31. Naeris
The kiss was tender and beautiful. But I still wasn’t entirely convinced Thyros' palace was real. Even standing inside his private chambers, I kept expecting the entire thing to dissolve into some elaborate illusion created by cosmic exhaustion and severe emotional trauma.
Because no one should live like this.
The palace itself looked like something ancient gods would build after deciding ordinary luxury was beneath them. Black crystal towers taller than mountains. Floating gardens. Actual indoor forests. Waterfalls that flowed upward because apparently gravity simply obeyed Thyros when it suited him.
And the stars. Stars everywhere. The entire place felt less like a home and more like someone had trapped pieces of the cosmos inside the architecture. Which, honestly, knowing Thyros, was probably exactly what happened.
But this room? That was something else.
His chambers alone were larger than most buildings I had lived in or spaceships I had traveled on.
Silver light drifted softly across dark obsidian walls while galaxies shimmered beyond transparent crystal windows.
Ancient weapons lined the shelves beside impossibly beautiful artifacts that probably belonged in museums or heavily guarded vaults.
And then there was the bed. I was still staring at the monstrous thing in disbelief. It wasn’t a bed. It was a continent disguised as furniture. “You could house an army on that thing,” I informed him.
Thyros looked entirely unrepentant. “I had plans.”
I snorted softly. “Clearly.”
His amber eyes darkened slowly as he watched me.
The teasing warmth between us shifted instantly into something heavier.
Hotter. The air itself seemed to tighten.
And suddenly, I couldn’t remember what I had been saying anymore.
Because his head bent lower. Slowly. Purposefully.
The look in his eyes unraveled every coherent thought left inside my head.
My pulse stumbled hard. He stopped only inches from my mouth, close enough that the warmth of his breath teased my skin immediately.
“You’re staring again,” he murmured softly.
“I’m trying to process the fact that you apparently live inside a celestial fever dream.”
A low laugh rumbled from his chest. Then his hand slid gently against my jaw. Every thought vanished. Just gone. The bond between us surged warmly the instant he touched me, wrapping around my ribs with aching familiarity. Like home. Like gravity.
His gaze searched mine slowly, lingering with devastating tenderness.
“You’re tired,” he murmured.
“So are you.”
“Mm.”
Neither of us moved. I could feel everything between us now without barriers. His relief that I was alive. His lingering terror of almost losing me. His endless, overwhelming devotion. And beneath it all: love.
So much love it almost frightened me with its intensity. His thumb brushed softly across my cheek.
“You’re thinking too hard again.”
“I just watched ancient gods reunite and destroy a cosmic horror through the power of tragic soulmate devotion,” I pointed out weakly. “I think I’ve earned some overthinking.” That earned me the smallest smile.
Then he kissed me again. And I forgot the palace. Forgot the stars. Forgot the war. Forgot literally everything except the feeling of his mouth against mine. The kiss was devastatingly gentle. No battle hunger. No desperation.
Just warmth and reverence and the unbearable tenderness of two people who knew exactly how close they had come to losing each other forever.
My fingers slid into his golden hair automatically as I melted against him with a soft sound I barely recognized as my own. Thyros made a rough noise deep in his throat and pulled me closer instantly, one arm wrapping tightly around my waist.
Mine.
The word brushed warmly through the bond. I kissed him harder in answer. I was beginning to think I would spend the rest of my life trying to find new ways to show this male how completely he owned my heart.
His hands moved with agonizing slowness, tracing the curve of my spine, learning the shape of me all over again as if I were something precious and breakable. I shivered when his palms found the bare skin beneath my battle-worn shirt; his touch was electric against my flesh.
"Naeris," he murmured against my mouth, my name sounded like a prayer on his tongue. "My Naeris. Let me take care of you."
The bond between us pulsed with warmth, golden light threading through the starmap that connected our souls.
I felt his need—hot and urgent—but beneath it, a deeper current of devotion that made my chest ache.
He laid me down on the smooth surface of the large bed, his golden hair fell forward as he braced himself above me.
His eyes swept over my face, drinking in every detail with reverence.
"I need to feel you," I whispered, tugging at the fastenings of his uniform. "All of you."
Thyros obliged, shrugging off the garment before his hands returned to me, working the ruined fabric of my own clothing aside until nothing separated us. The cool air kissed my heated skin, but his warmth followed quickly, his body settled against mine with a weight that felt like coming home.
His mouth traced a path down my throat, my collarbone, lower still. I arched beneath him, and soft sounds escaped my lips as he worshipped every inch of me with lips and tongue. When his mouth found my breasts, I cried out, my back bowing off the mattress.
"I've got you," he promised. "Let go, my love. I've got you."
His hand slid between my thighs, and I spread them willingly, shamelessly, needing his touch more than I needed air. His fingers found my pussy, slick and aching, and he groaned against my breast.
"So wet for me already," he breathed, and through the bond I felt his wonder, hunger, and fierce tenderness.
"I want to take my time with you, but you feel so good."
"Thyros, please?—"
He kissed me again, swallowing my plea as his fingers began to move, stroking my folds with infinite care. He found my clit and circled it slowly, maddeningly, while his thumb pressed against my entrance but didn't push inside.
"Tell me what you need," he commanded gently, his forehead pressed to mine. "Tell me everything."
"You," I gasped, my hips rolling against his hand. "Your fingers inside me. Your cock. I need—I need?—"
He pushed one finger into my pussy, and I moaned at the stretch, at the intimacy of being filled by him even this much. A second finger joined the first, and he began to fuck me slowly with his hand, his thumb continuing its devastating rhythm on my clit.
"Like this?" he wanted to know, though he already knew the answer.
I felt his satisfaction ripple through the bond, his male pride at how my body responded to him.
"More," I begged. "I need more. I need you."
He withdrew his fingers, and I whimpered at the loss. But then the thick head of his cock pressed against my entrance, and I forgot everything except the slow, inexorable push of him inside me.
We both groaned as he filled me completely, his large cock sheathed all the way. He held still, letting me adjust, letting me feel every inch of him buried in my pussy.
I felt him fighting for control, his need to move warring with his determination to make this last.
"You feel incredible," he rasped. "So tight. So perfect. Made for me." "Move," I pleaded. "Please, Thyros. I need you to move."
He withdrew slowly, dragging against every sensitive spot inside me, before sliding home again with equal deliberation. Each thrust was a declaration, a promise, an act of worship. His pace remained unhurried, though I felt the tension coiling in his muscles, the effort it cost him to hold back.
His hand found my clit again, and I shattered. The orgasm crashed through me without warning, my pussy clenched around his cock as I cried his name. He held me through it, whispering endearments against my hair, his hips never ceasing their gentle rhythm.
"That's it," he crooned. "So beautiful when you come for me. One more, my love. Give me one more."
"I can't?—"
"You can," he insisted, his thumb pressed just a bit harder against my oversensitive clit.
"For me. Let go again." His pace increased slightly, his cock hitting deeper with each thrust. The pleasure built again, impossibly fast, my body was still trembling from the first orgasm as the second approached.
"Come with me this time," I gasped, clutching his shoulders. "I want to feel you come inside me."
His control finally broke. He drove into me harder, faster, chasing our shared release.
The bond blazed between us, golden light consumed us both as I felt his orgasm trigger my own, his hot seed filled me as I clenched around him, milking every drop.
We collapsed together, a tangle of limbs and racing hearts.
His arms wrapped around me immediately, pulling me against his chest with fierce protectiveness.
"I love you," he murmured into my hair, in a deep, thick voice. "My Naeris. My Aelyth. I love you beyond the stars themselves."
I pressed closer, listening to his heartbeat gradually slow. Through the bond, I felt his devotion washing over me, warm and golden and endless.
"Stay inside me," I whispered. "Just a little longer."
His arms tightened. "As long as you need. I'm not going anywhere."
I lay utterly spent beneath him, warmth flooded through every part of me. My body trembled with small, uncontrollable aftershocks, and my pussy still fluttered around his softening cock. I couldn't move. I didn't even want to.
Every muscle had turned to liquid, every thought dissolved into golden haze. Thyros held me close, his weight settled more fully against me as he sensed my complete surrender. His lips brushed my temple, my cheek, the corner of my mouth, soft, worshipful kisses that made my chest ache.
"My beautiful Naeris," he murmured against my skin. His voice poured through the bond, warm honey and starlight, soothing the last frantic beats of my heart.
I felt his satisfaction, his fierce tenderness, the overwhelming love he'd been holding back through every moment of the war.
Tears slipped from my eyes before I could stop them.
They weren't sad tears. They weren't tears of pain or fear.
They came from somewhere deeper, a well of emotion I'd been carrying for so long I'd forgotten its weight.
The relief of survival. The joy of finally, finally being exactly where I was meant to be.
"Shh," Thyros whispered, his thumb catching a tear as it rolled toward my temple. "I've got you. I'm here."
"I know," I managed, while sobs cracked my voice. I'd never been a crier in my life, but with him, I could finally let loose the last of my defensive walls and be me. "I know, and I can't—I can't believe?—"
He shifted, rolling us until I lay cradled against his chest, my head tucked beneath his chin. His heartbeat thudded steady and strong beneath my ear. His hand stroked my back in long, slow sweeps, tracing calming patterns on my sweat-dampened skin.
"Believe it," he said softly. "You're mine. My bonded. My heart. Nothing will ever separate us again."
The bond pulsed between us, weaving us even tighter together, stronger.
I felt him through it completely, his devotion, his fierce protectiveness, the way his soul seemed to wrap around mine and hold on tight.
I cried harder. Soft, helpless sobs that shook my shoulders and wet his chest. He didn't try to stop them.
He simply held me, while his fingers continued their gentle path up and down my spine, his lips pressed occasional kisses to my hair.
"Let it out," he coaxed. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
His cock slipped from my pussy, leaving me feeling strangely bereft. And yet as I felt our combined release trickle down my thigh, I couldn't help a satisfied moan.
He reached for something soft—a cloth, maybe—and cleaned me with exquisite care. The gesture was so intimate, so tender, that fresh tears spilled over.
"Thyros—" "Hush." His palm cupped my face, tilting my head back until our eyes met. Golden warmth stared back at me, fierce and gentle all at once.
"You don't have to say anything. You don't have to be strong right now. Just let me love you."
A broken sound escaped my throat. I pressed my face against his chest again, clutching at his shoulders as if he might disappear.
As if this were another dream I'd wake from alone.
But he was solid. Real. His arms tightened around me, his body was warm and present, and his heart beat steadily beneath my palm.
"I don't know what's wrong with me," I tried to laugh, but I sounded more like a drowning animal.
"I love you," I whispered. "Beyond the stars. Beyond the war. Beyond everything."
Never in my life had I thought I would ever feel this way or have those feelings returned to me. I always thought I would die during a battle, and I was fine with it. Until I met this impossible man. He had turned everything I believed in upside down and me inside out.
His smile was devastating. Soft and genuine and so full of emotion that it stole my breath. "And I love you."
He kissed me again, slow, deep, thorough. Not a kiss of passion, but of promise. Of forever. His tongue swept through my mouth with reverent tenderness, tasting every corner as if memorizing me. I melted against him completely, every last tension draining from my body.
My limbs felt heavy. My mind drifted in golden haze. Safe. Cherished. Complete. His hands never stopped moving, tracing my spine, brushing my hip, tangling in my hair. Constant, grounding touches that reminded me I wasn't alone. Would never be alone again.
"Rest now," he murmured against my lips. "I'll watch over you."
"Don't let go," I whispered.
"Never." His arms tightened around me, his body warm and solid beneath my cheek. The bond glowed steady and bright between us, two souls finally woven together as destiny intended. I closed my eyes and let myself drift, held safe in the arms of the male who owned my heart.