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I had no idea if my hastily-constructed plan would work. But I was out of weapons. All I had was who I was, and what I stood for. Lex’s words from long ago echoed. “Once you find the source of your true power, you will not need a weapon to fight. You may not need to fight at all.”

The source of my true power was love. Love that flowed to me from my mates, my crew, my friends and adopted family. Love I carried in my heart for them, the ones I would protect, no matter who I had to poison or kill. No matter how long the battle, or how impossible the odds.

Love would be how I defeated a god.

I began the song again, holding every person I’d loved, the ones I’d rescued and the ones I hadn’t gotten to in time, the Omegas and children, and even the Alphas, all in my mind.

By the end of the third repetition, the kisses grew cooler, softer. Slower.

And when Serak smiled up at me, I almost sobbed with relief. “You did it. He’s asleep.”

“For how long?”

“I can’t hear anything in his mind.” Serak took the pendant in his hand. “Just the sound of the ocean, like holding a shell up to your ear. It’s peaceful. He’s at peace.”

“But you can still access his power?”

The rocks around us heated up, then cooled. “Yes.”

I lifted a hand to his hair and pushed it back, noting all the differences in his features from before. Edan may have healed his body, but pain and experience had altered him. He was hesitant, fearful of hurting me. I was almost as unsure.

“What next, Ratter?” he whispered.

I knew what I wanted. What I’d dreamed about. “Kiss me, Serak.”

SERAK

She didn’t need to ask me twice. I pressed my lips to hers, feather-soft at first, re-learning the shape of them. Tasting her when she opened her mouth.

“Sparks,” she murmured into my mouth. “I love the sparks.”

Sparks? I opened my eyes to find hers wide and hazy. I tasted her again, my tongue moving on hers. “There aren’t any sparks, Ratter.”

“There are always sparks when you kiss me, Serak.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “Every damned time.”

I checked to make sure Edan was still asleep. He was.

“For me, too.” I kissed her more deeply, straining upward as she pulled away. Her breasts were only inches away from my face when she did that, and a wave of need coursed through me. “Please,” I managed to say. “Please let me…” Her laughter spilled around us as the water lapped higher.

“Already begging, hm?”

“I’ll beg every night, I’ll crawl on my knees every day, just please let me—” My next words were muffled as she set one nipple to my lips, and I drew it into my mouth.

“Yessss.” Her back arched. Her long, dark hair fell around her like a crown, a halo that shimmered. Her breath came fast as I sucked and licked, drawing on the tight bud until she was shivering over me.

I needed more.

She needed more.

So I flipped us over, until her back was on the sodden blanket, and I moved to the other breast. I toyed with that nipple, then let my hand fall to her stomach again, tracing circles on the place where she’d said I left sparks. Learning the swells and shapes of her torso until she cursed, and my hand drifted to her mound.

“Open to me, love.” Her thighs parted as I traced a love note, letter by letter, over her clit.

“I need more,” she whimpered.

“Then you shall have more.” Dropping down until my mouth was over her exposed core, I breathed in, loving the scent of her, all salt and mint. Then I tasted her.

For a moment, I felt something move inside me. A sleeping dragon, turning over, his deep breathing growing shallow. Panic surged.