The war hadn’t ended.
Tory climbed higher onto the bed, tail flicking. Tabby hopped up beside her. Tiddles stared at us like we were the most dramatic creatures in the house.
Archie’s eyes flicked to the bed.
Then back to me.
A flash of something territorial crossed his expression.
“You’re not leaving,” he repeated, quieter this time.
It sounded less like an order this time and more like a plea. The mood we’d come home with earlier was gone, blown out with the storm of their fight.
“Promise me,” he whispered, those two words utterly destroying any argument I could make. “Just promise me you’ll stay. We’ll figure everything else out.”
I swallowed.
“Yes,” I said. The word felt small.
He looked at me like I’d just handed him a lifeline and a loaded weapon at the same time.
Relief moved through him. I felt it in the way his shoulders lowered half an inch. In the way his hands tightened on my face like he’d been bracing for impact and just realized we’d dodged that blow.
“Yes,” I repeated, steadier now. “I’ll stay.”
His mouth found mine before I could take another breath. His hand slid into my hair, fisting lightly at the base of my skull as he kissed me like he needed to re-anchor himself in something solid. Like he needed proof I was still here. That I hadn’t slipped through his fingers in the middle of the chaos we’d been born into.
The desire we’d carried home with us might have fractured. But the need? That need betweenus?It was intact. Pure. Raw.
His lips moved over mine with intent, slower this time, deeper and more demanding. I made a small sound and his grip tightened, pulling me flush against him.
“I’m not letting you go,” he murmured against my mouth.
I didn’t know if he meant the house.
Or this.
Or both.
I kissed him back just as fiercely. Not because I was trying to soothe him. Because I needed it too. Needed to feel chosen. Needed to feel like we weren’t just collateral damage in someone else’s war. Just neededhim.
Sliding his hands down my back, he pressed me closer, holding on like he was memorizing the shape of me. Like he was making a promise with his body he hadn’t quite put into words.
And then?—
His phone rang.
The sound cut through the room like a blade.
Archie went completely still.
Then he swore under his breath.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
It rang again.
He leaned his forehead against mine and let out a frustrated exhale. “We’re not going to get to use my bed tonight, are we?”
