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August 20 - August 22, 2025
“She doesn’t need to get better,” he snarled softly. “If she decides to break apart this whole ship to deal with what happened, I’ll help her. If she wants to kick your lying ass into the depths of the sea, I’ll take your legs. If she decides to rip the world to shreds for what it’s done to her, I’ll cheer her on. And if you were a true friend… you would as well.”
“Are you trying to get me undressed?” she taunted, ignoring the small voice in her mind warning her that she’d just decided not to agitate him more. A vein throbbed by his temple. “If I were, you’d already be splayed out on the sand beneath me, begging me to join you.”
“You can’t lose someone if you’ve never had them,”
“Trust me,” he whispered. “You are strong enough.”
“I’m merely stating facts.” Raine innocently rounded his eyes. “In fact, I know someone who will be very happy to see you, Merrick, so you won’t be able to babysit her for long.” There wasn’t anything human about the growl that burst through her.
The female wrapped her arms around Merrick’s neck, and Lessia dug her fingers into Ardow’s arm when a surge of rage roiled in her gut as she steadied herself.
She could almost hear his voice in her mind as she violently shook her head. You should rest.
She fought the frustration urging her to bite him again.
But that conviction—his conviction—seemed to flow freely between their linked hands, and as she drew a breath, she was able to get out a few more words.
A muffled cough made her whirl around, and her brows knitted when Merrick’s face drained of blood as he stared back at her.
“I’ll make an exception.”
“What did you say?” Merrick rasped against her mouth.
“It’s time to fucking burn, Lessia. If we’re taking on the threats of this world, you’ll need to be willing to burn it down. Love. Lose. Hate. Win. They all come together in the end. Use them to fuel that passion to make this wretched world a little better.”
If she didn’t know better… she might have thought it was Merrick’s emotions flowing through her, for how quickly they drove any lingering worry away.
You make me happy.
A corner of Merrick’s mouth lifted. And it felt as if her fall increased in speed. Someone cleared their throat. Merrick’s lips lifted even higher when she continued to stare at him, and her eyes dropped down to the fullness of them.
He’s been protecting you the entire time.
“Are you teaching her to flirt her enemies to death, or what is happening here?”
“You are brave and clever and wildly loyal. You have such fight in you—even after everything. And you love so fiercely… so boundlessly. Don’t let your past convince you that you aren’t worthy of it in return.”
“Maybe I need to train you to please me instead of piss me off.”
Cupping it, he brushed his thumb over her heated skin. “I see you, Elessia Rantzier. I see how you fight to live through each day. I see how you fight to better yourself—whether it’s through training or understanding of others. I see how you fight to love so freely and so deeply. I see how you fight for a world that’s only mistreated you, because you believe it’s the right thing to do.”
He already felt like… home.
An involuntary sound escaped her when the urge to merge their bodies—to merge their souls—overtook all other thoughts, and she struggled against the restraints with everything in her.
“You’re wrong, you know.”
“What am I wrong about?”
“Everything is ab...
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A deep breath rumbled through him as he lay his head atop hers, and that sense—that sense of home—came over her. Even in this small, dark, and terrifying place.
“You’re beautiful,” he declared quietly. “You’re always beautiful.”
“Time to burn,” he whispered.
No one could miss how he stared at you when you weren’t looking.
And when he leaned in and snarled “Merrick is your fucking mate,” she had to grip the chair not to let her knees give out.
“I don’t want you because of the stupid bond!” she screamed. “I want you because you make me feel alive! Because you believe in me when I don’t believe in myself. Because you try to make dumb jokes to make me happy. Because you make me fires to keep the darkness at bay. Because you hide your smile when I’ve made you proud in training. Because when I fucking stab you, you lecture me about missing your heart!” She shoved him back again. “You knew there was something deeper, something even stronger, pulling us together! And you fucking reject me when I kiss you! What is wrong with you!”
From claiming your fucking perfect lips and ripping those damned leathers off, making you scream from something other than frustration?”
“Fuck it”
“Do you want me to tell you no one—mate or not—has loved anyone the way I love you? That I would laugh as the world fell apart as long as you stood by my side? That even if I could only have one fucking night—one night pretending you’re mine—I’d take it?”
“I love you,” she breathed back when she came up for air, the heat within her becoming almost unbearable as it rushed through her blood. “And one night is not nearly enough. I told you. I want everything. I want to be your fucking mate, and I don’t know the right words, but I accept our bond—I welcome it—I’m proud of it.”
“I promise never to deny you anything.”
she swore she saw stars when Merrick purred “Good girl”
Merrick’s snarls grew louder, possessiveness sneaking into the primal sound, and it was Lessia’s turn to bite back a smile. They’d nearly not been able to leave the room when she’d refused to wash up, declaring that she planned to ensure his scent always cloaked her from now on.
“Not letting me?” she repeated slowly, the crimson hue dancing before her eyes. “You just fucked up, regent.” Merrick threw his head back. “I do not decide what she does or doesn’t do. She is her own person, and she makes her own decisions. While I am hers and she is most definitely mine…” He emphasized the last word by sending a death glare Loche’s way. “I do not own her. No one owns her.”
“I’ll let you do anything you want.” Merrick blinked. Then he claimed her lips with a fierce urgency that drove any lingering wistfulness from her mind.
“Mine. You’re. Fucking. Mine.”
