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*****

KALLE

Kalle cried out, dropping her head back against the pillow.

Gahrye, open mouthed and panting, latched onto the spot where her neck met her shoulder, his tongue tasting her skin while his teeth grazed.

He didn't bite down, but she sensed it was in him to do it and she clawed her hands into his back, pulling him in as they began to roll together.

"Mine,

" he groaned,

"You're mine. Only mine, Kalle.

"

"Yes!

" she gasped, beginning to tremble, her breath coming in short pants.

Something inside her was beginning to unfurl, that elusive wave she'd never quite found with another human being.

But right alongside it, something else glittered and beckoned, opening in her veins and pulsing with the beat of her heart.

As Gahrye rolled into her again, and again, his hands stroking, his lips always on her skin, she felt a piece of her heart… blossom. As if she were a flower, and he the sun, something within her turned to him, opening. It sent shivering joy and light through her veins, out from her skin and it found him and pulled him in.

When she might have cried out for the loss of a piece of herself, he answered, plastering himself to her, holding her tight and pushing into her, frantic, desperate, his kiss deep and searing.

And with his touch, his groan, his weight, came a piece of him, riding the light in her bloodstream and finding that new, small hole in her heart and diving in to fill it.

As Gahrye picked up the pace and she could do nothing but hold on, kissing his neck, his jaw, clinging to his shoulders and seeking his body with her own, she began to cry his name.

That sparkling wave was building and she cried out again and again with the sheer bliss of it, silently pleading with him not to stop.

"Oh, Kalle… I'm… **…

" he groaned.

She could feel him trembling, knew he was close. Then he threw his head back and pulled up at her hip. Frantic, she arched against him and sucked at his neck, his throat, his collarbone.

He cried out his love for her, bracing on one arm, sliding the other hand behind her hip and lifting to thrust into her so hard, their bodies slapped.

The wave within her crested, pulling that warmth and light from her, the pieces of both them, sucking it down to her core where everything in her head and heart went silent… until it crashed and her entire body shuddered as she called his name again and again.

With a guttural cry, he buried his face in her neck and held on, pressing her into him so she could barely breathe as he jerked and twitched, calling his love, calling his ownership of her soul—until they both sucked in and sagged, panting, curled into each other and clinging.

*****

GAHRYE

He couldn't think. Could barely breathe. His head buzzed. Desperation for her hit him like a blow the solar-plexus, stealing his breath.

He trembled and almost sobbed.

Both their chests heaved and he was painted in sweat. But he couldn't think beyond the single word.

Mine.

She shook too, and her breath came in shuddering pants. But when he pulled back to see her face, she was smiling and her eyes were silvered with tears.

"Oh, **, Kalle, are you okay?

" he rasped, stroking her hair back from her face with trembling fingers, feeling like the bottom was about to fall out of his entire soul.

He wanted to weep.

"I am… wonderful,

" she whispered, combing his hair back from his forehead, her smile growing.

"Are you?

"

He nodded, gulping. Something inside him… he felt like he would break apart. Like something within him that was broken was about to give under the weight of how much he loved her.

"I… I'm not…

" he tried to get the words out, but they strangled him. He sucked in a breath, but it was as if the air had no oxygen.

Her smile disappeared and she took his face in her hands.

"Gahrye… what is it?

"

"The mating bond… did you… feel it?

" he gasped.

Her eyes widened.

"Is that what that was?

"

He nodded, his chest heaving. Why couldn't he breathe?

She kissed him, murmuring sweet words that fed his heart, until he almost choked on the upswell of emotion expanding his chest.

He clung to her, pulling her in so they were pinned together, his fingers clawing at her back, and hers on his.

His heart thundered, and not just from the climax. He felt desperate panic. Certain that if he let her go, she would shatter and disappear on the wind.

"Gahrye?

" she whispered, kissing his neck where her face was buried.

"Gahrye, I'm here. I'm fine. I'm better than fine. I'm the best I've ever been. You're mine, Gahrye. You're mine.

" She stroked his hair and held him tight.

A single, choking sob broke in his chest. He shuddered once and she clung tighter.

"What is it? What's hurting you?

" she whispered, frantic.

"I just… I never thought… You're my One, Kalle,

" he whispered, barely able to force the words past his lips.

"I found you. I really found you.

"

"Yes, you did,

" she said, her voice high and faint. She held his face and pulled back to meet his gaze, her eyes welling, tears trailing to her temples.

"And I'm never going anywhere, Gahrye. Never. You're stuck with me. Forever. I promise.

"

He groaned with mingled blow of grief and joy, and took her in a kiss that left them both breathless.

He couldn't believe it. He couldn't let himself believe that she truly loved him as he loved her. But he'd felt the bond take. He'd felt a piece of himself leave and enter her—and felt her find him in return.

She was his True Mate. His True Heart's Call.

The rest… the rest he would think about later. But just in that moment, he held her tightly and prayed he would never fail her.

And then he realized, he was breathing again. Inhaling her scent. Taking her in.

He'd been all wrong, panicking about oxygen in the atmosphere.

Kalle was the only air he needed.