But this room? That was something else.
His chambers alone were larger than most buildings I had lived in or spaceships I had traveled on. Silver light drifted softly across dark obsidian walls while galaxies shimmered beyond transparent crystal windows. Ancient weapons lined the shelves beside impossibly beautiful artifacts that probably belonged in museums or heavily guarded vaults.
And then there was the bed. I was still staring at the monstrous thing in disbelief. It wasn’t a bed. It was a continent disguised as furniture. “You could house an army on that thing,” I informed him.
Thyros looked entirely unrepentant. “I had plans.”
I snorted softly. “Clearly.”
His amber eyes darkened slowly as he watched me. The teasing warmth between us shifted instantly into something heavier. Hotter. The air itself seemed to tighten. And suddenly, I couldn’t remember what I had been saying anymore. Because his head bent lower. Slowly. Purposefully. The look in his eyes unraveled every coherent thought left inside my head. My pulse stumbled hard. He stopped only inches from my mouth, close enough that the warmth of his breath teased my skin immediately.
“You’re staring again,” he murmured softly.
“I’m trying to process the fact that you apparently live inside a celestial fever dream.”
A low laugh rumbled from his chest. Then his hand slid gently against my jaw. Every thought vanished. Just gone. The bond between us surged warmly the instant he touched me, wrapping around my ribs with aching familiarity. Like home. Like gravity.
His gaze searched mine slowly, lingering with devastating tenderness.
“You’re tired,” he murmured.
“So are you.”
“Mm.”
Neither of us moved. I could feel everything between us now without barriers. His relief that I was alive. His lingering terror of almost losing me. His endless, overwhelming devotion. And beneath it all: love.
So much love it almost frightened me with its intensity. His thumb brushed softly across my cheek.
“You’re thinking too hard again.”
“I just watched ancient gods reunite and destroy a cosmic horror through the power of tragic soulmate devotion,” I pointed out weakly. “I think I’ve earned some overthinking.” That earned me the smallest smile.
Then he kissed me again. And I forgot the palace. Forgot the stars. Forgot the war. Forgot literally everything except the feeling of his mouth against mine. The kiss was devastatingly gentle. No battle hunger. No desperation.
Just warmth and reverence and the unbearable tenderness of two people who knew exactly how close they had come to losing each other forever.
My fingers slid into his golden hair automatically as I melted against him with a soft sound I barely recognized as my own. Thyros made a rough noise deep in his throat and pulled me closer instantly, one arm wrapping tightly around my waist.
Mine.
The word brushed warmly through the bond. I kissed him harder in answer. I was beginning to think I would spend the rest of my life trying to find new ways to show this male how completely he owned my heart.
His hands moved with agonizing slowness, tracing the curve of my spine, learning the shape of me all over again as if I were something precious and breakable. I shivered when his palmsfound the bare skin beneath my battle-worn shirt; his touch was electric against my flesh.
"Naeris," he murmured against my mouth, my name sounded like a prayer on his tongue. "My Naeris. Let me take care of you."
The bond between us pulsed with warmth, golden light threading through the starmap that connected our souls. I felt his need—hot and urgent—but beneath it, a deeper current of devotion that made my chest ache. He laid me down on the smooth surface of the large bed, his golden hair fell forward as he braced himself above me. His eyes swept over my face, drinking in every detail with reverence.
"I need to feel you," I whispered, tugging at the fastenings of his uniform. "All of you."
Thyros obliged, shrugging off the garment before his hands returned to me, working the ruined fabric of my own clothing aside until nothing separated us. The cool air kissed my heated skin, but his warmth followed quickly, his body settled against mine with a weight that felt like coming home.
His mouth traced a path down my throat, my collarbone, lower still. I arched beneath him, and soft sounds escaped my lips as he worshipped every inch of me with lips and tongue. When his mouth found my breasts, I cried out, my back bowing off the mattress.
"I've got you," he promised. "Let go, my love. I've got you."
His hand slid between my thighs, and I spread them willingly, shamelessly, needing his touch more than I needed air. His fingers found my pussy, slick and aching, and he groaned against my breast.
