Chapter 32 #2
Soleil lay curled on her side, her shorn red tresses tousled across the thin pillow, one arm tucked under her cheek.
His eyes lingered, memorizing the quiet peace on her face, the rare softness.
Until his stomach rumbled.
With a muted groan, he tapped into his wrist comm and sent a message:
:: Gone to get breakfast. Don’t move. Don’t vanish. –S ::.
He slid out of bed with a slow exhale and dressed in the cramped silence of her room.
Pulling on his trousers and tee, he layered his long dark cloak over his frame before turning to glance around the space.
It was scarcely more than a storage box masquerading as housing.
One corner leaked, and he spotted a rusty trail down the inner seam of the wall, where coolant from an overhead pipe dripped steadily onto the floor.
The walls were a dull patchwork of oxidized metal, the panels mismatched and flexing when you leaned too hard.
The fluorescent light flickered like it had a grudge.
Outside the door, the neighbors barked at each other through paper-thin partitions, and the sour-sweet reek of recycled grease and ammonia hung in the air.
This was where she’d been surviving, and he clenched his jaw, wanting more for her. Regardless, he had to keep his damn mouth shut.
He refused to disrespect her choices or pity her.
She was too dignified for that.
All he could do was support, love, and guard her.
Quiet as a shadow, Santi slipped out into the corridor and made his way through the still-sleeping deck.
The kahawa stall two levels down could not compare to her workplace.
Still sold sustenance, and he needed it, his appetite having returned like a fokkin’ freight train.
He ordered two of the most potent brews, a bag of sweet rose-jam rolls, and bacon-and-egg breakfast wraps still warm from the heat plate.
The scents curled in his nostrils as he carried the bundle back to her room.
He palmed the door ajar, and there she was, stirring.
Her eyes blinked open, her nose twitching at the scent of food.
She sat up, her hair tousled, eyes sleepy yet still beautiful in the pale light.
He stepped in and leaned down to press a lingering kiss to her mouth.
‘Morning,’ he murmured, letting his fingers brush her jaw. ‘How are you?’
‘Freakin starved,’ she rasped sleepily. ‘You bringing bacon rolls is proof of divinity.’
They ate together on the cot, legs tangled, sharing the small space like it had been made for them.
He passed her a cup and eyed her while she nibbled and sipped, color blooming onto her cheeks.
He couldn’t stop staring, marveling that this moment was even happening.
It was all so simple, so normal, and yet perfect.
Yet he was aware it’d take a lot of conversation to really address what broke them apart.
Plus a lot of strength to overcome their shit and leave it in the past.
He craved more for her: a future with him, a home on The Sombra, and later perhaps in Pegasi.
Still, it had to be her call, even though he longed to whisk her from this place.
‘You know you’re gonna be late,’ he rasped behind his cup.
She smirked over a bite of roll. ‘I think that boat sailed, Cap.’
‘Oh?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Kharon’s a grade-A shit stain, not to me, but to everyone else. He yells at old ladies and underpays the staff. He’s probably going to dock me a week’s pay for not showing up today.’
He snorted. ‘Want me to knock some sense into him?’
She arched a brow. ‘Tempting, but then I’d have to find another shittier job. When all I want is out of Cybele.’
‘Where would you go?’ he asked, bracing for her answer.
‘It depends,’ she murmured, then paused for a moment. ‘On us.’
She set her cup down with care and fell silent.
A shift passed between them, subtle but undeniable.
Their eyes locked as she took a breath as if searching for words.
‘I forgive you, Santiago,’ she murmured. ‘You hurt me, yes, but I see now you didn’t intend to. You were afraid. So was I.’
He closed his eyes and breathed out.
Moments later, he opened them to gaze at her, jaw flexing. ‘I was reckless, with what I said, with you and your heart. I let fear distort what I knew of us.’
She let out a small, breathy, nervous laugh. ‘You’re not alone. I feared all you ever remembered of me was the monster Vern turned me into. Your time with me on Cybele convinced me you see the true me.’
He swallowed, and it stuck in his throat. ‘Fokk yeah. I’d have waited an eternity to convince you.’
‘I know.’ She met his gaze, unwavering. ‘I appreciate that your wolf, your lycan spirit, came and stayed with me when I needed it the most. When I cried the other night, it held and somehow healed me.’
His mouth twitched. ‘They’re ancient, the lycans. They are far wiser than we give them credit for. I’m not surprised it shielded you, for it is aware of how much I adore you.’
She huffed a dry laugh. ‘It didn’t just choose to protect me. It chose to heal me, I was so wounded.’
Santi ran a calloused thumb across her knuckles. ‘So was I.’
‘Naam,’ she assented. ‘Especially because we forgot how to find each other in the dark.’
‘We won’t again.’ His rasp was sure now. ‘No more assumptions, or running away when things get tough.’
‘Also, no more underplaying the other’s experience,’ she added, ‘or keeping secrets.’
‘Agreed,’ he growled.
‘There’s one you need to know of. For years, when I was estranged from my uncle and father, I tracked them.
I wanted them to suffer for killing my mother.
So I uncovered their smuggling rings, black-site deals, and any nefarious whispers about the Red Skulls’ illegal activities.
I sent the data to Signet in secret, and you used it to ambush Varnok and cage him away. ’
Santi’s head tilted, and he whistled under his breath. ‘Fokk, you did?’
‘Naam. Vern guessed I was behind the leak and hunted me, and when he found me, he turned me into The Red Queen to punish me.’
She shrugged. ‘Now you know the whole truth.’
He leaned forward until his forehead met hers. ‘What a fokkin’ brave thing to do, my love. I’m so sorry, mi sol, for what you endured, not understanding the whole picture. I’ll work on showing up in faith with you, for you’re my forever, Soleil.’
‘And you’ve always been mine,’ she murmured. ‘Even when I didn’t want to admit it.’
He smiled, burying his nose in her nape.
‘Santi,’ she said, her voice raw with emotion. ‘Speaking of home, I want to return to The Sombra, if you’ll have me.’
He went still. The words landed with force, reverberating through his chest like a fault line cracking open.
‘Yeah?’ His timbre was rough and hoarse with expectation. ‘That’s all I’ve hoped for, mi sol. Every night I waited outside your door, I’ve only wanted this.’
She took a jagged inhale, her eyes slicing to the door, her mind far off. ‘I want to see the lake again, and the flowers and trees. I want to experience peace with you once more. I want to start breathing again.’
He huffed and relaxed, as if his limbs were being granted permission to let go.
He glanced at her with his quirky, lopsided smile.
‘Mi sol,’ he rasped, reaching across the space to take her hand. ‘I’ll move heaven, earth, and every sky between Cybele and The Sombra to bring you home. So come with me, carino.’
Her fingers curled into his without hesitation.
‘I will, because home for me will always and forever begin with you,’ she whispered, folding into him.