By this point, night has fallen, and my wolf has taken over. Tonight, the beast feels subdued, my thoughts my own. Instead of falling into the bed, he grabs the duvet and drags it down to the floor and nuzzles against me like a cat.
I wrap my large body around his.
“Rosalina is at Castletree,” Caspian mumbles sleepily, fingers petting my fur.
I felt the same through our bond, including the other princes close to her. “You really are mates.”
“Oh, you think so?”
After all our bargains and yearning, we were connected, truly connected, in this way. Mate of my mate. I always knew our stars were crossed one way or another. “We’ll go to her in the morning. Good night, Cas.”
“Good night, my love.”
Sleep comes easily, and I must wake at the first sign of dawn, stars still bright on the blushing horizon outside. I’m a man, Caspian curled tight to my naked body.
I kiss him awake, and he murmurs my name, long eyelashes fluttering on his cheeks as he blinks up at me. His hands roam over my body until he pushes me on my back and straddles my hips.
Starlight paints the ends of his dark hair silver. I strip him of my clothes, and he slides over me. No words are needed between us, only a desperate desire that needs to be filled.
Cas’s eyes close, and he bends over me. I grab his head, pressing it against my chest as I thrust inside him, barely pulling out, instead using the friction and rock of our bodies to guide us to pleasure.
“Kel.” He chokes on my name, and wetness dampens my chest.
Grabbing his chin, I force him to look at me. Those lavender eyes are filled with tears. “Are you going to cry every time we make love?”
He swallows a laugh. “Only the first hundred times or so.”
I brush the tears from his cheek and pull him into a kiss. “I can live with that.”
He opens his mouth against mine, then bites down on my lip as he comes. I release everything into him, holding his trembling body as we come down.
I heave in a breath and whisper in his ear, “When the stars wove my fate, they made a tapestry of light and fire and frost, one that always ends with me loving you.”
He shudders and narrows his starlight eyes. “You said those words to me after we made our bargain.”
“You remember?”
His fingertips tremble along my jaw, then my lips, as if he could capture the words himself. “Have you said them to anyone else?”
“No, why?”
He shakes his head and places a wet kiss on my lips. “Just surprised you remember them after all this time, given how old and withered you’ve become.”
I growl and grip his hips, throwing him onto his back, and sending him into a fit of laughter. “Do I need to remind you just how old and withered I am?”
“Always.”
After a few more slow kisses, he stands and stretches his lithe form, then draws the curtains wider, letting the first rays of sun spill over me. We clean and dress in soft nightclothes, not ready to start the day. It’s still early enough most of the keep is asleep.
“You know where we must go next,” I say lowly.
No need for a mate bond for him to read my mind. “We don’t want her mad at us. She’s scary when she’s mad.”
In agreement, Caspian’s briars carry us to our other home. Castletree. It’s dark and quiet, but a light burns in my chest, pulling me toward the Spring wing. I hold Caspian’s hand as we creep through the halls.
When we open the door to Rosalina’s room, I’m not surprised to see them all there with her. Her bed has been transformed into what looks like a huge nest, filled with pillows, blankets, and fae princes. Ezryn’s on the far left with Rosalina beside him, Farron to her right, and Dayton on the other side.
Warmth spreads through my chest, not just looking at Rosalina but at all of them.
