Page 213 of Emylia

Every nerve ending sang for him, and I let him take me—let him ruin me. Let him love me the only way he knew how—without mercy. And when we came undone together, there was no line between us.

No air.

Only fire.

Only Maalikai.

And me.

We lay in a sweaty heap, trying to catch our breath. Gently, I ran my fingers through his hair, his head resting on my chest. I loved the weight of Maalikai’s body against mine, the way he held himself up just enough not to crush me—still protective, even now.

But Maalikai didn’t move. Not at first. He hovered over me, braced on trembling forearms, his breath ragged as he stared down like he’d just stepped off the edge of the world—and taken me with him.

His chest rose and fell against mine, damp with sweat, but it was the look in his eyes that stole the air from my lungs.

Ravaged. Wrecked. Reverent.

And something else.

“Maalikai...” I whispered.

His eyes met mine—intense, shattered—and everything inside me stilled.

“The way you saidMaalik, while you came…” His voice was rough silk, breaking apart on every word. “It’s my new favorite word.”

A smile tipped my lips, my heart pounding against my ribs. “Then it’s decided. You’re my Maalik—and I’m your princess.”

“I love the sound of that.” His lips brushed the rise and fall of my chest, soft, almost absentminded. Then he looked at me like I was the only thing tethering him to this world.

And his fingers—those hands that had just undone me—trembled as they swept a strand of hair behind my ear. The touch was so gentle it shattered me more than anything else could.

“You okay?” he asked, voice gravelled and low. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” I shook my head, curling my fingers around his. “You made me feel like I was everything.”

“You are.” It came too fast. Too quiet. Like a truth he wasn’t meant to speak.

I reached for him, my fingertips trailing down his chest—tracing muscle, skin, scars—until they landed on a patch just beneath his ribs.

A birthmark.

I blinked. Then leaned closer.

The shape was unmistakable.

Gods, I hadn’t seen it clearly before—not like this.

“Your birthmark…” I whispered, awe catching in my throat. “It’s a wolf. The same as your bow.”

Maalikai let out a soft, guttural laugh—the kind that reverberated through bone. “It is.”

“I’ve never noticed it before.”

“Maybe I should have my shirt off more often,” he said with a crooked grin that always undid me.

“Maybe you should,” I whispered back, the heat in me flickering to life again.

But something shifted behind his eyes. Like saying the words would cost him. Like they weren’t his to promise. So he said nothing at all.

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