Doubt. Uncertainty. Something almost like loss.
“What is it?” She turned to face him, her fingers pausing on the buttons of her sleeve.
He was silent for a long moment, his golden eyes traveling over her—taking in the fine clothes, the soft fabrics, everything that marked her as someone from a world he’d never known.
“You look different,” he said finally.
“Is that bad?”
“No. Just…” He shook his head, as if trying to clear away thoughts he didn’t want to examine. “You look like you belong in this world. This ship. These clothes. All of it.”
She closed the distance between them, taking his hands in hers. “I belong with you. Everything else is just… circumstance.”
He didn’t respond, but she could see the tension in his jaw and the wariness in his eyes. She thought about their descent from the mountain, about his whispered fears that her world would swallow her whole and leave no room for him.
“Why didn’t you let me tell them?” she asked softly. “When I was about to say you were my mate—you interrupted. Why?”
He exhaled slowly. “Because we don’t know what we’re walking into. Your aunt tried to kill you. We don’t know who else might be involved, or who we can trust. If they think I’m just a hired guard, they might underestimate me. Might reveal things they wouldn’t reveal if they knew the truth.”
It made sense. Strategic sense, the kind of calculation she might have made herself in a business negotiation.
“You’re right,” she admitted. “It’s smart to keep some cards hidden.”
“But?” He heard the hesitation in her voice.
“But I need you to know something.” She reached up to cup his face, forcing him to meet her eyes. “I will never deny you. Never. The moment you want me to tell them—to tell everyone—I will. You are my mate, Rykan. I’m not ashamed of that. I’m proud of it.”
Something shifted in his expression. The doubt softened, replaced by something warmer. His hands came up to cover hers, holding them against his cheeks.
“I know,” he said quietly.
“Do you?”
Instead of answering, he kissed her. It was gentle at first, almost reverent—lips brushing lips, breath mingling breath. But heat kindled quickly between them, as it always did, and soon the kiss deepened into something more urgent. His hands slid down to her waist, pulling her closer. Her fingers tangled in his hair, holding on.
A chime sounded through the cabin from the ship’s announcement system.
“Approaching Port Cantor. All passengers please secure yourselves for landing.”
They broke apart reluctantly, both breathing harder than the brief kiss warranted. She brushed her hair and twisted it into an elegant knot and checked her reflection in the wall panel, making sure no trace of their embrace showed on her carefully composed features.
When she turned back to him, she found him watching her with an intensity that made her heart skip.
“Ready?” she asked.
He moved to stand beside her, his hand coming to rest at the small of her back—possessive, protective, exactly where it belonged.
“Together,” he said.
Through the cabin’s small viewport, she could see Port Cantor rising to meet them—the towers of glass and steel catching the afternoon light, the vast sprawl of the city spreading across the horizon like a glittering web. Somewhere in that maze of streets and buildings, her aunt was waiting. Her company was waiting. All the complications of her old life, ready to swallow her whole.
But she wasn’t the same woman who had fled that life weeks ago. She was stronger now. Fiercer. And she wasn’t alone.
CHAPTER 23
The landing field sprawled beneath them—acres of plain permacrete surrounded by razor-wire fencing and guard towers that should have been impressive but struck Rykan as woefully inadequate. He tracked every detail as the transport descended: the spacing between perimeter patrols, the blind spots created by poorly positioned surveillance equipment, the single checkpoint controlling access to the main road.
Pathetic.
