“I am,” he asserted. “I am happy, Ellie. We have lost ones we love. My country is at war. The Beast may have risen. But my daughter is asleep down the hall in her bed in a bedchamber that is no longer black and blue, but lavender and pink. My other daughter’s chamber adjoins hers and I know they sneak into each other’s rooms at night, to whisper and connive little-girl plots and share little-girl dreams. I have friends I care about close to drink and dine with. And last, I have you here, astride me, smiling down at me, washing me with your sun even in the middle of the night.”

She dropped down as if she could not hold her torso up any longer, doing this as she covered his face with both of her hands so that he could smell her balm was made with aloe and lavender.

She slid her hands down to the sides of his head when her forehead hit his.

“I fear for my daughter,” he whispered when all he could see was her amethyst eyes.

“I know,” she also whispered.

“I fear for your daughter.”

“I do as well.”

“Our friends.”

“Yes.”

“Our realms.”

Her voice was husky when she said his name, “Cassius.”

“I do not want this happiness to end. And all I know of life is that any happiness that comes, comes to an end.”

“Sweetheart, listen to me,” she urged, putting mild pressure on either side of his head. “We charged down a mountain to face sure and imminent death, and here we are.”

“Ellie.”

“I am Nadirii and you are Airenzian and for nearly three hundred years, it was impossible to consider such a union amongst our royal lines. And here we are.”

He drew her hair up at both sides of her head and held it at the back, but he made no reply.

“We have already beat the odds, Cassius. More than once. There is no stopping us now.”

His fingers fisted and he growled, “I will not lose you.”

“No, you will not,” she stated fiercely.

“I will plant babies in you.”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly, tipping her chin down so her lips were against his.

“I will sleep beside you as the days pass and I will do so until your hair turns white. Until one of us wakes in the morn not breathing. And if it is you that goes first, I will close my eyes and the gods will know I have no further purpose on this earth, so they will know to take the last of my breaths so I can join you.”

“Yes,” she whispered, one of her hands leaving his head so it could reach between them.

And in a few deft moves, she was sliding onto his cock.

He lunged up inside her, forcing a breath from between her lips to caress his.