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WINNOW

N ever in my life have I felt so seen. Even without words, simply the way this man looks at me, I feel as if he loves and appreciates all that’s now revealed. Good and bad.

It prompts me to tell him the rest of my past, my time at the Paltorian war camp’s prison, and everything that I’ve tried to hide or hadn’t dared to speak of–like the loss of my wings.

By the time I finish, my hands are shaking and tremors are running through my body.

The silent tears that slip down Gideon’s cheeks momentarily make me second-guess having confided all of my past, but he simply holds me tighter and brings his forehead to mine.

“I wish more than anything I could have saved you.”

Just when I think my love for this man couldn’t burn any brighter…

Drawing in a deep, shuddering breath, my hand cups his jaw as I press a salty kiss to his lips. “But you have.”