He waits.
And when I finally turn to face him, whatever I’m holding inside cracks just enough to let the next thing happen.He kisses my forehead and then he walks away giving me the space I need.
Chapter Nine
No Safe Way to Touch Fire
Raven
The adrenaline doesn’t leave all at once.
It lingers in your blood like a bad idea, buzzing under your skin, making everything feel louder, closer, sharper than it should.By the time the compound settles after Ghost’s injury and the fallout that followed, my hands are still shaking.
Not fear, just release deferred too long.
Savage finds me in my room just after midnight.No knock this time, just the soft click of the door opening like he already knows I won’t tell him to leave.
He looks wrecked.Not bleeding.Not frantic.Just fucking spent.His cut is off, hanging from his fingers by his side.Shirt half unbuttoned.Jaw tight like he’s been holding the line with his teeth and only just realized how hard he was biting.
“Are you okay?”he asks.
I laugh once, sharp and humorless.“That’s a stupid question.”
His mouth curves despite himself.“Fair.”
He shuts the door behind him and leans back against it like his legs forgot how to hold him up.The silence stretches—thick, electric, and loaded with everything we didn’t say earlier when too many people were watching.
“You didn’t come to fix me,” I say.
“No.”
“You didn’t come to apologize.”
“No.”
“You didn’t come because you’re owed anything.”
