Page 58 of Warrior’s Mate

"You have them."

"I need the western blast doors opened before we reach the old freight cut. They're on a military lockout now."

He keyed the authorization into her wrist unit. "Done."

"And I need you to keep the sky off us for forty minutes."

Kaiven looked at her then, fully. There were people within arm's reach, reports pouring through his comm, smoke staining the afternoon, but the moment contracted around them anyway.

"I can try."

"That's not very reassuring."

"You have damaged my confidence."

"It needed maintenance."

His laugh was soft and brief. Then it was gone, and what remained in his face was not command.

"Maelis."

She stepped closer. He did not touch her.

"I don't know what happens after this," he said. "I don't know what the word solmatu will mean to you tomorrow, or if we get a tomorrow that resembles anything we knew yesterday. But I know what it means to me now. It means there is someone in this world whose life feels bound to mine, and the only honorable thing I can do with that knowledge is trust you with your own life."

Her throat tightened.

"That sounds almost sensible."

"Do not spread it around. I have a reputation."

She reached for him first.

This kiss was nothing like the one at the extraction pad. There was no surprise in it. No tentative question except the one they both answered by remaining. Kaiven's hand settled against her back, warm and steady, while Maelis gripped the front of his uniform and let herself have the impossible luxury of wanting him.

When the kiss ended, he kept his forehead against hers.

"Come back," he said.

It was not an order.

"You too."

"I intend to."

"Good. Because I am not completing a mate bond with a dead man."

His eyes widened fractionally. Maelis smiled despite herself. "Was that too direct?"

"No. I am merely reassessing several assumptions about the rest of my life."

"Do it later."

"Yes, Registrar."

She turned toward the waiting civilians. Kaiven caught her hand for one second, squeezed once, and released her. They went in opposite directions.

For the first time since recognition, the distance between them did not feel like rejection. It felt like trust.