My mate is so incredibly brave—walking into unknown sacred waters to be with me, trusting me completely.
She turns in the water to look at me when she’s waist-deep, her eyes still glowing with the banked fire of that wyrm dragoness burning in her chest. Water beads on her shoulders and drips from the tips of her wings. “Are you going to join me? Or am I going to enjoy a late-night swim by myself?”
The teasing challenge in her voice breaks through my paralysis. My hindbrain kicks into gear once I fully process her invitation—heracceptance. I whip my shirt over my head with shaking hands and yank the belt out of my pants with enough force that the leather cracks like a whip. My pants fall the second I undo the button, and I kick them aside impatiently.
A pleased purr escapes her lips—deep and rumbling and making my entire body respond—as I pull down my boxers and walk into the water without shame. The sacred waters are surprisingly warm, heated by geothermal vents far below. They caress everyinch of my skin as I walk deeper, and I can feel the blessing of ancient magic soaking into my very bones.
The prayers of my people echo in my head—words passed down through generations, prayers I’ve said countless times over countless lifetimes:
Vulcan, protect my mate.
Please don’t let me burn her.
Let the sacred waters do their work.
Let this bonding be blessed.
I wade deeper, the water rising to my chest, and close the distance between us until we’re standing close enough to touch. Raven’s eyes haven’t left mine, and I can see desire and trust warring with nervousness in their depths.
“I’ve waited nine hundred years for you,” I whisper, reaching out to cup her face in my hands. Her skin is warm and wet beneath my palms. “I can wait as long as you need.”
“I’m done waiting,” she says simply, and closes the final distance between us.
The Lake of Eternitystretches before us, black as obsidian beneath the bone-white moon. Generations of my kind have brought their mates here—to these sacred waters where fire meets water, where bonds are forged in flame and sealed in ash.
I never thought I’d stand at its edge. Never thought I’d find her.
But here she is, wading deeper into the darkness ahead of me, moonlight silvering the curve of her spine, the dip of her waist. My fire stirs beneath my skin, restless, hungry—recognizing what my heart already knows.
Mine.
“Finlay.” She turns, and the moon catches her face, her eyes luminous in the dark. “Are you afraid?”
I move toward her, the water warm against my thighs despite the cool night air. “Terrified.”
A soft laugh escapes her. “Liar.”
“Not of this.” I reach her, and my hands find her waist beneath the waterline, fingers pressing into soft skin. The contact makes my fire surge, embers glowing just beneath the surface. “Of what I feel for you. Of how much I need you.”
Her breath catches. Her palms slide up my chest, leaving trails of heat in their wake, and I shudder at the sensation—her touch igniting something far deeper than flame.
“Then stop being afraid,” she whispers, “and take what’s yours.”
I crush my mouth to hers.
She tastes of moonlight and forever. Like everything I’ve spent centuries searching for without knowing it. My tongue sweeps against hers, and she makes a sound—a soft, desperate thing—that snaps whatever thread of restraint I’m clinging to.
I lift her, and her legs wrap around my waist, anchoring us together. My hands roam her back, her ribs, the swell of her hips, mapping every inch of her while my mouth trails fire down her throat. She arches into me, fingers raking through my hair, nailsscraping my scalp, and a growl rumbles up from somewhere primal.
“Finlay—” My name breaks on her lips.
I pull back just enough to see her face, pale, and perfect in the moonlight, her eyes glazed with want.
“Once we do this,” I rasp, my forehead pressed to hers, “there’s no going back. The bond will burn into us both. You’ll be mine in every way that matters.”
Her hand cups my jaw, thumb tracing my cheekbone. “I’ve been yours since the moment you looked at me. I’m just ready for the world to know it.”
Something cracks open in my chest—something ancient and aching and full of light.
