Page 82 of Crave Me

Shadowing wasn’t an option, my soul too weak to take me to a darker part of the world.

I needed energy now, but in a different way.

And my spirit was telling me to take it from Vesperus. To absorb him. Tojoinhim.

He’d been able to call some of my stardust to him. That had to mean something.

Then he’d used it to bring me back. And he’d wished for me toheal.

It had worked, but only on the surface. Because some part of my soul still ached for him.

“I need you,” I repeated, more certain now. “I… I can feel the pull inside me demanding that I join you. It’s this intense craving that I can’t explain. I just…”

“Feel it,” he finished for me. “I know. I sense it, too.”

“You do?” I whispered, my mouth against his neck.

“I felt you dying, Nyx.” His fingers wove through my hair as he cradled the back of my head. “I felt it as though I was dying right along with you.”

I pulled away to meet his gaze. “But we rejected the bond.”

“We did,” he agreed, his dark irises flickering with power.Mypower. Because the irises were inverted again, giving his eyes that eclipse-like appearance.

So beautiful.

So enchanting.

So…inviting.

“We shouldn’t be connected at all,” he added. “But we very much are.”

“We are,” I echoed, sensing the thrumming pulse of that connection in my chest. “Is it the blood?”

“I don’t know. You said your kind don’t have fated mates.”

“We don’t.” But that didn’t mean my own magic hadn’t evolved to accept the potential for one.

I was a being of creation. Everything about me and my power constantly evolved to manifest more life. More experiences. More enchantments.

Perhaps I’d been hunting for more than just a home. Perhaps I’d been in search of a new purpose.

Of a mate.

That could be why my medallion chose this reality—to pair me with the most ideal match.

Which meant our rejection hadn’t been enough to dispel the bond. Because I was a being who existedbeyondthe magic.

I was the source.

“You’ve been inheriting my powers,” I whispered, searching Vesperus’s features. “My blood is making you evolve.” I’d never seen that happen before, but those who had bitten me in the past hadn’t been able to handle a single drop of my essence.

However, Vesperus had indulged in me as though I were a fine wine.

And I’d done the same to him.

“We’re mates,” I breathed. “We’re linked beyond your world’s magic.”

He swallowed. “I think you might be right.”