Page 115 of Rebirth

Again, only his ears flick as he stares at me and I wonder what’s going on behind those dark eyes.

“It worked,” he finally says. “I succeeded.”

It’s almost as if he doesn’t believe it.

“Why don’t you come out here?”

Those dark eyes stare at me for a few beats before his feet settle on the floor. The tank immediately engages and begins to drain, and soon, we are standing before each other.

“Sophie,” He’rox says my name again, as if in prayer. “How is this possible?”

I take a step toward him and he doesn’t move. “You saved me. Against all odds, you saved me.”

His gaze flicks over the symbiotes covering my body. “The ba’clan. They healed you.”

I nod and he blinks at me, nictitating membrane sliding across his eyes.

“This is…what you humans call…a miracle.”

I smile, unable to help it as more tears well in my eyes.

The way he stands there, not one thing moving except his lips when he speaks, is making something deep inside me ache with a pain that can only be soothed if I am in his arms.

“I knew you could do it,” I whisper. Taking another step forward. He’rox stiffens. His muscles growing hard as he forces himself to remain still. I swallow hard, forcing myself to remain still too, although everything within me wants me to rush toward him.

I must give him space.

It’s clear he thought the worst had happened.

“I’m real, He’rox. I’m really here.”

He blinks at me.

“Why don’t you come over here to me?” I whisper.

He’rox blinks, the nictitating membrane sliding over his dark pits like a thin curtain once more.

“I fear that if I touch you…you will vanish back into my subconscious.”

His utterance makes me choke on a sob and another laugh, and before I realize I’ve moved, I’m throwing myself into his arms.

He’rox staggers back, tentacles curling around me to keep me steady. For a moment, he simply stands there, frozen. Then his arms wrap around me and he crushes me against his chest with a strength that would hurt were I still human.

A shudder runs through his powerful frame as he buries his face against my hair, breathing in deeply, and the ba’clan pulse against me as if content with where we are. I cling to him, tears streaming down my face as joy and relief flood my senses. He’s alive. We’re both alive. Against all odds, we survived this.

“You came back to me,” he rasps, voice thick with emotion. His large hands trace over my back as if reassuring himself I’m real. “I thought I lost you forever.”

“You saved me,” I whisper, leaning back to meet his gaze. A light twinkles in his dark eyes, chasing away the hopelessness I saw there. He stares at me as if I’m the only thing in this world, the only thing that matters.

Slowly, as if afraid I might break or disappear, he lowers his head.

His lips skim over mine in a kiss filled with reverence, passion, and promise. My body trembles at the feel of his lips against mine as I whimper and tilt my head back more, hungry for the taste of him.

The connection between us ignites, searing into my soul as the air crackles around us. I cling to him, pouring all the love I feel for this male into our embrace.

We have survived the impossible. We have been given a second chance. And this time, I will not let anything tear us apart.

A slight sound behind us has me stiffening and before I can stop it, my ba’clan spring out, forming more tentacles than I can count at my back, the edges hardened into sharp spikes.

---