“Then you should do it more often.”
“Maybe I will.”
He leans down and kisses me three more times before he forces himself to get up. I sit up as I watch him slip his shirt from last night back on.
“You’re drooling,” he teases.
I shrug. “What can I say? I like what I see.”
When I go to move the covers off, he frowns.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting up for the day.”
“Songbird, it’s not even six a.m. yet. The sun is barely starting to come up. Do us both a favor and go back to sleep for a few hours.”
As soon as he mentions sleep, I yawn.
“See, you need more rest.”
“Fine. I’ll go back to sleep for a few hours. Happy?”
“Ecstatic.” He smirks, making me roll my eyes.
He lightly pushes my shoulder, and I fall back into bed. I watch as he readjusts the covers on me and covers me up. He leans down and kisses my forehead.
“Sweet dreams, my little songbird,” he murmurs against my skin.
Before he’s even out of the room, sleep reclaims me, and for the second time since I’ve been here, the nightmares stay away.
ASHER
After a quick stop in my room and changing, I head out to the gate. As I walk, I can’t help but replay last night over in my mind. I never expected it to go the way it did. Never in a million years did I think she would ever apologize for how things went down back with Ragged Anarchy.
Sure, I could have seen her apologizing for being a brat, but not for taking advantage of me.
I scoff at the thought.
I wanted her then as much as I do now. Fucking her wasn’t a hardship, and I’d love to do it again. Just on our terms. When we’re ready, and not because someone tells us to.
Whistling cuts through the air, pulling me back to the present.
“Look at you,” Yak teases.
“A pep in your step,” Trout adds.
“Fuck you guys.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m not the one who left last night to go get some,” Yak quips.
“It wasn’t like that,” I tell them with an edge in my voice.
Typically, I don’t care what they say about me, but when it comes to Aspen? That’s an entirely different story.
“We’re just teasing, man. No harm, no foul. What happens between you and Aspen is between the two of you,” Yak says.
“And maybe Panther,” Trout adds.
