God, I let her.
Because I need this too.
Need to know she’s here.
That she’s real.
That I didn’t lose her tonight.
My forehead rests against hers when we break apart.
Both of us breathing a little harder now.
“You scared me,” I admit quietly.
Her eyes soften.
“I know.”
A beat.
Then—
“I’m still here.”
Yeah.
She is.
And I’m not taking that for granted.
Not for a second.
40
Ace
Ishould give her space.
That would be the right thing.
The smart thing.
She’s been through hell tonight. Hell before tonight. More than any woman should ever have to survive.
She needs rest.
Time.
Quiet.
Instead, I’m still standing here with my hand on her face and my body half wrapped around hers like letting go is the last thing I want to do.
Maybe because it is.
The house has gone mostly still around us. Trigger and Beast are outside doing one more perimeter sweep. Blaze is in the other room, digging through everything Daniel left behind, muttering to himself and pounding keys like he can outwork the night.
But in here—
