To Crave a Blood Moon

by Sharie Kohler

  Unless she somehow found Sebastian.

  She started to turn back inside, desperate thoughts churning through her on how to find him. To track him down. The back of her neck prickled. Rubbing a hand against her nape, she turned and faced the empty yard again, her gaze fixed on the drive… at whatever she sensed coming down the long stretch of dirt road.

  She tensed, thinking of her last unexpected guest. No longer afraid to use her abilities, old or new, she cleared her head, and opened herself to it.

  It struck her in a warm rush, sweeping up her chest, coiling tighter and tighter; an emotion she had felt only one other time—at a wedding she catered years ago.

  Standing in the back, she had watched as the groom lifted the bride’s veil. Nerve or curiosity got the better of her and she spied inside his soul. She had felt this same emotion then. Peace. Deeply sublime love.

  A figure emerged, clearing the trees, late afternoon sun glinting off his dark hair. A duffel bag hung over one shoulder.

  He stopped, his gaze finding her on the porch. They stared at each other, devouring with their eyes.

  Her lungs seized, a single breathless word—a name—escaping her lips. “Sebastian!”

  She was off the porch running. He met her halfway. Dropping his bag, he caught her up in his arms.

  Between kisses, they spoke.

  “You came back,” she gasped.

  “I never should have left.” He seized her head with both hands, gazing into her eyes and forcing her still. “You were mine the moment you joined me in that dungeon. I don’t care if you need me or not. I need you. I’m staying. Forever.”

  She tried to nod, but he held her too tight. “You’re right. I don’t need you,” she agreed. “But I want you. I love you. I do. I do…”

  A smile split his face. “Thank God you said that. I love you, too.”

  “I know,” she choked, feeling every bit of the love in his heart, sensing their future through him right then. Side by side. Long and happy and together. “I know.”

  He shook his head, still smiling as he brought his lips back down to hers. “Of course you do.”