Just one or two, caught between her lashes when I kiss her shoulder. I don’t ask why.
I just hold her.
Like a vow.
Like I never plan to let go again.
We don’t talk much.Just linger in the spaces between words. Her breath against my neck. My palm pressed to the curve of her back.
She clings to me when it’s over.
I press my forehead to hers and whisper, “We’ve got time now.”
She closes her eyes and exhales like she almost believes it.
Dawn filtersin like a soft confession.
I’m up first, limbs stiff but soul light.
Rhea sleeps beside me, her hair a tangle of gold and shadow, breath warm where it curls near my collarbone. I turn my head, careful, and look across the room.
Ripley’s door is cracked open.
I pad over, barefoot and silent, lean against the frame.
She’s sprawled out like a champion, blanket kicked off, mouth open in the most unladylike snore I’ve ever heard.
And my chest cracks wide open.
It’s not just pride.
It’s not just love.
It’s this ache—this fierce, protective, overwhelming ache—that punches through every shield I’ve ever built.
She’s mine.
And somehow, impossibly, I’m hers too.
I don’t want medals.
Or empires.
Or vengeance.
Not anymore.
I want this.
A morning like this.
A chance.
Maybe, gods willing, a future.
CHAPTER 20
RHEA
