Edge of Dawn Page 0,120
in a sea of darkness.
He had died.
He understood that.
Yet here he was, given another chance to live. Tess and Rafe, he realized now. It was their hands that healed him. Their voices that told him to hang on, to reach for the line they were throwing to him.
And then there was Mira.
She’d saved him too. He could still taste her lily-sweet blood on his tongue. It had found him, healed him, just when he needed it most. Her strength, her power, her love.
Their bond had defied death, and he had never felt so humbled by anything before in all his days. He loved this woman—his woman, his eternal mate. He needed her more than air, more than anything else this life could give him. His heart swelled with love for her, reborn and renewed, beating as hard and strong as a drum.
Mira stirred beside him, coming awake on a soft sigh. She wore the same black fatigues she’d had on when he last saw her, but they were bed-rumpled now, stained in places with his blood. Her blond braid was a wreck, more loose than not, pale hair framing her face in wispy tendrils. He’d never seen a more welcome sight.
She lifted her head, sucked in a shallow gasp as she looked at him and saw his eyes open, gazing back at her. “Kellan . . . Oh, God. You’re awake. You came back to me.” He smiled but had no chance to speak before Mira crushed his mouth in a fierce kiss. She drew back and stared at him, her eyes dancing behind the purple veil of her lenses. “You’re really here with me.”
He managed a nod before she kissed him again, more tenderly this time, her hands cupping his face. She kept looking at him, searching his eyes, drinking him in with open joy and affection. Then she scowled, hissing a dark curse. “Don’t you ever leave me again, Kellan Archer.”
“Never,” he vowed, his voice thick and rusty.
Her scowl deepened. “If you do, I promise you, right here and now, I will hunt you down and kill you myself. Do you understand?”
He smiled and pulled her closer. “Yes, ma’am.”
His body was already back online, blood pumping robustly through his veins. Under the sheet that covered his naked body, his muscles flexed, rejuvenated and ready to be put to use. Something else was ready too, and it took Mira only a second to notice that every bit of him was awake and alive.
“You’re unbelievable,” she murmured, but there was humor—and no small amount of interest—in her eyes. “You have at least two dozen bullet holes in you, in case you didn’t realize that.”
He didn’t, and, in fact, he hardly felt the bandaged wounds now. All he felt was his Breedmate, his precious Mira, warm and sweet in his arms. He ran his hand down her back, to the firm curve of her behind. He groaned, rejoicing in the feel of her under his hands, and pressed up against the length of him. “One of us has too many clothes on.”
He wanted to lighten the moment, and, yeah, he was glad as hell to be alive and breathing again—best of all, to be doing it lying next to the woman with whom he hoped to spend a good long eternity. So glad he could think of no better way to celebrate the occasion than burying himself deep within the haven of Mira’s delectable body.
But she was having none of it right now. She levered herself up on one elbow beside him, all serious. Her gaze was sober, her breath shaky as she let out a quiet curse. “I thought I lost you today, Kellan. I watched you die. I felt it.” A crease formed between her light brows, eyes lowering as she slowly shook her head. “I wanted to hate you for surrendering yourself back at the Darkhaven in Maine. I think I did hate you for that, just a little. I wanted to make our time together last, and you took that away from me. From both of us.”
He caressed her face and silky hair, swallowed on a dry throat. “I didn’t mean to hurt you again. I didn’t want to see you throw away your past—throw away your family—the way I had done. I didn’t want you to face the same kind of impossible decision I did. I didn’t want you to make my mistake.”
“I know that now,” she said, lightly stroking her fingers over his wounded chest.