He lays his head on my lap and I feel his exhale shudder through him, a long unsteady breath that tells me he was more afraid than he showed. I take a moment to breathe, to wipe my face with my palms, and then I look down at this impossible man.
I run my fingers over his head and his ridge responds instantly, every spike softening beneath my touch, flattening. My hand is the off switch for every alarm his body knows how to sound.
“I’m sorry for breaking down like that.” I sniffle and smooth my thumb along his cheek. “I just got overwhelmed. Seeing yourBouda, it made everything real for me. My old life is done and this is my life now and I don’t know all the rules yet.”
He lifts his chin and his amber eyes are wet.
“I don’t know the first thing about being a Bouda queen.” My voice steadies as I say it — the admission feels less like a confession and more like a door opening. “Even when you and Zaki explain things to me, half of it doesn’t stick. The customs, the rituals, how the clan is supposed to work. I’m trying, but I’m so far behind.”
I take a breath and push through. “But I want to be the woman you need. I’ll try, Alema...” I stumble on it, my tongue tripping over the syllables I haven’t said enough times to own. “Alemayehu.”
Something flashes in his gaze and his grip stops moving on my legs, and for a breath, he is completely still while I watch a wall come down behind his eyes.
Before I can process the change, his head lifts from my lap and his grip finds my waist and I’m on my back with the mattress catching me. He climbs onto the bed, and his mouth crashes into mine.
