Page 33 of Alien Prince's Fated Mate

“I’m here now.” His other hand came up, hesitating near my face. “May I?”

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

His fingertips ghosted along my jaw, so gentle it almost hurt. I leaned into the touch instinctively, without thinking.

“Niam.” My name on his lips sounded like a prayer.

The last rational part of my mind screamed warnings - about the Temple, about the device, about all the reasons this was a terrible idea. I silenced it.

My hand rose to his face, mirroring his touch. His breath caught. The beast lurked in his eyes now, deep rings of green inside midnight blue. But his hands stayed gentle as I traced the line of his jaw.

“I dreamed of this too,” I whispered.

Then his mouth found mine, and my thoughts scattered like leaves in a storm.

The kiss started soft, questioning. His lips brushed mine like he feared I might shatter. But when I pressed closer, fingers curling into his hair, something snapped.

A growl rumbled through his chest as he deepened the kiss, one hand sliding to my nape while the other pulled me against him. Heat flooded my body, chasing away the last traces of cold. I’d never imagined a kiss like this - like I was precious and wild all at once, like I was something worth claiming.

His teeth grazed my bottom lip, and I gasped. The sound seemed to jolt him back to awareness. He jerked away, horror replacing the heat in his expression.

“I’m sorry.” He scrambled backward. “I shouldn’t have- The beast-”

“Tharon.” I touched my lips, still feeling the phantom pressure of his kiss. “It’s okay.”

“No. I lost control. I could have hurt you.”

“But you didn’t.”

We stared at each other across the fire, the air thick with unspoken words. My heart thundered against my ribs. How did I tell him that for the first time since escaping the Temple, I felt fully present in my own skin?

No. I couldn’t do this. I needed something, anything, to distract myself from the intensity burning in Tharon’s eyes.

The device. Yes.

My hands trembled as I pulled it from the crystal-studded pouch Mahra had given me. The familiar weight settled into my palm, its cold metallic surface pressing into my flesh. The geometric patterns caught the firelight, throwing strange shadows across the cave wall.

Blue light pulsed from its core, stronger than I’d ever seen it. But instead of pointing toward the distant peaks as it had before, the beam angled deeper into the darkness of the cave.

“Tharon.” My voice cracked. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Look at this.”

He moved closer, careful to keep the fire between us. “It’s never glowed that bright before.”

“No.” I turned slowly, following the light’s path. It led past our makeshift camp, past where the villart dozed, into the throat of blackness beyond. “Something’s down there.”

The device’s pulse quickened, like a heartbeat growing stronger.

“Well.” I pushed to my feet, gathering my resolve. “I guess we know where we’re going next.”

THARON

The last thing I wanted was to hurt her. My lips still burned from our kiss, the taste of her lingering like sweet poison. My beast howled for more, yet I kept the fire between us as Niam held up the device.

“Well?” She stood, determination written in every line of her body. “Are we going to find out what’s down there?”

I wanted to grab her, pull her back into my arms. Make her forget about the device, about the Temple, about everything but us. The urge sang through my blood like lightning.

But that wasn’t what she needed. What she needed was my strength, my protection while she completed her mission. Nothing more.

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