I dropped my gaze, suddenly realizing how ridiculous it was for me to ask him for this—especially after how I’d been behaving recently.
Maybe someday….
“Fuck, yes,” he whispered, and when my gaze snapped to his, I saw the same familiar mix of excitement and desire he brought toallour skinsuit encounters. “I’ve been dreaming about you stuffing more of your star stuff inside me since we took down Astrum Force.”
My brow furrowed. “You… have?”
As much as I’d enjoyed that experience on a primal level, it had been a means to a bloody end. The fact it resulted in a piece of me remainingpermanentlyinside him had been a bonus, but I’d never expected Micah to ask for more.
I should know better than to underestimate this Earthling.
“Of course, I have,” he replied, smiling softly. “My true purpose in life is the same as yours—for us to be as closely connected as two incredibly impressive creatures in any galaxy can be.”
Huffing, I quickly glanced away, hoping to hide the visual evidence of my emotions while also knowing there was no way to disguise the pure happiness radiating through our bond.
I love him.
This simple yet enormous revelation hit me with the force of a star exploding, but, luckily, Micah had already refocused on the skinsuit and the task ahead.
“Okay, let’s do this.” He cracked his neck before shifting from one foot to the other, like a boxer readying for a fight. “How do I get inside?”
I discreetly wiped my eyes and chuckled. “Let me discard my current skinsuit, and then I’ll star hop us—” My words choked off as I felt the piece of me inside him forcefullyjump.
Then Micah disappeared.
Where…
Before I could panic, his joyful voice called out from the chest cavity of theOpertum.
“Fuck. YAS! Did you see that? I star hopped, Zig! I mean,westar hopped—same diff…”
By Stellaria…
Needing to be with him, I shed my Earthling skin and joined Micah inside the vessel. Blanketing him in countless tendrils, I finally confessed everything I’d wanted to tell this perfect creature for so long, content in knowing he could understand every word.
He’s the only one who’s ever understood me.
“My mate.”I cooed in Stellarian.“My perfect mate. The only one for me in all the galaxies. I knew from the moment I saw you that you were mine. My sunshine, my stellar collision… Mine until I return to the stars.”
“Jesus, Zig…” Micah sniffled, removing his glasses so he could wipe his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. “Anything else you wanna say? I don’t think you’ve emotionally wrecked me enough…”
Yes.
I took a deep breath.“I love you.”
He dropped his arm to gape up at me, gaze darting around the pulsing mass of my starry core, as if unsure where to look.
Anywhere.
You’ve always seen all of me.
“Say it again,” he whispered desperately. “I-I wasn’t ready. Please, say it again.”
I laughed, wondering why I ever thought this would be difficult.“I love you.”
Micah nodded slowly, his eyes shining, locked on me as he magic-ed his harp out of thin air and mimicked my notes.
“I love you,”he replied in Stellarian—the sweetest notes I’d ever heard in all my three hundred years.
