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The tending, she’d gladly take. The child part, not so much.

Mia begged off movie night with her friends, even though both Leona and Kira had journeyed from theirjutjilfor the meeting. The day had drained her. All she wanted to do was go home, go to bed, and cuddle with her mate.

A smile played over her mouth. And maybe do a little more than cuddle.

When they arrived, Zoran insisted on carrying her inside as well. He stopped just inside the door and gazed down at her, his eyes filled with affection and a gentle humor. “I have a gift for you,pjora-la.”

“Zoran, you can’t keep giving me—”

He silenced her protests with a scorching hot kiss, muddling Mia’s thoughts so much, she forgot what she was saying.

Zoran eased the kiss and nipped her lower lip with one fang. “Are you not curious as to the gift’s nature?”

She laid her head on his shoulder, smiling. “Ok, I’ll bite. What’s this mysterious gift you got me?”

“Something very precious,” he rumbled. “Something you greatly desire.”

“You?”

He threw back his head and laughed so hard, he jiggled her in his grasp. “That as well, beloved. No, this gift must be seen. Look.”

Zoran placed her carefully on her feet and steadied her as she glanced around their home. Everything looked exactly as it had when they’d left that morning. Cushions piled neatly on the floor, awaiting their leisure. The kitchen counters shone clean and empty. No breeze filtered through the apartment, which struck her as odd. A breeze was always blowing through those damnable open arches, unhindered by the forcefields—

Her eyes went round on a gasp. “You got me doors! Oh, oh! Just look at them! When? How?”

“I ordered them the morning of the not-dragon’s not-attack.”

She snickered. “As I recall, something else attacked me that day.”

“Indeed,” he said solemnly. “A mate attack.”

Mia leaned into him, sighing happily. “And a wonderful mate attack it was. Zoran?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Attack me again.”

“If you so desire, I shall spend the entire night doing so.”

He lifted her against his chest and strode through their home, placed her gently on their bed, and stood looking down at her for a long, long moment.

Mia held a hand out to him, beckoning him forward. “What’s wrong?”

“When I saw thevyirkolenatop you—” He shuddered and dropped his head forward, closing his eyes against the memory. “I thought only of you, of the things that must be done to heal you. If you had been paralyzed, my love would not have diminished, though it meant forsaking the children I so longed to make with you.”

“Zoran,” she murmured. “You can’t dwell on what might have been.”

“I beg you, Mia. Allow me to finish.” His jaw worked for a moment before he continued. “When first we conceived the plan to mate with humans, we did not consider the lives those women would forsake. The life you forsook. We thought only of our people’s great need. And yet, when I met you and claimed you for my own—when I discovered the beauty residing within you—I could not bring myself to let you go. So great was my fear, that I challenged another warlord over an innocent touch, placing you in such grave danger, you could have died. I can never forgive myself for allowing this harm to befall you, after swearing that I would protect you with my life. Yet it was Kaelen Drexus who bore the risk, Kaelen Drexus who slayed thevyirkolen, while the near loss of you drove me to my knees.

“I cannot live without you, Mia Reynolds, borne of Earth, now of Clan Kerus. If you should decide that the price you have paid to be with me is too great, then I shall find a way to return you to your home, even at the cost of my own happiness.”

“My love, no,” she said, stricken. “Don’t say that.”

“It must be said,pjora-la. Beloved mate. My heart, my life. My soul.” He clutched her hand in his, his eyes blazing with love and grief and hope. “Yet must I also ask you to live by my side wherever you go. Here or on Earth, it makes no difference to me. I will follow where you lead, gladly, if you but ask it of me.”

“I’m happy here,” she said gently. “I’m happy you found me.”

He touched the middle two fingers of his right hand to his forehead, mouth, and chest, then lifted his hand to the heavens. “By the will and blessing of the Fates, my love.”