“Cipher, you saved her life.”
“Maybe. She was badly hurt and had already lost a lot of blood when I found her.”
“The Fellowship will fix her.”
I wanted to ask more questions, but he could barely keep his eyes open during his bath. Once he’d been cleaned and dried, I helped him to brush his teeth and made sure he was hydrated too. Then, I laid him down on our bedding and gave him one of his sleepytime cigarettes. Before he could fish around for his lighter, I’d found it for him and lit the end of it.
“You’re too good to me, Kitten. Christ, my leg is sore.”
His thigh was swollen and bruised, probably from the added weight of carrying another person for such a long distance.
“Can I rub it out for you?”
He nodded, a drowsy, dazed look on his face. I grabbed the lotion and massaged it for him, taking care to go slowly and with a light pressure because I didn’t want to make it worse.
“How’s this?” I asked.
“Feels good,” he said in that loopy way of his. “You’re the only other person to ever touch me there.”
“Is that okay?”
“Yeah.”
“I love you,” I said, then shut my mouth at my accidental confession.
He smiled sweetly back at me. “I love you too, baby, so, so much. All I did out there was think about you, all the sweet, silly things that you do, all our little arguments.”
He was delirious with exhaustion and probably a little emotional too from the waning adrenaline, so I wouldn’t hold him to it. Still, I felt like I was floating on clouds as I tended to him.
“Roll over,” I said and then went to work on his back, running my hands over his broad shoulders and digging into the lean muscle along his spine. He was so tight, knotted and tense. I massaged him until his shoulders slumped into our sleeping bag and his eyes drifted shut. Just when I thought he’d fallen asleep, he rolled onto his side and opened his arms.
“Come here,” he said, drawing me to him. “Is that my t-shirt you’re wearing?”
“Yeah, I haven’t taken it off since you left.”
“Good. You belong to me, Kitten, the one thing I want in this world more than anything else.”
“More than bullets?” I teased.
“Bullets mean nothing to me compared to you. You know I’d do anything for you, don’t you?”
“I know, except listen to me when I tell you not to risk your life.”
“Yeah, except that,” he said with a sleepy smile.
“Will you do me a favor?” I asked.
“Anything.”
“Would you go to sleep for me now?”
He smiled and kissed my hair. “Sure, baby. Mmmm, you smell like strawberries. How do you do that?”
“I don’t know. Probably my shampoo.” I sat up and arranged him so that his head was cradled by my lap. I drew my fingers along his scalp until his eyes grew heavier and finally closed for the last time.
“Love you,” he murmured.
“Sweet dreams.” I kissed his forehead and quietly hummed him to sleep.
