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She tilted her head and searched his face before reaching into her Sacran heart for the right words. ‘Naam, Ki’Remi Sable, Healer of the Broken, Guardian of the Sacred Pulse, Son of the Ancients. Also, the Storm-Handed Surgeon, Keeper of the Forgotten Ways, The Blade, and the Balm. Last but not least, Witchlord of the Ameru, The One Who Walks Between Life and Death, and My Eternal Haven.’

He jolted. ‘Tis a Sedevan honor, I believe, for one’s lover to inscribe you.’

‘Only a wife, or one who acquiesces to be your spouse, can come up with an epithet and honorarium for the one she adores above all others.’

He canted his head. ‘Then I am honored.’

‘You’d betterfokkin’be and come up with one for me.’

He smirked, raking his eyes over her. ‘Here it is. Issa Elaris, The Starborn Flame, Keeper of Celestial Fire, Daughter of the First Light, She Who Walks with the Gods. The Sun-Souled Healer, My Guiding Dawn, The Astral Weaver, Eternal Ember of the Sedevan Line. Bringer of Sacred Reckoning, The One Who Burns Yet Never Fades, My Uncharted Heaven.’

Her ethereal eyes flamed, and she sighed, fingers tightening his hair, pulling him closer. ‘That was beautiful.SanteSableman, utter poetry and mastery.’

‘In some moments like these, I almost believe I exist for nothing else,’ he groaned against her mouth. ‘I’d die for you, woman, and that’s some real shit.’

They’d burned together in a series of fiery, desperate, wild infernos, but their lovemaking this time was different.

This was slow, deep, unhurried. A lingering surrender. A communion.

His mouth found hers, and their lips moved in a languid, honeyed dance, tasting, teasing, and drinking the other in.

Her fingers traced the shifting patterns of his metanoid tattoos, watching as they responded to her touch, flaring gold and silver beneath her palms.

Time unraveled between them.

Every movement deliberate. Each caress savored, memorized.

They fit together as if they had been made for each other, sculpted by the same hands that shaped the stars and designed to collide, fuse, and burn.

When they finally shattered, it was in unison, a slow-breaking wave that curled around them, pulling them under,deeper, until all left was heat, breath, and the beating pulse of their souls entwined.

ISSA

They woke in his master hours later, with the pale light of dawn spilling over them, tangled in each other, limbs heavy, skin warm.

Ki’Remi grumbled something about needing to get up.

Issa hummed an intelligible reply, her body curling into his, stealing his warmth.

He chuckled into her hair, pressed a kiss to her forehead, patted her ass, and knifed out of bed, pulling her out with him.

Together, they stepped beneath the steaming cascade of water, washing away the remnants of sleep.

He soaped her curls, his fingers massaging her scalp, then stroking the suds all over her lithe limbs.

She returned the favor, pulling on his locs and kneading his inked skin so that he growled and slid his cock into her for a quick, frantic burst of sensual bliss.

After this, she slumped onto him, water rushing over them, content in a way she never thought she might be.

Finally, dry, sated, and dressed in tees and shorts, they headed to his kitchen.

Eden II twin suns slanted through the expansive windows of Ki’Remi’s suite, spilling across the table in molten gold.

Breakfast was fruit, strongkahawa, and buttery croissants smothered with spiced honey.

Issa sat perched on the edge of the granite bench, legs curled beneath her, wearing one of his oversized shirts and sipping kahawa between kisses.

He pulled her onto his lap moments later, skimming his hand over her hip.