The realization bothered me more than I cared to admit. This changed the parameters of my mission, elevated the threat level considerably. Reapers prided themselves on being infallible hunters—we found everyone, tracked everything. It was why we were deployed to the most hostile environments, the most impossible missions.
Yet here I was, empty-handed, while my quarry had vanished into thin air.
Frustration burned through me, a sensation I wasn’t accustomed to feeling. I pushed it aside. I would solve this puzzle, but not now. Not today. The trail was cold, and something more important waited for me back at the shelter.
Miri. My kassari. The bond between us still new, still forming, still fragile.
I turned back toward the shelter, moving with greater speed now. The jungle parted before me, sensing my urgency. I could solve the mystery of Vaskari’s disappearance tomorrow. Fornow, I needed to ensure Miri’s safety, needed to hold her in my arms and reassure the primal part of myself that she was unharmed.
I would report my findings to Legion command when communications were restored. Request reinforcements, perhaps. But that was future concern. Present concern was Miri.
When I emerged from the trees and saw her sitting beneath the perch shelter I’d built, talking softly to the vines and scratching a heart into the moss with her finger, something in my chest eased.
She was still here.
And I would do whatever it took to keep her that way.
9 /MIRI
I watchedhim emerge from the trees, every line of his body taut with danger. Lor moved like liquid shadows, his golden eyes scanning the perimeter, his claws still half-extended from whatever threat he’d faced in the depths of the jungle. The sudden departure had left me naked, wanting, and increasingly irritated. My body still hummed with unfinished pleasure, the ghost of his tongue against my core, the promise of more lingering in the air between us. I’d had enough of interruptions.
Phil remained curled around my wrist, his vine-body pulsing with something that felt like concern. I’d stayed where Lor had left me, partly because of Phil’s gentle insistence, but mostly because the thought of Lor returning to find me gone made my stomach clench in a way I didn’t want to examine too closely. So I’d waited, gloriously naked in our little sanctuary, tracing patterns in the moss with my fingertips while anticipation built inside me like a gathering storm.
When he finally stepped into our clearing, his eyes found mine immediately. Then dropped lower, taking in my bare skin with an intensity that sent fresh heat racing through my veins. He stilled completely, a predator frozen in the moment before the pounce.
“Whatever it was, is it taken care of?” I asked, not bothering to cover myself. Why would I? He’d already tasted every inch of me, had already made me come apart twice beneath his clever tongue. The memory alone made my thighs press together, seeking pressure.
He nodded once, his gaze never leaving my body. “For now.”
“Good.” I slid back into a reclined pose from where I’d been sitting, stretching deliberately. Enjoying the way his pupils dilated at the movement. “Then let’s skip the drama. Just fuck me already.”
The words hung in the humid air between us, bold and unequivocal. I wasn’t sure where my audacity came from—maybe the lingering confidence from those earth-shattering orgasms, maybe the way he looked at me like I was water in a desert—but I didn’t regret it. Not when I saw what my demand did to him.
The look he gave me wasn’t shock. Not really. It was more like something inside him had been waiting for me to say it. To ask. To give him permission.
His tail lashed once, hard, betraying the control he was exerting over himself. “Miri,” he said, my name a graveled warning in his throat.
“What?” I cocked my hip, challenging him. “You were fine with tasting me until I couldn’t see straight. What’s different now?”
He took a step closer, then another, moving with the deliberate grace of a hunter who knows his prey can’t escape. “That was just the beginning.”
“Then let’s continue.” I held my ground as he approached, even as my heartbeat quickened to a frantic rhythm. “I’m still wet. I’m still wanting. And I’m tired of waiting.”
He stopped just inches from me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body, smell the wild scent of him—jungle and musk and something uniquely Lor. His hand lifted to hover near my face, not quite touching.
“You don’t understand what you’re asking,” he murmured, voice low and rough. “This isn’t just physical. With fate mates, the physical joining is...more.”
I arched an eyebrow. “More orgasms? I’m on board.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “It’s permanent, Miri. The bond becomes unbreakable. You would feel what I feel. I would feel what you feel. Our lives would be entwined beyond separation.”
I should have been terrified by the implications. This was basically alien marriage with psychic side effects, proposed after knowing each other for what—three days? Four? Time had lost meaning in this endless green world. By all rights, I should have backed away, asked for time, demanded more explanation.
Instead, I stepped closer, eliminating the last breath of space between us. “And that’s different from what’s already happening?” I placed my palm against his chest, feeling the thunderous beat of his heart. “I already dream with you. The jungle already thinks we’re a matched set. What’s one more step?”
His hand finally made contact with my cheek, the careful touch of those deadly claws against my skin sending shivers down my spine. “You would be bound to this world. To me. Forever.”
I turned my face to press my lips against his palm. “I know what I feel. And I know I trust you.”
