The sun had not yet risen, but Virelan glowed as if it had.
Amber stood in the silence of her chambers, her skin still kissed with golden light from the trial. The mark on her wrist had cooled into something faint, no longer pulsing with Kael's dark tether. For the first time in days—maybe longer—she could breathe without trembling.
Behind her, Nate leaned against the doorway, watching her like she was something holy.
"You're glowing," he said softly.
Amber turned, letting him see her. "I feel like I burned everything away but what matters."
"And what's that?" he asked, voice low.
She crossed the room, each step deliberate. "You."
He didn't move, didn't speak. Just watched her approach like he was afraid to believe it.
"I was scared," she whispered, reaching for him. "Scared that wanting you would break me. That loving you would make me weak."
Nate cupped her face gently. "You've never been weak."
"I am when I'm with you," she said. "But only because I trust you enough to fall apart."
He kissed her then—slow and reverent.
She melted into him, fingers threading through his hair, pressing closer. The kiss deepened, their breaths mingling, bodies aligning with aching precision. Her magic flickered beneath her skin, responding to his touch, but this time it didn't rage—it purred.
When he lifted her into his arms, she didn't resist.
He carried her to the bed like she was something precious, something rare. A gift offered by fate, one he was finally ready to unwrap.
Amber lay back, pulling him down with her, her robe sliding open to reveal skin still dusted with ash and power. Nate hovered above her, his eyes devouring every inch like he was memorizing the moment.
"Touch me," she whispered. "No holding back."
He obeyed.
His hands glided down her body, slow and aching. The curve of her hips. The hollow of her throat. The swell of her breasts. He explored her with reverence and hunger, worshipping her with every brush of his fingertips. His lips followed the same path—kisses as soft as silk, then as hungry as flame.
Amber gasped, arching under his touch. Her body trembled, not from fear, but need—pure, hot, and insistent. For him.
"Gods," she breathed as his mouth traveled lower, her thighs parting instinctively. "Nate…"
He looked up at her from between her legs, eyes dark with heat. "I want to taste every part of you."
She couldn't answer—only moaned as his tongue found her, teasing, then devouring. Pleasure rolled through her like waves crashing on a burning shore. Her hands flew to his hair, grounding herself in the heat of his mouth, the rhythm of his hunger.
Her magic flared, golden light licking across her skin, but she didn't fight it.
She let it rise.
Let it sing.
She shattered with a cry, hips lifting off the bed as her climax broke over her like a storm. The room pulsed with her power, the glow casting shadows that danced on the walls like spirits.
When Nate rose above her again, she was breathless, glowing, and utterly undone.
"Come here," she murmured.
He obeyed, climbing over her, kissing her like a man lost in a dream.
She tugged at his shirt, desperate to feel his skin. He stripped it off, then paused, hovering.
"Are you sure?"
Her answer was a kiss that stole the air from his lungs.
He groaned, deep and rough, and let himself fall into her. Her legs wrapped around his waist, guiding him inside her, slow and deep.
Amber gasped—half pleasure, half relief. Like a lock clicking open.
He moved with her, in her, around her. Every thrust was a vow. Every breath a prayer. Her magic danced around them like wildfire, golden sparks blooming across their skin with each wave of pleasure.
She whispered his name like an incantation, like a tether to everything real.
He kissed her neck, her jaw, her lips—his voice ragged in her ear. "You're everything. Do you know that?"
She clung to him, eyes wet. "I'm yours."
The words broke something in him.
He lost himself, hips moving faster, harder, hands grasping at her thighs, her waist, like he couldn't bear to let her go.
She came again, this time with a soft cry and a burst of power that sent a ripple through the air—magic and light colliding.
He followed moments later, burying himself in her with a groan, his body tensing as he gave himself fully, completely.
And then there was silence.
Only the sound of their breathing. Their heartbeats slowing. Their magic settling like ash on a still hearth.
---
They lay tangled afterward, his fingers lazily tracing circles on her bare shoulder, her head on his chest. The warmth between them was not just physical—it was something else. Something older.
Amber closed her eyes, letting it settle deep in her bones.
"I was scared I'd hurt you," she said softly.
Nate kissed her hair. "You didn't."
"I didn't know if I could control it. The fire."
"You didn't control it," he murmured. "You owned it."
She smiled against his skin. "That was… more than I imagined."
He laughed quietly. "You lit me up from the inside out."
They lay there for a while longer, holding each other in the soft glow of their afterglow, until Amber whispered, "Do you feel it?"
Nate tensed slightly. "The magic?"
She nodded. "It's not just mine anymore. It's… changed."
Their marks glowed faintly, golden threads connecting them at the wrist. Where once her fire had surged alone, now it twined with something else—his shadow. His strength.
"It's like we've forged something new," he said, watching the energy swirl. "You and me. Together."
"A bond stronger than what Kael forced," she whispered.
He kissed her wrist, right over the mark. "A bond we chose."
Amber rested her hand over his heart. "Whatever comes next… we face it like this. Together."
He looked at her, eyes soft but fierce. "Always."
Outside, the city began to stir. But within the walls of their chamber, the world was quiet. And in the quiet, fire and shadow slept together at last—not in war, but in love.