Come to me, reshon.

Kyra said the words in her mind, but Leo obeyed them as if she’d spoken. He walked over and picked her up off the ground, lifting her as she thrilled in his strength. Most days, when she looked at Leo, she saw his smile first. His gentle eyes. The kindness in his expression.

That night, she saw the corded muscles in his arms and shoulders, the firm set of his jaw, his narrow hips and strong thighs.

She was ravenous with desire. She wanted to consume him. She had no thought of herself or her own body. No self-consciousness. No nerves. She only knew her body hungered and it was for him.

As soon as he set her down on the bed and knelt beside her, she sat up, grasping the end of his white linen shirt and pulling up. He raised his arms and helped her as she undressed him. Her mouth found its way to his shoulder and she licked out, tracing the lines of his talesm with her tongue. His skin was hot and alive with magic. His marks were glowing, and she knew it was because of the power suffusing the air. It surrounded them like the scent of flowers and incense. Smoke from a fire that burned inside.

“Kyra, slow down. Breathe.”

“No. Off.” She tugged at his waistband. “Skin. I want your skin. I need it.”

Leo nodded and stripped down without another word. She tugged her dress over her head and pulled him over her, hugging his chest to hers as her legs tangled with his, and he held himself carefully over her so he didn’t crush her under the weight of his body.

Kyra wanted to be crushed. She ached with it. She wanted the pressure of his body over her. Wanted his weight and the solid mass of him pushing her down. She felt like she might fly out of her own skin if he didn’t anchor her.

Leo rolled to the side and wrapped her up, legs twisted around hers, arms binding her body to his. His hands were in her hair, and he guided her mouth to his. They were pressed together, every inch of her to every inch of him.

Kyra let out a breath she felt she’d been holding her whole life.

There.

There you are.

You are me and I am you.

We are home.

Leo released her lips and kissed all over her face, tasting every inch of her while Kyra’s hands explored his arms, back, and shoulders. Her foot slid up and down the back of his leg, and he shivered when her toes passed over the soft skin behind his knee. She lifted her leg and wrapped it around the back of his thigh, opening to him.

Leo groaned and closed his eyes. “Kyra.”

“Whatever you’re going to ask for, the answer is yes.”

“I want everything.”

“Yes. And yes again. And yes to more.”

He let out a breathless laugh. “Wait.”

“I’m ready.” She took his hand and placed it where his erection met her heat. She was more than ready. She burned for him.

Leo made a hungry sound in his throat and rubbed over the sensitive spot he’d teased so mercilessly a few nights before. Kyra’s arms tightened around his neck a second before she came violently against his hand.

“Please, Leo.”

“I love you.” He waited until she met his eyes. “You are my reshon.”

“I am your reshon,” she whispered.

He took himself in hand and guided his rock-hard erection into her, inching in even as she urged him to go faster. The pressure was intense, but the ache was driving her to madness. She felt a void where none had been before.

And then she was full.

Kyra cried out and wrapped both legs fully around his hips, drawing him in closer and deeper until he cried out and bucked his hips against hers.

“Coming,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Kyra, I’m—”

“I feel you.” She sank her teeth into his shoulder. It felt so good. Everything about him amazed her. He surrounded her and filled her.

He was still hard. Leo pushed up and rocked deeper into her. “Does it hurt?”

She couldn’t speak, but she shook her head. Nothing hurt. A small voice in the back of her mind told her it might hurt in the morning, but in that moment, she felt no pain. Her skin was exquisitely sensitive. She felt every inch of him. Felt the fine hairs on his legs and the quiver of his abdominal muscles as he moved carefully in her. She ran her hands up his arms and slipped her fingers over the corded muscles, tracing the dark lines that glowed brighter than the candles. She closed her eyes and let herself drift in sensation, shutting off her mind because she knew she was safe.

With Leo, she was always safe.

He came again after a few moments, lowering his chest to hers and capturing her mouth in a long kiss that made her toes curl. He remained snug in her, gathering her up as he rolled to the side.

“A few minutes,” he said. “Then again.”

“Yes.”

“I love you.

“I love you too.”

“How do you feel?”

“Amazing.” She kissed his collarbone. “I feel amazing.”

* * *

She must have fallen asleep, because she woke up as he was lowering her into a warm bath. The air smelled of frangipani and incense, and steam filled the small room.

“Come in with me,” she said. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“I will.” He took off the linen wrapped around his waist and slipped in behind her. As always, she was surprised and delighted by the way he moved. It would be natural for a large man to walk heavily, to move with purpose. But Leo moved with purpose and grace. He slid behind her and lifted her onto his lap. She could feel his arousal pressed against her back, but he didn’t seem to notice it, pouring warm water over her from the pitcher he filled from the tub.

“Are you sore?” he asked.

She shook her head. Her energy had smoothed out, but she still felt euphoric.

Leo poured the water over her head and smoothed her hair back, brushing it to the side and kissing her spine.

“When we have time,” he whispered, “when we are safe, I’m going to find the softest sable brush and mark your back with my vows. Pour my magic onto your skin and bind you to me forever.”

She smiled. “Greedy.”

“So greedy.” He drew over her shoulders with his fingers, and she could feel the brush of his magic even without the ritual. “And when you are ready, when you’ve found your voice, you’ll sing to me. And I’ll carve your vow over my heart and keep it with me forever.”

She shook her head. “Leo, I don’t know if that will ever be possible. I don’t know if anyone will ever trust me enough—”

“I know it is possible,” he said. “I’ve seen it. I know you’ll find your voice, Kyra. I’m going to help you find it.”

She was silent for a long time, thinking of what he asked. “And if I don’t?”

“If you don’t find your magic?”

“What then? Will you go through life half as strong? If I can’t give you your half of the mating ritual, will it make you weak?”

He squeezed his arms around her. “You make me strong.”

“You’re not answering the question.”

“Because I cannot imagine a future without you finding your magic. The Creator wouldn’t have put all this power in you with no way of your using it for good.”

Kyra closed her eyes and leaned back, laying her head on Leo’s shoulder as he pressed his cheek to her temple.

She loved Leo so much, but she also knew he could be naive. Kyra knew the world was far from fair. Not everything happened for a reason. Some fates were unavoidable. Evil did win. Not always, but often. Children died. Women suffered. The powerful ruled, and the powerless tried to survive.

But she loved him too much to say it. She loved him too much to darken his optimism. So she’d try. She’d pretend. Maybe if she loved him enough, it wouldn’t matter. He had powerful friends. She had powerful family. If they lived quietly, maybe they could find peace.

Kyra wanted to try, even if ultimately they failed. She needed to try. She didn’t have much hope, but she clung to what she had because the thought of losing a future with Leo hurt too much.

* * *

She fell asleep in the tub and woke on the bed with his kiss between her legs.

“Softly,” she whispered.

“Yes.” He’d shaved after their bath, and his smooth cheeks were warm on her inner thighs. He stretched across the bed, taking his time, luxuriating in her taste, and Kyra lay back and let the lingering ecstasy from the magic drift in her head. She closed her eyes and saw stars, but not the stars in the sky. These were a rising and falling pattern that grew brighter as Leo loved her.

Creation and destruction. In the heady moment of release, she saw the stars burst in her mind, raining around her without fading. They scattered and reorganized, chasing each other across her mind’s eye.

“Kyra,” he whispered.

Leo held her on the edge again; he didn’t push her over. When she came, it was because she reached for it, reached for the scattered, pulsing light. She grabbed it and tugged it to her lips.

She climaxed on a sigh.

Do you see it yet?

* * *

When Leo made love to her before dawn, it was in the glow of a single candle. Every other light had sputtered out.

Kyra pressed her palms to his hips and felt the steady rhythm as he moved in her. She looked up, watching his eyes devour her face, her breasts, her belly. Watched him as he watched himself move in her, awe and hunger parting his lips. He wet his bottom lip and clenched it between his teeth. She felt his muscles harden beneath her fingers as the tension built. Sweat dripped down his chest and abdomen. Kyra felt it drop on her belly as he moved faster and faster.

He was so beautiful.

At the last minute, he looked up and met her eyes.

Awe. Pleasure. Pain.

“I love you,” she whispered.

He gasped out her name and came, his marks lighting the dark room as the candle flickered out. In the darkness, he kissed her mouth, running his hands up and down her body as he stole her breath.

She slept with his arm and leg draped over her, his palm a pillow for her head. Kyra slept more deeply than she ever remembered before. In his touch was complete and utter silence except for a single voice.

His voice.

And it was whispering reshon.