Page 84 of Fired Up Love

“Have you thought about names?” Bryn asked, already reaching for her phone as if prepared to create a spreadsheet of options.

Kalyna laughed. “We’re considering family names, but nothing’s decided yet.”

“Lion cubs are notoriously stubborn,” Rust added with unexpected humor. “Probably best to wait and see what temperament emerges.”

As conversation shifted to baby topics, Zina went to prepare dessert in the kitchen. Artair followed.

“You’ve created something special here,” he said quietly. “Not just the home, but the community around it.”

Zina paused in slicing the chocolate torte. “You think so?”

“Look at them.” He nodded toward supernatural beings who might once have been territorial rivals now laughed together like family. “Dragons, lions, bears, tigers—all breaking bread without a hint of ancient grudges. That doesn’t happen by accident.”

The observation touched her unexpectedly deeply. “We didn’t set out to create anything beyond our own space.”

“The best communities form that way—organically, around a solid center.” His bear-shifter bluntness carried no flattery, only observed truth. “You and Xai provide that center now.”

She carried his words back to the table along with dessert, seeing their gathering through fresh eyes. Draven regaled them with tales from Nepal, describing mountain monasteries where dragons had meditated for millennia. Thora and Artair debated the merits of different security systems with good-natured intensity, while Noven attempted to convince Luciana that motorcycles were a perfectly safe transport.

Halfway through dessert, Zina noticed Xai watching her from across the table, his golden eyes reflecting candlelight with supernatural clarity. Something in his gaze—a focused tenderness—sent heat cascading through her core. Without words, he conveyed volumes: pride, desire, and something deeper that made her breath catch.

Later, as their gathering wound down, she found herself watching him in return. He stood near the fireplace, deep in conversation with his brother, gesturing with uncharacteristic animation. Something in her chest tightened at the sight—this powerful, ancient being who had unexpectedly become the cornerstone of her life.

EIGHTY

The following morning dawned clear and crisp—ideal autumn weather. Zina woke to find Xai’s side of the bed empty, but a note on his pillow caught her attention.

Meet me at the riverside clearing at 10. Dress for outdoors. —X

Intrigued, she took her time with her morning routine, humming as she dressed in comfortable jeans and a soft sweater. Their relationship had fallen into such comfortable rhythms that spontaneity now carried extra charm.

Following the path from their cabin toward the river, Zina breathed deeply of forest air tinged with wood smoke and fallen leaves. Her lioness stirred beneath her skin, appreciating the wilderness surrounding their new home.

The path curved around ancient oaks before opening to a riverside clearing—except the clearing had transformed overnight. Where there had been only wild grasses yesterday, now stood arranged circles of flowering hydrangeas in vivid reds, purples, and golds—the colors of the Founding Pyre.

In the center waited Xai, standing beside a picnic blanket laden with breakfast pastries and coffee. Beyond him stretched a panoramic view of Enchanted Falls nestled in the valley below.

“What’s all this?” she asked, gesturing at the flowers as she approached.

“I may have been planning this for some time,” he admitted, looking uncharacteristically nervous. “Dragons tend toward... extravagance when something matters deeply.”

“You planted all these overnight?”

“Dragon speed has its advantages.” He offered his hand, leading her into the circular garden. “Each color represents an aspect of our union—red for my lineage, gold for yours, and purple for our shared guardianship.”

Zina turned slowly, taking in the beauty surrounding them. “It’s incredible. But why now?”

Instead of answering immediately, Xai guided her to the center of the floral display. Sunlight filtered through autumn leaves, dappling the ground with golden light. In the distance, Enchanted Falls sparkled like a magical diorama—their shared responsibility, their home.

“Five centuries,” he began, voice uncharacteristically soft. “I’ve lived five centuries watching the world change around me. Empires rise and fall, technologies transform human life, supernatural beings adapt to evolving times.”

He took both her hands in his, golden eyes holding her gaze with unshielded emotion.

“In all that time, I never found someone who made eternity seem worthwhile rather than endless. Until you.”

Zina’s breath caught as he lowered himself to one knee, still holding her hands.

“I know we’ve already bonded in supernatural ways,” he continued, “but I’ve come to value certain human traditions for their symbolic beauty.”

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