Page 62 of Bound to the Marak

She collapsed against his chest, panting. One of his hands stroked her hair, the motion strangely tender for someone so dangerous.

And still, even in the afterglow, her thoughts wouldn’t settle.

“I’m going home,” she said, her voice hoarse. “I can’t believe it. Earth.”

He was silent for a while. His gills flared softly as he breathed, his glowing skin dimming slightly.

But then: “Do you still wish to?”

She turned in his grasp. “Of course.”

“But will you return with me?”

Her heart twisted.

She didn’t answer. Not because she didn’t know, but because the answer scared her.

This…thingbetween them—it wasn’t a fling. Not a dream. It had grown roots in her. Deep ones.

Even if she returned to Earth,even if she found Alfie, how could she ever be content again? How could she walk through her old neighborhood, drink coffee, watch movies… knowingthisexisted? Knowing he did?

Karian cupped her face. “You are mine now, Leonie. And I am yours.”

She exhaled shakily. “I don’t think I could leave you. Even if I wanted to.”

One of his tentacles curled around her wrist. “You don’t.”

She let out a breathless laugh, half-tearful.

“No,” she whispered. “I don’t.”

And in the silence between them—between the pull of stars and the fire of their bodies—Leonie realized something devastatingly true.

She was going home. But she’d already found where she belonged.

Forty-Four

Earth.

Her home.

It hung just beyond the ship’s viewing dome, a luminous blue sphere marbled with white. So familiar, so achingly beautiful it made her throat tighten. Leonie stood silently at the edge of the Marak’s private deck, unable to look away. There it was—herplanet. The one she thought she’d never see again. Her fingers curled slightly against the cool railing, her heart thudding loud in her chest.

Behind her, Karian approached with his usual silent grace. His presence pressed against her back before she even felt his touch—a low hum in the air, the distinct shift of space around him.

“I told you I would bring you back,” he said, his voice low, deep, utterly calm. “And I have.”

She turned to him slowly, her gaze drifting up his tall, alien frame. His skin shimmered with an internal glow, the black markings of his power visible now that he was unmasked and fully himself.

“You’re not going to look like that down there, right?” she asked, half-teasing, half-nervous.

“I’m many things, little human,” Karian replied, raising a hand. “But I am not careless.”

A flicker of silver light passed over his body as he activated a small device at his belt. In a blink, his inhuman features dulled. His eyes turned to a dark, penetrating brown. His skin lightened just enough to pass. The markings faded beneath the illusion. His tentacles retracted fully—somewhere, folded into his form, hidden by advanced tech she still didn’t understand.

In his place stood a striking, tall man with an intense, otherworldly presence that no human would quite be able to place. Not unless they looked too closely.

He tilted his head. “Acceptable?”

---