I forced my eyes open, meeting that intense fuchsia stare. The intimacy of it, the raw connection, hit me harder than anything physical. I could see everything in his eyes—desire, possession, and submission to the forces binding us together.
He shifted slightly, angling his hips. The next thrust hit that sweet spot deep inside, hard and perfect. My vision whited out. A sharp cry tore from my throat as my orgasm ripped through me, violent and sudden and all-consuming. I clamped down around him, my body shuddering and pulsing, wave after wave of pleasure crashing over me.
“Cleo,” he groaned, a deep, guttural sound. His thrusts grew erratic, harder, deeper, chasing his own release. I felt every pulse of him inside me, every twitch. With a final, deep grind that had him buried as far as he could go, his cock pulsed inside me as he came. His roar echoed in the room, primal and possessive. Heat flooded me as he emptied himself deep inside.
He held me tight against him as we both trembled, gasping for air. My body still spasmed with aftershocks, clenching around him. His heart hammered against my chest, as wild as my own.
Slowly, carefully, he lowered me until my feet touched the floor. My legs felt like jelly, barely able to hold my weight. He kept his arms around me, supporting me, his forehead resting against mine. His eyes were still fuchsia, but softer now, the wild intensity fading into something warmer.
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. Everything we needed to communicate passed between us in that shared breath, that connection of skin on skin, his body still joined with mine.
Whatever happened next, whatever challenges we faced, this moment, this joining, had changed everything.
CHAPTER 12
Rezor
Six cycles had passed since Cleo and I became lovers, and I still couldn’t quite believe she was mine.
I stood outside the guest quarters, steeling myself for the conversation I was about to have. News had arrived moments ago that would change everything, and I needed to tell Cleo and her companions before rumors spread through the village.
But first, I let myself have this moment. This breath before the storm.
The past six cycles had been the best of my life. And the most complicated.
Although she still slept in the guest quarters, Cleo came to my chambers every evening. Then, we shared a meal, spoke about our day, and learned each other’s bodies with an intensity that left me breathless. Every touch, every gasp, everymoment of connection felt like a gift I hadn’t known I was waiting for.
My marks blazed for her constantly now. The entire clan knew. There was no hiding the way they glowed whenever she was near, or the fact that I touched her every chance I got. Small things. A hand on her back as we walked. Fingers brushing hers when we stood together. The need to maintain contact, to reassure myself she was real and here and mine.
The council had stopped questioning her presence. How could they not, when she’d saved our water system and repaired the grow facility? When she spent her days teaching our engineers things they’d never known about the technology that kept us alive?
But there was a wall between us I couldn’t breach.
Physically, Cleo was mine. Enthusiastically, passionately mine. But emotionally, she held something back. Some core part of herself that she wouldn’t let me touch, no matter how many times I buried myself inside her, no matter how many times she cried out my name in the darkness.
We hadn’t talked about it. About what it meant that we were lovers now. About whether she would stay when, and if, her crew was found. About the mate bond that my marks insisted was inevitable.
I was giving her time and space to adapt to the reality of us, but the weight of unspoken questions built between us.
And now I had news that would force all those questions to the surface.
I knocked once, then entered after hearing someone mutter to come in. All three of them looked up as I entered. Baleck stood near the window, his skin shifting to a cautiousorange. Mierva sat on one of the beds, her arm was healed now and her expression curious. And Cleo, my beautiful, complicated mate who didn’t quitebelieveshe was my mate, looked up from the engineering schematic she’d been studying with worry already clouding her eyes.
She knew me too well. Could read the tension in my posture.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, setting the schematic aside. “Did something break?”
“No.” I moved further into the room, aware of all three sets of eyes tracking my movement. “A scout returned an hour ago from the northern tunnel. He had news.”
“What kind of news?” Baleck’s voice was careful, controlled.
I took a breath, choosing my words with care. “As you know, we have scouts who monitor a tunnel through the mountain. It’s the only route through the peaks that doesn’t require exposing yourself to the storms for extended periods.” I paused, meeting Cleo’s gaze. “Occasionally, very occasionally, they meet with scouts from Vikkat’s stronghold.”
“Vikkat?” Cleo’s brow furrowed. “Who’s that?”
“He controls the largest settlement outside the valley. His people have armored vehicles they call crawlers that can traverse the storms.” I watched understanding begin to dawn in her eyes. “Many generations ago, before the storms became what they are now, there were battles over this valley. Over who had the right to live in the only naturally safe place on this part of the planet. We won. Vikkat’s ancestors lost.”
“Bad blood,” Baleck said quietly, his skin shifting to a knowing blue-gray. “Territorial disputes rarely end cleanly.”
