I kissed her again, slower this time. Savoring it. Pouring all the cycles of longing and pain and desperate hope into the connection between us. When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
“Take me to your chambers,” she said. “Please. I need—I need to feel you. I need to know this is real.”
I didn’t need to be asked twice. I ignored the protests from my guards and the delighted gasps from the gathered crowd. Let them talk. Let them see their lord completely undone by love. I didn’t care about dignity or protocol or anything except getting Cleo somewhere private where I could show her exactly how much I’d missed her.
The trek to my chambers had never felt so long. She buried her face against my neck, pressing kisses to my skin that made my marks flare and my body ache with need. By the time I kicked the door shut behind us, I was shaking again.
I set her down on my bed gently, then came down on top of her, needing the reassurance of her body pressed to mine. “I missed you,” I whispered into her hair. “Every moment. Every breath. I was so empty without you.”
“I was miserable, too.” Her hands slid under my shirt, finding my marks. The touch sent electricity through my entire body. “I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. Maya and Zarahad to talk sense into me. And Torven, Zara’s mate, explained mate bonds to me. Made me understand how it is for Destrans early in the bond, and how it must be similar with D’tran, too.” She pulled back to look at me, her eyes dark with desire. “I don’t want to waste any more time being scared. I want you. Now. Please.”
I claimed her mouth in a kiss that was all heat and hunger and desperate relief. She responded with equal intensity, her fingers tangling in my hair, her body arching against mine. We shed clothes between kisses.
When we were finally skin to skin, hands and lips everywhere, I had to pause. Had to look at her. Had to memorize this moment. Everything that had been broken and was now whole again.
“Cleo,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “I will spend the rest of my life proving I’m worthy of the choice you made today.”
“You already are.” She pulled me down to her. “Now stop talking and make love to me.”
So I did.
I worshipped her with my hands, my mouth, my entire being. Relearning every curve, every sensitive spot, every sound she made when I touched her just right. She met me with equal passion, her touches reverent and hungry all at once.
When I finally slid inside her, when we joined together with a rightness that made my marks flare almost painfully bright, I felt complete for the first time since that fateful cycle when I’d turned her people away and faced theconsequences.Home. This was home. Not the valley, not my chambers, but here. With her.
We moved together with a hunger intensified by our separation and reunion. Every touch meant more. Every kiss carried the weight of promises made and kept. When she fell apart beneath me, crying out my name, I followed her over the edge into pleasure so intense it bordered on painful.
Afterward, we lay tangled together, my face buried in her hair, her fingers tracing patterns on my chest where my marks still glowed with residual heat.
“I’m never leaving you again,” she murmured. “I mean, I’ll leave the valley sometimes. For jobs, if they’re interesting, for visits with friends. But I’m never leavingyou. There’s a difference.”
“I know.” I pressed a kiss to her temple. “We’re partners. Equals. In this together.”
“Together,” she agreed. “For the rest of our lives.”
“For the rest of our lives,” I echoed, pulling her closer. “I promise to trust you. To listen when you speak. To honor your choices, even when they scare me.”
“And I promise to trust you too.” She tilted her head to look at me. “To give you the benefit of the doubt. To communicate instead of running when things get hard. To build a life with you that includes both love and freedom.”
I sealed the promises with a kiss, deep and slow and full of everything I couldn’t put into words.
Outside, I could hear the sounds of the valley going about its evening routines. Scientists and diplomats and my own people navigating this new world we were building together.There would be challenges ahead. Complications as we figured out how to blend our lives, our cultures, our futures.
But lying here with Cleo in my arms, her warmth against my skin, her heartbeat steady beneath my palm, I knew we’d face it all together.
She’d chosen me.
She’d come back.
And I would spend the rest of my life making sure she never regretted it.
“I love you,” I whispered into the comfortable silence.
“I love you too,” she murmured back, already half-asleep. “My mate. My home.”
My marks pulsed with warmth and contentment, finally at peace.
Home. Yes. That sounded perfect.
