Page 295 of Reaper Said Mine

"I don't need easy."

My voice shakes.

"But I do need honest."

He nods immediately.

"I know."

"I need you to tell me things before the entire galaxy does."

His expression winces.

Fair.

"I know."

"I need you to trust me."

"I do."

"Then act like it."

The words land.

He accepts them without argument. No defensiveness rises in his expression. He simply nods.

"You're right."

I stare.

"That easy?"

"No."

His mouth twitches.

"It is incredibly unpleasant."

"Good."

"But you're still right."

I smile, a real one this time. The first in days. Maybe longer.

The bond warms between us like sunlight creeping across a room after a long winter morning.

Gnash shifts from the chair to the edge of the bed, moving carefully around my injuries. One hand rises to brush loose hair away from my face.

The gesture is so gentle it nearly destroys me.

This male can tear open a bulkhead. He can kill armored soldiers with his bare hands. He can command fleets and decide the fate of entire systems.

Yet he touches me as though I'm something precious.

"I love you," he says.

The words arrive without hesitation or ceremony. No speech. No flourish. Just truth.