He sighed, blowing out a deep breath.“Like the harshest ice storms at the crux of winter.Hailing and shrieking while an avalanche crashes through it.”
“Exactly.Give yourself time.”
Finally turning to meet her gaze, he gave her a veiled look.“You are an astounding mix of gentle and ferocious, you know that?”
“Is that good?”
“Very good, anaiah.”His stiffness disintegrated as he focused on her.“You’re strong, tough, resilient.And occasionally, when you need to be, you’re unbelievably sweet and caring.”
Her heart tripped, that he’d listed them in that order.Understood her that well.Turbulent emotions reached in and caught her soul, wrenching it into a thousand pieces.He was leaving, and it was going to destroy her.
She needed to encourage him to go back to the path he was always supposed to be on.It was the right thing to do—the only thing that kept him alive and whole—but the thought of sending him away tore her up.Her heart beat rapidly as she warred with herself.
“I’m sorry, anaiah.I didn’t want to leave this way.”
“Raiden—” She stopped herself.“Sorry.Connor.”
“It’s alright.I don’t entirely know who I am anymore, either.”
“Who do you want to be?”
“Yours.”Though he smiled, his eyes were pained.Full of regret and longing that nearly knocked her over in its intensity.“Just your broken warrior.”
“You were never broken, Raiden.”
“Then why do you make me feel whole for the first time in my life?”
Closing her eyes, she struggled with the last of her restraint.Her resolve to keep him as a dream broke when he pressed his forehead to hers in tenderness.Honesty poured from her when she answered.“You make me feel that way, too.”
“You know what we need?”
“What?”
“One more night, just for us.”His breath mixed with hers as they hovered on the verge of passion.“Kiss me, Daya.”
Embracing her desire, she answered with a searing kiss.He caught her, wrapping her in protection as she reeled with emotions stronger than she’d ever felt.Her pulse sped up as the tension between them began to crackle.
“I know it’s just for tonight, but I still want this,” she whispered against his lips.“With you.”
For herself, not as a guardian, but for the soul of the woman who still lived within her.His life would never sync with hers, but she could have this moment with him.
“Just because our time was borrowed, doesn’t make it any less meaningful.”
“You really believe that?”She needed their time together to mean as much to him as it did to her.
“I do.Will you be mine, even if I can’t keep you, Daya?”
“Dayanara,” she shared the name she kept locked in her heart.“My original, given name was Dayanara.”
If the night was all they had, she wanted him to know her true self.She lived as a guardian, but her soul still claimed the name as part of her.He’d helped her reclaim it.
“Dayanara.”He smiled.“Is that a yes?”
“Yes.Make me yours, Raiden.”
HeatsimmeredinRaiden’sveins as he kissed his huntress.Months of passion built during breathless moments and whispered touches fueled his movements.Hope, longing, and desire flowed between them as he melded them together.
Power filled Daya’s eyes as she broke their kiss to face the embankment.The earth around them lit with the indefinable hue of magic.His spine tingled with awareness that his fractured mind hadn’t been able to fully comprehend.Her use of magic completely intrinsic and natural in a way he’d never witnessed.
