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“What did he say?”
“He asked if you were safe.”
Ryneth’s breath caught. His mouth parted, but nothing came out. For one suspended second, he just stood there with Daven’s slate still glowing between them, his fingers tight in Daven’s shirt and his whole body gone still around the truth of it.
Daven watched his eyes turn bright. Watched the way his mouth trembled before he bit down on it, as if he could still force himself not to feel it.
Heat coiled low in Daven’s chest at the sight of it. Ryneth was still trying to hold himself together, still fighting even as something in him gave way. But this wasn’t the courtyard. There was no crowd now, no screen, no one watching. Just the two of them, and the pull between them that had refused to loosen since the first night.
“You still think this was just for show?”
Ryneth’s mouth trembled. “You chose me.” The words came out like they hurt. His lashes lowered. “I’ll never understand why.”
Daven went still for one beat. Then he leaned in until their foreheads nearly touched.
“You don’t need to understand it yet.” Daven straightened and took his hand. “Come on.”
Ryneth blinked. “For what?”
“For tonight.” Daven tightened his grip before he could pull away. “The private ceremony at my uncle’s house.”
Ryneth stared at him, chest rising too fast. “What? Now?”
“Now.” Daven held his gaze. “I told you I’d finish what I started.”
Ryneth hesitated, then turned and walked toward the bedroom.
Daven watched him go, something low and fierce settling in his chest at the sight. Not because Ryneth understood it yet. Not because either of them could name what had taken hold of them. But because, for the first time since the claim, he was moving with him instead of fighting every step.
“That’s better.”
“…I’m telling you, it’s different,” Moargan was saying when Daven pushed open the doors to Milanov’s office. The air hung thick with cigarette smoke. “You don’t mistake it for lust.”
Helianth laughed. “You did.”
“I mistook nothing.”
Kylix’s voice cut in. “You panicked.”
“Hell no. I changed tactics, is all.”
“Of course you did. I’d say the same thing if I were you—”
Everyone shut up the moment Daven and Ryneth stepped in.
“The party has arrived!” someone cheered.
At those words, Ryneth slowed beside him, but Daven caught his hand and pulled him over the threshold, mumbling, “No stalling now, baby.”
Behind them, Vandor shut the door, the lock sealing with a click.
Daven rarely tolerated the asshole. But this time, he didn’t object.
Milanov looked up from where he stood by the fire. “Good. You’re here. We were beginning to believe you had second thoughts.”
“Do we have a choice?” Ryneth asked next to him.
“Of course you do. You may refuse the bonding.” Milanov exhaled smoke. “The public claim, however, has already been made.”
