Page 78 of Nidev and Lyric

He met her gaze, his words now steady, resolute. “And I want it. I want everything you offered, I want to build something here. With you. With them. A life and a real family. And I swear to you, I will do whatever it takes to make it real, I will not hide, I will not run or cower.”

The sound she made was more a sob than a laugh, her body launching into his arms with the kind of wild, unrestrained joy that had the power to destroy him.

“Yes!” she choked out, her mouth crashing into his. “Yes! A million yeses!” She pulled back, her gaze ferocious and gleaming. “We’re really going to do this? We’re going to bring them here and we’re going to make this everything it’s meant to be?”

He cradled her face, locking his gaze on her. “Yes,” he vowed. “And nothing will prevent me from giving you everything you deserve.”

“And whatyoudeserve,” she added, squirming her way into his lap so she sat facing him with a smile that suffocated him with hope. “No, whatwedeserve,” she said, pressing her smiling lips softly on his. “And what all our little future Nidevs deserve.”

Her words wrecked into him, locking his entire body up.Future Nidevs?His blood? His name? His legacy?

The fucking prodigy program.

They were it, they were officially one of the first successful couples.

The idea of creating something that precious with her, with their bloodlines, made him ache for it. But the sheer magnitude of it crushed him.

“What!” she laughed, searching his gaze.

His hands tightened on her hips as if anchoring himself to reality. “As in... children,” he said, right at her. “Tiny, fragile, half-wild creatures... who areours.”

“Yes,” she laughed, her eyes glinting with that wicked delight she always took in pushing him to his limits. “Ours. Little boys and girls who look like you. With your eyes. Your strength.”

He swallowed as his chest rioted with panic and joy, both warring for dominance. “But I’m…”

“Perfect,” she assured, reading his doubts with a smile so pure it almost hurt. “You’re perfect. And you’ll love them, and you’ll protect them. Just like you’ve protected everyone you care about. Only this time... you’ll be doing it with me. Win-win.”

The truth of it burrowed deep, snapping his fears apart piece by piece. He drew in a ragged breath, his head lowering to rest against her forehead. “You want that?” he whispered. “Little terrors with my eyes and your stubbornness?”

She laughed, her fingers threading around the back of his neck. “Yes. I want that. I want you.All of you.”

His eyes closed, his heart pounding. “Then that’s what you’ll have.”

The grin she gave him then was pure sunlight. “I love you.”

He groaned, his arms locking around her like he could fuse her body to his. “This…this is love,” he whispered, some part of him just now comprehending it. He regarded her as she laughed bigger at that. “The obsession, the lust, the insanity,” he marveled, stunned, locking his gaze on her.“That’slove.”

She gave a huge shrug with wide, happy eyes. “Seems so.”

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