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He panted with her like a mortal as he pumped into her. Every motion of his body drove more magic inside her and summoned a rush of it from the Lustra. He was not sure who set their rhythm—their bodies or the magic of the wilds. But he built the power higher inside her with every fast, hard stroke into her core.
Her krana convulsed around him. He pinned her shuddering body amid the moonflowers and unleashed his control.
The Will of the wilds pounded through them, grinding them together against the earth. Pleasure, raw and intense, beat through their Union. Their thoughts met, snarling with a possessive sense of rightness.
Mine.
Her blood rushed, and energy shone in her aura. Her scent was full of life. He collapsed on top of her, his magic and body relaxing. The channeling calmed to their resting current, gentle but steady.
The vicious, protective presence of the Lustra receded, once more releasing her into his arms.
He rolled them onto their sides again, curling his body gently around hers. He ran his hands over her shoulders, breasts, and knees, checking to make sure she had no bruises anywhere. She was perfect, whole.
Neither of them spoke, no words necessary or sufficient to capture their shared fear and relief and gratitude.
“I don’t want to have another close call like that,” she said at last, her voice small.
Those quiet words filled Lio with unspeakable rage. For Cassia, the master of facing her fears, to make such an admission betrayed how frightened she had truly been.
“That will never happen again,” he swore. “I will make it possible to find the letting site faster—and until then, I will not allow anyone to separate you from me.”
She tucked her head under his chin and cuddled closer to him. He levitated his robe to cover them, and she slid her cold feet between his calves. Running his hand in soothing circles over her belly, he let her hide her moment of vulnerability from the world in his arms.
“Why didn’t someone bring you back sooner?” he asked. “How could they let Flavian do this to you?”
“I had to finish the ride.”
“Why? Politics? Expectations? Mortal tradition? None of that means anything compared to your safety.”
“No. For us. Eudias and Ariadne found our loophole.”
He sucked in a breath. “Then it is possible for us to marry?”
She nodded. “And to share a promise dance on the upcoming Autumn Equinox.”
A year to the day since she had danced the Autumn Greeting with Flavian, when she and Lio had been trapped on opposite sides of the border, they could have this. They could show Tenebra they belonged together. They could take the first step toward having a future in her sister’s kingdom.
“How do you feel about that?” Lio asked.
“I secured Flavian’s promise that he will endorse the match.”
Lio’s eyes widened. “What?”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “If I promised not to blackmail him—and finished the Progress—he agreed to support any match I make after our betrothal is dissolved. I may have allowed, or even encouraged, his very foolish assumption that I was talking about a relative of Tendo’s.”
“Oh, my Lady of Schemes, I do love how your mind works.”
“So now, if only we get me out of the betrothal itself, the way will be clear for us.”
Lio plucked a moonflower and held it before her. “Cassia, are you saying you will marry me?”
She wrapped her small hand around his and the flower. “Yes, my Grace. I will avow you before the Hesperines and marry you before the Tenebrans. Our promises to each other always means the same thing, no matter what language we say them in.”
He captured her mouth, fighting to be careful with her exhausted body. She parted her lips for him, letting him devour her in small, gentle tastes.
For the first time a long while, he felt less afraid that he would lose her.
“I have a solution for getting you out of the betrothal,” he said against her mouth. “I need you to let me do this.”
