She studied his face, searching for something he hoped she could find. Her green eyes held wariness now, the same caution she'd shown when he'd first walked onto her ship. Like she was waiting for the catch, the moment when he'd reveal this was all some elaborate game.
"Mercy." He shifted to face her fully, taking both her hands in his. They were still marked with injuries from the pirates, still callused from years of hard work. Beautiful hands that had saved his life, that had touched him with such reverence. "I've been running from commitment my entire life. From duty, from expectations, from anything that felt like a cage."
Her breath caught slightly, but she didn't speak.
"I don't want to run from this." He lifted one of her hands to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. "From you. What we have … it's different. It feels …"
"Feels what?" The question was barely a whisper.
"Right." The word was inadequate for what he actually meant. Destined. Inevitable. Written in fire and stars and the very fabric of the universe. But he couldn't say that without sounding insane. "Like I've been looking for you my whole life without knowing it."
The irony wasn't lost on him. His elaborate plan to avoid finding a bride had led him directly to his mate. He'd boarded her ship intending to play the dissolute failure and instead found the one person who saw through every mask he wore. Who called him on his lies and saved his life and commanded his fire like she'd been born to it.
"Zane …" Her voice held warning, but also something else. Hope, maybe. Or fear. Possibly both.
"Come to Vemion with me." He tightened his grip on her hands, willing her to understand. "Not just for safety. Because I want to be with you. I want to see what we could build together."
It was a risk. He was asking her to leave everything she knew, to trust him with her future. To take a chance on something that defied logic and probability and everything her hard life had taught her about self-preservation.
But instead of answering, instead of the careful analysis he expected, she leaned forward and kissed him.
This kiss was different from the desperate claiming that had started this. Softer, deeper, weighted with decision and acceptance and something that might have been surrender. She poured herself into it, and he tasted possibility on her lips. Tasted yes.
His arms came around her, pulling her against him. Her hands fisted in his hair, holding him close, and he could feel the exact moment her walls crumbled. The moment she stopped fighting what was between them and let herself fall.
They made love again as the sun set outside their windows, slower this time, savoring each touch and kiss and whispered endearment. He worshipped her body with his hands and mouth, memorizing every curve and hollow, every sound she made when he found a particularly sensitive spot.
When she finally took him inside her again, it felt like coming home.
Afterward, as they lay tangled together, Zane allowed himself to hope. She hadn't said yes in words, but her body had given him an answer. Her kiss had tasted like acceptance, like trust, like the beginning of forever.
His mate was in his arms, safe and willing and his.
It had to be enough.
14
Mercy had been awake for nearly an hour, listening to Zane's steady heartbeat and trying to make sense of the tangle of emotions in her chest.
Everything felt different now. The careful walls she'd built over twenty years of abandonment and disappointment had crumbled under his touch. The independent cargo pilot who trusted no one had melted into someone who wanted impossible things. Someone who was seriously considering following a dragon lord to his homeworld based on nothing more than the way he kissed her and the promise in his eyes.
It was terrifying.
"I can hear you thinking," Zane murmured against her hair, his voice rough with sleep. His arm tightened around her, pulling her closer to the furnace of his body.
"I need to go see Myles." She lifted her head to look at him, noting the way his jaw tensed at the other man's name. "About the bounty and the attack. To figure out what our options are."
"I'll come with you."
The immediate response made warmth flutter in her chest, even as her independence bristled. "I need to do this alone. He's an old friend. He might be more willing to help if it's just me."
Zane's eyes flickered with something that might have been dragon fire. The possessive streak that had emerged yesterday was still there, barely leashed. "After what happened on the beach?"
"This is different. Myles has known me for years. He's not going to hurt me." She pressed her palm against his chest, feeling the rapid thrum of his heartbeat. "I can handle this myself. You understand that, right?"
The internal struggle played out across his features. The dragon that wanted to wrap her up and keep her safe warred with the man who respected her competence. Finally, he nodded, though she could see the effort it took.
"If you're not back in two hours, I'm coming after you."
