He hardly needs the encouragement, though he responds eagerly— Ronan is due this and every other possible demonstration of his love he can invent. He's overdue. Kylo had never meant to deprive Ronan of anything with his failure to recognise and give name to his feelings— but he's determined, now. He will never, ever leave Ronan in enough doubt to imagine himself unloved. Ever again.

But he's momentarily distracted from his adoration of Ronan's skin by a prayer turned in his direction, a plea that reminds him how they got here— Apollo's soulmate who had abandoned him.

He nuzzles into the warmth of Ronan's neck, his answer a low, rumbling promise:

"I am never letting you go, Ronan. Even if loving you destroys me. Even if it costs me everything else. Do you understand? You've become a part of me. You're a part of me I'm not willing to exist without."