Chapter 47
Azur
G emma finally pulled away from my chest, her eyes shining up at me. I felt the tight band in my chest loosen at the sight of her. I’d been worried. I still was. But she was in my arms. I was here, in the Collis.
I would make every drawn line around her eyes and mouth, the furrow between her brows smooth away. It was my duty. As her mate. As her husband.
“Come in,” she rasped, tugging me forward. “Come in.”
I hadn’t truly known what to expect in greeting from her, given that some of her last words to me had been that she didn’t feel like my wife, that she’d thought distance between us would be good.
But I was done waiting. I’d felt the strain of the distance, the lack of her presence on Krynn, the emptiness in my bed, and it had taken all of a few moments to decide that I wanted her. I needed her. She was my wife, regardless of how she’d come to be my wife, and I was bound to her. We were bound. Always. Bound by blood.
Judging from Gemma’s reaction at seeing me on her doorstep, I was optimistic that she felt the same way. Hopeful, even. And hope was not a sensation that regularly sang through my veins.
“Azur, these are my sisters,” Gemma said, wiping at her cheeks. By the looks on the two human females’ faces, I wondered if they’d ever seen Gemma cry. “Mira and Piper.”
I inclined my head to them as they looked at me with wide eyes. They’d never seen a Kylorr before, at least in person, since I knew they’d spoken often with Gemma in the mornings through the Halo orb. They must’ve seen Ludayn, though females of our species were much, much smaller than males.
The golden-haired sister—Mira—looked on with shock, her eyes running up my bulk and height. I couldn’t help but think that her eyes would pop out of her skull if she saw me sated on her elder sister’s blood. The other—Piper—studied me with solemn observation, though it was her that stretched her hand out to me first, stepping forward.
“Welcome,” she said softly. “Though I’m sorry to be meeting you for the first time under these circumstances. In this place.”
The home of my enemy. The home of the man who had killed Aina.
Yet also where my wife had lived. She’d been happy here once, hadn’t she?
I took her hand in the way I’d seen Gemma do with other humans throughout Laras, giving it a firm pump.
“Hello,” Mira said quietly, meeting my eyes before they darted away as she took my grip next.
“And this is Fran,” Gemma said, moving me forward to the last remaining human female in the room. A human with freckles across her nose and wide hazel eyes. “My dear friend.”
Gemma had told me about Fran, who was like another sister to her. I nodded at her, taking her hand when she stretched it out.
“And Sorj,” Gemma finished. “Mira’s friend, who has been much help to us since…since…”
Since her father’s arrest, I knew.
I locked eyes with the Killup male, whose own narrowed on me with mistrust. Grunting, I inclined my head to him. The Killup and the Kylorr didn’t have the best relationship. An ancient battle, long ago, and the old pains of that had never been mended, though we both pledged our loyalties to the Uranian Federation.
Then I wrapped my arm around Gemma’s waist, pulling her more firmly into my side, flaring my wings out to tuck her close. Her hand grasped my wrist, curling over my metal gauntlet. I didn’t want to be parted from her. Not even for a second.
“I am honored to finally meet all of you,” I said quietly. My eyes came to Piper’s. “But yes, I do wish it were under better circumstances.”
“Did you…did you go to Pe’ji?” Gemma asked quietly, capturing my attention again. “Did you find her?”
“Kaldur is landing there soon with another excavation team set to arrive on the planet for the search,” I told her, unable to express the emotion that had risen in me when I’d first received her message. Rye Hara and his unit had buried Aina, after all. She’d always been on Pe’ji and so close to town. “Kythel and Kalia stayed behind to look after Laras. My other brothers returned to their territories but are waiting for news.”
She nodded. “Good. Good—I hope they find her. I know they will.”
My hand squeezed into her hip. Our eyes held. So much to discuss. So much to do until we might have a semblance of peace again. But I wanted to savor this moment. A simple moment of looking into my wife’s eyes and knowing that we were together again, after nearly two weeks apart.
Piper cleared her throat. “There’s nothing more to be done tonight. How about we all try to get some sleep? We can talk more in the morning,” she said, meeting my eyes with a small nod. She wanted to give Gemma time with me, I realized, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.
“Good idea,” Fran chimed. Mira pulled Sorj away by the hand. Piper trailed behind them, heading deeper into the house. “Gemma?”
My wife looked to Fran.
“You need anything?”
She shook her head and then leaned against me. “No. Get some rest, Fran. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Fran sent her a small, knowing smile. The human female’s eyes flitted to mine. She nodded to me. Then she turned and followed the sisters and Sorj down the foyer and up the dark staircase.
I looked around the home for the first time. The home Gemma had lived in before coming to Krynn. The home of Rye Hara.
I could see how it once would have been a beautiful home. The architecture was grand, with sweeping ceilings and intricate moldings. The bones were good. But then I saw the cracks. It felt empty. Furniture missing…or sold, perhaps. Cobwebs cowered in the high corners and dust pooled on the surfaces I could see.
An estate this size would need at least six or seven regular keepers to maintain it. According to Gemma…they’d had Fran, the poor female.
When we were alone, Gemma turned into me and I took my eyes away from a stain on the wall next to us. She buried her face into my chest and I held her tight.
“How are you?” I murmured down to her. “And don’t lie to me.”
I felt her lips quirk up, though I couldn’t see her tired smile.
“It’s been hell,” she told me, making a brief growl rise from my throat. She lifted her head and tilted her neck back so that her chin was resting in the middle of my chest. “But then I saw you and I knew that I was through the worst of it.”
Her words made my wings want to puff out and flurry. But I tamped down the instinct. Instead, I leaned down and took her tempting lips in a soft kiss, which she seemed to savor like I was.
“I’ve missed you,” she sighed into the kiss. “I wanted to tell you that. When I sent the message. But I…I didn’t know if I should.”
I pulled back, my brows drawing together. “Never doubt yourself with me, laraya . You never need to.”
“This is when you say you’ve missed me too,” she whispered, her eyes going soft. Warm and sweet.
I growled. “I’ve missed you so damn much, Gemma.” Was that relief I saw in her gaze? Like she hadn’t been certain that I had? “Did you find your answer? Because I know mine.”
“My answer?” she asked softly.
“You thought distance between us would bring you clarity,” I reminded her. Her lips parted in realization. “You said our marriage felt wrong to you. But I knew in that moment that even with all the mistakes I made when it came to you, even with the way our marriage began, I do not regret making you my mine. We were fated from the very beginning, for reasons I will likely never understand. But I don’t need to understand to know that it’s you . That it will always been you.”
Wonderment entered her eyes.
“And whenever you wish to return to Krynn,” I said, my voice gruff, “I’ll have our Nulaxy marriage contract nullified.”
“ What? ” she breathed, panic entering her gaze. “No, Azur, that’s—”
“So that I can marry you again,” I told her, making her breath hitch in her throat. “And we can begin again so that you will always know that I want to marry you because…because you are my heart, Gemma. My heart’s blood. My laraya . Not for any other reason.”
“Azur,” she whispered, her eyes going glassy again.
My lips quirked up in a wry smile. “I didn’t plan on discussing this with you in the entrance hall of this home, Gemma, right when I stepped through the door, but you always have a way of scrambling my mind until I can’t think properly.”
She smiled at me. She liked that, the maddening little female.
“And in case it wasn’t clear, that was a proposal,” I pointed out to her gruffly, knowing I was making a mess of this. But I knew that Gemma wouldn’t mind. In fact, I thought it would be what she preferred. To have me tongue-tied with a muddled brain and crazy for her. “I want to marry you, kyrana . I want to be with you until our souls enter Alara. The after realm. Together. Forever. I knew the moment that you said you wanted to leave Krynn that I never wanted to be without you again.”
And I still let you go, I added silently. Because it was what she’d wanted.
Gemma stared at me.
“You don’t have to answer me now. In fact, I think—”
Her lips were on mine, muffling my words, her hand firm on the back of my neck, pulling me down as she went to her tiptoes. I sighed against her, relief and joy spilling in my soul. I cradled her close, our kiss sweet enough that it made my fangs ache.
“Yes,” she whispered, gasping into my mouth. She smiled. “Yes, Azur, I’ll marry you again.”
“Good,” I growled.
“I missed you as soon as I left,” she informed me. “And I’ve missed you every day since. I thought I was doing the right thing. Stepping away for clarity, to see if we could move on from the past when it’s still so painful.”
I sobered. I ran my hand down her spine and then up again, before I curled my hand in her thick, black hair.
“I want to marry you,” she said. “But we are married now too. You are my husband. And you have been since Nulaxy. My mate. I’m sorry for doubting that.”
“Don’t apologize for that,” I told her.
“Thank you for coming,” she said, reaching up to cup my face. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
She looked tired. Her eyes were bloodshot. She’d had to be strong for her sisters, I knew. But I wanted her to be able to depend on me. I didn’t want her to feel like she had to put on a brave face for me.
“Oh,” she said, her eyes trailing to my lips. “Are you…are you hungry? You must be. Unless…unless you’ve fed from…”
“ Never, ” I growled, my brow furrowing. “Only you, kyrana .”
Her shoulders relaxed. “I’ve been gone almost two weeks. I wouldn’t have blamed you for needing to feed.”
“We have synthetic blood rations for situations like this,” I informed her. “The mere thought of drinking from anyone else left me sick. I didn’t want to. I don’t even think I physically could. I only want you.”
She liked that. My possessive little mate. Seeing that little flare of satisfaction light up her eyes made a growl rise in my throat.
Her lips parted. We were close. Incredibly close. I could smell her. I could hear her blood begin to rush under her skin.
Gemma seemed to realize it too.
“Come,” she beckoned, with a small knowing smile, tugging on my arm. “I want to be alone with you.”