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39
River
The next morning,I wake up with Priest’s cum drying on my leg and his arms around me. He’s already awake, stroking his fingers through my hair lightly.
It’s so comfortable and soothing, and for a second, it’s hard to believe that the terror and anger of last night happened at all. There’s sunlight streaming through the blinds, bathing the room in a soft warmth, and when I lift my head, I can see it lighting up Priest’s face as well.
It glances off those sharp cheekbones and hits his icy pale eyes in a way that makes them seem to glow. The bruises and cuts are still on his face, proof of what he went through last night, but he looks content.
He looks like there’s nowhere else in the world he’d rather be than here with me right now, and that makes warmth well in my chest and spread all the way down to my fingers and toes.
“Good morning,” he murmurs, his voice husky and low from sleep.
It makes me shiver a little to hear it. My body is pleasantly sore from our fucking last night, and I have to agree with him. This a very good morning indeed.
“Morning,” I whisper back. I lean up so I can see his face more clearly, searching it for any signs of regret or pain.
There’s nothing there but open contentment, and I smile at him and dip my head to kiss him softly.
The hand in my hair tightens a little, and Priest kisses me back, murmuring my name against my lips. He pulls me back down, like he doesn’t want to let me go.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, just wanting to make sure. Just wanting to hear him say it.
He chuckles a little, his arms tightening around me.
“Maybe it’s strange to say this the day after being tortured, but it’s been a very long time since I’ve felt this good,” he tells me. “So yeah. I’m okay.”
He drops a kiss to the top of my head, and a soft, pleased sigh rustles through my hair.
I love that. I love feeling him so close to me, and I could stay here forever in this warmth. But unfortunately, we can’t. Not yet.
“We should get up,” I murmur after a while. “I want to get downstairs and check in with the others.”
“Good idea. There should be some news about the fallout from Julian’s death by now.”
Priest kisses me one more time for good measure, and then we get out of bed and throw on some clothes before heading down.
Everything seems different and brighter in the aftermath of Julian’s death. Having it done with, no longer hanging over our heads making everything tense and urgent just feels so good.
I can tell the others feel the same when we come down to the kitchen. Knox is whistling as he cooks, and Ash and Gage are at the table, having a conversation. I don’t know what they’ve been talking about, but it makes Gage laugh, his expression carefree and unbothered.
It’s probably the lightest I’ve ever seen any of them.
Ever since I got here, we’ve been jumping from crisis to crisis. From mission and plan to mission and plan. But now the future is stretched out in front of us, bright and full of potential. It feels like we’re all on top of the world, even after how hard last night got.
Because the important thing is that we got through it. We all came out of it in one piece, and stronger together than we would have been apart.
“So,” Gage says, glancing over as he notices Priest and me walk in. “I checked on that money we rerouted from Julian.”
“You don’t look pissed off, so I’m assuming it’s good news,” I comment, dropping into the chair across from him.
He smiles and turns his laptop so I can see the screen. It’s some kind of banking site, and I see the account has my name on it. And the number for the balance has more zeros in it than I think I’ve ever seen in my life.
“Holy shit,” I breathe.
Gage sits back, a satisfied smirk on his face.
“It’s untraceable,” he says. “Well, it would be very difficult to trace, at least. Someone with the right skill set could do it, but I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that.”
