Page 135 of Stars in Umbra
He imagined a different version of himself, as a man no longer hunted, controlled, or a ghost.
His mind wandered to his hopes for a quieter life in the future. He envisioned children, laughter, joy, and Rina at the center of it all.
Holidays spent at this farm, with Mo swinging one of the kids onto a horse, teaching them the names of stars.
A warm kitchen, full bellies, and a hand in his that never let go.
This place, this life, was not some faraway fantasy on a distant planet.
It was here. On Dunia. Within reach.
Though he’d never had much in the way of hope in the past, this moment cracked open a door of longing in him.
He glanced around the room again, at the firelight flickering against the stone. At the woman he was falling for beside him, at the kindness in the faces of two people who welcomed him like a son.
Maybe this wasn’t just a pause between battles.
Perhaps it was the beginning of peace, for a lifetime.
That night, when the woodland outside was quiet, Mo and Rina went to bed together.
Hanna and Reth had long since retired to the far wing of the farmhouse.
Mo claimed his woman with raw passion as moonlight spilled through the vast glass façade.
Silvering the edges of their bodies, pooling over the sheets like another layer of skin.
Beyond the fields in the darkness, the dark sweep of the lake heaved against the cliffs, the jungle canopy shivering under the wind’s breath.
Propped on his elbows and thrusting into her, Mo kissed her as though he were anchoring himself to the world.
He savored her lips and the remnants of salt and wine on them. Her hair spilling over the pillow like a midnight banner.
His hands glided over her, his mouth worshiping her.
She responded with her brand of ferocity he adored and craved, pulling him closer, matching his fierce strokes with her own, her fingers curling into the planes of his back.
That had only amped up his reverence, with the need to anchor her, to claim her soul the only way he knew how.
His cock swelled harder than ever before as he drove into her with abandon.
She moaned, her pussy rippling around his length, her hands and legs encircling him as their lips locked in passionate lovemaking.
With a groan, he blew, thick strands of cum jetting into her core, his sigils pulsing with light as she shuddered beneath him.
When they finally stilled, Mo lay tangled in the sheets with Rina, her body curved against his, their sweat still cooling between them.
She rested her cheek over his heart and traced the curve of an old scar with her fingertip.
The room was quiet except for their shared breaths, hers slowing into a near-doze, his still caught in the aching tenderness that always followed her touch.
He tightened his arms around her, pressing his lips to her temple as night kept watch, holding them in a suspended, perfect silence.
He thought about his past, the blood on his hands, the faces that would haunt him forever.
Yet here she was, choosing him, even knowing all of it. That knowledge burned through him like a promise.
He shifted, and she held onto him tighter with a small moan.
