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“What are they doing?” Augustus asked Jaxus in a stage whisper.

“I think they are fighting,” Jaxus whispered back.

Nyx glared at Jaxus, then stood abruptly. “Walk with me?” he asked aloud, offering his hand.

I took it and rose slowly. His arm slipped around my waist, and he brought me against him as we said our goodnights.

An unmistakable claim.

Jaxus and the others exchanged knowing looks as we took our leave.

The silence was deafening between us as we made our way through the village.

Finally, Nyx broke the silence. “This doesn’t have to change anything between us. You have a choice in all of this, Sol. I would never expect?—”

“Do you love me?” I asked abruptly, stopping at our hut.

Nyx stopped short, and I was forced to turn back to see his face. “Sol, I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you.”

“You can’t have,”I countered.

“I didn’t know what it meant until I was older and understood, but I know what I felt the first time I laid eyes on you.”

A part of me wanted to roll my eyes and slip into our normal dynamic, but I stopped myself. “We don’t understand love that young.”

“No, maybe not. But I know what I feel now.” He reached out for my hand.

I slid my fingers between his and let him draw me against him.

“I love you, Sol.”

And that was it. No exceptions or complications, just those three words.

I stared into his eyes in the moonlight. “I love you, too.”

His eyes burned with heat. He lifted me into his arms, and I yelped.

“Ask me again, Sol.”

I thought back to what I’d asked him. What we were to each other? Why didn’t he make a claim? It was all the same in the end, so I asked what I really wanted to know.

“What am I to you?”

His eyes glowed for a second, his mouth lowering to meet mine. He stopped a breath from kissing me.“You’re mine,” he said with certainty.

And then he kissed me.

Deep. Claiming. Possessive.

I felt like I was more his with every stroke of his tongue, the slide of his fingers through my hair, the possessive hold he had on me. I was his.

When he pulled back, we were both breathless.

“Why did you stop?” I panted.

“You want to do this out here?”

I laughed, and he carried me inside.