ELIA

The sensation of having him inside her was stunning, shuddering through her body, radiating through her until she could it in the soles of her feet. Her heart expanded just for being touched by him.

More. She wanted more. Needed more. Her mate. Her Soul Mate. Her Love. She couldn't get enough—there was never enough. And he might be gone from her again in seconds! The thought made her panic.

"Please, Reth!

" she pleaded, trying to pull her hands from his iron grip.

"Please, let me touch you!

"

"No… you have to submit,

" he rasped, then opened his mouth on her neck and sucked at her so that her entire side goose-bumped again.

"Submit, Love.

"

She opened her eyes to argue, but he had already pulled his head up, locked on, staring at her, his mouth half open with the heat of it all, his eyes alight with love and passion and that indescribable wildness that terrified others but that was only ever pointed to protect her.

"Reth…

"

He shook his head and his hair fell over his face, framing his hard jaw, the cords of tension in his neck, the rigid strength of his shoulders.

"We cannot…

" he croaked,

"we cannot fight what is come. We cannot fight the Creator's plan. We can only submit. And He has given us this… give over to me, Love. Give over to Him. Be here with me. Do not fight. Let us meet this together… with Him. In peace.

"

She made a noise—half pleasure-sob, half-frustration—and arched to meet his next thrust, holding him inside her, her ankles locked behind him and her heels digging into his back.

"Reth!

"

"Submit, my love. Accept it. Whatever comes, I love you—adore you. You are mine. You are everything to me. Submit. Let us take what we can, please!

" his voice cracked and sent a spear of pain and desire through her chest, cutting through the last of her selfish fear.

She would do as he asked. Give herself over. Submit. To him, and to this terrible place where they found themselves.

She would take her Mate into herself and wallow in the love of him while she could.

"Mine,

" she gasped.

"No one else but you, Reth. No one else can have you. You're mine.

"

Reth roared and plunged into her as she rippled to meet him. Sliding his free hand up her body, through her hair to where he held her wrists, he took her hands and entwined their fingers, both hands clenched with hers and he began to thrust.

Tiny cries broke from her throat in time with his pounding, but she couldn't be embarrassed because Reth, too, kept calling, that resonant groan that echoed in his ribs, vibrating in his chest with every thrust.

Lips pulled back from his teeth, he didn't break eye-contact as he dropped his head, his biceps bulging, and braced himself over her, tilting his hips to deepen the contact.

Elia cried out, shivering as that wave began to crest within her.

"Reth… Reth!

"

"Come for me, baby. Come for me.

"

"Reth, I don't want it to stop.

"

"I'll never stop loving you,

" he gasped.

"But let me see you… oh **—

"

Elia couldn't keep her eyes open as her body began to shiver, her breasts aching with the sensations he wrung from her. Unable to move her hands, she arched her back, lifting to meet him, her ankles locked and gripping his lower back, pulling him deeper.

Reth groaned, his feet digging into the furs for traction as he pressed into her desperate and shuddering.

She couldn't make words, only moaned and cried as that wave, glittering at the edge of sight, suddenly crested, breaking over her, washing her entire body in a shivery, sparkling heat.

As she clenched around him, Reth bellowed and let go of her hands, pulling her in, his hands in her hair, his forehead on hers, sobbing her name over and over as their bodies rocked in time, spasming and ecstatic.

Then they slumped, sweaty and shaking, wrapped together, panting, neither of them willing to bear any space between their skins.

"Love… my love…

" Reth breathed, kissing and licking her neck,

"Elia.

"

She cried again, but in joy, her arms wrapped around his neck, then turned her head, seeking his mouth again.

"My mate,

" she sighed into his mouth.

"My beautiful mate.

"

He took her kiss despite his thundering breath, holding her chin and taking her mouth, frantic, the call muffled in his throat, vibrating in his chest so deeply, she felt it in her own.

They clung to each other, panting and shivering, Elia blinking, trying to make sure this was all real. That she wouldn't wake and be heartbroken to find it was only a dream. But it was a dream… wasn't it?

"How are we here?

" she sobbed, holding his gorgeous face, her fingernails scraping on the thick stubble because it had been days since he'd shaved.

"Only by the Creator's grace,

" he panted, then laid his head next to hers on the furs. She turned her head to keep his eyes, and he stroked her cheeks and her hair, wiping her tears with his thumb.

"But… but I can't say goodbye to you, Reth.

" Panic fluttered in her chest and she pulled him in.

"Sssshhhh, love, it's okay—

"

"No, it's not, Reth! I'm going to be taken from you any minute and… no!

"

She could feel it, that fade within her, as if she was becoming weightless. The surreal feeling that came when the world began to separate from her. She reached for him, grasping, and he clung to her, whispering urgently.

"No, Elia! Submit! Don't fight it! Don't fight to stay—

"

"But I need you!

"

"And I need you—but we have to give each other up. Accept His will, Love—accept that we are forced apart for a time…

"

Elia shuddered, and clung.

"I can't be away from you—

"

"But you must, Love. You are there where you're safe. I am so grateful you are there because it keeps you safe from everything here. No one else has that. He has protected you. You must see it… see the good in it!

"

Elia sucked in a breath. She could see that. She could see that she'd been kept apart from the conflicts between a people so much stronger and faster than herself… she'd been kept apart from Reth at a time he had to focus on protecting all of his people, not just her… She was safe, growing a baby at a time when all of Anima was at risk of death and destruction… That was a good thing. She could see that.

"Elia… look,

" Reth whispered, awed. He was holding her hand that had been clenched on his shoulder. It was no longer fading. She was solid.