Like it heard me.
My fingers drift down her spine, tracing the Elemental markings hidden beneath my shirt—hers now.
I spent so long resisting this. So long pretending I could ignore what was already inevitable. I told myself she was a distraction. That I had to protect her—from this, from me.
Keep my distance. Remain in control.
I was so fucking wrong.
And it hits me, harder than anything has since last night—
How long I’ve craved this.How long I’ve ached for it without even realizing it.
Not the battles or victories. Not the power or the control I’ve clung to like a shield.
This.
Stillness. Warmth. Thisbelongingto someone.
I spent so long telling myself I didn’t need it. Didn’t deserve it. That it was a weakness to want, especially after what happened to my father.
But now, with Amara curled into me, breathing soft and steady against my chest, I realize the truth. I never stopped wanting it.
I just forgot how to hope for it.
I nuzzle closer to her, my hand drifting lightly down her spine, and I think about it—when she had my heart.
Even before I knew it.
Was it that kiss she gave me right after bonding with Calryx—the one that felt like lightning striking? It nearly dragged the truth out of me. Made me admit how I’ve felt all along, even if it was only in a kiss.
Was it when she looked at me with so much guilt the day her Elemental magics merged while sparring—and she injured me? She looked at me afterward like she couldn’t bear what she’d done.
Or that night I walked her back from the dinner with the nobles, when she trusted me even though I didn’t trust myself?
Was it when she took down the Gorganthe wraith—fierce and brilliant—and smiled at me afterward, like I was the only one who mattered?
Maybe.
Maybe it was all of those things.
But if I’m being truly honest—brutally, unflinchingly honest—it was the day I first saw her. Standing alone in the wreckage of her Elemental blast. Surrounded by fear and ruin. Her face open. Raw.
Afraid, and still—so fucking fierce.
Beautiful in a way that had nothing to do with her face and everything to do with the fire burning inside her. The fire thatstillrefuses to go out.
She had my heart then. Long before I understood it—long before I even dared to hope.
“You don’t know how much I would give for you.”
I breathe in slowly.
“Everything, Amara darling. I would give you everything . . . if I could.”
But I can’t.
Because I don’t belong to myself anymore. I am a man bound to a fate that will take me from her. And I don’t know if I’ll survive it.
