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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"You were amazing," Krivoth's deep voice says over and over in my mind as we ride across the clearing. "I'm proud of you."

The warmth of his words mixes with my own confused joy. This battle wasn't a simple "level up" in a game—this was survival. It's ironic. Like a lot of gamers, I'd always talked about how amazing it would be to do all the fun things in real life, but real life's messier than a game. That was real danger back there, the kind without any do-overs. So surely that makes it okay that I defended myself?

I killed someone. Someone who'd casually planned to kill and eat me, but still a thinking being. A person.

I've ridden the high of victory after thousands of games, thrilled to defeat my enemies.

And seeing that ogre loom over Krivoth, ready to strike…

I don't regret what I did. How wrong is it that the very reality of the danger we'd been in makes this victory feel even sweeter? What does it make me that I'm glad we won, no matter the cost?

Krivoth's arms tighten around me, and I relish the knowledge that we're alive. He's alive. I almost lost him.

God, the thought makes me want to jump out of my skin. I don't know what I'd do without him. And I don't just mean in a survival kind of way.

I care about him… more than I've ever cared about any guy in my life. It makes me antsy. Even without the magical marriage label, this thing between us feels super real, and I've never done real before.

I shift in the saddle, needing to do something with all of these pent-up feelings.

He kisses the top of my head, the brush of his tusks against my scalp making my mouth go dry in a completely different way.

I squirm, a restless energy filling me. Even with all the action we just saw, my body's edgy. It wants to move. It wants him.

I want to feel alive, and I want to do it with Krivoth.

God, I hope we get somewhere we can stop!

The honeycomb canyon is ten-feet wide, but it curves like a snake turning this way and that, never allowing for long views ahead or behind. The way widens before us, opening onto a circular area barely wider than the steaming pool at its center.

"It's a hot spring!" I lean forward, the thought of getting Krivoth naked dancing through my head.

Mist trots over and sniffs, giving one quick lick. "Bah. It's pure enough, but it's hot."

"It probably cools off once it runs out the other side." Krivoth points.

On the far side of the pool, the other end of the canyon lets out onto a grassy meadow, the far edge smudged dark by a solid line of forest. A stream runs along the right side of that outward path.

The cat lopes all the way out to the meadow and tries the stream, crouching to lap with her pink tongue. Instead of speaking, she continues to drink, her actions telling us everything we need to know.

Storm hurries around the hot spring, the sound of his hoof strikes echoing off the cliff walls. As we move around the pool, a dark space opens on the cliff wall across from me, like an optical illusion being unveiled. I bet it's a cave!

"Storm, wait. Let us off here."

Krivoth moves more slowly than usual, taking his time dismounting. I'd like to think it's because he's trying to be careful with his injury, but it probably means it hurts a lot.

Once he lifts me down, I grab a glow stone and say, "I want to check on something. Be right back." I trot around the hot spring to the opening in the cliff wall. If this was a game, I'd put both a trap and treasure in there. For now, I just want a nice, dry cave for the night. The tent's great, and I'm glad we have it, but with Krivoth hurt, it would be nice to have something that feels more secure.

Not to mention private.

I step inside to find a rectangular room made out of honeycomb columns, the floor covered with soft sand. Embedded crystals sparkle in the golden light of the glow stone. I run back out and grab the saddlebags, calling out, "It's a surprise" to Krivoth's questioning glance. Back inside, I spread the leather tent across the sandy floor and pile all the furs on top to make a comfy bed.

By the time I return, Storm's gone, leaving me alone with Krivoth and a hot spring.

He walks up to me, and I can no longer see the meadow, which means Storm and Mist can't see us either. Here's hoping they can both take a hint and let us have our privacy.

All the heat of battle still roils inside me, ready to turn into a true celebration of survival. When I threw my arms around him back in the clearing, his feel, his smell, it all wrapped around me, reminding me I was alive.

And I could want.

And oh, boy, do I want.

I want those big hands to slide beneath my clothes. I want the heat of his kiss. I want to feel that massive cock for myself.

I might not know how this marriage is going to work out in the long run yet, but I do know this.

I want him more than I've ever wanted anyone in my whole life.

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