It felt like a weight had come off of her shoulders at finally sharing her past with another; it was a past she had run from almost constantly for years on end now. Never had she told that story before and honestly doubted that she would again as there was no need, but giving him that part of her meant everything and was beyond worth it. The calmness and reassurance she felt when she finally looked so deeply back in to his ice blue eyes were beyond anything she had felt before. It was all extremes between the two of them, no room for so-so and halfway. He demanded her all without saying a word and she gave it without a second thought. His soft words and gentle nudges coaxed a smile back to her face, her slender muzzle meeting his own in return. “Even then I’d be willing to pay it, but I’d bet it won’t be an issue,” she said with a gentle laugh.

She lingered pressed into him once more, enjoying the warmth and steadiness that he brought to her and the familiar sense of being whole. Her eyes closed, breathing slowly in and out as she let the calmness wash over her. The beating of his heart coupled with the pounding rain outside almost lulled her to sleep. His deep words echoed almost distant in her ears as she suddenly found herself fighting off sleep. Her only response is a light hum that rumbled in her chest at his words. She had long ago found peace with what she had done to escape a life that others tried to form for her, vowing never to give another the chance to dictate how she would live her life.

It was his next words that drug everything back in to focus, the pain laced in those words enough to cause her own heart to squeeze in response due to the connection they shared. Briefly she wondered if she would always be able to feel the echo of his emotions in her soul or if might fade over time, it was an odd sensation but a connection she didn’t want to lose from him no matter what came their way. His final words are what stopped her breathing for a moment, catching in her throat as she let it all sink in. Up until now she could guess at what he felt and how she did, but to hear the words out loud sent her heart racing.

For a moment she considered telling him everything, she had been open with him about everything else save for her relationship with Neirin and she wasn’t sure why it was so hard to simply tell him everything now. It wasn’t so much guilt that stopped her as how scared she was of how he might react. True he would understand, but she didn’t want him to shut the door on what they could possibly be due to what had happened to her when she had first arrived. For tonight at least she would be selfish and not so maudlin about the entire situation, she would allow herself a happiness and a peace she had not known before. Not for the first time today she pushed down the feelings and thoughts of telling him all of this and simply pressed her own dark nose into the thick gray scruff of his cheek and sighed.

“You have opened up parts of me I didn’t know existed, depths that I didn’t think I was capable of all in a single day. Whatever the future brings I know it will find me by your side as long as you’ll have me.” She flashed him a playful smile, nipping gently at his cheek before she lowered herself fully to the den floor, motioning for him to come and lay with her. Her bluegreen eyes flicked to the storm still raging outside. “It appears we might be here a while,” she said quietly, waiting to once again feel the warmth of him around her.