MAETHYS POV
I woke slowly. As if time was something my body didn’t comprehend.
Warmth pressed along my side. A solid presence at my back.
For a moment I didn’t move, afraid the smallest shift might undo it.
Valik lay beside me, one arm heavy across the mattress, his breathing deep and even.
The relief came before thought—quiet, grounding, unmistakable.
I remembered asking him for something. Not the words themselves, just the weight of the need.
It hadn’t made sense then. It still didn’t.
The idea of asking him for anything brought heat to my already warm cheeks.
My bladder made itself known a second later.
I shifted carefully and paid for it immediately—pain blooming sharp and hot along my ribs. Air hissed between my teeth as I tried to bare it. The sound I made must hav
