Warrior (Relentless #4)(127)

My grin was back. She was adorable when she was flustered.

“You like me a lot?”

“Sometimes,” she muttered.

“Forever is a long time, but we don’t have to think about that right now. Let’s just take it slow and see what happens. Just promise you’ll talk to me if you have questions or doubts, instead of listening to other people.”

She nodded. “I promise.”

“Good. Now, do you want to tell me what was bothering you in training today if it wasn’t this?”

I already knew she’d been upset about Nate, but I wanted her to tell me. She needed to know she could come to me for anything.

“Nate can’t come for Thanksgiving. He called yesterday and said he has pneumonia and he’s not allowed to travel.” Her voice cracked, and I could tell she was trying not to cry again. “I wanted to go to him, but he wouldn’t let me. Now he’s going to be alone and sick at Thanksgiving. We’ve always spent it together.”

I rubbed her back, and she curled into me more.

“I’m sorry. I know how much you were looking forward to his visit.”

“It won’t be the same without him.” She wiped her eyes. “God, I can’t stop crying tonight.”

“Then it’s a good thing my shirts don’t shrink when they get wet,” I teased.

She answered with a soft hiccup. I chuckled and kissed her lightly on the top of the head, something I’d wanted to do since I’d pulled her into my arms. I was rewarded by her arms slipping around my waist. Contentment flowed through me, and I couldn’t fathom how I had lived my whole life without this, without her.

I began to rub her back again, and she sighed.

“Do you feel better?”

She yawned. “Yes, but I’m never touching tequila again.”

I couldn’t stop the laughter that spilled from me. “If I’d known you were going on a drinking binge, I would have told you that Faeries have very little tolerance for human alcohol, unlike the rest of us. Looks like you inherited that trait from your Fae family.”

“Great, now you tell me,” she grumbled halfheartedly. “Some trainer you are.”

“Actually a good trainer lets you make mistakes at first so you learn never to repeat them.”

“Then you are the best trainer ever.”

I laughed again, enjoying the playful banter with her. “How did you ever get by without me?”

“I have no idea,” she murmured sleepily.

We fell silent, and I continued to rub her back as I savored the freedom to hold her as I’d always wanted. She made no move to leave my arms, and eventually her breathing evened out and her arms grew limp around my waist.

A part of me said I should wake her or carry her back to her room, but the selfish part of me didn’t want to let her go.

It wasn’t much of an argument.

I moved until I was stretched out on the couch with her tucked into my side. She muttered something unintelligible and snuggled against me.

If the last week had been hell, then this was heaven.

Wrapping my arms more tightly around her, I brushed my lips against her forehead.

“I love you, Sara.”





*


The sky was streaked with pink when I woke. For a second, I thought last night had been a dream, until I felt the warm body lying on top of me. I gazed at the sleeping girl sprawled across my chest and smiled at the way her fingers were curled in my sweater, as if she was afraid to let me go. I was okay with that. I’d be content to stay here like this with her all day.

Sara moved until her face nuzzled my throat. Her warm lips against my skin sent heat shooting straight to my belly. It didn’t help that her soft body was suddenly pressed intimately against mine.

I bit back a groan and shifted slightly to get comfortable, praying she didn’t wake up until my body started behaving. Last night she’d said she wanted a relationship as long as we took it slow. She was most definitely not ready to know how much I wanted her.

I gazed out the window at the tops of the trees, heavy with snow from an overnight storm. I was filled with a sense of peace, and amazement at how my life had changed in the last twelve hours. If Sara hadn’t overheard my conversation with Tristan, if Celine hadn’t interfered, she might not have come to me to break the bond, and we might never have worked things out. I wouldn’t be lying here now, holding her as she slept.

I was angry when Sara told me what Celine had said, but now I could only feel gratitude. Celine had unwittingly sent Sara into my arms, giving me the greatest gift I could have asked for.

An hour after I awoke, Sara began to stir. I smiled when she let out a sigh and snuggled against me again. I was tempted to let her go back to sleep, but I was also certain she would be embarrassed walking back to her room after everyone woke up. It wasn’t as if I could give her my clothes to wear, as much as I liked the idea of her in one of my shirts.

“Good morning,” I said in a low voice.

She went very still. “Morning.”

“How do you feel?”

“Good, considering,” she replied in a husky voice.

I fought back a laugh. “Considering the gallon of alcohol you threw up, you mean?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” she grumbled. She sat up with a small groan and presented me with her profile as she combed her fingers through her hair.