My chest ached.“I don’t see you as the type to stand by and not do anything.I’d imagine you did what you felt was right at the time.”
He shrugged one shoulder.“Doesn’t matter.They still died.”
“You came home,” I said.“You found this place.You built a life.You’re here now.That counts too.”
He watched me with a question in his eyes, weighing whether to believe my words.
“I hate your nightmares,” I said.
“Yeah, me too,” he replied dryly.
I shifted closer and pressed my forehead against his.“Next time one tries to drown you, I’ll drag you back.You’ve done the same for me.”
His hand slid up to cup the back of my neck.“Deal.”
We lay together for several minutes, breathing the same air while gray morning light crept around the edges of the curtain.For once I felt no rush to move.No alarm blared.No dread of a knock from a man who smelled of cologne and gun oil haunted me.
“I should get up,” I said eventually.“Stay here too long and I’ll fall asleep again.Your people might think I’ve become a bed tumor.”
“My people already think I went soft,” he said.“Until you, I never cared about anything other than earning a patch.”
Though he spoke the words as a joke, pride gleamed underneath.
“I’ll hurry,” I promised.“You can have the bathroom after I use all the hot water.”
He groaned.“So this is my life now.”
“Yep,” I said.“Welcome to couplehood.”
The word slipped out before I could stop it.I felt my face heat.
Kane’s lips curved slow.“Couple, huh?”
“The club said I was yours.I figured that meant we were a couple.Besides, we’ve slept together,” I said.“Pretty sure we passed whatever line ‘couple’ is.”
“Good,” he said.“I like the sound of that.”
He kissed me once, slow and soft, then smacked my ass lightly as I crawled out of bed.“Go.Before I decide to strip you down and have you screaming my name for the next hour or two.”
Heat flooded me in a different way.“Shower,” I managed.
He grinned.“Shower.”
I shut the bathroom door behind me and leaned against it for a second, breathing.
Everyone claimed falling in love meant butterflies.Giddy excitement, flowers, and nerves.For me, love resembled standing on a cliff with wind whipping my hair, while I decided whether to jump or cling to safety forever.
I’d already jumped when I knocked on Kane’s door.
The fall continued.
Coffee and bacon smells embraced me when we entered the clubhouse together.The ladies were busy, each doing their own thing.The kids were in the corner at a low table, coloring.Casey’s daughter had dragged a toy truck into the mix and was making it drive over crayons.Solena’s little girl lined markers up in size order.
Voices overlapped.Men came and went, grabbing plates, dropping off empty ones, trading jokes.Life moved around me.I stood in the doorway for a second and let myself soak in the normal.
“Falcon, your face looks less murdery today,” Casey said.“We sleeping better?”
“I always sleep better when I have an armful of trouble,” he said, nodding toward me.
