I turn, wrap my arm around her waist, drag her against my side.
“Dante and Max took some of the solar panels and a backup battery. The windows are reinforced. There are traps around the perimeter. No one’s getting in without losing a leg or worse.”
She nods and rests her forehead on my chest.
I lean down, breathing her in.
Home. My fucking home.
“How are you feeling?” I murmur.
She’s pale. Her body is still recovering from all the blood she gave me. Sean warned her to rest, eat, stay still, but she didn’t listen. She’s been scrubbing this place like she could erase the war with a sponge.
The guys helped. Between all of them, the base almost looks like it did before.
There’s still shit to fix, walls to patch, and holes to cover. Iburned my old mattress.
There was no fucking way I was going to sleep where Roman fucked Bryn.
“I still think Sean should’ve stayed here with us,” she murmurs as we walk into the living room.
I nod but don’t say anything. I drop onto the couch with a grunt, leaning back, legs spread wide, the weight of the last few weeks still hitting me.
Everything aches, but it’s the kind of ache that tells me I’m still fucking alive.
I let out a breath and glance toward her. “Well, pet… we all want to fuck the brains out of you, and having Sean here would’ve made that a little complicated,”
A boot kicks the side of mine, hard enough to jolt me, and I look up, cocking a brow.
She’s standing between my legs now. Hands on her hips and head tilted, that glare could cut through bone.
“Not everything has to do with sex, Knox.” She snaps, tension in her shoulders as her eyes move to my lips.
“True.” I shrug. “But it’s been ten years. We’ve got a lot of lost time to recover.”
Her eyes narrow. “You’re impossible.”
“I’m joking.” I tilt my head. “Mostly.”
She rolls her eyes, but I see the corner of her mouth twitch like she’s fighting a smile.
I lean forward, elbows on my knees, fingers dangling near her bare thighs.
“Sean’s been in communities since the plague. None of them by choice. He asked for a place where he could be alone… free. Somewhere he could live his life, not just survive under someone else’s rules.”
Her arms drop slowly. “Oh.” She softens. “I didn’t know that.”
“He’s earned that peace.” My fingers brush the outside of her thigh, feather-light. I watch as goosebumps chase my touch. “At the farm, he gets space. He can help Josh when needed. And still… breathe.”
She nods, biting her lip.
“I’d love to meet them,” she says gently.
And fuck me, that smile… It could level cities.
“You will, I promise. It’ll be good for you, having another woman around—”
Her head jerks up, and she laughs. “That didn’t go well last time, did it?”
