perfect breasts. Her wild hair fell around her face, and she peeked up at me shyly through the strands. “Why do I feel like I know you and yet I know we’ve never met?”
“I feel that too.” I shrugged. “Would it be so unbelievable to think we knew each other in another life?”
“A bit far-fetched when I don’t even know your name.” She pulled the sheets higher and shook her head. “I’ve never even had a one-night stand. This is very much out of character.”
“Aren’t I the lucky one then?” I didn’t want her to feel any unease about what happened last night . . . the night of my life. “My name is Thanatos, by the way.”
“Thanatos.” She wrinkled her nose. “What a name.”
“It’s Greek,” I added with a little chuckle to myself.
“Your parents must not have liked you that much.” She gave her own little chuckle.
I tilted my head to the side, studying her. “My parents weren’t around much.”
“Mine either.” She sighed. “Another thing we have in common.”
Though I already knew her name, I wanted to put us on even footing. “And your name is . . .?”
Red crept up into her face and she bit her bottom lip. “Anastasia. Stasie for short.”
“Anastasia. That’s a lovely name.” I sat up to face her. “And just to ease your mind, you’re the first I’ve been with in a long time.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “How long?”
“Feels like centuries.” I tried to keep it vague.
If I told her about our past, her past, it would freak her out.
She would run and our only chance at a life together would slip away.
I would take any life I could with her, and right now I desperately wanted this one.
Visions of growing old with her surrounded by our children filled my mind.
She rolled her eyes. “The drama of men.”
I chuckled, loving this version of her. She’d always been sharp-tongued but now there was an edge of wit to it. “So, if neither of us want to count this as a one-night stand, then what are we going to do about it?”
“What do you mean?” She stiffened and leaned away from me.
“I mean,” I hesitated, suddenly nervous to ask her for more of her time, “let’s not make it a one-night stand. Spend the day with me?”
Spend all your days with me.
“I think I’d like that.” She bit her bottom lip.
My heart raced at the thought of spending a day together. “Perfect, then let’s shower and start our day.”
Our life together.
She arched her eyebrow at me. “Didn’t get enough last night?”
“Well, like I said, it feels like it’s been centuries.” I chuckled.
“Then we’d better fix that.” She rose from the bed, letting the sheet drop from her body. She reached her hand out toward me. “Are you ready?”
“Always.” I took her hand, following her like I would for the rest of our lives.