"Oh, Snow, Snow!"
He laughs softly. "Summer, Summer… I’d bring you a star from the sky if I could," he murmurs, his lips brushing my neck.
I sigh and pull his head closer, drinking him in, breathing him in.
But I also feel the need to explain myself, to clarify, to be understood. My fingers can’t stop tangling in his hair, and my lips occasionally brush against his cheeks and temples.
"I know it might’ve seemed childish, immature. Millions of people don’t have a True Mate, but you know… I was one step away, yet separated by a bottomless abyss. It felt like a joke of Fate."
Snow kisses my neck, slow and tender, while I keep whispering, spilling out my clumsy confessions.
"I know no one else would understand, but from the start, I wanted you to be only mine. I thought that if we stayed Twin Souls, you’d never really be mine, not completely. Crazy, I know. Obsessive, maybe. Probably just my insecurity talking."
Snow smiles gently, then says something I never expected.
"You know, if I’m being completely honest, deep down, I wanted that too. But I didn’t want to pile my disappointment on top of yours. I knew how much it already hurt you."
A short silence falls. We look at each other. Snow’s hands slide slowly along my back, sending shivers racing up my spine and leaving me dizzy.
"So you are mine now, really mine, Snow? My alpha?"
"I am. And you? Are you mine?"
I nod, grinning widely. Gosh, it feels so good.
We move closer, our lips just a breath apart, but we don’t kiss. I savor the moment, letting myself feel it, live it, taste it.
And then it all spills out of me. The emotion rises like a restless tide inside me. "I thought it was all over. I turned back time, Snow, just to fix it. Do you understand?"
Snow stares at me for a long moment, his eyes shimmering with violet and silver. I can feel his acceptance, his calm, unconditional acceptance of… who I am. Of what Idid.
"Summer… if it hadn’t been for you, for your so-called ‘childish’ wish to make us True Mates, we would have perished."
I stare at him in awe, amazed at how simple and smooth everything feels with him, how this understanding between us comes so effortlessly.
"Oh, Snow! You say all the right things!"
We exchange a few passionate kisses, so hungry that our teeth click against each other.
But I’m not done.
"I felt like a spoiled child. I hated myself."
Snow lightly squeezes my arms.
"Summer, you were on the right track the whole time. I was blind; I couldn’t see the future." His face hardens, he winces slightly. "My arrogance, relying on my clairvoyance, was my downfall. And Bay warned me about it." He raises his eyes to me, squinting slightly. "But it was you who somehow sensed the darkness ahead of us and made sure we survived it."
"You really believe that? I thought I was an emotional mess."
"Emotions can be a powerful guide. Intuitive! I’m happy you let them lead, Summer."
As he smiles radiantly, my chest tightens.
I lean in again, kissing him softly on his cheeks, along his jaw, and trailing down to his neck glands.
Snow lifts his hand, and I see long strands of electric light reaching from his fingertips toward my skin, as if our bodies have already activated some magnetic law of attraction.
Then Snow grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls it over my head, tossing it aside in one smooth motion.
