closed my eyes as the pain of seeing my past, when I so desperately wanted it to be my future, proved too hard.
“Did I not get it right?” Justine murmured at my side, uncertainty creeping into her voice. “I’m sorry, I tried—”
“It’s perfect,” I whispered, my eyes still closed.
She hesitated. “Then why aren’t you looking at it?”
“Hurts,” was all I could say.
Paper rustled, something hit the floor, and then small hands gripped my face. I opened my eyes to look into my mate’s dark brown orbs as she straddled my lap. “Nero.” Her thumbs brushed my cheeks as her brows dipped. “What’s wrong? I thought you were just tired before, but something’s bothering you. Your aura is off. Talk to me.”
“I’m not as good at promises as you think. To you or myself. I let down the memory of my mother.”
“What does that mean?”
“We can’t go home.” My voice cracked. “We can’t return to Corin.” I explained what happened in the walls of Alazar when we’d captured the Uldani commanders. I didn’t get into the gory details but told her enough of what happened to make it clear we wouldn’t be able to rebuild on Corin.
When I was finished, Justine wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pressed my face into her neck. I held her tightly, reveling in the warmth of my mate’s body and the soft fluttering of her aura in my mind.
“You didn’t break a single promise to me,” she said her hair smoothing over the top off my short hair. “So, don’t worry about that. But I know how badly you wanted to return home, and for that I’m so sorry.”
She pulled back and pressed a kiss to my eyelids, then another on my nose before she nuzzled it. “But don’t think for one second that you let yourself or your mother down. She, along with your sisters, would be so proud of the warrior you’ve become. Think of all you’ve done for your brothers, for us women. Home isn’t a place, but people. And we have our people here. You have me anywhere.”
Her fingers dug slightly into my cheeks as she continued. “I still have hope we will find a way home. But even if we don’t, you didn’t let anyone down. You have to look back at all you accomplished, and not what you didn’t. We’re all happy and safe and healthy. This clavas will soon have new babies.” She pressed my hand to her heart. “We have each other.”
Warmth flooded my body as I closed the distance between us to press a kiss against her lips. All thoughts of promises fulfilled and failed left my mind as I focused on my mate’s words. She was right—I couldn’t focus anymore on the dead. I had to look at what I had in front of me. My cora-eternal.
My cock plumped between us and poked the small scrap of fabric covering Justine’s cunt. The memories of our time together in Gram’s bunker sent zings of pleasure through my blood.
My mate’s body was so soft, and the heat of her cunt seared the tip of my cock. “I want you,” I murmured as I nuzzled the thin skin of her neck. I skated the tips of my fangs along her collarbone and she sucked in a breath as her hips rolled in my lap.
I slid the straps of her shirt off her shoulders and tugged down the front until the fabric pooled under her magnificent breasts. Drawing one of her nipples in my mouth, I sucked as her fingers dove into my hair and gripped a horn. “Yes,” she whispered.
I rolled my tongue piercings around the hard bud before switching to the other nipple, all while Justine moaned softly above me. She reached between us and wrapped her small fingers around my cock. When she squeezed, my head fell back, and I let out a long groan. She stroked me, twisting at the head, and flicking the pierced ring. I jerked up into her hand, seeking her heat and was rewarded when she rose on her knees, her breasts, red and wet from my attentions, filling my vision.
With a soft smile, she pushed the fabric of her panties aside and slid down onto my cock. Wet heat enveloped me, and a low hiss left my lips as I gripped her hips. I dug my fingers into her flesh, and she rewarded me with a toss of her head and a bounce. My cock sank into her to