Page 36 of Whisker me Away
"It's not." The words came from somewhere deeper than conscious thought. "I felt it the night you kissed me. I felt it when our magic combined to heal the corruption. I feel it every time you look at me like I'm the most important thing in your world."
"You are." Kieran's hand cupped her face, his touch gentle despite the intensity blazing in his eyes. "You're everything, Freya. My mate, my heart, my reason for wanting to be better than I've ever been."
The confession hung between them like a bridge, spanning the distance between careful friendship and something infinitely more dangerous. Freya felt her last defenses crumble like autumn leaves.
"Show me," she whispered.
Kieran kissed her with controlled desperation, his mouth claiming hers with a hunger that spoke of weeks of restraint finally breaking. This wasn't the gentle exploration of their first kiss or the desperate comfort of their second. This wasrecognition, possession, their bond flaring to life between them making the air shimmer.
Freya's magic responded to his touch like fire meeting gasoline, green-gold energy crackling between them with visible sparks. Around the lake, night creatures paused in their activities to watch, drawn by the power radiating from their joined forms. An owl settled on a nearby branch, its yellow eyes reflecting their magical display. A family of deer emerged from the treeline, standing motionless as ancient instincts recognized something significant happening.
As Kieran's arms tightened around her and the lake reflected their combined magic like captured starlight, Freya realized she was tired of being safe. Tired of choosing logic over passion, duty over desire, other people's expectations over her own heart.
Maybe it was time to be brave instead.
20
KIERAN
Kieran could taste Freya's magic on his tongue where their kiss had deepened into something that felt like catching fire. Her hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer as if she couldn't bear even the smallest distance between them.
"Kieran," she breathed against his mouth, and the way she said his name made his tiger purr with possessive satisfaction.
"I know." He traced the line of her jaw with reverent fingers, marveling at how perfectly she fit against him. "I feel it too. The connection. The recognition. Everything."
"Is this what a mate bond feels like?" Her eyes searched his face in the moonlight, vulnerable and wondering. "This certainty that goes deeper than logic?"
"Yeah." He rested his forehead against hers, breathing in her scent of something uniquely Freya. "This is exactly what it feels like. Like finding the missing piece of yourself you didn't know you'd lost."
"I was so scared," she whispered. "Scared of wanting you, scared of hurting Rowan, scared of what it would mean if I admitted this was real."
"And now?"
"Now I'm tired of being scared. Tired of fighting what I feel. Tired of lying to myself about what I want." Her hands moved to his face, her touch gentle despite the heat blazing in her eyes. "I want you, Kieran. Not because fate demands it, not because the binding spell requires it. Because my heart chose you long before my head caught up."
The confession hit him like lightning, hope and hunger and something deeper flooding through his system. His tiger roared with triumph, but it was his human heart that spoke when he said, "I love you too. Have loved you probably since that night you turned me down years ago and I was too proud to admit it."
"You loved me then?" Surprise colored her voice.
"Loved the fire in you, the way you stood your ground against someone twice your size, the intelligence that made you see right through my charm to the scared kid underneath." His thumb traced her lower lip, watching her pupils dilate with desire. "I just didn't understand what that feeling meant until my tiger recognized you as ours."
"Ours," she repeated softly, testing the word. "I like the sound of that."
"Do you?" Kieran's tone was now a low growl that made her shiver. "Because once I touch you properly, once we cross this line, there's no going back. The bond will deepen even if it's not complete."
"I don't want to go back." Her hands moved to the buttons of his shirt, fingers working with determined purpose. "I want to go forward. With you. Into whatever comes next."
The cool autumn air hit his chest as she pushed the fabric away, but her touch burned hotter than any flame. Kieran sucked in a breath when her palms smoothed over his skin, mapping the contours of muscle and the scars that told the story of his dangerous past.
"Beautiful," she murmured, pressing a kiss to the scar that crossed his collarbone. "Every mark, every line. You're perfect."
"Far from perfect." His hands found the hem of her sweater, pausing to give her one last chance to change her mind. "But I'm yours if you'll have me."
"I'll have you." Her smile was soft and fierce at once. "All of you."
Kieran lifted the sweater over her head with reverent care, his breath catching at the sight of her revealed to him in moonlight. Pale skin like ivory, freckles scattered across her shoulders like constellations, the graceful curve of her waist that made his hands ache to span it.
"Christ, you're gorgeous." He traced the edge of her simple white bra, noting how her breath hitched at the contact. "I've imagined this so many times, but reality is so much better."
