Epilogue #2
She slowly turned to Kedar. “You… I can’t believe…” There were no words for the gift he’d given her. She never thought she would see them again. By every faction law, she shouldn’t have, but he’d risked his life to bring them to her. All this time, and this is what he’d been working on.
“I cannot fix everything about that night,” he said, “but this, I could do.”
Vessa threw herself at him. He lifted her off her feet. The only words that she could find between the sobs were, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
When even that failed her, she pulled off his helmet and kissed him senseless. She would have gone on kissing him if he didn’t stop her when their lips were swollen.
“You are making this difficult, but I have something else to show you,” he murmured against her lips.
Kedar
His hearts were beating erratically as they stood in the center of his next surprise.
The walk through the jungle had been filled with questions about how he had found her parents.
He was careful not to mention that her father’s blade had been more like four inches into his chest, or that her mother cracked him over the head with a pan when he was dumb enough to say he “had” Vessa like he was holding her hostage.
At a specific bend on the new path he had cleared just two nights ago, Vessa let him blindfold her and guide her the rest of the way.
He’d built her parents home in the west, but Vessa favored the eastern side.
The jungle was denser in this direction, wilder.
Even the locals didn’t dare explore it. It was perfect for his vision for her. He could only hope that Vessa agreed.
“I will take this off you,” he murmured, and she shivered at his touch, “but keep your eyes closed for me.”
She nodded, and when he removed the silky material, she joked, “This must be a very good weapon.”
“The best I’ve ever made.” His stomach twisted as he stepped back. With her parents, that had been her moment alone, but he needed to see her face this time. Needed to be sure. “You can look now.”
Her fiery brown eyes took him in, then the surroundings—and the smile on her face froze.
“You deserve family, Vessa, and you deserve a fixed place that no one can take from you. I built this home for you. For us.” He’d spent months on it, setting after setting.
When Vessa fell asleep, he would leave to work into the night.
Every detail needed to be perfect. He’d flown furniture in from across the galaxy, curating each piece to her liking while leaving plenty enough space for her to decorate as she saw fit.
Tears brimmed but didn’t fall. Her watery gaze took in the high ceilings, the dark emerald walls the exact same color as her plasma dirk, the rich planks of the flooring. She bit her lip and shook her head.
A sharp pain went through his chest. Nevskol. Had he messed this up? Even Liv hadn’t been sure if she would want something like this. Maybe he should have asked her directly or—
“This is too much.” Her voice was thick with emotion. The salt of her tears was a heavy scent, but not the sad or angry kind. “You’ve done too much for me,” she choked out.
Relief flooded him. “This is nothing compared to what I owe you. To what you deserve. I know it doesn’t make up for what I made you suffer through, but—”
“You’re an idiot,” she said with a laugh.
She pressed her palm between his pecs. “I forgave you the moment you tackled me in this very jungle. Before that. When are you going to realize you are what I deserve? You’re the prize.
It is an honor to be loved by you. If I had nothing else but you, you would still be more than enough for me. ”
His mouth worked silently. He could feel the very fabric of himself healing with her words. It couldn’t be that simple, though. “That is not how redemption works. What I took from you can never be replaced.”
“But what you’ve given me… I rejected you, left you locked up in that awful ice cavern—with Vydera, may I remind you—and you still found your way back to me.
Put me together again. I did lose my faction, but I’ve gained so much more because I did.
My life would have been so different, and you wouldn’t have been in it.
I can’t stand the thought of that. You risked your life to find my parents and bring them here, and this…
” She marveled at the carved wooden designs and the sparkling glass pieces that caught in the sun.
“I know you did this all by yourself. I feel you in every bit of this. The details, though, it’s like you’ve seen my very soul, my every secret desire, and pulled them out of me. ”
Kedar felt a weight slide off his shoulders and roll from his chest. Eight cycles of carrying it and he hadn’t even realized how crushing it’d been. She had no idea the gift she’d just given him.
Vessa patted his abs affectionately. “Does the offer from the cave still stand?”
That he would do anything for her. “Yes. Always.” He was surprised to find his voice rough with emotion. By the stars, his mate knew just how to bring him to his knees.
“Then I order you to stop tormenting yourself and show me everything about our home. Afterwards, I’ll need a hard training session with you to get rid of all these feelings.”
“I can do that,” he murmured.
Vessa strode past him, and all he could do was admire the way she looked in this space.
In their home. His hearts ached at the sight.
A slanted beam of sunlight cut across her profile, intensifying her natural glow.
She ran her fingers delicately across a Seken-crafted stand and smelled the flowering plant potted in Minad soil he’d smuggled back after surviving her parents.
Even before that fateful night, he had hardly let himself dream of this with her.
A life. A full and glorious life with his mate.
“Are you coming?” she asked over her shoulder. Her hips swayed as she moved through their home, beckoning him to follow.
And he did. He always would.