Vikan’s fist clenched just as the fire crackled.Taylor had known Nitav’s name.And yet, she still refused to believe that his gift was bridging across to her mind through their connection.She hardly even admitted there was a connection, though it was obvious between them.
Everything was wrong, warped.
And Vikan did not know how to fix it, how to repair what was broken.Because so much was broken, including himself.
But…he wanted to be right for her, he hesitantly admitted to himself.
The dream he’d entered the night before, when he’d simply sat with her on the shores ofLopitax, watching the twin suns rise…he had felt right.He had felt whole.
It made him realize just what he’d given up, by allowing himself to mourn for Nitav for so long.He’d given up any kind of hope for the future, for a mate, for offspring, like many males after the Plague.
The Fates had given him a second chance.And he didn’t want to squander it.
But how to convinceherto give them a chance?How to convince her to stay on Luxiria, at least for a little while, until she was certain of her decision to leave?
He’d given her no reason to stay, he realized, his mouth thinning in a grim line.
He’d taken her captive in the middle of night, forcing their unexpected situation.He’d gone from showing her his desire to coldly trying to keep his distance.He’d essentially told her that he didn’t want a mate because he couldn’t forget Nitav.
And after all this, he still expected her to stay, to want him, to try and build something with him.
Vikan squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head when he realized what a fool he’d been.
He was more surprised she wasn’t running away, trying desperately to get back to the Golden City, after the way he’d treated her.
As he stared at the fire, he knew he only had two options.They were quite simple.
The first being that he could bring Taylor back to the Golden City and say goodbye to her before she returned to Earth for good.He would never see her again and he would return to his life inLopixa.But he would never be able to forget her.Instead of being haunted by one female, he would be haunted by two.And Vikan knew that he would be forever changed, though he would live his life in the same numb loneliness as before.
The second option was that he say goodbye to Nitav, freeing himself from the guilt in order to begin a new life with Taylor.He could show her how good he could be as a mate, convince her to stay, and hope for her love, the same love he’d felt in her dream.
It wouldn’t be easy.Vikan knew he wasn’t the easiest male to love.
But he would try.Just as he told Taylor.
Because in reality, what other option did he have?
After knowing her, even for a short amount of time, he knew he could never go back to how he’d survived before…clinging to Nitav’s memory, numbing his pain withyikava, and becoming even more of a shell than he’d been before.
It would soon kill him.
He didn’twantto live like that anymore.
So, as he watched over his mate that night as she slept, he made his decision.He would show Taylor what life with him could be like.He would show her the side to him that he always wanted to.He would no longer deny his instincts around her.
And he would need to say goodbye to Nitav.Once and for all.
Something lifted from him.Yes, he still felt the guilt, but…it wasn’t as suffocating as before.Deep down, he knew that Nitav wouldn’t have wanted him to become the male he was.He needed to remember that while he embraced a potential new beginning with his fated mate.
If she would have him.
Rising from his space across the fire, Vikan crossed over to his slumbering mate before lying down next to her.
Without hesitation, he pulled her body close, pressing her face into his chest, entwining his legs with hers, and wrapped his arms around her slim, small shoulders.The tension eased out of his body at the warmth of her, the scent of her, and he gently rubbed his horns across her silky, dark hair.
A small sigh escaped her lips, but she didn’t wake.She pressed closer to him in sleep, her body recognizing his own.
Softly, he murmured to her, “I will make this right,luxiva.I vow this to you.”
