“I thought you were only a dream, but I took that new chance on life, and decided not to trust anyone again. How could I when everyone was out to get each other in that godforsaken place? Every day I’d hear how my mother gave up on me, how I deserved the shit I got. I was done trying to make friends. Instead, I decided to become the biggest fucking menace that school ever saw. I ran away several times, I took the punishments, the detentions, the shitty food, just to get that glimpse of freedom, and the feeling that I could do something ofmychoosing.”
Kyran strokes my face, swallows, and his tight lips twitch. “I know you’re only here because you did end up in the River of Souls, but I would have never known you if I reached for a different hand. It feels like a weight on my chest. And it makes me feel guilty that I didn’t even ask you why you ended up there. That I didn’t let you stay in my world right then and there. I’m sorry. I understand what it's like to be trapped.”
I shrug, even though tears keep streaming down my face as if to make up for the years when I’d stopped crying altogether. “You saved my life. What I did with that life later was my own responsibility. Made me who I am now. No one can turn back time. Eventually, I managed to get myself kicked out of the damn place. I’m pretty proud of that, even if I did play dirty. I earned my freedom, and my mother had to deal with that.”
“You don’t need her anymore. You don’t need any of them,” Kyran says with a kiss to my forehead. It feels warm, like a blessing that actually works, and I slide my arms around his neck, seeking comfort in his beautiful promises.
“And until you, I thought I didn’t needanyone. That it was safest to be alone, so I kept people at a distance. If they weren’t close, they couldn’t hurt me. Then you barged into my life, took me to your Realm, threatened my freedom, all while making me fall for you, and I’m a mess, always looking where the trick is, ready for betrayal, ready to be trapped again. You of all people know how terrible it is to lose your freedom, so please understand why I’m terrified. Iwantto trust you. I just don’t know how to take that last step. So I thought that if I talked to Carol, she could tell me that being a Dark Companion isn’t so bad.”
There. I’ve bared my soul. Lost every asset I had in this game by revealing my feelings. The rest lies in his hands. And I hope he won’t use them to crush my heart.
Kyran hums, then slides his thumb across my cheeks, wiping away tears. “And if you did talk to her, maybe you would have convinced yourself someone set her up to lie to you.” He sounds defeated, but he doesn’t pull away and instead presses his forehead to mine in a gesture that has my soul throbbing with happiness. “I want you to feel safe with me. I want to give you a life worth living, not keep you imprisoned.”
I take deep breaths, trying to calm down as I slide my hands over his back. His body on mine is such a comfort. “It’s just… hard, when you have all this power, this place in the shadowild, your position at court, and I’m just a human keeping one secret of yours.”
“It isn’tjusta secret. You’re holding my life in your hands, and I trust you with it.”
I look into his smoky eyes, still rattled by what I’ve shared, as I slowly take in what he’s saying. All this time, I’ve been unable to trust him fully, when he’s already made that choice with me. And itisa choice. Because there is never certainty in giving your heart to another. You have to trust that they don’t crush it. And that feels like the hardest choice I’ve ever had to make.
“Will you take care of me?” I whisper. “Do you promise?”
Kyran’s eyes hide whole galaxies, and each star within them promises a safe haven. He takes my hands, kisses them both, and pulls them to his face, as if I’m the prince, and he—my humble servant. “For as long as I breathe.”
I might be about to make the biggest mistake of my life but choose to shed all doubts andsuspicions.
Ichooseto trust him with my whole being.
I lean in to kiss his soft lips. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”
Kyran pulls himself up, straddling my body, and his soft hair tickles my cheek with a promise of more to come. “Don’t apologize. I was patient for too many years, but I could wait some more, for you.”
I run my hands up his thighs, pondering this newfound freedom. It’s as if my heart was squeezed in a container far too small, and now it can finally expand. I’m allowing myself tofeel, and it’s taking my breath away.
This amazing man, an elven prince, wants me.
“You don’t have to wait. I’m yours.”
He shivers in my arms, and then lowers himself on top of me, kissing first my forehead, then my lips. And for the first time, I let myself believe that nothing about his loving care is an act. Maybe I don’t have to do everything myself. Maybe I can let someone carry half of the weight.
Kyran’s whisper teases my ear. “You’re the one person who makes me feel real. As If I’m not just someone else’s shadow but a man like any other. Blood, flesh, and bone.”
My fingers drift to the buttons at the front of his elegant riding jacket. “Let me see all that flesh then,” I whisper with a growing smile despite my cheeks being still wet from tears. I want to—no, Ineedto feel him close. The emotional barrier that separated us for so long is no longer there, and I can’t wait to find out what it’s like to be naked with him now that my heart is free.
His eyes glint with anticipation, and while I’ve seen the same expression on so many faces before, none of the men I’ve been with was ever so hungry for me, notmespecifically. I might be Kyran’s first, but his devotion, his absolute inability to stay away from me make me believe that he wouldn’t have been like this with just anyone. That maybe he and I really have been brought together by fate. That maybe we do belong together in ways I could have never anticipated.
One thing is for certain—if this is a dream, I want it to keep going forever.
“See me,” Kyran begs, taking my hand and sliding it between the folds of his shirt.
My breath hitches when my fingers reach his pec. I love how he towers over me, how he can turn me into a blabbering mess, and how I can’t get enough of him.
And I do feel safe with him. Safe enough to let go of inhibitions, to be unafraid of his shadowy lair, and to trust him with my body, soul, and shadow.
“Very real…” I purr, sliding my fingers up his hard stomach. This man is made of pure fucking muscle. So strong he can easily carry me, pin me down, and protect me as well.
The shadow bed stirs under us, as if it’s full of tiny bubbles, and Kyran’s eyes darken, his irises spilling over and coloring the whites around them black. The strange effect is gone when he blinks before sliding his knee between my thighs and cradling my head with one arm. “I can already see you in the red moonlight, ready to be mine forever.”
It’s silly. I never imagined I’d want to get married, but with Kyran? As soon as he mentions it, I melt, dreaming of long, happy years together. Vowing in front of the whole Nocturne Court that I am Kyran’s.
