I buried my face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his fresh scent. “Does this mean you’re…happy about this?”

“Happy?” His hand ran up my back, tangling in my hair. “Fates, Sera, I…I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something more.”

What felt like a life-changing quake ran through me. “Really?”

“Yes. Really.” Ash’s hand closed around the nape of my neck. “How could I not?” His voice roughened. “When they will be a part of you. A part of us.”

I opened my mouth, but whatever I’d been about to say came out as a ragged, muffled sound. Holding on to him with everything I had in me, I squeezed my eyes shut against the tide of emotion, but I still felt a few tears slip free.

“Liessa.” Ash tilted his head, pressing his cheek against the side of my head. “Don’t cry. Please. It kills me when you do.”

“I don’t mean to cry, and gods, I think they are why I’ve been so damn emotional, too.” I struggled to rein in my emotions. “I just wasn’t sure how you would feel about it. If you were unhappy…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

He leaned his head back. “How could I ever be unhappy? You’re having my child—my children.” His chest rose swiftly as if the knowledge had hit him again. “That is a dream I never allowed myself to have,” he said, and I shuddered at his words. He pressed a kiss to my damp cheek. “You said you already love them?”

My heart skipped a beat, and I lifted my head. Our eyes met. “I do, and that…that scares me. And then I’m even more scared because I’m scared. That makes me sound bizarre, doesn’t it?”

“No, liessa, it doesn’t.” He chased the tears with a swipe of his thumb. “I’m scared, too, Sera. Neither of us planned for this, and our lives are about to change in ways I cannot even begin to imagine. But I know we will love them just as fiercely as we love each other. And I also know we’ll figure everything out,” he said, catching another tear. “We’ve got this, liessa.”

Inhaling deeply, I nodded. “We do.” Not just because we had to but because we wanted to, and I knew there was a world of difference between the two.

His forehead dropped to mine, and he tightened his arm around my waist. “Sera,” he whispered, his lips brushing mine. He laughed, and it was a shaky but joyous sound. “We’re going to be parents.”

An unsteady laugh parted my lips as the new reality continued sinking in. Mates of the heart was a powerful thing, but this…this was different. The bond we now shared went far beyond just the two of us. We’d created two lives together. Not with eather or magic, but with just us—our love.

“Ash,” I said, my voice barely audible above the soft sounds of the water. “I love you so much.”

He pressed his lips to mine, the kiss slow and tender. It was like a balm to my soul, and I felt some of the panic and fear lifting, leaving urgent, feverish desire in its place. As the kiss took on a deeper, rougher, more urgent edge, I knew he was feeling every wild emotion I was.

“Make love to me.” My fingers tangled in the wet strands of his hair. “Please.”

“You never have to beg,” he swore. “Ever.”

Then his mouth covered mine again, and there was nothing slow about the way he kissed me. I felt the water churning around us, mirroring the ebb and flow of our rising passion. Our lips moved together, exploring and tasting until I was breathless with need.

Then, things became wonderfully chaotic.

His hands went to the clasps down the back of my gown, but he grew impatient before the first was undone. “I’m going to apologize ahead of time.”

“Wha—?” I gasped as Ash gripped the back of the gown and tore the material straight down the middle. My eyes widened. “I really liked this gown.”

“I’ll have Erlina make you another,” he promised, claiming my mouth once more.

The gown slipped down my hips and legs and then floated away in the water. I tugged at his shirt, hearing the soft cloth tear. He laughed roughly, ducking his head. His shirt joined the gown somewhere in the pool, his wet, cool hands slipping over my breasts. His tongue danced with mine, and I felt his hands slide to my hips. His fingers made their way under the band of the silky undergarments as mine slipped over his wet breeches. He shoved the scrap of lace down, helping me step free of it, continuing to kiss me.

His hands replaced mine, shoving his breeches down. He pulled me against him, and I gasped into his kiss as I felt him thick and hard against my belly.

“Ash,” I moaned, his hand finding its way between my legs. His fingers traced delicate circles around my sensitive flesh, teasing and taunting me. My hips bucked against him instinctively, craving more of his touch. “I need you inside me.” Heat surged between my thighs. “Now.”

His answering groan sent a rush of hot pleasure through me. He lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around him once more. The arm at my waist shifted me until I felt the head of his cock at my entrance.

“I love you,” he said, cradling the back of my head.

Ash thrust into me as he drew me down, filling me with one deep, startling thrust. My breath hitched at the feeling.

“Gods, liessa…” Ash panted, his eyes locked on mine. He began moving within me. “You feel perfect.”

My nails dug into his shoulders, clinging to him as we picked up the pace. The water churned wildly around us, crashing against the sides of the pool. Waves of pleasure spun through my body, building and intensifying. Our moans and gasps echoed across the water, lost in the hum of the mills.

“This feels…it feels different.” He groaned, and I tightened around him. “You. Us. Everything.”

My mind raced, trying to process the myriad sensations—the pressure of Ash inside me, the water swirling around us, the sound of our mingled breathing and moans. It was overwhelming and intoxicating all at once.

“Hold on to me,” he said against my lips.

“Always,” I promised as he began walking us backward.

As we reached the steps, Ash lowered us so he was sitting and I was straddling him, my knees resting against the slick, smooth step. The change of position drew a ragged moan from me, and I let my forehead rest against his. Neither of us moved for several long moments. The water calmed, but our hearts didn’t.

With one hand on my hip, Ash lifted me until only the tip of his cock remained inside me, and then he stilled.

I whimpered against his mouth, wiggling against him, but he held me in place. “Ash.”

He chuckled, the sound husky and rough. “Fuck me, liessa.”

The wicked demand ignited a fire. My blood burned, and my skin tingled. But his command did more. Gave more. He was freely handing over control.

And giving it to me.

Gods, I was so in love with him.

Muscles low in my stomach clenched. Our eyes locked. “Yes, my King.”

His irises flashed silver when starlight filled them.

Pressing my hands against his chest, I slid down his length. The feel of him now was like a jolt of pure eather flooding my veins, making my heart race and my breathing shallow.

Our mouths came together once more, my body moving in a slow and sensuous dance. He held himself still, all but his hands. They roamed and explored, skating over the curves of my hips, the dip of my waist, and then the swells of my breasts as I rode him.

That deep, carnal sound came from him again. His hands slid to my bottom, his long fingers pressing into the flesh and squeezing. Every inch of my being ignited with pleasure, each stroke of his cock coaxing moans from my lips.

Moving up and down, I ran my hands over the muscles of his shoulders and traced my way down his chest, the coolness of his flesh under mine intensifying every ripple of sensation. I could feel power radiating off him as he restrained himself, and it caressed the same raw energy inside me, sending my desire soaring even higher.