077 | THE NIGHT SKY

I didn’t care that we were with my parents. I didn’t even care that, right now, they hated him – and that they probably hated me a little bit, too.

I kissed him. I flung my arms around his neck and pulled him down until his lips met mine. The kiss seared me, inside and out; feeling the pulse of his emotions, of his love, through the mate bond, along with the physical press of his flushed mouth to mine, tasting the sweet red wine on his tongue, was heady, intoxicating.

No. It was simpler than that.

It was everything we’d both wanted to admit for so very long, now.

It was love. And that, it turned out, was the brightest star of all – the trembling hope that resided not in the dark swathes of the night sky, but within me. Within us both.

And then gentle hands tore us apart.

“What–” I gasped, only to be interrupted by my mother’s snarl.

“It’s the mate bond, Haile! You’ve said it yourself. We had a plan, remember? You were so determined, so sure of yourself. He’s convinced you that he is w