Page 74 of Kael

My lips are swollen, my chest heaving. I barely manage to crawl up his body before collapsing against him, my cheek pressed to his shoulder, the wild thrum of our shared heartbeat pounding in my ears.

I’m breathless. Wrecked. Floating in a way I never expected.

“How?” I whisper, half dazed.

Kael’s body shudders again. I feel it against mine—every tremble of relief, every shiver of bliss, every ripple of emotion breaking beneath his skin. “I… don’t know.”

But I do.

It pulses through me—warm and certain.

Our hearts.

They’re beating as one.

I press a hand to his chest, then to mine. Same rhythm. Same tempo. I glance up at him, eyes wide. “Wait. You said sex wasn’t part of the bonding.”

Kael lets out a sound—half laugh, half groan. “It’s not. I swear. At least… not from anything I’ve ever read or heard.”

I frown, thinking it through. Then it hits me. “Trust,” I say softly. “That’s what was missing.”

His arms tighten around me. “Yes.”

“For both of us,” I murmur. “That was it.”

The weight of what we’ve just done settles in slowly—not heavy, but solid. Real. And I know, beyond doubt, there’s only one part of the bond left to complete.

My thoughts drift, not to that, but to what comes next. To tomorrow.

To Varek.

To Jack. And Solan. And the theory that keeps swirling through my mind about the rifts and what—or who—might be behind them.

I lift my head, pressing a kiss to Kael’s shoulder. “There’s a meeting tomorrow. With Varek. Jack and Solan asked me to be there. I want you to come with me.”

He studies me for a long beat, searching. “You want me there… as your guard?”

“No.” I shake my head, meeting his eyes. “I want you there as mine.”

He doesn’t answer immediately, but I feel it. That soft, low yes that ripples through our bond. And with it… the terrifying, wonderful realisation that this is just the beginning.

But also…

Holy fucking shitballs—luminous spunk!If unicorns were real, would their cum be just like this, but maybe with sparkles?

Something I can consider another time when I’m not so close to passing out.

CHAPTER

TWELVE

By the timeI wake fully, Kael is long gone. Not that he left without thoroughly kissing me and promising to join me for my meeting with Varek. And when I say kissing, I mean the kind that haunts your dreams and makes your body buzz long after you’ve stumbled back into sleep.

Now, though, I’m floating somewhere between sleepy bliss and semi-functional. There’s a warmth under my skin that isn’t just from the blanket—or even last night’s activities. No, this is all Kael. The bond is pulsing, soft but steady, like a low-frequency hum in my bones. It’s… nice. Comforting. Kind of addictive.

The morning haze doesn’t lift as I make my way to the canteen, still in that postorgasmic dream state where every bit of food smells like heaven and gravity feels optional. I drift through the door and head straight for the back, where I know Decca and Molsi will be stationed like two dragons guarding their culinary hoard.

“Look who’s got the walk of the thoroughly fucked,” Decca calls the moment I appear.

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