in the east. I read him so easily.
“The Dead Lands?” I guessed softly, curling my fingers into the furs at his chest.
He nodded against me.
“I do not know what will come, Maeva,” he confessed. “None of us do. But to stand at my side means being at the forefront of the dangers that might come.”
Was that what he was worried about?
That I’d turn away from him in fear?
Nik, he knew me better than that.
“Whatever comes, Kiran,” I whispered, looking up into his eyes, “I will stand by your side no matter what.”
His eyes glowed. His nostrils flared.
“Never fear that,” I told him. “Lysi? Because I’m not afraid. When I’m with you, how could I be?”
With a growl, he was kissing me again and all I felt was relief. I leaned into that kiss, gripping his shoulders tightly, anchoring him to me along that cliffside where I had spoken his name for the first time, where I had first fallen in love with him.
And right there, I bound myself to him. I poured everything into that kiss. Our past, our future, no matter how uncertain it seemed at present given the dark fog in the Dead Lands. Into that kiss, I poured every hurt and ache. Every delight and joy.
I gave it all to him.
And he gave me everything too.
“Seffi,” he whispered against me.
A plea.
A promise.
That feeling washed over me again, just as the spray from Drukkar’s Sea swirled in my hair.
And I knew that no matter what came next…I was right where I was supposed to be.
This was where I belonged.
With Kiran.
Always.
Epilogue
Three moon cycles later…
“Morakkari,” he rasped under me, his eyes like embers from a fire. “Finish me.”
I felt the curl of my smile though everything was focused on the place between my legs where he was buried so deep, where his heat pulsed into me and I tightened around him.
“Is my Vorakkar begging now?” I teased, though it was punctuated with a small, breathless moan.
“Lysi,” he growled. His claws dug into my hips but I didn’t mind the sharp prick of pain. I knew that sometimes he forgot himself with me. “Hanniva!”
A small laugh bubbled from my throat. Then I tossed my head back, working my hips harder, rocking over his cock. His deep, sensual, skin-tingling groan made my pace quicken. His hands tightened and I felt the soft glide of sand across my legs, caressing me in an unexpected way.
Above us, my eyes quickly scanned the cliffs but I saw no one. Kiran and I were somewhat hidden on the small beach below but conceivably anyone that walked past would be able to see us.
Kiran tugged me forward—until our chests were pressed to one another, my nipples dragging across his scarred flesh. Until his dakke pressed and thrummed against my clit, hurtling me towards an orgasm that I had long teased and drawn out. For the both of us.
“Seffi,” he rasped, one of his hands leaving my hips to curl in my hair. His grip was firm, keeping me in place, as he began to take control. He used the position to keep me still as he began to piston his hips, fast and hard and wild. “More. Lysi!”
Our eyes caught and held and then I was kissing him, hearing the slap of our flesh, feeling the warmth of the sun across our bare bodies. Behind us, I heard a wave crash against the shore, heard the hiss of it as it approached us before retreating.
“Kiran,” I whispered breathlessly, my eyes wide.
“Vok, you feel so good, rei Morakkari. Come for me,” he ordered before he licked at my tongue. “Let me feel you come around my cock.”
Then I was doing just that.
The pleasure racked up my spine like lightning across my back.
“Lysi, Maeva,” he growled. “I feel you.”
His hips moved faster. Deep, long strokes that sent shudders through my body. Then I felt him push deep, I felt his cock spasm…and then I felt the flood of him. Hot, thick seed coated inside me as his loud bellow met my ears, as it echoed around the cliffside, bouncing off the stone walls.
My own orgasm went on and on, so vokking good. Then again, with Kiran, it always was. Every time, it felt new and sublime. Every time, I thought it couldn’t get any better and somehow he proved me wrong.
When it was over, I collapsed onto his chest, breathing hard, panting into the crook of his neck. I felt—rather than heard—his groan rumble across my breasts. I felt