Cassiel slipped on his ring. Gently cradling her hand, he slipped her ring back onto her finger, where it always belonged. And the bond, the brittle thing that had been dying, blazed with new life as it reformed itself.
Instantly.
Flawlessly.
So strong and as bright as every star in his eyes. As if all it took was this.
The spring breeze drifted over the hill of dynalyas, filling the air with their sweet scent and red petals. While he gazed at her, appearing as ethereal as the first day she saw him, she knew the only thing the bond needed was her forgiveness. Because love, that had never left.
Even in her anger and resentment that felt like hate, she had never—not once—stopped loving Cassiel.
Dyna didn’t know who reached for who first. In the next breath, she was in his arms. Crying with him. Embracing him. Touching him. Exchanging wet kisses that tasted like tears and faith.
Home, her soul sang. She had come home.
His arms shook around her as he cradled her in his arms. His single wing wrapped around her in a way that vowed there would be no more letting go.
“If you weren’t leaving me again, why did you come here?” she asked.
Pulling back, Cassiel smiled at the vast field of red blooms as the first gold rays of daylight peeked over the horizon. Bright and gentle and warm.
Those starry eyes welled as they met hers once more. “I was waiting for the sun.”
Then she was crying all over again, as he had the power to make her do. Her chaotic emotions were free and wild, and she didn’t care.
“Ahuvati.”Cassiel took her face in his hands and rested his forehead against hers, breathing her in. “How I have missed you.”
His warm lips kissed away the tears from her lashes and cheeks, leaving little impressions of heat behind, like the caress of feathers against her skin.
“My heart. My queen. My dawn.”
***
In the privacy of their bedroom, Dyna bore witness to Cassiel cutting out another piece of his rib bone. She watched him burn it until it was charred black. He meticulously ground it into a powder with a special oil Yelrakel had provided, and it became sacred paint. Dyna tossed the ghet into the hearth, letting the flames dissolve it away. She sat by the fire as he knelt before her again and wrote new vows on her skin.
One on the inside of her right arm:My mind’s might and fire, I lay at your feet to never rise against you.
Over her heart, his fingers painted:Wherever you go, in life and in death, I will follow.
Dyna was blinded by tears by the time he finished the last letter. Cassiel slowly kissed away each one that fell. His lips brushed over hers and traced the column of her throat. Her head lolled back to give him better access, and his teeth grazed across the spot where her neck and shoulder joined.
Languid heat uncoiled inside of her, anticipation tingling across her skin. He kissed his way back up her neck to the shell of her ear as his hand slid up her side, teasing her sensitive flesh over her nightgown. Her breath quickened as her pulse climbed. Then Cassiel swept her into his arms and carried her to bed. Their clothes slipped away and none of her was hidden from him anymore.
He explored every inch of her as though for the first time, his hands and mouth insatiable. His every touch, every soft kiss, was sweet and slow. Worshiping.
Cassiel held her in his arms as they joined, and Dyna merged into him. Her body fit every inch of his like two pieces cut from the same cloth. The new vows lit up on her skin, alongside the first ones. They shimmered in the bond between them, glowing like a dance of stars.
With every roll of his hips, her heart called to him, and his replied as it always did.
I love you,it said.I love you. I love you. I love you.
CHAPTER 93
Cassiel
“Does this mean you will not return to Hilos?”
Cassiel sighed and gave his uncle a nod. “I will return one day. Perhaps in a year’s time, but right now, I choose my wife. With her is where I belong.”
