Page 93 of Dark Rebel's Reckoning

The master bedroom was right next to the office, and as she opened the door, his eyes immediately were drawn to the massive four-poster bed that was situated on top of an elevated area in the back of the room. There was also a sitting area with a couch and an armchair and a couple of bookcases flanking the fireplace.

He thought she would lead him to the couch, but she surprised him, heading for the platform and the massive bed on top of it.

The covers were already turned down, as if she'd tried and failed to sleep before coming to find him. The room smelled of her—that indefinable scent that had begun to feel like home to him, mixed with the faint traces of the soap and shampoo she'd used earlier.

"I don't want to be alone with my thoughts tonight," Kyra said. "Usually, before a mission, I'd go over plans, check weapons, review contingencies. But now I have an entire team doing that for me. Everything feels different." She turned to look at him. "Would you mind lying next to me in bed? You can sleep here if you want, but if you want to go back to your own bed, can you do that after I fall asleep?"

"Of course." He toed off his boots and followed her to the bed. "I'll lie over the covers."

He had showered and changed clothes earlier, so it wasn't because he was afraid of dirtying her bed. He was afraid of being too close to her and wanting something he couldn't have tonight.

"As you wish." She climbed under the covers and pulled them up to just under her breasts.

He wished she had pulled the blanket higher up to her neck so he wouldn't have to stare at the enticing swell of her breasts, but he wasn't going to say anything. Instead, he tucked the blanket around her and lay down beside her on top of it.

"For twenty years, all I had was the resistance," she said quietly. "The mission was everything. Success or failure affected people I cared deeply about, but it has never been so personal." She looked up at him, her golden-brown eyes reflecting the soft lightfrom the bedside lamp. "Now I have Jasmine. The girls. And..." She hesitated, then finished softly, "And you."

His heart lurched in his chest. It was a confirmation of the deepening connection that had been growing between them, and he was grateful to her for putting it into words.

He wished he could reciprocate, but telling her he loved her was premature, and he didn't know how else to verbalize what he was feeling.

For a long moment, they lay side by side in silence, their faces turned toward each other.

"Are you afraid?" she asked softly.

"No. We're well prepared, the team is strong, and the plan is solid. Still, shit happens, you know?"

She chuckled. "Tell me about it. I'm an expert on that."

"I doubt you are as good as me at failing."

She reached across the space between them, her fingers brushing his cheek in a touch so gentle it made his heart inflate. "You found me when I was lost, and you helped bring me back to my daughter. I'd say that you are pretty good at winning."

"So are you."

She sighed. "I'm learning how to live. How to be with Jasmine. With the girls." Her voice softened further. "With you."

Max took a deep breath, knowing that if he was ever going to speak his truth, it should be now, before they faced whatever awaited them in Tehran.

"I know that it's too early to talk about love, but I care about you, Kyra," he said, the words inadequate for the depth of feeling behind them. "Deeply. More than I thought I was capable of." He paused, searching for the right words. "I've lived a long time, known many people, many women, but I've never felt toward anyone what I feel for you. It's like we are connected by some cosmic thread. Like we were meant to be together."

She smiled. "Destined mates?"

"Yeah, and don't make fun of this. It's real."

"I would never make fun of something like that, especially since I feel the same way. It's almost scary, this lightning-fast connection between us. Unlike you, I haven't been close to anyone I can remember, and you are the first man who makes me feel truly alive, who proves to me that I'm not broken beyond repair and that I still have hope of having it all. But those thoughts terrify me almost as much as they excite me."

He was floored by how completely honest and open she was. "Why does it terrify you?"

Kyra was quiet for a long moment, her fingers absently playing with the pendant at her throat. "Because I've lost so much already," she said, her voice catching slightly. "The more I care, the more I have to lose."

Her raw honesty touched something deep in his soul. He understood her fear all too well. Immortality meant accumulating losses, watching humans age and die, seeing history repeat its bloody cycles. Opening yourself to connections meant opening yourself to pain.

"I can't promise nothing bad will happen," he said honestly. "We're immortals, but we're not invulnerable. The mission hasrisks. Life has risks." He reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, letting his fingertips linger against her skin. "All we can do is make each moment count."

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "How do you do that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Do what?"

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