So Kai did. All of it. Her doubts about Atsadi. Her fear for the clans. The terror of destiny.
Once she finished, Fala kissed the tattoo between Kai’s brows. “You’ve forgotten something very important.”
“I have?”
Another kiss fell to the side of her left eye. “You don’t have to do any of this alone.” Fala pulled away just enough to meet Kai’s eyes. “Let me back in, beloved.”
It wasn’t a demand, nor meant as some groundbreaking revelation. And yet, the words parted a veil Kai hadn’t realized was there. They hammered against a new wall she’d been building stone by stone. For weeks, Kai had been battling everything the world threw at her, believing Fala to be at her back. Safe.
Except, Fala had been on the other side of this fabricated war the entire time, begging Kai to stop fighting ghosts. The past, the old nightmares, might never leave, but they couldn’t hurt her anymore.
And Atsadi wasn’t the enemy—he never was. His smile crinkled his eyes, and he laughed from his belly, and he marked his vow on his skin despite the fear he’d admitted prior to their union.
He loved them.
“I’m sorry,” Kai choked out, fresh tears spilling. “I didn’t see. I couldn’t see.”
Fala’s eyes filled with tears, too, and she nodded. “It’s all right.” Her hands roamed from Kai’s face to her neck. “It’s all right.”
Kai sank into her wife, into her kiss, into her familiar body.
Fala dug grooves into Kai’s back as she arched against her. She took Kai’s tongue deep into her mouth and drank every sound Kai couldn’t take back.
Kai shoved the sheer robe from Fala’s shoulders, then tugged off her nightdress.
Fingers threaded into Kai’s hair, loosening the knot, spilling the thick length down her neck and shoulders and into the water.
And for a moment, they just stared at one another. Tracing wet swirls on each other’s chests and arms.
“Someone could walk in,” Kai warned.
“They’ll leave.”
Kai’s heart stuttered. When had her wife become so brave?
Fala’s hips ground across Kai’s lap. Her nipples peeked above the water, taut, enticing. Kai took that dusty mound into her mouth, sucking gently.
A sharp breath escaped Fala. She yanked Kai’s mouth back to hers and kissed her hungrily.
Kai couldn’t keep track of Fala’s hands—groping, sweeping her collarbones, palming her breasts with delicious carelessness. The way she traced Kai’s ribs all the way to her spine, and pulled her close, their bodies aligning.
Kai followed the strength of Fala’s thighs to her rear end and squeezed.
Fala rolled her hips.
Water sloshed.
Kai started to flip them around, desperate to explore her wife’s body, to get lost in Fala’s pleasure. Only then would the thoughts vanish. Only then would she be free.
For only a little while.
But Fala stilled her, catching Kai’s wrists and holding their hands to her breast. She brushed damp hair from Kai’s face.
“No,” Fala said, voice low and steady.
Kai blinked. “What?”
Fala rested her forehead to hers, her breath warm and sweet. “You want to disappear into me. I won’t let you.”
