Page 115 of Anatomy of the Immortal Species

“Where will they take him?” she asked.

“To a safe place.”

Amelia clenched her fists, recalling the general’s face. After looking through more photos of him online, she had confirmed he was indeed the man from her vision. Wherever this “safe place” was, she hoped he would pay for everything he’d done to the creatures.

But something else was troubling her. She fidgeted with the edge of her clothes. “Mikhail, did you mean what you said? Do you truly trust Presiyan?”

“Completely,” he said without hesitation.

“I don’t like him.”

“Why?” He stepped closer, making her tilt her head to meet his multicoloured eyes. “Presiyan found youinteresting.Seems you managed to impress him when you told him he should release me. I take it the woman with white eyes and golden hair is you, right?” Mikhail’s gaze swept over her face before he added witha slight smile, “Or is there another beauty who stood up for me?”

Her pulse quickened under his intense stare.

Mikhail touched her chin with his finger in a gentle caress. “You’re the reason I was released so quickly, Amelia.”

She froze at his words, needing a moment to process them. Her lie had worked…

Air filled her lungs, flooding them with satisfaction. “I can’t believe it,” she said through the smile forming on her lips. “I… I lied to him.”

“You did brilliantly, little beast.” Mikhail kissed her. His solid body pressed against hers, igniting a fire from which there was no escape. Not that she intended to do so.

Then he pulled back, cupping her face in his hands. “Amelia, I want you to know that what we have isn’t just about satisfying primal needs.” His eyes burned into hers with a deep, golden intensity. “I could have been with many women over these years, but I didn’t want any of them. I need you to believe me when I say you have me entirely.”

A disarming wave passed through her body. “Entirely…?”

He nodded. “I’m your friend, protector, and only lover. I may not be easy, but I promise to give everything I am capable of, to be the best for you. If you accept me by your side, I’ll only ask a few things of you. If anything happens, you don’t walk away from me or withdraw into silence and foolish thoughts. You come to me, and we sort it out. If you have a problem, you come to me. And most importantly – no secrets between us.Noneat all.”

Amelia didn’t dare breathe. Had he really said the words she’d been yearning for? A promise of companionship in the solitude of the immortal world?

She closed her eyes, needing a moment away from his hypnotic gaze. To allow herself to wake up, if this was just a dream. Her lips burned with the desire to merge with his, her bodypulsed for him, and her heart longed to accept his offer of… a relationship?

She tried to regain her senses, but she couldn’t remember why she had denied her need for Mikhail for so long. To avoid confronting the demons of his past? Because she believed he was a beast, incapable of true emotion? Because she thought she could touch him and then walk away as if nothing had happened?

He couldn’t mean it. He wasn’t actually offering what she thought he was.

“Mikhail, you don’t know me…”

That was a lie. He knew more about her than she would have liked.

“You’re very mistaken if you think that,” he said.

“I don’t knowyou.”

Here, she was right. Mikhail had lived for four hundred years, and she would never fully know him.

He raised his palm in the air. “You know what matters.”

She fell silent, but her thoughts raced.Yes, I know what matters… That you haven’t let go of your past. That if I let you in, you’ll soon be another unbearable loss in my life.

That you kill traitors.

The gold in his eyes darkened. “Is there someone else, Amelia?”

“Someone else?”

“Another man. A lover. Were you with someone while I was away?”