“You’re awake.” Nika sets the tray on the coffee table, the locket hanging around her neck.
But…she’s still here.
Why?
“You slept all day yesterday. Today too. It’s already night. I was just about to wake you.” Her voice is lighter. Almost airy.
More relaxed than I’ve ever heard it. Because she finally got what she wanted? Is that why she also stitched me up? No. That can’t be the only reason.
Wait.
Did she say I’ve been out for over a day and a half? She cared for me the whole time?
I clear my throat. “Why?”
Nika shrugs and picks up a washcloth that was sitting in a bowl on the coffee table. I hadn’t noticed it. Another sign of how disoriented I am.
“You were worn out. I told you the other day you looked tired. You’re looking much better today. Sleep debt just keeps piling on until you get caught up on it, you know.”
She leans forward and reaches for my arm. Instinctively, I grab her wrist, holding fast.
She doesn’t even flinch. “You need to wash off the muscle balm. If you don’t want to do it here, you should at least take a shower.” There’s no sign of subterfuge in her eyes. I only read concern in the small lines on her forehead. “Max? You okay?”
I don’t let go, too startled by the weirdness of this whole situation. Under my thumb, her pulse is steady and slow. She’s not hiding anything, or even worried.
I can’t reconcile this person who treated my injuries and soothed my aches with the woman who attempted to kill me just a few days ago. I can’t reconcile the man who got upset at taking her virginity with the man I was when I climbed this mountain either.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I try again. “Why are you doing this? Why didn’t you take the necklace and run?”
She cocks her head and extends her other hand, pushing my hair back off my forehead. This time, I let her. “Why I did this?” Leaning in closer, she brushes her mouth against mine in the barest, sweetest kiss. “Or why I did this?”
Her lips whisper over mine, tantalizing and revitalizing me. Driving away the conflicting emotions warring in my chest and only leaving room for this insatiable, growing yearning.
I’m not good at this sort of thing. Who needs emotional vulnerability in a life like mine?
But I need Nika to know I appreciate that she stayed. And that she…took care of me.
More than anything else, I need her to know I want this. Want her.
I don’t know how or when or why my goals changed. But somewhere over the last few days, as I held her and fed her and fought her, the idea of killing this woman became…unfathomable.
So I do the only thing I can.
I follow her lead and kiss her back. Gently, softly, exploring her mouth instead of taking it.
Her body loosens as her hand slides down my cheek. The wrist in my grip relaxes and pushes to touch my chest. She shifts, kneeling on the couch and straddling me. Her hair tumbles over her shoulder. Silky smooth strands that smell of roses splay out and surround us both in a curtain.
The tresses gleam in the firelight, glowing silver and gold. Almost sacred, instead of just pale.
I’m folded in white light.
An absurdly poetic thought, and one I’d never claim, but it popped up in my head.
I don’t push or pull away. Her mouth drifts over mine with a tenderness I didn’t know either of us possessed. The hard knot that’s lived in my chest since I was a child loosens one thread at a time.
I don’t have words. Only actions.
