Emma
The soft morning light filtered through unfamiliar curtains as I blinked awake, momentarily disoriented until I felt Dominic's warm presence beside me. He slept sitting upright in a chair next to the bed, his hand still holding mine even in sleep. The hotel suite—our temporary refuge after the hospital discharge—was quiet except for his steady breathing.
My body ached from the ordeal at Robert's hunting lodge, but the physical pain paled compared to the emotional aftermath. In those terrifying moments when I thought I might lose Dominic in the explosion, I'd realized with shattering clarity just how completely I loved him.
I studied his face in repose—the dark circles under his eyes, the bandage at his temple, the stubble darkening his jaw. Even injured and exhausted, he was beauti
