“Savla…” she gasped.
I swallowed hard, my voice a raw confession.
“I love you. I’m in love with you. I think I have been from the first moment you looked at me.”
Her eyes filled, shimmering. And then—quietly, like an answer the universe had been waiting on—
“I love you, too.”
The bond exploded—light, warmth and certainty floodingthrough us in a single shared breath.
I kissed her again, slow and reverent this time, like she was something holy.Because she was.
I woke with a weight on my chest.
Not emotional weight or mental weight. Actual, literal, slightlycrushingweight. The kind that made it difficult to breathe.
I blinked my eyes open—and found a mountain toad draped over my torso like a smug, damp blanket. Ribbon let out a tiny snore. And next to Ribbon—pressed into my side, warm, soft and breathing steadily—was Hanna.
Her hand rested on my ribs, her cheek was pressed against my bicep and her hair was spilling across my chest in a mass of curls that smelleddelicious, even after her debacle.My fingers tightened where I was holding her close to me, splayed across her back and ass. She was safe, here with me andmine. A low, possessive growl left my throat as the bond pulsed gently—like morning sunlight rather than a storm.
I tried to shift, but Ribbon only snuggled harder, croaking sleepily and trapping me like a creature determined to suffocate me with affection. A soft voice stirred near my arm.
“Savla?” Hanna murmured, still half-asleep.
My entire body softened. “I’m here.”
She blinked up at me—still drowsy, still delicate from yesterday’s trauma—then smiled. Arealsmile. Small, warm and utterlydevastating.
“Hi,” she whispered.
I exhaled the breath that I’d been holding in while staring at her. “Hi.”
She glanced down at Ribbon.
“Is he… sleeping on you?” she asked in that same low voice.
“Yes,” I sighed.
“And are you… stuck?”
“Yes.”
A quiet laugh escaped her. It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.
“Well,” she said, lifting her hand to brush a strand of hair from my jaw, “at least we know he approves of us.”
“If he didn’t,” I muttered, “I’d be free right now.”
Hanna giggled again—but then winced, bringing a hand to her temple.
Immediately, I pushed myself up on an elbow—or tried to. Ribbon was still pinning half my chest, and if I moved, I’d wake him up.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Headache. Just a glamor hangover, I think. Floria warned me I’d feel like I drank too much booze.”
“I’m getting her,” I said, trying again to sit up.
