Elara's POV
The first thing I was aware of was warmth, not the warmth of blankets or the particular heat of a room, but the specific warmth of another person close, the kind that had a weight and a rhythm to it, and I lay still for a moment before opening my eyes, letting the night settle back into me in pieces, the room, the candles burned down to nothing on the table, the flowers still there, soft and real, and Ravin beside me with his arm around my waist and his breathing slow and even in a way that made the whole room feel settled.
I had not expected to feel this way in the morning, this particular settled quiet that sat in my chest like something that had finally found the place it belonged, and I lay there in it for a while before he stirred.
He turned his head and looked at me,
