Jade looked at her reflection in the Chevalier mirror.

“You look beautiful,” Mirella said, holding her baby daughter against her cocked hip. They were in Mirella and Valentine’s apartments, where the minute woman had spirited Jade away several hours ago.

“I look different.” Jade couldn’t help but marvel at her change. Her hair reached her shoulders. It had never been so long in the last—well, she couldn’t remember when it had been so long, probably when she was an urchin roaming the streets of Celestia. How things had changed since then.

Crea, Mirella’s lady’s maid, gently brushed Jade’s soft curls. “You have beautiful hair, Lady Jade.”

Jade had already told the girl that she could call her by her given name—which would soon change—but it didn’t seem like Crea would ever bring herself to sound too familiar with her lady’s friend.

“More pearls,” Mirella said, pointing at Jade’s hair.

“Yes,” Crea nodded. “I was thinking the same.” With expert hands, she added a strand of perfectly round, white pearls in Jade’s hair.

Jade turned to the left and then to the right to admire the jewels against the backdrop of her glossy, black hair. She couldn’t help but think that the hairdo was pretty.

“You are stunning,” Mirella said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Jade whispered, slightly blushing and hoping nobody was the wiser.

Even though Dragon complimented her often, Jade still wasn’t used to thinking of herself as a beautiful woman. All her life, she had only seen herself as an assassin. Beauty wasn’t part of her upbringing. Being lethal and emotionless was, but that had changed when she met Dragon for the second time. Now, her days were filled with so much beauty and love that she was terrified she would wake from a dream and discover she was back at the Academy, waiting for her orders to kill Dragon.

“Time to shed those pants of yours and wear your gown.” Mirella handed Myrenne to Crea and turned to pick up the ivory dress draped over the back of the vanity chair. “Genevieve outdid herself this time.”

Jade eyed the elegant fabric with a wary expression.

“What are you worried about?” Mirella asked, stopping in front of Jade.

“You were born to wear a dress like that,” Jade said, her eyes downcast. “It’s too fine a piece for me.”

“Nonsense.” Mirella’s laugh echoed in the room. “Your bearing is regal, and your beauty is beyond compare.”

“How much did Dragon pay you?” Jade asked with a chuckle, deeply touched by Mirella’s compliment.

Shaking her head with laughter, Mirella pointed at the carved screen in the corner. “Go ahead and change. Your man is waiting out there, and I don’t know how long we can hold him off.”

Jade accepted the dress and went to change. As she shed her old clothes, it felt like she was getting rid of her past, one item at a time. It was strangely liberating, and when she slid into Genevieve Lafrette’s creation, she realized with sudden certainty that a transformation had taken place.

The pink light of Coral warmed the afternoon, and the light breeze ruffled the curtains of the gazebo. Five people had gathered in the isolated corner of Lobo Mansion’s gardens, but Dragon didn’t have eyes for anyone but the assassin who had stolen his heart almost a year ago. So much had changed in his life in so little time, and he still thanked the Goddess daily for Jade and their daughter.

“Do you, Drake, take this woman as your bride?” Valentine recited, calling Dragon with the name he had chosen for his new life. “To respect and care for the rest of your life?”

“I do,” Dragon answered, gently squeezing Jade’s trembling hand in his. He wasn’t less affected but had sworn to himself to keep his wits about him.

“Do you, Jewel, take this man as your husband? To respect and care for the rest of your life?” Valentine asked Jade.

When Dragon had asked Jade which new name she wanted to use, she had immediately answered, “Jewel.”

“I do,” Jade answered, looking at him with her beautiful black eyes shining with so much love, it hurt.

The wedding gown he had commissioned from Genevieve draped Jade’s slender body, accentuating her long legs and small waist. It was hard to believe she had given birth less than a month ago. A delicate pattern of lace and pearls decorated the ivory fabric and continued in Jade’s understated hairdo.

His soulmate was heartbreakingly beautiful, and he couldn’t wait to spend the night alone with her. Among the many wedding gifts Valentine and Mirella had given them, the one Dragon was looking forward to the most was the couple’s promise to babysit little Estrella until the next day.

“I solemnly declare you soulmates,” Valentine said, smiling first at Jade, then at Dragon. “Congratulations, my friends.”

Amidst loud sniffles, Mirella and her lady’s maid came forward to hug Jade. Dragon conceded the women a moment to properly tear up before spiriting his bride away.

“Dragon!” Jade cried, laughing.

“It’s Drake now, my beautiful Jewel,” he reminded her.

Without breaking his pace, he leaned to wind one arm behind her knees and the other around her back. Cradling her tightly, he sprinted to the airbike he had anchored at the edge of the floating gardens. After a long ride over the Great Plains that only stoked his need for her, they finally reached their destination. The cottage sitting at the edge of a rocky formation overlooking an ancient canyon would be the house of the newly-formed family of farmers for the time being.

The large shadows of Carellian and Contessa darkened the ground as the two draglets flew over the cottage. Their unexpected arrival had been Valerian’s wedding gift.

Dragon parked the airbike near the porch of the small building, and, still cradling Jade in his arms, carried her across the threshold. Fueled by his maddening longing, his hands went to work, and Jade was out of her gown before they entered their bedroom. Helped by Jade, he too was naked a moment after.

“I love you,” Jade whispered to his mouth, pulling him forward as she backed up and fell onto the bed.

She landed on top of a layer of red petals, and her eyes widened. “Dragon—”

“I love you,” he said, leaning away and leaving the bed.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

The passion in her eyes was a burning fire that would soon consume him. But he had something to do first, and it couldn’t wait a moment longer.

Dragon walked to the small closet adjacent to the bedroom and removed the wooden box he had carried with him since before leaving for Celestia.

“What is it?” Jade’s curiosity showed in her gaze.

“Stand up for me,” he said, stretching his hand for her to take.

She unfurled and stood in front of him, her small breasts brushing his chest as she smiled at him, knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist her lure.

“It’s important,” he said, taking a step back to put the necessary distance between them. With shaking hands, he fingered the lid of the box. “I wish I could claim you before my people because I couldn’t be prouder to have you at my side, and I would like the whole of Solaria to see how happy we are and how perfect our little Estrella is.”

Jade’s eyes shone brighter, moisture pooling at the corners. “I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be.” Freeing one hand, he tenderly caressed her cheek. “You’ve made me incredibly happy.”

“But one day you might regret—”

“I regret nothing. The Academy won’t always breathe down our necks. I’ll see to that.” Dragon’s gaze became serious. “If necessary, I’ll bring down the universe for you and our daughter. One day, it will be safe for you and Estrella to leave Lupine, and we’ll go back to Solaria. Until then, we raise her here, among people who love us. Now, let me finish what I started.” His hand left her face to resume the task of opening the box.

Jade’s expression darkened when she saw the two large golden bands inside. One nested inside the other.

“I don’t understand,” she said, stepping backward.

Dragon picked up the two bands and discarded the box onto the bed. “It was my intention to claim you on Solaria and have a dragon wedding, because I wanted everyone to know exactly how much I love you.” He took her hand and brought her closer to him. “I commissioned these two wedding collars soon after you left me.”

Jade’s eyes became stormy, and he couldn’t help but kiss her soundly.

When he leaned back, he saw both passion and anger boiling under Jade’s surface and knew he must hurry his explanation before his carefully arranged plan backfired.

“I’m yours,” he said, bringing the larger band closer to his throat.

After a moment, understanding dawned on her face, and Jade gasped.

“I want you to collar me,” he said.

Jade brought both hands to her mouth, tears falling down her cheek. “Oh, Dragon,” she cried softly.

“I wanted the whole of Solaria to see my collar, to see what you mean to me. But it doesn’t matter because one day they will,” he whispered, taking her in his arms and rocking her slowly. “I would like to mark you and collar you, but only if you want.”

“Yes,” she said in between sobs. “Yes, I’d love that.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Dragon took her in his arms and gently deposited her in the middle of their bed. He placed the bands on the mattress and kissed her. His body ached with need that had only grown deeper in the last few minutes.

“Forever yours,” he whispered against her mouth, then repeated his promise against her breasts, and lower still, inhaling the scent of his soulmate.

Dragon had fantasized about their collaring night since he had met Jade, but now that it was finally happening, the experience was more profound than he could have ever imagined. The emotions she made him experience went beyond the mere physical plane and bordered on divine.

He would have liked to take more time and drag the moment out until they couldn’t wait any longer to be united, but his body had a mind of its own. The moment he entered her warmth, Dragon’s beast roared in triumph, commanding him to mark her.

Jade must have felt it too because she arched beneath him and moaned, “Mark me.”

He thrust into her repeatedly, and when her channel started squeezing him, he lowered his mouth to her neck.

“Dragon!” she cried, convulsing in pleasure.

Following his dragon’s command, he latched to her skin and let his teeth pierce her flesh. Jade moaned, her release prolonged by his bite, spurring his senses into overdrive. His dragon united them in the sacred way of their species, altering their perceptions until they both could feel what the other felt. He thrust into her again and again, their pleasure mixing and multiplying, lasting for hours as they mated.

Much later, he trailed his finger over the collar he had put on her as Jade did the same to his. The metal was warm against his skin, and it felt like it belonged there.

“Forever yours,” she whispered.

“Forever and ever, yours,” he whispered back.