“Shut up and enjoy it. Let me take care of you,” Jayden whispers.

“Okay,” I say. “I’ll let you have this.”

His hands are soft, almost reverent, as he runs soap all over my body, washing me the way only a lover can. He kneels on the floor and lifts one leg, and I press my back against the wall to steady myself as he washes one leg and then the other.

“You scared the hell out of me yesterday, baby. I honestly will not survive without you. You can’t keep risking yourself like that.” Jayden glances away.

“If I can save someone or stop something bad from happening, I will. That’s just in my nature. I’ll do what needs to be done even if it puts me at risk. I can’t change who I am. Who I was born to be.” I shake my head.

“I know.” He blows out a breath. “And it’s selfish of me to ask that of you, but when it comes to you, I want to be selfish if that means keeping you at my side. I wasn’t kidding when I said I won’t survive without you.”

Jayden shuts off the water and wraps a fluffy towel around me before stepping out of the shower and tugging me with him.

“We still don’t know what the future holds, Jayden. We may have to learn eventually what it is like to live without each other if things don’t work out the way we want them to. If the queen wins, the world will burn.” I cup his cheek. “And we don’t know what will happen to us on the other side.”