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Tarley cried out, and he captured her cry with his mouth, grunting as he moved inside her.

“I said to hold on,” he growled. “Hold the hedge.”

Tarley reached up and grabbed onto the branches. Lachlan held her hips, helping her ride him as he thrust into her again and again. She held onto him with her legs and panted as he rammed into her, reveling in the feeling of him filling her, at the sensations alive inside her like a coiling creature needing to break out, filling her to overflowing.

“I love to feel you inside me,” she gasped. “I love that we fight. I love that you listen to me. I love your smile.” Her words wouldn’t stop, panted out as Lachlan fucked her. “Your smile. I love this. Lachlan. Oh. Lachlan. I love you.”

And suddenly she understood what was most vital: love.

It wasn’t a sacrifice, it wasn’t weakness, because she loved him. Tarley’s heart pinched with the awareness, the acknowledgement taking her by surprise. She sucked in a breath as heat exploded from her chest to her extremities. A tingle twinged at her wrists, increasing in intensity before driving back through her body to her heart. And she came again, crying out.

He covered her sounds with his mouth on hers. A deep, guttural sound escaped him followed by a raspy, “Fuck, Tarley,” ground out through his teeth, still pumping into her until he panted against her lips, “I’m coming.” And with a final thrust, he grunted and shuddered against her, still holding her up against the hedge, gasping for breath as he did.

Tarley released her wobbly legs, Lachlan’s body easing from hers, and she held him while they both caught their breath.

“Tarley.” Lachlan lifted his head, and though she knew he couldn’t see her in the darkness inside the hedge, she pictured his eyes taking her in. “I love you,” he said, grabbing her face between his hands. “So fucking much.” He kissed her, only it was sweet and filled with something new.

Tarley’s heartbeat was loud in her ears as she threw her arms around him. “I was afraid…”

“I was too,” he admitted, kissing her neck. “But I’m not afraid anymore,” he said against her skin. “You make me brave.”

Her heart rate increased, echoing in her ears.

“What does this mean? We’re still getting married, right?”

“Now you don’t have a choice,” he growled and pressed his mouth to hers. “You’re mine, Tarley. Always and forever.”

She kissed him back, her heart thundering in her ears.

Suddenly Lachlan drew back, and though she couldn’t see his face, she watched his shadowed head tilt. “Do you hear that?”

The thundering echo of her heart echoed the galloping horse moving quickly down the road. With a flurry of movement, they righted themselves. Tarley smoothed her skirts and made sure her hair was in place as much as she could as Lachlan refastened his trousers, shoving his shirt into the waistband. They rushed from the hedge back toward the cottage as the rider dropped from the saddle.

“Mattias?” Tarley called out.

Her brother turned, just as the rest of the family burst from the cottage, golden light bursting out behind them. He looked different—older and more worldly somehow, as if he’d been touched by magic to make him… more.

“Mattias!” Scarlett moved through the bodies. “You’re home!” She rushed to him and wrapped him in a hug. “I was so worried. You must be hungry. There’s some dinner.”

“I can’t stay,” he said, even his voice deeper, though more strange than different. He searched each face, and when he saw Lachlan he stopped. “Trevis said you’d be here.”

“Did you get the message to her?” Tarley asked, referring to Princess Meera.

“Yes,” he replied, his eyes still stuck on Lachlan.

“Then what took so long?” Scarlett asked.

He turned to look at her. “I couldn’t leave her with them. They were already on their way to Sevens when I found her.”

“Where is she now?” Lachlan asked.

Mattias turned once more to Lachlan, his eyes narrow and hard—a look Tarley didn’t associate with her brother. “The Copper Pot. Only they’re not the only royals there. There’s a group from Jast,” he said, his eyes landing on Lachlan once more with accusation. “Including someone claiming to be Ollie Berkman.”

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Lachlan’s heart, already overflowing, threatened to burst. A group from Jast! They’d come!

Tarley’s fingers twined with his.