The kiss on my lips is more insistent, but still achingly sweet, a slow press that takes its time like he’s memorizing the shape of me.

  “You’re the type of beauty that hurts, princess. Every time you walk into a room, it’s like I’m underwater. Like there’s no space in my lungs for anything but you, and it fills me so full I’m sure I’ll drown in it.”

  My lip quivers again as he kisses me once more.

  “Nothing about you is ugly, Xen. Not a single thing about you could ever be less than perfect, no matter how different it might be.”

  Water sloshes as I reach out and wrap my arms around his neck. It’s clumsy, and the side of the tub digs into my ribs as I soak his shirt, but he holds me, too, with no hesitation.

  “I love you,” I whisper into his shoulder, and his palm smoothes over my hair.

  “I love you, too.”

  We sit like this for a moment before I release him and ease back into the water. A smile flits over my lips as he takes the cloth and swipes at my face, cleaning the tears and any remnants of my deep sleep.

  “Will you be alright if I leave you to finish?” Bash asks, and I nod as he climbs to his feet. He sweeps my body again with a long, lingering gaze, and in that moment, my insecurities disappear.

  I feel as beautiful as he tells me I am.

  After he steps away, I dunk my head under the surface and scrub my hair clean, then soak until the bath loses its heat. Water drips as I stand and nudge the drain stopper with my toes, and I watch the tiny funnel it creates as I wring out my hair and dry off with the towel Bash left hanging.

  Clothes wait for me inside the bedroom, laid across the foot of the bed, but Bash isn’t here. I dress and comb my hair, then pace the room for a few minutes before I get impatient.

  The evening is cool as I open the door, the breeze chilly against my damp hair. I search the courtyard for him, but everyone here is a stranger.

  Chakri rounds the corner and smiles at me, tossing a hand up in a friendly wave.

  “Your mate sent me to find you,” she says as she approaches, then shakes her head at my concern. “He’s fine. Come.”

  I follow, inspecting the others as we walk. They seem to live in harmony here, though there’s an air of caution that surrounds everyone. They’re ready to take up arms to protect this place if needed.

  “Is Sovran here?” I ask.

  She shakes her head as we round the corner. “He had an errand to run but said to tell you he will be back.”

  Chakri stops and gestures down a path that leads toward the trees. “He waits for you there.”

  Confused, I glance at her, but she smiles and pats my forearm before turning and walking away.

  Rocks crunch under my feet as the breeze picks up again, and I shiver at the chill in the air. The relief from the heat is welcome, though, after an excruciatingly hot summer.

  “Bash?” I call, searching the quiet forest that grows thicker as I walk.

  “Over here!” he calls in the distance.

  The trees open around a pond as I crest a small hill, and Bash waits for me there. Tiny lights flicker behind him, candles with their flames whipping in the breeze, but his body blocks the rest.

  “What is this?” I breathe as I step closer.

  He fidgets as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, then smooths a hand over his hair before taking a quiet, steadying breath. I try to glance past him, catching the edge of a blanket laid out on the ground, but my attention quickly returns to him.

  Bash is adorably shy, tugging at the back of his neck as I stop in front of him.

  “It’s a date.”

  “A date?” I repeat.

  “Yeah… a, uh… a second first date?” he says hesitantly. “I promised you one, and things have been a little…”

  “Crazy,” I finish in a whisper.

  He chuckles as he drops his hand, reaching for mine. “Yeah, crazy.”

  Our fingers lace as he steps aside, and I stare at the blanket stretched over the grass, surrounded by a flickering collection of candles. Big ones, small ones, short and fat, tall and skinny. Mismatched and sporadic, they cast a shifting glow over the blanket and the basket placed in the center.

  “It’s not much—”

  “Stop saying that,” I interrupt, tugging on his hand and forcing him to face me. “It’s perfect.”

  His throat moves in a swallow as he nods, then guides me forward to sit on the blanket. The night is peaceful out here, disconnected from the rest of the community. Frogs croak and crickets sing back and forth over the quiet rush of water from the pond. The sky is orange over the horizon, and I close my eye as its warmth washes over me.

  “I brought dinner,” he says, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

  I glance at the basket, and he pulls out a few rolls and an assortment of fruit, then a glass container filled with a slab of roast that makes my mouth water. He passes me a fork, but I shake my head when he reaches for plates.

  “We don’t need them,” I say as I scoot closer and lean against him.

  I grab the bowl and stick my fork right into the chunk of meat. A groan leaves my throat as I take a bite, and I tip the bowl in his direction.

  He chuckles as he stabs himself a piece as well. “So, what does a pretty thing like you do for fun?” he teases.

  I grin as I take another bite of roast. “Pester handsome men and convince them to spoil me, mostly.”

  He leans over to reach for the bread, offering me a roll before taking one for himself. “Oh? And how am I doing so far?”

  “You’ve got the handsome part down,” I tease. “The spoiling… well, I’ll need more of it to make my assessment.”

  We both laugh, and I’m lighter than I’ve been in years.

  Conversation comes easily between us as we reminisce about the past. We share stories about the moments we found joy at Ljómur, swapping memories of nights spent closed up in that tiny apartment playing cards or trying to make cafeteria food exciting.

  Laughter wasn’t easy to find in that place, happiness less so, but we’d managed.

  He asks about the experiments they performed on me, and I tell him, despite his clenched jaw and how the mood darkens over us. I update Bash on what happened after he was gone. How our friends banded together to keep me from losing my mind, even if they didn’t understand the depth of my sorrow in the beginning.

  I share stories of the newly rekindled friendships with Sprocket and Aryn now that we’re all together again, and tell him more about the group that will become his family as much as mine.

  Bash, in turn, tells me the adventures he’s been on in the city. The dangerous missions he dove into when he was self-destructing, and the moments of connection he’d found with his new friends that became his family, too.

  By the time we fall into a comfortable silence, the food is long gone, and the stars form a twinkling canopy overhead. We lay back on the blanket, hands woven, and I rub my deliciously full belly.

  “The stars are so pretty out here,” Bash says. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen them outside the city that I’d forgotten how bright they shine.”

  “They’re like this at the village, too. Harder to see with all the trees, but just as beautiful.”

  “Have you ever wished on one?” he asks.

  I squeeze his hand, rubbing my thumb over his knuckles. “After they made you leave, I spent my nights on the rooftops, staring off into the distance like I might sense where you were. I was a shell of a person, Bash. Barely eating and in a constant state of panic, but I climbed that ladder every night trying to find you. Most nights I sent a prayer up, too.”

  “What did you pray for?”

  “For you to be okay,” I answer. “That was all I wanted… it’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

  “I was never okay without you,” he says quietly.

  I roll onto my side to stare at his profile in the darkness. “But you’re okay now?”

  “Yeah…” He glances over at me and meets my gaze as a tender smile curves his lips. “Now I am.”

  “Did you wish on any stars?” I ask.

  His smile turns rueful. “The scientist in me hates to admit it, but yeah. Mine wasn’t as altruistic as yours, though. It was about a year after I’d been in the city, and I had been flirting with this guy at the bar.”

  “Sebastian,” I warn.

  He chuckles and peeks over at me. “Hold the jealousy and let me finish.” The humor slides off his face as he stares into the sky again. “He was tall and lean… long blond hair.”

  “Sounds familiar.”

  He nods as he ignores my pointed sarcasm. “We stepped outside, and I was so glad it was dark. I couldn’t see his face, so I pretended it was you. He tried to kiss me, and your name left my lips. He was pissed… and rightfully so. Abandoned me there, alone in the dark, and I remember leaning against that wall and staring up into the sky. A single star was there, twinkling back at me. I made a wish, then.”

  “What was it?” I ask, rubbing his knuckles again.

  “You,” he whispers. “I wished for you. To find me, to come back… to give me the piece of my heart that you’d held onto from the minute we met. I didn’t care how it happened, or where we ended up, but I begged the fates for it that night. My wish was for you. It’s always been you.”

  We turn to each other, arms reaching and hugging and holding. His hand weaves through my hair and presses my face into his neck as I draw in a shuddering inhale, and I clutch at clothing as we weave ourselves around one another.

  “It came true, you know,” he says after a long moment. “You came back to me.”

  “Maybe the Fates were listening, after all.”

  He sighs contentedly into my hair. “Yeah. Maybe they were.”

  Bash

  A knock on the door wakes me, and I roll over to glance at the light pouring through the windows. I don’t normally sleep this late, but we were out until the middle of the night, staring up at the sky and talking about everything and nothing until exhaustion forced us to bed.

  Xeni grunts beside me and yanks the covers over his head, burrowing deeper like a nocturnal creature avoiding the dawn. He hates getting out of bed. Morning alarms and schedules have always been more of a suggestion than a necessity, and he’s a pro at ignoring them.

  I’ve always been too smitten to wake him unless it’s necessary, and today is no different.

  I chuckle as I slide out from between the sheets, then pull on a pair of shorts before answering the door.

  Sovran stands there, his massive frame filling the doorway. “Hello, Sebastian.” His golden curls gleam in the sunlight as he dips his chin, stoic as ever.

  “Hey! Welcome back. Did you finish… whatever it was you needed to do?”

  Sovran nods and stares past me where Xeni has a pillow covering his face, and Sovran's expression turns baffled. “Is he alright?”

  I glance back at Xeni with a snicker. “He is… not a morning person.”

  Sovran glances up at the sky. “It is no longer morning.”

  “Yes, it is,” Xeni groans from underneath the pillow.

  Sovran’s bewilderment grows.

  “He’ll be fine, I promise,” I say as I fight a smile.

  Sovran shakes his head, then focuses on me once more. “When your mate has chosen to rejoin society, I have his vehicle.”

  Fabric rustles, and I glance behind me to find Xeni sitting up, hair wild and squinting against the light.

  “My what?” he rasps, voice thick with sleep.

  “The vehicle you left stranded in the woods on your way to Atlanta,” Sovran explains like it should be obvious.

  Xeni climbs out of bed with the blanket wrapped around him like a robe, shuffling toward the door with his brows scrunched. He shields himself from the bright rays when he realizes he isn’t wearing his eyepatch.

  I freeze as I wait for him to panic.

  His gaze drops to the ground, but after a deep inhale that squares his shoulders, he lifts his face again. His uncertainty shows itself as he swallows, but he doesn’t hide, and my chest swells with pride.

  “What do you mean, you have my vehicle?” he asks. “How is that even possible?”

  A hint of amusement lines Sovran’s face as he nods toward the room beside ours. “Your neighbor remembered where he picked you up. He took me to find it.”

  Xeni is full of skepticism as he glances towards the wall between our room and his. “Willingly? I didn’t take him to be the charitable sort, if you catch my drift, and you don’t seem like the type to be persuaded to do much of anything.”

  Sovran’s lips twitch. “He was… encouraged.”

  “Cryptic,” I mutter. “I thought that vehicle wasn’t running.”

  “It wasn’t, and now it is.”

  Sovran holds out a key, and Xeni stares at it before bunching his blanket into a single hand to accept it.

  Xeni and I exchange confused glances as Sovran watches the sky for a long moment.

  “The weather is agreeable,” Sovran says, with a judgmental flick of his eyes down at Xeni and his blanket. “You should leave after lunch. There is enough fuel to get you home, and food for your travels.”

  “Um, that’s… okay, that’s a lot to take in,” I say after an awkward stretch. “Thank you, first of all, because… wow, that’s incredible. And generous? Also, how did you get the SUV running? And…”

  “And what the fuck to everything else?” Xeni interjects, because that pretty much sums it all up.

  Sovran chuckles as he glances between us, then pats me on the shoulder with that enormous heavy hand. “Lunch is in an hour.”

  He walks away, leaving us staring after him.

  Xeni’s hand thunks into my stomach, and I grunt as I turn to him with wide eyes. “What was that for?”

  “Saw that,” he mutters as he ducks back into the room, and I snicker as I follow.

  Weird as he might be, the guy has a nice ass.

  Xeni drops his blanket as soon as the door shuts, exposing miles of pale skin as he swings his hips.

  “Jealous?” I tease.

  He glances over his shoulder at me with a catty smirk. “Just making sure my ass is the one on your mind.”

  “Always, princess.”

  He flips his hair and saunters into the bathroom, and I follow him, leaning against the doorframe with my arms crossed as he brushes his teeth. He’s playful as he clocks my attention, and I love seeing him this way.

  Naked and completely exposed, showing me every piece of him no matter how broken he thinks it might be.

  He might not love those imperfect pieces yet, but I do, and it means the world that he’s no longer trying to cover them.

  After cleaning his teeth and washing his face, he spends a few minutes brushing his hair, and I don’t move from my spot as I watch him. When he’s done, he spins in front of the mirror to check himself out from every angle.

  He’s putting on a show and finally tires of dragging out the grand finale.

  My arms drop as he struts closer, and I fold them around his waist as he presses into me. He leans in to kiss me, then yelps against my lips as I swat his ass.

  I laugh as I scoop him up and carry him to the bed. “You’re the one that wanted your ass on my mind.”

  He groans as I tug him to the end of the mattress and kneel. “We’re going to be late,” he says, but his breath is already coming faster as his knees part.

  “Your argument isn’t exactly convincing. We both know you don’t take very long.”

  I’m barely able to see his broad smile from my position between his legs. My palms slide up the back of his thighs as I spread him wide, pressing kisses in a path along his ass and inching closer to his hole.

  “Fuck,” he whines as I lick over his entrance, and his muscles squeeze as he tries to take more. My tongue moves across his hole, collecting slick and teasing him with long, languid licks.

  He’s impatient as always, needy in the way he fists the sheets and bucks his hips. He grinds against my tongue as I press it into him, and I throw his legs over my shoulders as I rise to kneel.

  He moans louder as I work myself deeper. Spit and slick mix to drip down my chin as his heels dig into my shoulders. His cock lies against his stomach, weeping more slick onto the smooth skin there.

  Need rushes through me, my entire body tense as I rut against the mattress like a wild thing. His taste covers my tongue and slides down my throat, and the muscles in his cock tighten like he’s about to come.

  He shouts in protest as I drop him onto the bed, pulling back just before he falls over the edge, but I don’t make him wait. I stand and shove my pants to the ground and climb over him, his legs still bent as I hook them with my elbows and drive forward.

  He calls my name like a prayer, and patience has long fallen away as I drive into him with loud slaps of skin.

  “Who’s not taking long now?” he taunts, his cheeks flushed and lips parted.

  I lean in, pressing his thighs back until his knees are almost beside his ears. Our kiss is sloppy, with lips and tongues fighting to get the upper hand. Fingers scratch over skin and teeth sink hard enough to leave bite marks behind.

  I move my mouth to his ear, nipping his earlobe. “Stop arguing and come for me,” I rasp.

  I drive forward a few more times, and I shudder as my release slams into me. I thrust deeper, pinning him underneath me as he moans my name. Warmth shoots between us as his cum spreads over both our skin, and the headboard thunks against the wall as I fuck him through both our orgasms.

  We both pant for a moment, lips brushing and eyes locked, and I laugh incredulously when Xeni rocks his hips up, still hard.

  “Insatiable,” I mutter, then gasp as he rolls us.

  My cock stays inside him as his knees land on the mattress and he arches his back, riding me as I hiss from the overstimulation. He pulls off with a whine, leaving a mess of fluids on my stomach as he reaches for his cock, jerking himself and thrusting into his fist.

  “C’mere, princess,” I say as I show him my tongue.

  He groans as he knee-walks up the bed. “Fuck, I’m there,” he pants.

  He grips his cock and points it toward my mouth, dragging the bottom along my tongue. I don’t even close around him before he draws in a hard breath, and cum shoots across my tongue and over my lips.