She sat up, pulling the blanket around her shoulders.
"Did you sleep?" she asked.
"For once," I said. "Yeah."
She smiled, small but genuine. I held out my hand. "Come on. Before the kids devour everything."
She slid her hand into mine, her fingers small and cold and perfect. As she stepped closer, the hotel robe slipped off one shoulder, exposing a line of smooth skin that made my throat tighten.
She noticed my stare. Her cheeks flushed a soft, warm pink. I reached up and brushed the fallen hair behind her ear, my thumb grazing her cheek. Her breath hitched—just once—and it felt like that single sound branded itself into my chest.
"Inga…" I murmured.
She looked up at me with those wide, trusting eyes, and something inside me snapped loose. I bent down and kissed her. Not like yesterday, this kiss was deeper. Hotter. It conveyed all the desire and pent-up emotions I had for her. It was a slow, hungry kiss that tasted like the start of something dangerous and sacred all at once.
Her hand slid to the back of my neck, and her fingers threaded through my hair. She pressed closer, chest tochest, mouth opening under mine like she'd been waiting her whole life to breathe this way.
Heat roared through me. Throughhim, too, the dragon stirred under my skin, purred at the feel of her, the scent of her, the softness of her body against mine.
If the kids hadn't been asleep only a few feet away, I would've lifted her into my arms and… I broke the kiss before I lost control, resting my forehead to hers.
"I have to go in," I forced out. "They'll have the roster posted. I don't know yet how many hours I'll be flying today."
Her eyes flickered with worry.
I cupped her cheek. "Hey. Look at me."
She swallowed. "What if you don't come back tonight?"
"I will," I said, voice firm. "Some days I fly twelve hours, some days two. Some days, I get grounded because the engines decide to hate me. But I will always come back. To you. To all of you."
Her fingers curled around my wrist. "You promise?"
"With everything I am."
She kissed me again—quick, soft, warm—and whispered, "Be safe."
I kissed her forehead, then her ring, then stepped back before I could drag her into my arms again.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," I said. "Order what you want. What the kids want. Clothes, shoes—hell, order the whole damn store. Whatever you need, you get."
I grabbed my jacket, shrugged it on, and headed for the door. Right before I stepped out, I looked back. She was still standing there in the morning light, hair messy and lips flushed from my kiss, wrapped in a bathrobe and looking at me like she'd finally found a place to rest her heart.
It nearly wrecked me.
"Love you," I said before I could stop myself.
Her breath caught. "I love you too."
I closed the door gently behind me and headed toward Tempelhof. The roster was waiting. Engines were waiting. The sky was waiting.
But everything in me was already flying back to her.
I hailed another cab to get back to the barracks, my head still buzzing with the memory of Inga's kiss.
God, her kiss.
I felt it on my mouth even now, warm and soft, hesitant and bold all at once. Enough to undo me. Enough to make me think about a future I'd never allowed myself to imagine.
