When it’s done, and the last shudder runs through us, he doesn’t let go. He stays buried deep, wrapped around me like he’s terrified I’ll disappear if he loosens his hold. His lips are still on my neck, gently kissing the spot he claimed. Each kiss feels a vow that no force in this world will ever tear us apart again.
Tears come before I can stop them, rolling down my cheeks as emotion overwhelms me. I feel it all through now. His deep love and adoration for me, but also the pain of everything he carried when I wasn’t here. The loneliness that gnawed at him. The ache in his chest with every sunrise I wasn’t beside him. The endless longing, and the strength it took him to stay away from me.
I feel something else too… relief and peace of finally being whole, of finally having what he thought he’d lost forever. It breaks me.
He pulls back then, just enough to see me. His lips and chin are smeared with the faintest trace of red, but it’s his eyes that undo me completely. They’re wild but also tender and full of hope, like he’s finally found his way home.
“Rye,” I choke out, unable to find the words for him.
“I thought I’d lost you.” He admits, his voice raw and unsteady. “Every day, every night. I knew I’d never breathe easy again. I tried to be strong, to keep moving, but I was just… empty. Some days I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep without dreaming of you. Sometimes I thought if I let myself close my eyes, I’d wake up and you’d be gone forever. I wanted to give up more times than I can admit. The only thing that stopped me was knowing that if I did, I’d never hold you like this again.”
I reach for him, cupping his face with shaking hands. “You don’t have to be strong anymore,” I whisper, my voice trembling as I brush my thumbs over the streak of red on his chin. “I’m here. I’m not leaving. You’ll never face that kind of darkness again.”
He presses his forehead to mine, his breath shaky. “You saved me,” he chokes out. “Even when you weren’t here, even when I couldn’t feel you, I survived because of you. I had to believe that we would find each other again one day. Now that I finally have you, I’m never letting go.”
My tears mix with his as I kiss him slowly, pouring everything I can’t say into it.
“You’re mine now, forever,” he vows.
“And you’re mine,” I whisper back, feeling the truth of it thrumming through the bond that now links us, soul to soul.
Afterward, I lie curled against him, my cheek resting over his heart, and the lantern light glowing softly. His hand strokes through my hair.
“Do you know what this means to me?” I whisper into the quiet.
“Tell me.”
I lift my head to meet his gaze, my voice thick. “For so long, I thought that night was just a mistake. Something I shouldn’t have let happen, because of how it ended. But now… now I feel like it was always meant to be. That it brought me Jax, and Jax brought me back to you.”
Emotion flickers through the bond, raw and unguarded. He cups my face, his thumb stroking over my cheek. “I don’t deserve you. But I’ll spend every day proving I can be the man you and
Jax need.”
I smile at him. “You already are.’
He kisses me gently, then pulls me tighter against him. I melt into him, listening to the steady beat of his heart beneath my ear. For a long moment, we just breathe together, and the bond hums like a quiet song between us, strong, unbreakable, and alive.
The heaviness that I had felt from him moments ago eases, replaced by something softer. A glow. I feel it radiating from him, seeping through the bond until I’m wrapped in more than just his arms, I’m wrapped in his joy.
“Are you smiling?” I mumble into his chest, my lips brushing over his skin.
He huffs out a laugh. “Maybe.”
I tilt my head up to look at him, my own lips tugging into a smile to match his. “That sounded like a yes.”
His grin flashes then, boyish and devastating all at once, and I swear my heart stumbles in my chest. “What can I say? I finally got my girl back. You can’t expect me not to smile.”
I laugh softly, and the bond hums with his amusement sparking through me.
He nudges his nose into my hair, his voice gentler now. “I didn’t think I’d get this with you again. Not just the bond, but you laughing with me. Us lying here like the world can’t touch us.
“1
“Maybe it can’t this time,” I whisper, my throat thick but my heart lighter than it’s been in years.
“Maybe,” he says, smiling again.
I shift closer, curling my leg over his, unwilling to give even an inch of space back to the world outside this moment. He strokes my hair, and for a while, neither of us says anything. We don’t need to. But then I catch the faint smile on his mouth again, that mischievous glint sparking in his eyes, and I narrow mine at him. “What now? What’s that look for?”
He shrugs, all mock innocence. “Nothing.”
“Liar,” I murmur, propping my chin on his chest. “You’re smiling like you got away with something.”
His grin widens. “Maybe I did.”
I swat at him playfully, and he catches my wrist easily, tugging me up for another kiss. This one’s softer, playful, until I’m laughing against his lips.
When he pulls back, he smirks. “You should know I’m not letting you out of this bed for at least a week. I’ve got years to make up for.”
I laugh loudly this time, shaking my head. “Years? Rye, you’d better pace yourself.”
He growls low in his throat, though the bond hums with amusement. “Don’t tempt me, sweetheart.”
I roll my eyes and flop back onto the pillows, deliberately being dramatic. “Great. Guess I’ll have to send for rations if you plan on keeping me hostage here.”
He chuckles, rolling onto his side to cage me in. “Rations, huh? You think I can’t take care of you myself? I can hunt rabbits and cook them for you.”
I bite back a grin, feigning seriousness. “Yuck. Poor little bunnies. Besides, you know I have three other mates that will come to rescue me?”
“I will fight them,” he says seriously.
“You couldn’t fight all three,” I laugh.
He gasps in mock offense, clutching at his chest. “That’s low, Paige. Real low.”
For the first time, I see the similarities between him and Callen, not in looks, they’re identical, but in their personalities. I think now that Ryder is letting go of the pain he’s carried his whole life, I’m finally seeing the real him peeking through.
“You’re also forgetting we have a child to look after; there’s no way he’s letting you keep me here,” I say, raising my brows at him.
“You’re right,” he nods. “I can fight off your mates, but not him. He’s a force to be reckoned with.”
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