Page 8 of Kazmyr: Molten for Her
His expression softened, the thunder gone from his voice. "Because it recognizes its own."
"I'm not?—"
"This time," he interrupted, his thumb tracing a path along my collarbone that left fire in its wake, "the fire will burn for you, not against you. The flames that hunted you will become your shield."
I wanted to laugh at the absurdity, at the impossible promise. But the Heartforge pulsed beneath us, the ship's ember veins brightening in rhythm with my racing heart.
As if it heard.
As if it agreed.
"The ship..." I started, staring at the pulsing lines that ran through the obsidian walls.
"Responds to you," Kazmyr confirmed, his hand still burning against my skin. "It never has before. With anyone but me."
The implications hung between us, heavy as smoke. I'd felt it during our escape… the way the controls had steadied under my touch, the ship's systems calibrating to my presence. Like it knew me. Like it had been waiting.
"What does that mean?" I asked, voice barely audible over the humming of the ship.
His gaze held mine, molten gold swimming with emotions I couldn't name. "It means the Heartforge recognizes what the IDA algorithms detected. What I sensed the moment we met." His voice lowered. "Compatibility."
The word should have repulsed me. Should have sent me running for whatever passed for an escape pod on this living ship. Instead, it sank into me like heat into stone, warming places that had been cold for years.
"I'm no one's mate," I said, the protest weak even to my own ears. "I'm just...me."
"Yes," he agreed, surprising me. "Just you. Just Jenna. And that is enough."
His hand fell away from my shoulder, but the heat remained, a phantom brand that tingled against my skin. He stepped back, giving me space I wasn't sure I wanted.
"The Heartforge will shield us while we rest," he said, gesturing to a doorway that hadn't been there moments before, the ship reconfiguring itself in response to some unspoken command. "Your quarters await. We should arrive in twenty rotations."
Questions crowded my throat… about where we were going, about the hunters still pursuing us, about whatever the hell "unbound mates" meant and why anyone would pay for us. But exhaustion crashed over me, the adrenaline of our escape finally ebbing to leave bone-deep weariness in its wake.
"Safety," I repeated, tasting the unfamiliar concept. "Is anywhere actually safe for us?"
Kazmyr's expression darkened, the ember lines across his chest dimming momentarily. "Together, yes. Apart..." He left the sentence hanging, its implications clear enough.
I nodded, pushing to my feet. My legs shook, but I refused to show weakness. "Twenty rotations. Then what?"
"Then we decide." His gaze met mine, steady and sure. "Together."
Together. The word echoed through me, carried on the pulse of the ship that seemed increasingly in tune with my own heartbeat. I wanted to deny it, to run, but the walls were alive with flickering amber light, the heat inescapable, seeping into my very marrow.
As I followed Kazmyr toward the doorway that led to my quarters, the floor warmed beneath my feet, the ship guiding us with subtle pulses of light. Kazmyr stopped at an open door, watching me go with those burning eyes that seemed to see straight through my defenses. "Please tell me there’s a minibar and not just more lava-chic décor."
"Better, moss. Rest well, flame-born," he said softly as I reached the threshold.
I paused, looking back at him over my shoulder. "Don't call me that."
The corner of his mouth lifted in what might have been a smile. "What should I call you, then?"
"Jenna," I said firmly. "Just Jenna."
His head inclined in acknowledgment, but the intensity in his gaze never dimmed. "Rest well, Jenna. The fire watches over you now."
CHAPTER 4
KAZMYR
