Chapter 462: Touched, Worshiped, Loved
Dante didn’t move quickly. Then again, he never did. Everything he did was deliberate...measured like a blade meant to both kill and caress. He was like a jungle cat, stalking his prey.
And for once, I didn’t mind being prey if it meant being looked at like I was the only person in the universe.
He sat beside me, his thigh pressed against mine, and in the low, flickering light of my house, he looked every inch the demon he truly was. No mask. No charm. Just raw, exposed pride in a body that shouldn’t have been able to contain it.
Salvatore stayed where he was, his hand gently cradling my ankle like I was something fragile.
I wasn’t.
But tonight... I almost wished I was. I almost wish that I hadn’t been stained by my past, but if I hadn’t gone through all that, then I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
And I kind of liked her.
"Tell me to stop," Dante said, voice low, a dangerous murmur that curled around my spine like smoke. "You control everything. If you want me to stop, I will. You just have to say the word."
I didn’t.
I just looked at him—really looked. His eyes weren’t glowing. His power wasn’t crackling in the air. And yet, he still took up all the space in the room, like gravity bent to him alone.
"I’ve never wanted to own you," he said, fingers brushing lightly across my knee. "And I am smart enough to know that just because I belong to you, doesn’t mean that I do. I just wanted you to choose me. Not Pride, not one of the other Sins. I wanted you to look at me and see me. I wanted you to choose the man that I am."