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“Stop.” I held up a hand, pressing it against his chest. His heart thrummed under my palm.

“I love you. I was so alone. Even with Eona?, our tasks were too different. Our goal might have been the same, but there was a line that separated us. And then I came here and realized I would never be alone, not as long as you were with me. Because you want what I want, because?—”

I couldn’t quite finish the thought. It was too much.

I would never be alone because Tallu’s loneliness matched mine, because the impossibility of his task mirrored my own, because when I looked at him, for the first time, my hope that there was a future beyond the fall of the Imperium was able to take root.

“Airón.” Tallu pushed forward, pressing against my hand, leaning in until our lips met, the kiss crashing us into each other.

His hands were everywhere, his focus so fixed on me that it was impossible for me not to be a little selfish. I let myself fall against him, let him carry me as I had been carrying the weight of the Imperium’s destruction on my shoulders for so long.

He lifted me, picking me up and nudging my thighs until they wrapped around his waist, then stumbled to the bed, placing me down so gently that I barely felt the impact. His mouth plundered mine, and in every kiss, I felt the truth of his words as if he were writing them anew inside me.

“I love you. Please. Stay with me. Be mine.”

He kissed down my neck, pressing lips to my jaw and sensitive throat. I gave in to temptation, letting them draw pleasure from me. Even as I did it, I realized the truth. This was as selfish an act for him as it was for me.

Tallu had spent his entire grown life tearing down everything that was his. He was methodically obliterating his own inheritance. My love was the first thing he could have and not need to destroy.

I moaned as Tallu tugged at my laces, dragging silken fabric over my skin until I was naked, shuddering as he pressed his clothed body on top of mine. The drag of fabric against my exposed nipples and cock was too much.

Moaning, I arched up, finally grabbing at his hair, yanking the crown from his head and throwing it aside. It struck something before it landed, the ringing sound clear like a bell. Neither one of us looked, and his hair was silky between my fingers, the curls twisting against my palms.

His mouth dropped, my hands following his head as he found my cock.

The feel of his mouth on me—his lips parting, his tongue pressing hard against the underside, his jaw working as he took me in—was too much.

He made muffled sounds around my length, as though it was my mouth on him, as though he could feel every press against sensitive skin.

When he drew back, I felt a loss like he had taken something from me, a physical pain that was soothed as soon as he stripped off his shirt and shoved off his pants.

Then he was on me, and my cock, wet from his mouth, was dragging over the sparse hair on his stomach.

Desperate, I reached for him, and he took my hands, wrapping his palms around my wrists and pressing them onto the bed.

He thrust his hips, and I raised my knees, wrapping my legs around his waist in invitation. When he reached for the bedside table, I relaxed against the mattress, giving in, letting him take what he wanted.

Then his fingers circled my entrance, two slick digits pressing inside.

I yelped, and he started to pull back, but I arched my hips, forcing him deeper.

He grinned down at me, his mouth stretching wide, and I couldn’t let that expression stand.

I arched my neck, kissing him deeply as his hand worked further into me.

The way he worked inside me made me ache; it was exactly what I needed.

“More,” I demanded, and he pulled his fingers out just far enough to add a third without any more oil, the stretch painful and perfect, pushing me to a limit I hadn’t realized existed.

Tallu pulled back, watching me, his expression worshipful.

My spread body, giving in to his touch, was beyond what he could ask for.

Tilting my hips, I urged him harder, and finally, he pulled his fingers free, dipping his hand into the oil and spreading it over his cock before positioning himself and pressing inside.

The sensation of it almost made me forget my own pleasure.

It was so perfect, the feel of his hard length hollowing me out.

He might call me the greatest gift he had ever been given, but I knew what was true: this moment of pleasure, this connection between us that grew stronger with every gasp, was something I needed more than air, more than food, more than shelter.

Tallu pulled out just far enough to thrust back in, jerking my body, and I reached for my cock, matching my pulls to the thrusts of his hips.

I looked up at his face, and it was too much.

He pressed himself down, tongue pushing into my mouth as his cock slid against something inside me that made me arch and spill all over myself, tightening on him, making him feel even larger inside me, taking up all the room and pushing out doubt and uncertainty.

His body jerked, and he came, collapsing down with desperate gasps. I wrapped my arms around him. He pressed aimless, hungry kisses against my throat and cheek, finally finding my mouth.

With every kiss, I knew what he was saying. I love you. I love you.

Part of me wished we could have spent the remaining days in bed. I could have lived on his kisses. We didn’t even need to open the door. I could simply survive with his affection and love.

Only then we would never be free of the Imperium. The chain that had tied us together now had to be severed so that we could find happiness and freedom elsewhere.

By the time our one-month celebration was on us, we had been over the plan so many times I felt I’d lived it a dozen times already. The preparations had been made and checked and checked again.

I had written and burned and written and burned so many letters that even Nohe had made a soft comment about the cost of paper if I was just going to use it for kindling.

Finally, I had come up with a version that I thought explained my decision to help the man my mother had sent me to kill and would explain why I was dropping a small warship, an air mage, a blood mage, an electro mage, and a brilliant inventor in my mother’s lap.

It wasn’t perfect, but it had enough of me in it that she wouldn’t suspect I had been forced to write it. I sent a piece of the dragon’s shell with it as evidence of its truth.

When the day finally arrived, I crouched down in front of the ice dragon where it curled on the floor in the room it had taken over.

It was now the size of a small horse and had an appetite to match its formidable appearance.

The ice on the walls reminded me of home, and the way the dragon looked at me too often reminded me of my father’s wolf, Spoiled Brat.

The dragon raised its head, nuzzling my hand once before curling back to sleep.

Pushing in the platter of food, I stepped back, letting Tallu lock the door. We couldn’t have a nosy servant catching the dragon now that it was large enough to eat someone.

“Are you ready?” Tallu had asked already as he checked my bags, worry creasing his brow.

“Stop. I’m a professional assassin. I can manage this. You know, I did train to kill you and all your Dogs. It cannot be that much harder to do this.” I smiled to show I was joking, even though I felt the tingle of uncertainty.

“My Dogs have nothing on the organization of the stewards. Had you needed to fight against them and their organizational skills, you would have failed.” Tallu leaned forward, kissing me again.

Then he walked to the door and opened it. Asahi and Sagam swept inside, two other Dogs following behind them. A servant picked up my bag, frowning at the weight, but no servant of good caliber would dare ask what was inside.

Tallu extended his arm, and I placed mine on top of it.

His face was a mask of cool disinterest. “It is time we go see the celebration for our one month, husband.”

Then, it was time.