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Also, she made a choice, with her parent’s blessing, to explore her growing relationship with one sensual-as-fokkRider, now the love of her life.

Weeping blurred Issa’s vision as she embraced her mother one last time, Raquel’s arms tightening with a fierceness that spoke of her unrelenting affection.

Iyanda hugged her next, whispering, while Safiyya clung to her waist, muttering a furious farewell between tears.

Following came her father, Zephyr, the once-mighty Ssigis warrior, now a man reborn.

He held her, forehead pressed to hers, his quivering hand cupping the back of her head as though anchoring her to this life.

‘Until we see each other again, my loves,’ she whispered, voice cracking as they pulled apart. ‘I promise it won’t be long. A few weeks max.’

Ki’Remi stood nearby, respectfully quiet, til she dashed away toward him, wiping moisture from her eyes.

He let her melt into him as he slid a hand around her waist.

He led her into the Alatyr while the family gathered to wave from the fields below.

The stealth gunship lifted in a silent shimmer of light, and Issa pressed her hand to the window as Dunia receded beneath them, lush, green, and tender.

Her heart ached with every mile as they ascended into the velvet sprawl of stars.

Much later, as the Alatyr soared toward Eden II, Issa curled into the warmth of Ki’Remi’s embrace.

The ship’s engines were a distant murmur against the slow, languid exploration of his mouth over hers.

The kiss was deep and unhurried, like the languid pull of celestial tides.

His hand gripped her neck as if he never wanted to let go.

She melted into him, her fingers outlining absentminded patterns over the ridges of his metanoid tattoos, tracing the pulse of his life beneath her touch.

Between kisses and breathless sighs, he rasped, ‘Move in with me.’

Issa stilled, pulling back, blinking at him. ‘What?’

Ki’Remi’s lips twitched, his voice warm with amusement. ‘You heard me, Elaris.’

She arched a brow, tilting her head as if studying him. ‘I did. The problem is that it sounded suspiciously like a command.’

His deep chuckle rumbled through her. ‘What, so you don’t want to?’

Issa huffed out a breath, shaking her head in mock exasperation. ‘Perhaps if you asked nicely.’

‘Please,’ he growled into her neck, nipping the sensitive skin of her ear lobe, melting her defenses.

Secretly, she hated her tiny studio apartment and was glad to be done with it.

She didn’t miss the ostentatiousness of the grand palaces in the heavens she and her family had once inhabited.

That said, her furnished bedsit on Eden II, with its former motel glory, was dismal. She was more than happy to envision the end of her time in it.

Also, living with her dream man was the ultimate icing on the sweetness of life.

‘I’ll bring a suitcase.’

‘One valise?’ His brows lifted. ‘That’s it?’

She grinned, leaning in to whisper against his lips, ‘Maybe two.’