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A BREATHER
SARIEL
I’d never been this nervous before.
Aria had been crazy busy, between the captives we’d taken at her request and the training the twins had been keeping her in. Most nights, she was so exhausted she could barely move by the time she made it to bed. While I was more than happy to hold her and let her catch up on rest, my angel was borderline ravenous for her affection.
So, with our friends’ help, I’d acquired all the items needed to spruce our place up for a cozy night in. Cranberry-scented candles—Reese had been apologetic about those, but I hadn’t worked out why—wine and even some roses. It all felt super cliche, but there had to besomethingto all those romance movies, right? Johnny had even managed to get us a laptop with some downloaded songs and movies, so we were prepared either way the night went.
All of the preparation did not prepare me for the moment she actually walked into our dimly lit room, pausing in what I hoped was a positive shock.
I felt my heart drop when a giggle burst out of her, followed swiftly by her hand covering her mouth; if she hadn’t immediately come to me, I might have started backtracking.
“What’s all this?” she crooned, whereupon I was momentarily blinded by the amount of giddy affection that hit our bond.
I swallowed thickly. “I thought we deserved some quality time. I couldn’t do much as far as food since they’re pretty strict with rationing, but I was able to get some wine, and Reese swears the chocolate cake is the best thing she’s ever had, so.”
Shrugging, I tried not to let her see how anxious I was.
“You never stop spoiling me.” Aria looked almost bashful as she smiled at me. “I’m going to get a complex at this rate.”
Her kiss was chaste and sweet when it brushed my lips, and I grinned smugly.
Tension leaked out of me. I finally let myself relax a bit. She liked it; I hadn’t embarrassed myself beyond repair.
Tapping the spacebar on the laptop started some cheesy R&B song that I had trusted Johnny to handle, and the embarrassment threatened to overcome me again when more giggles filled the room.
Wine. We definitely needed to get into the wine.
Everything started feeling a little less like a rollercoaster when we finished our first glasses as well as dinner. It wasn’t exactly ideal, but we were both starving, so the silent meal wasn’t all that uncomfortable. It helped that Aria had a smile glued to her face; I could feel all those butterflies shimmying via our bond.
It was a double-sided blade, though, because her butterflies were adding tomybutterflies, and it was… well, it was fucking weird, almost like there was no separation between our feelings at all. I wondered if that was a sign that our bond was deepening like everyone kept saying it would.
“So, we have movies or music,” I explained, setting the laptop down on the foot of the bed as she grabbed the plate of cake. “Auren has this place locked up tighter than Fort Knox right now, so internet usage is basically forbidden.”
“What kind of movies?” she asked.
I was always blown away by these moments, realizing that while we were fated, the time we had been able to spend getting to know one another was so limited. Sure, I knew she could fight and what her opinions on the political climate were, but the smaller things that usually came first? We’d skipped right by them while we were running for our lives, and my impromptu dates were really the only time we ever got to just exist.
I’d have to work on that.
“Honestly, I didn’t even think to look. Johnny was the one who finessed it from my brother.”
My smirk got a good-natured eye roll as we pulled up the list. There were two romantic comedies, one horror—I’d have to ask him why he thought that was a good idea tomorrow—and an action film tucked away on the hard drive. My giggly mate got to decide which one was our background noise as we settled into the bed and had dessert.
It’s cheesy and romantic. She curled into me like we were better off in one body rather than two, and it’s… nice.
Being close to Aria was always a challenge on its own. My body never failed to remind me that we hadn't solidified our bond like everyone kept pushing at us to, but if there was any more space between us, it would be maddening.
“I wish we could do normal dates,” she mumbled halfway through the movie, fingers tracing patterns on my abdomen. “Not that these aren't awesome, I just mean… It would be fun to, like, go to a restaurant or a theater or something, you know?”
“I know what you mean,” I admit, letting out a sigh that ruffled her hair. “It’d be fun to take you out and show you off every once in a while.
A soft sniffling sound caught my attention, making me tense. Aria tried to hide, but I tilted her chin up, shifting us around to get a better look at her.
“This isn’t our forever, Aria,” I promised her, grimacing at how her eyes were watering as she looked up at me and tried to smile. “It’s just our present.”
Her laughter was watery. I squeezed her back when her arms coiled around me, and he tucked her face into my chest.
