The steam from the shower curled around them, wrapping Asis and Harald in a cocoon of warmth. The water cascaded over her skin, washing away the remnants of sickness and fear. Harald's hands, though calloused from battle, moved with surprising tenderness as he traced the curve of her spine, his fingers lingering on the fresh mark at the base of her neck, the claiming bite, now healed but still sensitive. "You're trembling," he murmured, his voice rough with concern.
Asis exhaled, leaning back against his chest. The heat of his body seeped into hers, a stark contrast to the cool marble at her back. "It's just the water," she lied.
Harald didn't press. Instead, he slid his palms down her arms, his touch firm yet reverent, as if she were something fragile and sacred all at once. His lips brushed the shell of her ear. "You're safe now."
Safe. The word echoed in her mind, unfamiliar yet intoxicating. For so long, safety had been an illusion, something she clawed for but never grasped. Now, it was here, in the arms of a man who had torn apart kingdoms to keep her.
Ingolf stirred within Harald, a low growl reverberating through their shared consciousness. "She is ours, yet she still doubts." Harald's grip tightened imperceptibly. "She has every reason to."
Asis turned in his arms, her dark eyes searching his. Water dripped from his lashes, his golden gaze burning with an intensity that made her breath hitch. Without thinking, she reached up, tracing the sharp line of his jaw. "Why did you do it?" she whispered. "Why risk everything for me?" His answer was immediate, raw. "Because I would burn the world to ash before I let it take you from me."
The confession hung between them, heavy and undeniable. Then his mouth crashed onto hers, a claiming as fierce as the bond that tied them. Asis gasped, her fingers tangling in his wet hair as he backed her against the shower wall. The heat between them was suffocating, a wildfire that had been smoldering for months, finally unleashed.
Harald's hands roamed her body with a possessiveness that bordered on worship, cupping her breasts, skimming her waist, gripping her hips to pull her flush against him. She could feel the evidence of his desire pressing into her stomach, hard and unyielding. "Tell me to stop," he growled against her lips, though his body betrayed his words.
Asis arched into him, her nails scoring down his back. "Don't you dare."
*****
Later, wrapped in silk sheets with Harald's arm draped heavily over her waist, Asis traced idle patterns on his chest. The room was bathed in the soft glow of moonlight, the only sound their mingled breathing and the distant howl of wolves beyond the palace walls.
Harald's fingers toyed with a strand of her hair, his voice a rumble beneath her ear. "What are you thinking?" She hesitated. "I want to work on my new architecture project."
He stilled. "Okay"
"I need my laptop and phone since I lost them here," she propped herself up on an elbow to meet his gaze. "I can't just sit in this palace forever, Harald. I need to build something. Create." Ingolf contented, "She can focus on both her work and her role as Luna Queen."
Harald agrees with Ingolf. Outwardly, his thumb brushed her lower lip. "Then build. Design whatever you wish." Asis blinked. "Okay, I'll start as soon as you arrange my equipment." His smirk was faint. "Alright, it will be arranged." She swatted his chest, but her lips twitched.
*****
The next morning, Asis stood in the sunlit atrium of the palace's west wing, her blueprints spread across a reclaimed oak table. The space Harald had given her was expansive, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the mountains, and she had her laptop and phone, which she had lost when she was escaping the palace last time. She was sketching the framework of her new project on her laptop.
"Luna Queen," Anders greeted with a bow, though his smile was warm. "You look... great." Berit elbowed him before pulling Asis into a fierce hug. "We're just glad you're okay."
Asis hugged her back, the familiarity of Berit's presence easing something in her chest. "I hear you two have been busy cleaning up Vlad's mess." Anders' expression darkened. "His allies were scattered, but not gone. It's done now."
"Good." Asis glanced at her blueprints, then back at them. "Stay for dinner? Harald's been... restless. He could use the distraction." Berit grinned. "Oh, I bet he's been restless."
That evening, the great hall was alive with laughter and clinking glasses. Harald, though still every inch the Alpha King, seemed more at ease with Anders by his side, the two exchanging stories of battles past. Asis watched them from her seat, Berit's arm looped through hers. "You're happy," Berit observed quietly. Asis sipped her wine. "I'm getting there."
Later, when the fire had burned low and the others had retired, Harald carried Asis to their chambers, his lips trailing hot kisses down her throat. She gasped as he pinned her to the bed, his hands mapping her body with a reverence that left her trembling.
"Dyre—"
"Tell me what you want," he demanded, his voice rough. "You," she breathed. "Always you."
Their coupling was slow this time, a dance of whispered promises and tangled limbs. Harald took her apart piece by piece, his mouth and hands leaving no inch of her untouched. When she finally shattered beneath him, his name on her lips, he followed with a groan, his forehead pressed to hers.
"Mine," he whispered.
"Yours," she agreed.
*****
The next day, as sunlight spilled across the bed, Asis turned to Harald. "I need to go back." His entire body tensed. "Back?"
"To Sinha Haveily. To my family." She met his gaze. "It's been six months, Harald. My family is worried, and they deserve to know I'm alive."
Ingolf snarled. "We can't let her go alone." Harald silenced Ingold, "We will go with her." For a long moment, he studied her, the determination in her eyes, the set of her jaw. Then, with a slow exhale, he nodded. "Go. But you had to take me with you. We can have their blessing if it's okay with you?"
Asis cupped his face, her thumb brushing his cheekbone. "I will be glad, and you sure know how to win my Heart." He caught her wrist, pressing a kiss to her palm.
*****