CHAPTER 343: 343: THE AFTERMATH OF THE NIGHT

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Kai kept her close, his body heavy with the weight of release but unwilling to move away. His breath still came hard, his chest pressing into her big breasts with every rise and fall. She clung to him as though afraid he might vanish, her arms looped tight around his neck, her nails leaving faint red trails across his back where she had held him through the mating.

For a long while, neither spoke. Silence felt full and complete on Kai’s arms, the silence of a field after lightning has struck, or a river that has finally spilled its flood and lies calm in the moonlight. The only sound was her breathing, shaky at first, then smoothing into a rhythm that matched his own. Every exhale carried the sweetness of survival, of victory, of love discovered through her struggling time.

It was she who broke the silence at first, her voice rough, barely a whisper. "I thought no man could ever satisfy me. I thought I was cursed to be left half full... wanting... aching. That’s why I stopped mating for the past ten years. But you..." She paused, her lips trembling against his cheek. "You ruined that thought forever. Now I can’t go back to that time."

Kai tilted his head, brushing his lips along her temple. "Good," he said simply. "Let it stay ruined. Come to me when you need my anaconda. I will make sure to satisfy you."

Her laugh came shaky, almost a sob, and then steadied into something softer. "You don’t understand. No one has ever gone this far with me. No one could. They would falter, they would fall back, they would surrender long before I ever reached my peak. But you held on. You stayed. And then—" She broke off, her voice cracking as she remembered the depth he had given her, the overwhelming fullness. She shivered. "Then you became more. Bigger. Stronger. I thought I would break."

He leaned closer, his lips grazing her ear. "You didn’t break."

She smiled faintly, eyes wet but glowing. "No. I bloomed for you."

The words struck him harder than any praise could. He kissed her deeply, slow and lingering, and when they parted she rested her forehead against his chest. "You’re the only one who can take all of me alone, only you can satisfy my lust, Kai."

He whispered. "I have also learned the truth tonight... only you can take all of me in return. You’re the only one who can bear my full strength. We both found what was missing from our life."

(Author Note: When Kai is over six star rank she will break like his other wives and concubines. 😝)

Her eyes fluttered closed, a tear slipping free. "Then let me always be that one. I want no one else. I want no one but you. It’s very heart breaking for me that I can’t stay with you forever, but I will come to you whenever I am horny."

Kai didn’t ask any questions. What did she mean by that line? ’Ican’t stay with you forever.’

They lay like that for a time, wrapped in quiet vows, their bodies still trembling in the aftermath. Her skin was slick with sweat, her hair tangled, her voice raw, yet she had never looked more beautiful to him. She had given him everything, and in giving, she had proven herself stronger than any other girls.

Kai shifted, finally easing them onto their sides, still pressed together. The cloak tangled around their legs, the mat damp with the heat of their bodies, but none of it mattered. His arm wrapped around her, pulling her tight against him, his chin resting lightly on her head.

"You should rest," he murmured.

"I don’t want to," she said, though her eyelids drooped. "I want to hold this moment until the sun rises."

He smiled faintly. "Then hold it in your dreams. I will still be here when you wake. I won’t leave."

She sighed, a sound of surrender that was not defeat but trust. Her breathing began to steady, her body melting against his. But before she fully slipped away, she lifted one hand and touched his jaw.

"You’re my man now, Kai," she whispered. "Not because I demand it, but because no one else could ever... ever match what we shared tonight. Nobody can touch you (she meant enemy). I will protect you forever (when her true star rank is back)."

His chest tightened, but he did not flinch from the truth. "And you are my woman," he answered. "I will protect you too."

That was enough. Her hand fell, her body stilled, and she drifted into sleep at last.

Kai stayed awake longer. He held her, his red eyes reflecting the last dying embers of the fire. He thought of upcoming battles, of survival, of the strength he had built through blood and trial. He had believed no one could ever stand beside him when he would reach nine star rank. Before that he wanted to lay low.

But problems and responsibilities keep coming his way. Now he has one more beauty to protect. Who knows what type of problems and enemies she will bring for him. But one thing is certain no matter what he will protect his own people.

And as he finally let his eyes close, he knew something with absolute certainty: she was not just another lover, not just another fleeting passion. She was the one strong enough to share the weight of his full self — in battle, in bed, in life. She must have had a very high star rank. Because Kai pissed off the system... the system didn’t give him all the information.

The fire sank lower. The shelter filled with the soft sound of two steady breaths. Outside, the stream whispered on, the night wearing down its hours. And inside, they rested — not as two, but as something new, forged by the mating they had endured together.

Two or three hours later....