The thought tightened her chest. For months she had dreamed of it—of standing barefoot on warm sand in the Bahamas—her favourite holiday spot—of hearing the waves crash against the beach, of seeing the skyline she once knew by heart. But now… the image felt distant. Hollow.
“No,” she said at last, her voice soft but certain. “I don’t want to go back.”
His head tilted, a flicker of curiosity in his gaze. “Why?”
“Because I’m not her anymore,” she said. “The woman they knew. I would terrify them.” A bitter laugh escaped her throat. “And you would terrify them even more.”
Zarokh’s mouth curved into a slow, dark smile. “Good,” he said simply.
She smiled despite herself.
It was true. Only they understood each other now—the hunger, the strange, crackling energy that came with power. Only he knew what it meant to be both feared and followed.
Cecilia looked at him, at the ruthless beauty of his face, at the strength that radiated from every line of his body, and she realized she didn’t need Earth anymore. She didn’t need the version of herself that belonged to that fragile, distant world.
This was her world now.
Hewas her world now.
Zarokh reached over, hooking his fingers under her chin, lifting her face to his. “You have no idea,” he murmured, “how strong you’ve become.”
A smile ghosted her lips, his words ringing through her like truth. “Maybe I do,” she whispered.
And when he kissed her—slow, fierce, claiming—she knew there was no going back. Not now. Not ever.
She had been taken as prey. But now she stood beside him as his equal, his mate, his queen. And anyone who dared to challenge them would drown in blood and fire.
