Warm. She was warm and solid and real, her arms wrapping around my neck, her face buried against my shoulder.
“You’re here,” I managed, my voice breaking. “You came back.”
“I did.” Her words tumbled out in a rush against my skin. “I’m sorry. I’msosorry. I was scared and stupid and I left but I couldn’t—Ican’t—Rezor, I love you. I love you so much and I want to make this work. I want to figure it out together. I want—”
I scooped her up and cradled her against my chest just before my knees gave out and I dropped to the ground, shaking so hard I couldn’t hold myself upright. This wasn’t a hallucination or a dream or wishful thinking. Cleo was here, in my arms, saying she loved me.
My marks blazed so hot they hurt. The pain in my chest cracked open and instead of more emptiness, there was light. Heat. Life rushing back into spaces that had gone cold and dark.
“I thought—” I couldn’t finish. I struggled to find words for the despair I’d been living in. “I thought you were gone forever.”
She pulled back just enough to cup my face, her eyes bright with tears. “I’m here and I’m staying. If you still want me. If I didn’t ruin everything by leaving.”
“Want you?” A laugh burst out of me, half sob, half joy. “Cleo, I’ve been dying without you. I can’t eat. Can’t sleep. Every moment feels wrong because you’re not here. Of course I want you.”
She kissed me then, and it was like breathing after drowning. Like sunlight after endless gray. My hands tangled in her hair, pulling her closer, needing to feel every point of contact between us. Confirming that she was real. That she’d come back.
That she was mine.
When we finally broke apart, her hands were shaking as she wiped tears from her face, and I couldn’t stop touching her. Her hair, her face, her shoulders. Mapping her presence like my body needed more proof she was actually here.
“I missed you so fucking much,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “I’m sorry for how I left. For not trusting that you could change. For letting my baggage control me instead of listening to my heart.”
“I’m sorry too.” I pressed my forehead to hers. “For keeping your people from you. For not understanding that protecting you sometimes means letting you go.”
“I don’t want to be let go.” She laughed through her tears. “I mean, Ido. I want the freedom to choose. But I’m choosing you, Rezor. I’m choosing us.”
“What about the stars?” I asked, needing her to understand. “What about traveling? Exploring? I won’t cage you, Cleo.”
“Maybe we can explore together sometimes.” She pulled back to look at me properly. “Come see the Destran Solas. Come meet Maya’s baby when it’s born. Come explore with me. The valley will be here when we come back.”
Explore together. The possibility hadn’t even occurred to me. Leaving the valley. Traveling to the stars. Seeing theworlds Cleo had described during those long nights in my chambers.
“You’d want that?” I asked. “Me, traveling with you?”
“I’d want you anywhere.” She placed a hand on my chest. “Here, there, everywhere. As long as we’re together.”
“I would like to see the Solas,” I admitted. “I’d like to understand your world the way you’ve learned mine.”
Her smile was radiant. “Really?”
“Really.” I stood with her locked in my arms, and realized we had an audience. Guards. Scientists. Caretakers. Half the village, probably, all watching their lord have a complete emotional breakdown in the middle of the plaza. I didn’t care.
“There’s something else we should discuss,” Cleo said, a hint of nervousness entering her voice. “About children.”
My heart stuttered. “Children?”
“We don’t know if we’re biologically compatible yet.” She was blushing now, that ruddiness spreading across her cheeks that I’d missed so much. “Humans and D’tran have never tried before. But I want to try. I want—if we can—I want to build a family with you.”
The image hit me with stunning clarity. Cleo, round with our child. Little ones with her eyes and my marks. A family. Not just a mate, but a future. A life built together.
“Yes,” I said, my voice rough with emotion. “Yes to all of it. To children, to travel, to whatever life we can build together.”
“Even if I’m difficult and stubborn and bad at staying put?”
“Especially then.” I pulled her closer. “You wouldn’t beyou if you weren’t all those things. And I love you exactly as you are.”
Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “I love you too. So much. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize that loving you doesn’t mean losing myself. That we can both be free together.”
