I watch him cross the room, all long limbs and flushed skin, and I let myself fall back against the pillows with a sigh. My body is a mess—sticky, trembling, stretched—but I feel...glorious. Worshipped. Like someone cracked open the sky and poured light straight into my chest.
A few minutes later, Garrik returns with a towel in one hand and a twinkle in his eye. “I added some of the restorative salts,” he says, scooping me up like I weigh nothing. “You’re going to sleep so well after this.”
“You say that like you’re not going to start something again as soon as I stop limping.”
“I’m beinggentle,” he says innocently.
I narrow my eyes at him. “You arenotgentle.”
He carries me toward the bath anyway, his voice a soft murmur against my hair. “I’m going to take care of you, honeybee. For as long as you’ll let me.”
And in that moment, I know—I’ll never want anything else.
13
GARRIK
Idon’t think I’ve ever been this relaxed.
The water laps gently at the rim of the tub, steaming with the herbal salts I mixed in while Iris dozed in the bed. She’s not dozing now, though. She’s curled against my chest, nestled between my thighs, her back to me and her body bare. I’ve got one arm wrapped loosely around her waist and the other resting along the lip of the tub, fingers just barely grazing the edge of the book she’s holding.
Her glasses are perched low on her nose, slightly fogged with heat, her blonde curls bound into a tumble high on her head. Every few seconds, she shifts her weight and sighs in satisfaction. I’ve been here before—back on Earth, watching her read, listening while she would huff when a character said something ridiculous or frown when something bad happened.
I got so good at reading her that I could almost tell what was happening in the book based on her expressions.
She has that same stubborn focus now, even with my cock pressed against the small of her back beneath the water…spent but still aware of her.Alwaysaware of her.
I press a kiss to her shoulder and Iris lifts one hand to tangle in my hair. She doesn’t look at me as she scratches lightly at my scalp, making my whole body hum.
Gods, she’s here.
She’s actuallyhere.
The silence stretches on, but it’s comfortable. Familiar. Like so many evenings before this, back on Earth—huddled under blankets in makeshift shelters, reading to pass the hours, trying not to freeze or panic or think too far ahead. The only difference now is that I get to hold her while she reads. I get to feel her weight against my chest. I get to soak in the quiet joy of having her like this—safe, warm, mine.
Her thumb slides between the pages, marking her spot, and she closes the book slowly.
I wait.
“You’re staring,” she murmurs, voice low and fond.
“Can you blame me?”
Her smile tilts sideways. “You used to stare like this on Earth, too. You thought I didn’t notice.”
I chuckle, letting my fingers trail absently along her side. “I knew you noticed. I just told myself I was subtle.”
“You weren’t.”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “Didn’t think so.”
She leans back into me, head resting against my shoulder now, voice quieter. “You used to look at me like you’d already made peace with it never happening.”
My throat tightens. “Because I had.”
She’s quiet.
“Iris,” I murmur, pressing my lips to her temple, “back then…I couldn’t even imagine this. Not really. We were so different, and you…you werebrilliant.I was just an enlisted soldier, but you were saving your world one book at a time. I was nothing more than muscle.”
