I woke between their bodies, my skin still warm from their touch, and for a moment, I thought it had all been a dream.
But it wasn’t.
The stone floor beneath the makeshift blankets, the scent of dampness seeping through the cave, the dull ache between my thighs, and the invisible, yet fierce, mark of their hands on my skin… all of it reminded me that it had been real.
We had escaped.
We had survived.
But we weren’t safe yet.
Kael wasn’t beside me.
I knew it before I even opened my eyes—like his absence left a hollow in my breath.
Lean was still next to me, still asleep, his arm draped across my waist, his warm breath brushing my neck.
His body was heat. Refuge. Home.
But his sleep was shallow.
The moment I shifted, he opened his eyes and looked at me as if he needed to make sure
