---
Naaro's strength wavered only once. Her hand slipped from his wrist and groped for his jaw instead, needing a different kind of anchor. He caught her fingers, pressed them to his face, and kept his other hand at the light.
"Look at me," he said.
She did. Her pupils were wide and bright with effort and something like wonder.
"Say it," she whispered, each word carefully made.
"I am yours," he said, and then added the missing half, "and you are only mine."
Her lips quivered into a smile that she could not quite sustain. "Good," she said, and faced the next wave. "I only want to be your woman. If another man tried to touch me I would rather die than let it happen."
The fourth cradle filled, then the fifth. Naaro's breath turned to small, measured huffs. Sweat beaded along her hairline. Kai's aura link stayed open, and he fed her steadiness each time a tremor tried to take it from her. When she faltered, he spoke, not loudly, but with a tone fashioned of iron and wind.
