“Mine too. The same deep blue of your eyes. ” I tell her.
That alone makes her cheeks heat, just a touch.
“Okay,” I say softly. “Close your eyes.”
I watch as her lashes flutter shut. “Take a deep breath in through your nose and imagine waves of blue moving through your body, flowing down into your stomach. We want deep breaths, not shallow ones.”
I place her hand on her belly so she can feel the breath filling her properly.
“Feel it?” I whisper. “Keeping you alive.”
She nods.
“Hold it. Three, two, one. Now exhale slowly.” I breathe out with her, anchoring us both. “Picture it like one of your gallery pieces. That glistening icy blue threaded through deep ocean tones as you let it go.”
Her eyes open directly into mine.
“Good girl,” I murmur.
Oh, fuck.
She inhales sharply, then grins, and the reaction nearly undoes me.
“Go again,” I say quickly, steering us away from the edge we almost tipped over. “Another deep breath.”
This time, I close my eyes too. I need it just as much as she does. My hand stays over hers as we breathe together. Except I can’t picture waves. I can only see her when I close my eyes.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?”
She hums in response. We repeat it again and again until the plane smooths out above the clouds, until her body finally relaxes beneath my touch.
When I open my eyes, she’s looking straight at me, like she’s trying to see past the armor.
“Feel better?” I ask, pulling my hand back and resting it firmly in my lap.
“I do. That was really relaxing.”
I nod. “Use it anytime. Inhale and exhale until your body remembers it’s safe.”
“Where did you learn that? Do you have panic attacks, too?”
The question hits harder than she realizes. It breaks something in my chest knowing she carries this now.
“I don’t,” I answer honestly. “I’m trained in various martial arts. Breathing is everything.”
Her mouth forms a small ‘o’. “Is there much you can’t do?”
Keep my hands off you, is what I almost say.
“Knowledge is power,” I say. “It keeps me and the people I love alive.”
Her brows knit. “Is there someone you love? Like… romantically?”
I laugh, the sound rougher than I expect. “Since the day your father took me under his wing, I haven’t had a second to myself.”
She gasps. “Oh my god. Are you a virgin, Drago?”
I arch a brow. “Not even close.”
