Her expression is wooden, shut down completely.

There’s ice cream all over her leg and bare foot, and I ache with the urge to lick it off, to kiss her until she is soft and gasping with pleasure.

“Leigh.” Her name is a promise on my lips. A world of meaning in one breath.

She dips her head, but her eyes and nose are red.

“I…” I shake my head, trying to figure out how to tell her what I need to say, all the carefully rehearsed speeches disappearing in the face of the strength of my feelings for her.

She takes a shuddering breath, and I ache, ache with the need to take her in my arms, to kiss her hurt better.

“I won’t be a pawn in your game for power, Nydo.” Fresh tears spill from her eyes.

“There is no game,” I say, shaking my head. “There is no game anymore. I have taken myself out of the game. I want nothing but you.”

“I mean it, Nydo. I don’t want to be queen, I don’t want anything but to be happy and not freaked out that I’m going to be assassinated every time I—”

Her eyes get huge, her mouth dropping, as she falls silent.

I wait.

“What?” she finally asks. “What did you say?”

“There is no game,” I repeat, chancing a step closer, the need to touch her so overwhelming it hurts. “No more. I don’t want the crown. I don’t want the throne. I gave it to Lyko. He deserves it more, anyway. He is a good male.”

She simply stares, blinking rapidly.

It’s such a familiar expression that a faint smile blooms on my face. “I want nothing but you, my love, my Leigh.”

“You lied to me.”

Her whispered words are a physical blow.

“You made me think I meant something to you, and then you treated me like… a commodity.”

“I was wrong not to have told you everything, and I swear to all the gods of Roth, I would spend the rest of my life making it up to you, if only I have the chance to."

"Careful now, what you swear to the gods. You might find we’re listening,” a female voice says, laughing and light.

I stare at Leigh, consternated. “What?”

“You heard it too? Thank fuck!” Relief like nothing I’ve ever seen washes over her face, and she grins. “I thought I was having a breakdown. And I was. But at least you’re hearing voices too.”

“I am a goddess, human child,” the voice continues wearily. “But I accept your oath, prince of Roth.”

“Prince,” Leigh repeats, looking me over. “You really gave up being king? Why?”

I blink, trying to wrap my head around the fact we are both hearing the voices of the gods. One of them at least.

Leigh raises one eyebrow, as if to urge me on.

I take a deep breath and continue. “The only reason I gained the crown was you. Then you left, and I realized the only thing I wanted was you.” I shake my head. “I did not mean to chase you. I know you said to let you fly, let your wings grow if I loved you. But Ayro and Lyko convinced me to speak to you once more, to try.”

She stares at me, unblinking. “How can I trust you?”

“I’ll keep him honest, child,” the goddess says again, and I shiver.

“No one asked for your divine intervention,” Leigh says acidly, one hand on her hip. “Just shut it. You’re a creep.”

The presence in the room vanishes.

I stare at her, trying to collect my scattered thoughts yet again.

“You don’t have to be queen. You don’t have to be a princess, even. I will do whatever it is you want. I will make mistakes though, Leigh. I am not a perfect male, I am not even a good male, but for you? For you I will try.” I heave a sigh. “I thought that loving you meant burning the world to make room for us. You have shown me that is not how love works, not really. I cannot apologize enough for what I’ve done. What I kept from you. All I can ask is for you to believe me when I tell you I would do anything to earn your trust back.”

She sniffles, her gorgeous green eyes full of tears again, and then she throws herself on me, crying openly.

“Shh,” I say, petting her head. “Do not cry, my little flame. I have you. I have always had you.”

“You can’t do that shit again.” Her voice is muffled against my shoulder. “You have to tell me things, Nydo. Everything. Like why a goddess marked me and has turned into an annoying stalker, for starters.”

“That, I do not know the answer to. But I promise you I will help you find out why. I promise I will always be by your side when you need me, and that I will try, my love, I will try so hard to be worthy of your fire.”

Energy sizzles through me, and I gape at her as she glances up at me, gold eclipsing her green eyes.

“Yeah, so that’s a thing now, too.” She scrunches her nose at me. “Can you also swear to teach me how not to burn down everything? I can’t use any of the kitchen equipment because I just keep setting shit on fire. I’ve been living on ice cream for three days.”

“That explains your foot.”

She grins up at me, then smooths her palm over my cheek. “Nydo, you hurt me. A lot.”

I hold my breath, and it splinters through my chest.

Her gold eyes blink, turning back to green. I love that color.

“But I want to try, and maybe that makes me just as crazy as you.” Her small hand finds mine, and my heart leaps, disbelief rolling through me. “I have missed you. I think we need therapy or something, but I… being away from you… I think I love you too, even though you make me so damn mad sometimes—”

I swallow the rest of her words with a kiss.

She melts into me, energy ricocheting between us.

“I will work on it,” I tell her, finally breaking off the kiss, the world-shaking, life-altering kiss. “I will do better.”

“I will too,” she says. “I should have tried talking to you instead of running away.”

“I am so sorry I hurt you so badly that you felt you had to run away instead of talking to me.” I bring her knuckles to my mouth, kissing the soft skin there over and over. “I never want that again. I want you to talk to me, always. I love the way your mind works. I love the funny things you say, and I treasure your input. You are… beyond belief.”

“And here I was, thinking you just wanted me for my body,” she says, laughing a little.

“Oh,” I snarl, squeezing her ass. “I want that, too.”

She moans a little, a throaty noise that drives me absolutely out of my mind with lust.

“My mate. Should I show you how much I want this body of yours?”

She nods once, and I scoop her into my arms, carrying her to the bedroom we shared for days on end.

“But this time,” she says slowly, tapping the end of my nose. “I get to tie you up.”

I break into a run.

I can think of nothing I’d like better than to be at this female’s mercy. I would spend the rest of my life happily that way.

At the mercy of my little flame.

OceanofPDF.com

EPILOGUE

OceanofPDF.com

LEIGH

A shiver wracks me, but I can’t quite keep the smile off my face, despite the frigid temperature. The ice caves of Northern Roth are the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life. Multicolored lights are set into the green-tinted ice walls, coloring the whole place in rainbows. It’s breathtaking.

The floor melts where I step, and I’m grateful for the waterproof boots Nydo insisted on. We’ve been working on control, or I should say, he’s been trying to help me learn to control the fire powers neither of us ever imagined I would have.

He trudges next to me, and when I catch his eye, he grins.

“Are you ready to stop for the night?”

“No, I want to get to the place you promised we would get to.”

“You know how I hunger for my little flame,” he says, his voice low, sending a thrill through me.

It’s been two weeks since Nydo came after me on our ship, since he apologized. Two weeks since we returned to Roth, Lyko picking up the reins Nydo left him and ruling like he was born for it. Piper’s here too, and we spend most of our days together working on how to bring more human females here, like some kind of interstellar match-making service. The Suevans have even expressed interest.