Chapter 100 Morgan
Morgan
The safehouse was quiet again, but it was different this time. Not the brittle quiet of waiting, or the heavy silence of fear—this was peace.
Ruby had drifted back to sleep on the couch, wrapped in her blanket, her breathing soft and even. I tucked the edges tighter around her and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. She didn’t stir.
Behind me, Damian leaned against the doorframe, watching with that look that always unraveled me—like he was memorizing us, like we were the only thing anchoring him to the ground. He was battered, bandaged, and so damn stubborn he’d come straight to us instead of the hospital. But he was here.
“Come on,” I whispered, crooking a finger at him. “You’re not sleeping on your feet tonight.”
He followed me into the bedroom without protest, though I could see how much every step cost him. When he sank onto the bed, a hiss slipped through his teeth.
“You’re hurt more than you’re saying,” I accused softly, sitting beside him.
He gave me that crooked smile, even through the grimace. “I’ve been worse.”
“That line doesn’t work on me anymore,” I said, tugging the edge of his torn shirt away to check his bandages. Blood had seeped through, but not dangerously. I pressed gently, and his breath stuttered.
My throat tightened. “Let me take care of you. Please.”
His hand caught mine, calloused fingers lacing through. “You already did. Every second I was in that compound, I kept seeing your face. Hearing your voice. That’s what got me out.”
The ache in my chest broke open, sharp and tender. I leaned down, kissing him slow, careful of the bruises, the cuts. His hand slid up the back of my neck, pulling me closer, deepening it until my breath caught.
We lay back together, tangled in the sheets, the world outside forgotten. My fingers traced the scars on his chest, the fresh bandages across his ribs, and he let me—no armor, no deflection, just him.
“I’m not letting go,” he murmured against my hair. “No matter how bad it gets, no matter how far I have to go. I’ll always come back to you.”
Tears blurred my eyes, but I smiled through them, pressing my face into his chest, listening to the steady thud of his heart. “Then I’ll always be waiting.”
We drifted like that, the storm finally behind us, the weight finally lifted. For the first time, I felt what it meant to breathe without fear.
And with Ruby safe in the next room, and Damian’s arms locked around me, I finally let myself believe in tomorrow.