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“I think I was asleep. Surely this was a dream. Are you even real, Seren?” Lark lifted her disheveled head from Seren’s chest, and the bliss reflecting back at her was enough to make Seren tear up.

Then Seren’s stomach rumbled. They both giggled.

“If I needed to assure you that I am real, this would do it. I tried not to eat too much at the fundraiser⁠—”

“Seren! Why? You didn’t like the food?” Lark’s face was immediately a picture of worry.

“No, no, sweetheart. I wanted there to be enough for everyone. I knew you were worried about supplies lasting, and people kept showing up. I wanted to make sure there was no shortage⁠—”

Lark shook her head and dropped it back on Seren’s collarbone, but not before placing a kiss on it.

“You really are too sweet, Seren Crowhart. How did you get to be this sweet? Are your sisters the same?”

“Somehow I doubt it.” Seren chuckled. “Rhy and Deryn gushed loudly about the sandwiches and the shrimp. So I know they had their share.”

Lark laughed prettily—everything she did was just so pretty—and Seren joined her.

“So you’re unique. Singular. Just you.”

“Well, then, aren’t you glad I’m all yours?”

The words slipped out of Seren’s mouth before her brain caught up to them, and Lark’s face popped back up right away. This time, the look on it was pure wonder. They stared at each other for a long moment, so long that Seren was about to break the silence with something even sillier than what she’d just said, but then Lark closed her eyes, as if savoring the moment. Savoring Seren’s words. The meaning behind them.

“Are you? Mine?”

Seren felt the slight vibration in the low voice, the air of the exhalation reaching her with trepidation and uncertainty.

“I am. Yours. I always have been. From the moment I saw you on the Tavern floor, scared and bleeding and looking like you were about to swing at me for totaling your car. All things considered, I should’ve been more afraid, now that I’ve seen what you can do with a poker.”

It was Seren’s turn to laugh. Goddess, but she had recognized her. Small and cold and hurt and angry and still, Seren recognized her.

A century later…

Seren stopped and exhaled. That was something they’d have to talk about. Every time she thought the right moment had come, something else took precedence. Of course, it was entirely possible that she really didn’t want to delve into memories, if that was even what they were, from over a hundred years ago. Not when she would not come up smelling like roses at all as a result of the reveal.

“I was never anyone’s, Seren. Never. There was… someone. Ten years ago.” Lark’s face paled. Even in the darkness of the room, the shadows marring the beautiful features were unmistakable. Lark’s throat worked under the tension of the words still unsaid. “He thought he owned me. He acted like he did.”

Seren’s hands went numb, the ocean beneath the cliff sweeping with her power, with her anger. But Lark’s heart was beating wildly in her neck, fluttering like the wings of the little songbird, and Seren held back the tide of her rage.

“So, no, I never ever wanted to be anyone’s. It was a prison. A sentence. But now… with you? I want to be yours. Because you allow me to be myself. To be mine first. Before I am anyone else’s.”

Lark smiled, a small, tentative gesture, tremulous at the edges. Seren leaned up. And kissed her. Just a quick peck, lips on lips, warmth on warmth.

“You are your own first and last, Lark. And if somewhere along the way you will want to be mine, you’ll be ready to be mine, then that’s what you will be. But I? I am yours. And it is not contingent on anything you give me in return. If you leave the island… If you leave the town… If you leave me…” Tears choked her, but she wanted to say this. Needed to. “If you leave, I will still be yours. Forever.”

Lark was still watching her, her fingertips tracing the lines of Seren’s face, tickling slightly, delighting with every touch.

“If I hadn’t already told you that I desperately adore you, I’d tell you right now.”

“Well, I think this is something worth repeating over and over. I believe it improves on repetition.” Seren winked, and Lark poked a finger in her ribs.

“Are you saying I did it wrong the first time?”

“Uncle, uncle!” Seren guffawed and tried to roll away. “You did it perfectly. I just love hearing it. How about that?”

Lark tickled her again for good measure and got out of bed.

“It’s a decent save, Fire Captain Crowhart. Now, how about that dinner, since your stomach seems to keep reminding you of your chivalrous ways?”