He gathers me against him, wraps me in arms that suddenly feel like the safest place in the universe, and rests his forehead against mine.
We breathe together.
Slowly.
When I finally curl against his chest and hear his heartbeat stumble beneath my ear, I smile.
It’s not just passion.
It’s bond.
And for the first time in years, I’m not afraid of what comes next.
CHAPTER 10
TATEK
What just happened between us doesn’t feel like a breach.
It feels likereturning.
Every breath I take still tastes of her. The warmth of her body presses into mine like a brand. My senses won’t stop cataloging her—skin to skin, heartbeat to heartbeat, scent, breath, sound.
I am not built for this.
But the bond doesn’t care how I was built.
My arms are still around her. She lies curled against my chest, one leg tangled with mine, her cheek resting just below my collarbone. Her fingers twitch in sleep, delicate and unconscious, like even in rest she’s reaching for something.
No one has ever touched me like this.
Not without caution.
Not without fear.
Not her.
Mara’s hand had found the skin behind my ear as we moved—her fingers brushing that place where the neural web connects most closely to the spinal root. A sacred contact among my people. Only ever allowed in ritual. In full bond.
She didn’t know.
Or maybe she did.
And she did it anyway.
I had shuddered beneath her touch, the reaction tearing through me like lightning down a copper line. Not from stimulation.
Fromrecognition.
She touched me like she knew what I was. Not the soldier. Not the weapon. But theman.
When she whispered my name in the dark, it didn’t sound like a name anymore.
It sounded like ceremony.
She kissed me like a challenge.
I met her like a vow.
