Epilogue
Leena
B ratan held me as the steam rose around us. His fingers slid down my bare, misty back, our bodies entangled beneath the warm water of the spring. My arms were permanently hooked around him as we kissed. We’d spent the last three nights here, celebrating the fresh start we finally had now that Melora was gone, and my former people enthusiastically decided to find a new place to settle far from our forest. There were still things to do, such as convince my grandmother that life here would be far better than she could imagine. But for now, I at least knew she was safe and that things would be okay. While my grandmother pondered my offer, she was in a cottage just outside our realm, with Theodora keeping her company and helping her with anything she may need.
“I’ll never get tired of tasting you.” Bratan’s voice was low and masculine as he spoke against my lips. It had been too long since we’d been intimate together, but it was almost incomprehensible that we were now safe and that there were no more threats lurking around the corner. We made love as soon as we physically could the night after everything happened, and now, as he lifted me out of the water and sprawled me onto the slick stones beside the hot pool, I knew he would take me again. Each time was better than the last. At least some of that had to be from our growing adoration and our inhibitions flying further out the window.
I rolled onto my stomach, letting him kiss up my spine as I relaxed on the warm stones. That didn’t last long, though, but I welcomed the change as Bratan flipped me over and crawled over me. His gaze was sultry and primal, riveting me where I lay. He bared his teeth, and my body thrummed with desire. A growl vibrated low in his throat as he slid above me. His hand found the base of my skull, and he tugged on my hair until I arched toward him.
He seized the back of my thigh, gripping hard as he pressed me tight against him. A sound escaped me as his rough hand slid down my leg, grabbing it and throwing it around his waist until my heel rested upon his back. The heat between our bodies beat like a drum. His tongue caressed my neck as the curves of my body molded into his. I moaned as his fingers zig-zagged in frenzied patterns down my body. Then he firmly gripped my neck, and my eyes rolled back. He knew how much I loved this little game we played. He twisted my hair and pulled my head to the side so he could bite near my throat.
It didn’t hurt. He was masterful at the art of perfectly fulfilling my desires, being the precise amount of beastly and soft. I loved succumbing to him, and even more than that, I loved that I could trust that when he was savage, I was safe. Everything he did was what I wanted. I was his queen.
His hand slid to my throat, easing softly and lingering there, turning me liquid from the unspoken danger I could just barely taste. His arm flexed, outstretched, as he kissed down my body. His muscles tensed and released with every motion. I felt every flicker. Slowly, his fingers found their destination, and I let out a sound as I breathed his name, my toes curling. The sensation was almost unbearably wonderful. So deeply delicious.
My blood was molten, and somehow, I felt color. Crimson flashed beneath my eyelids, and a flower of gold bloomed in the center. I lifted my hands to his face, my fingers rushing to his scalp and curling into his hair. I could almost taste this dizzying feeling. My nails scraped up his back, our bodies moving like ebbing waves. His mouth caught mine, and I devoured its velvet touch as he claimed me—as we made the most passionate love we ever had. He let out growls, snapping at me as my head fell back. I moaned at the sudden bite he sunk into my wrist and the hot kisses he left all over my skin. He knew exactly how to fulfill my every desire.
Our passion rose, building and reaching for the sky; he leaned back so he could see the pleasure in my eyes, which only increased the intensity of the roaring bloom spiraling inside me once more. He fell on me as everything exploded in heat and light, thunder and stars, and it took us longer than usual to catch our breath.
“I’d have assumed immortals like us could handle such a task without becoming so breathless,” I laughed. My arm fell across my forehead, and I couldn’t stop smiling. He moved to my side and tucked me against him.
“I don’t think any mortal could recreate what we just did.” His eyes followed the trail his finger made as it slid down the bridge of my nose.
“That’s true.” I giggled at the sentiment, then studied the gentleness in his gaze and the unguarded softness of his countenance. “Bratan?”
“Hm?” His green eyes dreamily roamed to mine, then went back to the trail his finger was mapping down my body, from my chin to my throat and below.
“I never want to lose this.”
His finger stopped. “Lose what?”
“This passion between us. We’ll be together for centuries—hopefully longer. I’m afraid we’ll lose it somehow…that you’ll get bored of me.”
“Leena.” He cupped the side of my face. “Do you really see our passion waning? Do you see how much I want you? What I’d do for you? I could never get bored of you. And our souls are mated.” He buried his fingers in the thickness of my hair, drawing me closer. “Nothing could make me do anything but love you, and so long as the two of us are living, nothing can tear us apart. Our fate is ours. My fate is you. I belong to you, little dove. I’ll never stop loving you, and I’ll never stop wanting you.” He sealed the promise with a kiss, sweet and undemanding. “You are everything to me.”
“I love you, Bratan.” I leaned up for another desperate caress. “I’m so happy that you’re the one my soul chose at the beginning of everything.”
“I love you, too, little dove, and so am I.” He smiled quietly against my lips. “From the beginning to the end, and every day in between, I’ll always choose you.”