Page 62 of Pursued By the Dragon Alien

Lilas pulled back just enough to breathe, her lips swollen, her cheeks flushed. “You really know how to make an entrance.”

Razion rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “I was afraid I’d lost you,” he admitted.

She let out a shaky breath. “You didn’t.”

A quiet beat of silence passed, and Razion tightened his grip on her. “You’re my mate, Lilas.” The words were absolute. A truth. “And no matter what happens next, no matter what is coming—I will always fight for you. So will my dragon.”

Lilas swallowed hard, her fingers trailing up his jaw, gentler now. “That’s good,” she whispered. “Because I plan to fight for you, too.”

Razion inhaled sharply, his heart slamming against his ribs.

There it was. The truth he had waited for.

And just like that, the last pieces of him—fragments he hadn’t even realized were missing—snapped into place.

With a low growl, he tightened his hold and kissed her again.

This time, neither of them held back.

And this time, neither of them let go.

TWENTY-FIVE

Lilas

Lilas lay curled against Razion, her cheek resting on the solid warmth of his chest. His steady heartbeat thumped beneath her ear in a quiet, grounding rhythm that settled something deep inside her. Their bodies were tangled in the sheets, her leg draped over his, his arm wrapped around her waist like he was afraid she might disappear if he let go.

She wasn’t going anywhere.

Not ever again.

Her fingers traced lazy circles over his skin, skimming the golden scales that shimmered softly in the low light. Her body still hummed in the afterglow of their reunion. Pleasure thrummed in her blood like a song that wouldn’t quite fade. But beneath the contentment, something else stirred—a quiet weight she couldn’t ignore.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

Razion shifted, tilting his head to look down at her. “For what?”

She exhaled, tightening her fingers against his skin like she could hold on to him as tightly as she wanted to hold on to this moment. “I should have stayed,” she said. “I should have listened to the whole conversation with Krask.” Her throat tightened. “If I had, none of this would have happened.”

Razion was quiet for a long moment. Then he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Lilas.” His voice was calm, steady. “I don’t blame you at all. You did what made sense to you.”

She frowned, shifting up onto one arm so she could look at him fully. “I didn’t trust you.” The confession sat heavy on her tongue. “I should have.”

“It’s not that simple.” Razion’s fingers traced her arm, as if he couldn’t stop touching her. “What we’ve been through in our lives—it shapes us, whether we want it to or not. You guarded yourself because that’s what you knew. That’s what hard lessons taught you.” His silver-gray eyes held hers, stormy but warm. “You did what you thought would keep you safe.”

“And I was wrong,” she whispered, pressing her palm flat against his chest. “You would never hurt me.”

Razion caught her wrist, holding her hand against his skin. “Never,” he said firmly.

She swallowed hard, nodding. She knew thatnow. If she was honest with herself, she’d known it before—deep down, beneath the fear, beneath the panic. But fear had spoken louder in that moment, and she had run instead of listening.

“I spent cycles not knowing if I’d saved myself from a huge mistake or thrown away something…perfect,” she admitted. “Something I didn’t think I could have.”

“And what do you think now?” he asked.

She smiled, small but sure. “That I was a fool.”

Razion chuckled. The warmth of it rolled through his chest. “You’re not a fool, Lilas.”

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