“Yeah.” Viper watched the lines pulse faintly. “Think it’s gonna do that forever?”
“Maybe.” Ward’s voice was hushed and thoughtful. “Or maybe it settles once it’s sure we’re not about to bolt.”
Viper’s lips quirked. “You planning on bolting?”
“Not unless you give me a reason to.”
“Same.”
Silence stretched for a long moment, but it was full somehow, as if what was between them didn’t need to be filled with words when the bond hummed so clearly between their skin.
Ward shifted up on one elbow, eyes dark and serious. “Do you… um… worry that it’s too much?”
“The bond?”
“Us.”
Viper didn’t hesitate. “Every second.” He couldn’t explain it to himself, so he had no idea if he could explain it to someone else, never mind Ward. “I’ve survived a dozen deployments. I’ve been shot, burned, and once I damn near got blown to bits. But there’s nothing that scares the shit out of me like waking up next to you and realizing very little in this world, or any world, matters quite so much as keeping you safe does.”
Ward’s eyes flared, wide and stunned. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. “Wow.”
“Yeah, well,” Viper muttered, “don’t get used to the poetry. It’s a one-time deal.”
Ward leaned in and kissed him again. “I don’t need poetry. I just need you.”
Fuck. This man is going to break me in the best way.
A soft knock echoed from the door. Then Zero’s voice, half-muffled and way too chipper for so early in the morning, filtered through. “If you two lovebirds are still rolling in the furs, send a smoke signal when it’s safe to approach. Kaze tried to open the door earlier and got growled at.”
Viper groaned. “Tell him next time I’m throwing a knife.”
“Please do. But only after you send coffee to me.”
“Go ask Oisín for coffee,” he yelled. “I gave them some of ours and they promised they’d see if they could reproduce it with magic.”
“But, Boss, magic coffee might not be as good as coffee, coffee,” Kaze whined.
Viper moved an arm up to cover his eyes and groaned. “The bastards are doing this on purpose. I’m going to kill them.”
Ward chuckled and flopped back against Viper’s side. “I guess we have to get up.”
“Eventually.”
Knock. Knock
This time, Juice’s voice: “Viper, Trace and I need to talk to you and Ward about the portal.”
Portal?
Well fuck.
He already knew that his 2IC wasn’t going to leave without an answer. He tensed under Ward’s weight. “Give us ten,” he called out.
“Got it.”
He winked at Ward who raised an eyebrow and asked, “Portal?”
He nodded. “Looks like the real world’s knocking again.” There should be a rule about being allowed a day off when your whole world had imploded, your heart had found the only one it wouldever want, and you’d had the most epic, blow-your-mind sex of your life.
