Page 91 of Baited

“It’s beautiful, Blayn,” she whispers. “Absolutely beautiful. You did all this for me?”

“It’ll never match how I feel about you,eregri.” I sigh. “Or how stunning you are, but when I thought…” I do my best not to let my emotions overwhelm me, all the terror in the dark past days, where I battled the dark and the light.

When I thought she might not come back to me.

“I’m sorry.” She leans into me and I put my wing around her. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You were with me when I needed you. It is I who should be sorry, little mate. I let you down. I let the procurator hurt you,” I rasp, my voice breaking with the lack of use and my desperate need for Izzy.

“No one is to blame, least of all you, Blayn.” She gazes up at me and love shines down the thoughtbond. A love which is entirely for me and me alone. “You were doing what was right.” She traces her finger over the healing pulsar wound on my shoulder. “And you were up against an opponent who wanted to win, no matter what.”

My world is alight with her smile and her love.

“And the procurator will face the dome’s justice, as is right,” she adds.

“You know about that?”

“You told me. You weren’t impressed he released you first.”

“You heard me?” I pull my sweet mate into my arms. “The medics said to talk to you, so I talked.”

“I heard you, Blayn.” She puts her hand weakly on my chest and warmth blooms under her touch. “I was a long way away, but I heard every single word.”

“Everything?”

She chuckles in my arms, and I think I would like for things never to change because nothing can ever be as good as having her here, soft, warm, and alive.

“Everything, even the stuff about your cocks.”

“They missed you,eregri. I missed you.”

“I know…” She shakes her head and winces, gingerly rubbing her chest. Her pain fires down the thoughtbond, and I pull it into me. Izzy’s eyes trace up my chest until they’re gazing into mine.

“How did you do that?” she whispers.

“Your pain is mine, my mate. You set me free and it’s my turn to give you wings.”

Her pain is nothing compared to what I’ve held in my body for as long as I can remember, so taking it is like a mere scratch. Her face and body relax, and she melts into me.

“What did I do to deserve you, Blayn?” she asks.

“You didn’t let me go when I did everything to make you. You believed in me when no one else would, including myself. I don’t deserve you, myere…”

My words are cut off by her ky-ss. She holds me for so long, I’m sure we’re both going to run out of air.

“Let’s just say we were two lost souls who found each other across time and space,” she whispers, her beautiful eyes not leaving mine.

“My heart belongs to you, Izzy. Fate has given me my real wings, and I will use them to lift you, forever.”

IZZY

First things first. Gryn pregnancies are fast. Six months.Six months!To be fair to Blayn, he didn’t know, so when I started to show within a few weeks of finding out, it was a little disconcerting, at least until Madame got me to a medic, who just happened to have a little knowledge of the Gryn, which is where we found out.

Two nova-months on, and we’re descending through the clouds onto a planet known as Aztralis, which is part of a group of planets, some shrouded in secrecy, in a forgotten corner of the galaxy.

It’s the place Nood insists Blayn’s family are, and I insisted he come find them.

My big ex-gladiator has set his jaw as he watches our descent. He’s nervous—I can feel it through the thoughtbond—but he’s also preparing himself for rejection.

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