Page 66 of Hunting the Warlord's Daughter

She flung the gems over the water. Sparkles in all the colors of the rainbow broke the surface before disappearing.

Aral rowed some distance away then put up the oars once more. The fishing boat rocked gently, the water like glass. The hush enveloped Wren.

Serenity.Now that she understood what she was, her struggle made sense. At one time, the two sides of her personality—her mother and her father’s sides, serenity and passion—had warred with each other. No longer.

In making the galaxy whole, I became whole.

Wordlessly, Aral joined her and held her hand. Around the base of their index fingers, imprinted on their skin, were thin black bands. The design consisted of tiny interlinking symbols—most traditional marriage tattoos were of eagles—but their pattern was miniature pentagons. The five points of light had guided them to Ara Ana and back to each other.

A silvery fish broke the surface, spraying them with water. “Oh! The fish will be biting.”

“I don’t know about the fish. ButI’llbe biting.”

“Can’t catch me without the right lure.” She stripped off her clothing and dove off the boat.

He tugged down his pants, hopping on one foot then the other as the boat rocked. “I know exactly what bait to use.” Bare-assed, he plunged in after her.

She whooped and shrieked as she swam away.

Fighting on the end of Aral’s line never worked for very long. He reeled her in by the ankle, both of them splashing and laughing, before he hauled her close and sealed his mouth over hers, a long, deep, lush kiss.

They’d been together through thick and thin, through war and peace. Through grief and healing. For better or for worse.

This, by far, was better.

The battlelord tormented by nightmares and the warlord’s forgotten daughter—it sounded like a disaster in the making. But it was the best thing that had ever happened to them both. On an idyllic world in a remote part of the galaxy, they were finally, inarguably free.

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