My entire being erupted into nothingness, splintering and cracking and destructing at a million miles per hour until I was no more. His tongue and finger worked in tandem, stroking me in just the right way to elicit twinges that turned to spasms that became powerful possessions. I lost all sense of myself. I lost all sense of reality. As I came, I was no longer Lena or human or even alive. I just was.

Khrel refused to stop, even as my rear slammed upward with overstimulation and my spine curved so high I was sure I was going to lift from the ground completely. I knew I was screaming because I could feel my vocal chords vibrating, but I couldn’t hear anything.

“You!” I shrieked, deaf to my own demands. “I need you!”

I didn’t see him undress. I didn’t even notice him climbing on top of me. One moment, he was pleasuring me with his mouth and hand, and the next moment he was sliding into me with the heftiest member I had ever felt. Still quaking with the orgasm, I nodded rapidly even though it resulted in my head hitting the floor over and over again.

“Deeper, please, deeper,” I begged. My fingers were curling, my lips were trembling, and I was unable to keep my eyes open despite desperately wanting to see him as he entered me.

His entire length drilled into my contracting cavity, and my orgasm didn’t have time to recede before another one ripped me clean in half. He was warm, so warm, and his scent was an aphrodisiac all its own. He was inches deep inside me—although it felt like a foot—but it wasn’t enough. I wanted him closer. I wanted him to take me over.

“Harder,” I groaned, rolling my hips and tightening my inner muscles. “Faster, God, please, Khrel, take me, take me!”

He did as I asked and rocketed forward faster than I could have imagined. When he pulled back, he repeated the action, and my breath was stolen in one quick gasp. The third time, I felt him stroke against the sweet spot he’d so expertly maneuvered with his finger, and it brought all of my nerves to stand at attention once more. On the fourth thrust, I lost all control again, and I spiraled.

Khrel wasn’t through with me yet. As I squealed and moaned in euphoric ecstasy, he slithered his hand between us and sought my clit again. The pad of his middle finger pressed against the bead and wiggled, and I literally relinquished my sense of self. If he’d asked me my name right at that moment, I couldn’t have told him.

There was a great grunt, and he jerked forward into me a final time. Then, his weight was on top of me, crushing me in the most wonderful way, and I heard his groans in my ear. I clung to him, still moaning, covered in a slick layer of sweat and bliss.

“I love you,” he said hoarsely in my ear.

“I love you too,” I whispered back.

* * *

I had missed Pentaba. Though Dhal’at had been beautiful in its own way, it wasn’t the same kind of beauty as the thick, muggy, waterlogged mess that was the swamp kingdom. I had grown up in the marshes, surrounded by bugs and muck and humidity, and now I’d returned.

With Khrel.

“Wait here,” he instructed as he looped the rope over the dock post and hopped from the boat.

I blinked at him and looked around. I was still in the boat, swaying gently on the rippling tide that rolled in from the ocean. “You don’t want me to at least get onshore?” I asked in confusion.

“No. Wait here,” he repeated. His eyes were glinting, and there was an undercurrent of excitement in his movements as he ensured the watercraft was tightly anchored to the dock. Then, with a saucy wink, he turned and jogged down the boardwalk.

I was tempted to climb out against his wishes, partly because I was warm and there was a booth nearby selling sweet ice—an Albaterran treat similar to snow cones, but rather than shaved ice it was simply a single spherical piece with natural flavors that depended on where it had been frozen—and partly because I was feeling rather feisty and wanted to find out how he would react. We had spent the last few days doing nothing but making love, whispering sweet nothings, and feeding each other, all of which was cute enough to make even us sick. Today was our first day out in the real world again, and Khrel was due to return to his War Chief duties tomorrow.

He returned in short order, though, jogging back at the same speed he’d departed. His hands were empty, and there was nothing slung over his shoulder or dangling from his back, so I didn’t know what he had gone to do, and I looked at him questioningly.

“Yes, now you may disembark,” he said, offering me a hand.

I took it and clambered clumsily out of the boat while surveying his body for a sign of his brief departure. “What did you do?” I asked suspiciously.

“There was something I needed to get,” he told me evasively.

I looked down at his waist. He didn’t even have his gaar’kon. “Well, what was it?”

“I would prefer to surprise you, if you please,” he huffed.

Grinning, I slipped my hand into his, and we fell into step together as we strolled down the boardwalk. It felt amazing to be with him like this, back in his home kingdom and back in his normal mood. It felt real. If this was what my future was like, I was getting my dream come true.

At the end of the boardwalk, I started to turn right to climb the stairs that led to the Capital gates. Before I could, though, he tugged on my hand in the other direction, and I was nearly thrown off balance. “Where are you going?” I asked, forgetting he’d requested to surprise me.

He shot me a silencing look, but my curiosity wasn’t diminished. We cut through the plaza, weaving through lingering A’li-uud who had either been visiting the Merchant’s Boardwalk or inside the Capital to shop. I had never been across the plaza before and hadn’t the slightest idea what was on the other side.

At first, I thought there was nothing but marsh, but then I realized there was a narrow bridge of swamp tree planks extending further than the eye could see into the depths of Pentaba. I looked at him dubiously.

“Okay, you have to tell me something,” I whined. “Where does this lead?”

He gave me a twinkling smile. “To my favorite place on Albaterra.”

So intrigued was I that I fell silent, much to his delight, and followed him without further conversation. The bridge was too narrow to walk side-by-side, so he led the way, and I took up the rear. Slowly but surely, the view of the plaza behind us disappeared into nothing more than a mirage, and we were soon enveloped by the bog. I was just about to ask him how much further when he came to a halt, and I almost crashed into him.

“We are here,” he announced proudly.

His body was so broad I was unable to see around him without leaning, and I was too worried about falling into the water to lean, so I just grunted. He stepped forward and off to the side, and I realized we had reached the bridge’s end. In its place was natural stone rising from the water, one massive slab of it, but I nearly missed it in my awe.

It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. Vines dangled in thick ropes from overhanging tree branches around the edges of the slab, cleared from the middle to create a curtained effect. Globular lights identical to those strung all across Dhal’at were woven between the vines like large multi-colored lightning bugs. A delicate mist lingered over the water surrounding the natural gazebo, taking everything but the beauty directly in front of me out of focus. In the very center of the slab was a plush rug and a finely-crafted basket.

“Is this…a picnic?” I asked, barely able to form words thanks to my stunned surprise.

“It is,” he said. He took both my hands in his and walked backward, pulling me with him. “Come.”

I stepped onto the rug, but, before I could lower myself to sitting, he shook his head and gripped my hands more tightly. “Not yet,” he said. “I have more.”

Then, he dropped to his knee, reached into his boot, and extracted a lovely purple pouch. I eyed it curiously, but I didn’t have long to wait. He pulled open the scrunched top and dug his fingers in, and what he pulled out left me frozen.

“Lena,” he said, his voice low and slightly shaking, “I love you. For most of my life, I was determined to dedicate myself to my kingdom. I thought that was the making of a full, complete life—and it is. But I know now there is more.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

“I was called to Kharid’s palace because Sevani insisted I choose between Pentaba and you. It was a choice I did not wish to make, but I had to. Before I learned what you had requested of Sevani, Lena, I made my choice. I chose you. I knew that everything I had worked to become meant nothing anymore if it meant I did not have you.” He was staring straight into my eyes, and, though A’li-uud did not cry, I swore his white irises were misty. “I am a lucky man to be blessed with having both my kingdom and my love, but I still want more. You are the other half of me. Lena, will you marry me?”

There it was, the path I had been searching for. Kneeling in front of me with a ring in his hand was the reason I’d been missing, not because I needed a man to complete me but because this man made me better. He saw me for who I was, what I was, and he lifted me to heights I hadn’t imagined before. He may have chosen me, but I did not have a choice. He was not optional. He was my destiny.

“Yes,” I said as tears pricked the corners of my eyes. “I will marry you.”