I woke up slowly, not with fear this time, not with my heart racing or my breath trapped in my throat, but with warmth. Real warmth. Solid, steady, grounding. For a brief moment, I didn’t move, afraid that if I did, whatever this calm was would vanish like it always had before. My cheek was pressed against a firm chest, my ear resting over a heartbeat that was deep and unhurried now, nothing like the frantic rhythm I remembered clinging to hours ago. The scent surrounding me was familiar—clean, sharp, unmistakably him—and the realization settled gently instead of crashing into me.
I was still in Asher’s arms.
His arm was wrapped securely around my back, his hand resting just below my shoulder blade, fingers relaxed but protective, as if even in sleep his body remembered its purpose. I co
