I woke slowly, the way you only did when there was nowhere else you needed to be.
Warmth was the first thing I registered. Solid, steady warmth at my back. An arm draped around my waist like it had always belonged there. Breath at the nape of my neck, slow and even, carrying the quiet rhythm of sleep.
Kael.
I didn’t move right away. I didn’t dare. The room was still, wrapped in the hush of early morning, the kind of silence that existed only deep in the woods where nothing was hunting and nothing was afraid. Pale light filtered through the tall windows, catching on dark wood and stone, on woven tapestries that smelled faintly of pine and smoke and home.
Home.
The word settled into me with a softness that almost hurt.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had woken up without dread curl
