Page 98 of Enslak

His words pushed me over. The orgasm hit hard, my back arching off the bed as I cried out. My legs locked around him, my whole body shaking. He kept moving, kept pushing into me through it, and then he was coming too—his hips stuttering as he buried himself deep and groaned against my skin.

We lay there afterward, both breathing hard, sweat cooling on our skin. He was still inside me, his weight pressing me into the mattress. I didn't mind. I ran my hands over his back, feeling the tension slowly drain from his muscles.

"We made it," he said quietly, his voice rough. "We actually made it back."

"Yeah," I agreed. "We did."

He pulled back just enough to look at me, his gold eyes searching my face. "I love you."

"I love you too," I said. It felt simple and true and like the only thing that mattered.

The memory sent warmth flooding through me even now, hours later.

Yet walking through the corridors of the massive ship with Enslak's hand in mine, I felt that old familiar anxiety creeping back. The same feeling I'd had before walking into the captain's office after a questionable arrest, or testifying in front of Internal Affairs.

The feeling of knowing you'd done the right thing but not being sure anyone else would see it that way.

"Niki." Enslak's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "Relax."

"I can't."

He stopped and turned to face me. "What's wrong?"

"I just... I don't know what she's going to do. The Prime. We defied her. Stole you." I swallowed hard. "That's not exactly—"

"You saved me." His hands came up to frame my face. "Whatever she says, whatever happens, that's the truth. You saved me."

"I know. But—"

"No buts." He leaned down and kissed me, soft and sweet. "We face this together. Like everything else."

"Together," I agreed, feeling some of the tension ease.

We continued through the ship until we reached the same chamber where I'd first met privately with the Prime. The doors opened at our approach, and we stepped inside.

She was there, of course. But so were Binwee and George, both looking nervous. And Cullen, standing beside his mate with an expression I couldn't quite read.

The Prime's eyes locked on Enslak the moment we entered.

For a heartbeat, everything froze. Her formal composure cracked—just for an instant—and I glimpsed the mother beneath the ruler. The woman who'd thought she'd lost her son forever.

Then she moved.

She crossed the room in swift, graceful strides, her robes flowing behind her. Enslak barely had time to react before she reached him, pulling him into a fierce embrace.

"My son," she breathed, her voice breaking. "My son."

Enslak stood rigid for a moment, then his arms came up slowly, tentatively, returning the embrace. His mother—the Alliance Prime—was holding him like he was precious. Like he was everything.

"Mother," he said softly, and I heard the wonder in his voice.

She pulled back just enough to look at him, her hands coming up to frame his face. Her eyes—so like his—searched his features as if memorizing every detail.

"I thought I'd lost you," she whispered. "When they brought you back, when I saw what they'd done—" Her voice caught. "I thought the son I knew was gone forever."

"I was," Enslak said quietly. "For a while. But Niki brought me back."

Serna's gaze shifted to me then, still holding her son. The gratitude in her eyes was so raw, so genuine, it made my throat tighten.