Fala lowered, staring up the length of Kai’s body for what felt like an eternity, with nothing but her breath to cool the heat.
Then her tongue was there, and Kai moaned. Her eyes closed?—
“Watch,” Fala said.
Kai held her wife’s stare, their hands finding each other, their fingers entwining. Fala laved Kai’s center, slowly at first, then hungrily.
Hot tears sprang to Kai’s eyes—it was too intense. All of it. The connection. The release of control. The way her body came alive from all directions. The warmth of stone. The wetness of water. The tickle of Fala’s loose hair. The way Fala held her hands, a reminder that she wasstill there. That she wasn’t going anywhere.
The room’s blue-green glow flared as fire bloomed in her belly. She was a wick, set alight.
Pressure built, and Fala didn’t look away.
Kai shattered.
It wasn’t in silence. Her gasping moan soared into the room and broke against the stone.
Fala tasted her through every pulse of pleasure, anchoring her.
When Kai finally stilled, her breath came ragged. Her heartbeatthrobbed under her skin, in her breath, in the spaces between those distant, distant thoughts.
Fala climbed Kai’s body and turned her onto her side. She cradled her from behind, smoothing her hair, kissing the back of her neck.
Kai let her eyelids close. “I love you,” she whispered.
“And I love you.” Fala kissed her shoulder. “Even when you’re breaking. Especially then.”
Kai swallowed the lump building in her throat. “I’m afraid I won’t be enough for all of this.”
For their growing family. For her people. For a world on the verge of breaking.
Fala pulled Kai’s chin toward her and looked into her eyes. “Then be afraid. But don’t walk through it alone.”
Kai twisted around and pulled Fala’s body flush against hers. She kissed her wife, slow and savoring. Fala tasted like release, like home. A new spark ignited under her skin.
“Show me again,” Kai said against her mouth.
Fala smiled and obliged. Time stretched toward morning under her explorations. Hands tracing every scar, every plane of muscle, every piece of Kai she once feared might be unreachable.
For the first time in weeks, Kai didn’t brace for impact. She braced for wonder. For softness. For a world where she could be loved without being useful.
She arched into every kiss as if it were a summons. Their rhythm wasn’t frantic or rushed.
It was water.
A tide retreating, returning, and retreating again.
And when it was done, there were no walls left.
Only sky.
Chapter
Forty
Separation from Augustus had teeth. Every minute gnawed deeper, a dagger twisting slowly beneath Selene’s ribs.
Was he in pain? Was healive?
