“Never.”Daya kissed his temple, his brow, his cheek.Her lips moved softly over his skin.
“Breathe with me, love,” she whispered.“Let go of the fear.”
He thought he had, yet a tremble in his heart held fast to invisible tendrils.Deep fears that hadn’t vanished during his transformation.These he had to let go of on his own.Give them up so that he could fully embrace his new life.
It was harder than he anticipated.The fear that the people he loved would be torn from his grasp, that his life was not his own to live, ran to the very depths of his soul.
Daya held him as he strengthened his courage to trust.To trust Hannelore with his soul.His future.With Daya and his daughters.
Flame licked through him as he finally let go, blazing sharply and glittering with the dark colors of the shadows.He sucked in a breath as power and strength filled him, and he looked up at Daya in surprise.
His mate smiled softly.“True belonging must be embraced.”
“Even after the transformation?”It shocked him that there was more beyond the changes he’d already been through.How much more would there be, given time?
A sense of amusement and knowing filled his mind—Hannelore’s.Much more.Time strengthens all.
“You’re still… happy?Becoming one of us?”Daya asked, deep brown eyes searching his with concern.
“Daya, I’ve never felt more whole.It will just take me some time to let the past lay peacefully.That’s new for me,” he said honestly.“But you know what’s more important?”
“What?”
“This moment.Having my mate in my arms.”Cupping her head, he brought her lips to his for a kiss.“My fierce, beautiful, guardian mate.”
“Mmm,” she murmured, hips shifting against him until she was fitted perfectly against him.“True.”
He groaned appreciatively, tipping his head to the side at her insistence so that she could kiss down the column of his neck.Her skin was soft and warm beneath his hands as he reacquainted himself with her body.
Grateful for the rush of strength that still bolstered him, he lifted her up and lowered her gently back down until they were joined together.
“Raiden,” she breathed.“Yes.”
She leaned away, arching her back.Trusting his arms to hold her.He bent his head so that he could taste her, lathing attention on her chest until she voiced her need and clenched him tightly.
The lap of water on her skin was music to accompany her sharp breaths as she moved above him.Her hands curled around his neck, gripping him fiercely as she held on.
Giving in to her urging, he began to move, holding her to him with an arm locked around her waist as he rose to meet her in a rhythm as old as time.They danced together, heat burning through them and evaporating any remaining barriers between them.
Elated in the thrill of her soul melding with his, Raiden set himself free.Letting the need take him over, he stroked them both higher.
“Come with me, Dayanara,” he said, pressing his head to hers.
His mate whimpered incoherently, her nails biting into his shoulder.Leaning down, she took his lips in a fierce kiss and squeezed him tightly.
She swallowed his shout as the colors of midnight burst around them, the shadows glittering at the crescendo of their joining.
Breathing heavily, he blinked, trying to get his vision to refocus, but it wouldn’t.
“That’s you,” Daya said.“Your magic.Can’t you feel it?”
Looking inward, he realized she was right.His magic wasn’t contained in his core any longer but running throughout his body in a steady, vibrant stream.“That’s… different.”
His mate laughed softly.“I didn’t know the shadows held anything but darkness, but I keep seeing sparkles of dark colors through the bond.”
“I’ve only ever felt the shadows, never seen truly seen them,” he murmured.“Not like this.It’s breathtaking.”
Smiling contentedly, Daya stroked his neck.“I love you, Raiden.”
