Chapter 53 Kaz
KAZ
She’s asleep on my chest, and the whole damn galaxy could fall apart and I wouldn’t move an inch.
Her breath brushes over my skin, soft and steady.
One of her legs is tangled over mine, her fingers curled against my ribs like they’re claiming territory.
My hand rests on the bare curve of her back, thumb lazily tracing the tiny constellation of freckles near her spine.
I never noticed them before tonight. Now I’m obsessed.
The sheets are kicked down somewhere near our ankles.
The window’s cracked open just enough to let in the cool night air, carrying with it the soft chirp of late summer bugs and the rustle of wind through the yard.
Somewhere out there, Dar’s fast asleep in the hammock, probably dreaming about dragon ships and mango popsicles.
I stare up at the ceiling, heart beating slow and full and quiet.
I press a kiss to her hair and whisper into it.
“We never needed stars.”
She stirs, eyelids fluttering open just enough for her to murmur, “Hmm?”
“We just needed gravity.”
Nova tilts her chin, still half-asleep, and smiles at me like I just handed her the moon.
“That was poetic,” she whispers. “Did you steal that?”
I grin. “Probably. From you.”
She lifts her head, resting her chin on her hand, skin flushed, hair messy, eyes sharp even in the dark.
“You’re really staying,” she says. It’s not a question. Just a quiet awe.
I nod. “For good,” I say. “Like, boring domestic good. Mornings and dishes and snoring.”
“I don’t snore.”
“You absolutely do.”
She laughs and flops onto her back beside me, arm tossed over her eyes.
We lie there for a beat, our hands still linked.
Then she says, “What now?”
I turn toward her, propping my head up on my elbow. “Now we build something.”
She peeks at me. “Like?”
“Like… a school. For pilots.”
She raises a brow.
“Not just pilots,” I clarify. “Pilots and their families. A place where they don’t have to choose between flying and living. Where legacy and love aren’t enemies.”
Her gaze softens, mouth parting slightly.
“We call it Gravity.”
Nova stares at me, eyes filling in real time. “Kaz—”
“And we build a ship,” I go on, heart thudding. “One that doesn’t belong to the Alliance. One that’s ours. Dar gets his own seat. And we paint it weird colors and argue about names.”
“‘Paint it weird colors,’ he says like he ever picked up a brush in his life.”
“Oh please. I started painting before you ever stepped foot on Daveros.”
She snorts. “You painted one wall.”
I smirk. “One and a half.”
She rolls over and flicks my nose. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
I grab her hand and kiss her knuckles. “I kept the big one.”
Nova goes quiet. Really quiet.
Then she blinks fast, looks away, and says, “Shit. You made me cry.”
I pull her close, wrapping her in my arms until she’s tucked under my chin.
“I’m grateful,” I murmur. “For everything. For the second chance. For you. For Dar.”
She sniffs.
Then smacks me in the chest with a pillow. “You still never painted the other side of the railing.”
“I was distracted.”
“Oh, you were distracted.”
“Very,” I grin. “By a hot ex-assassin who keeps stealing all the covers and swears she doesn’t snore.”
She huffs and turns over dramatically. “You’re impossible.”
“And you’re mine.”
Silence again, but this time it’s the kind that wraps around you like a warm blanket. Full. Safe.
Nova grabs my hand under the sheets and laces our fingers.
“We’re really doing this,” she whispers.
I squeeze her hand. “Yeah. We are.”
And in the quiet that follows, I realize something.
I’m not falling.
I’m grounded.
And gods, it feels good.
But the silence doesn’t last. Not when she shifts against me like that—just a little grind of her ass into my hips—and something in me wakes up, hot and sudden and sharp.
I groan, low and warning.
Nova half-turns, glancing back with that mischievous glint in her eye. “Oops.”
“Oops?” I echo, cock already hard against her lower back.
She hums, sliding her hand down to wrap around me under the sheets. Her fingers stroke me with maddening patience.
I hiss through my teeth. “Nova.”
“I thought you liked distractions.”
“You’re gonna kill me.”
She grins, then climbs on top of me, straddling my hips with deliberate slowness. The moonlight cuts across her back, illuminating her curves—each muscle, every golden thread of her hair, every freckle. Her pussy hovers just above my cock, teasing.
And stars, I can feel her. Wet. Warm. Wanting.
“You're serious,” I breathe.
Nova leans down until our mouths almost touch. “I don’t do casual. And you’re still here.”
Her words are gravity.
And I fall—hard.
I grab her hips and guide her down, slow and steady, until my cock pushes inside her again. Her mouth parts in a gasp, eyes fluttering shut.
Every time feels like the first. Like discovering fire.
She sinks down until I’m fully buried in her, tight and hot around me. Her walls flutter, and I swear I almost come just from that.
She moves.
A slow roll of her hips.
A grind.
And then another.
We find a rhythm that’s lazy and deep and intimate—like dancing under a thousand invisible stars. Her hands brace on my chest, her nails dragging lightly over my skin.
I can’t stop watching her.
Every breath. Every moan. Every stutter of movement.
“You feel like… everything,” I whisper.
She leans down to kiss me, messy and open, her pussy clenching around my cock as she moves faster.
“Don’t let go,” she says, voice cracking.
“Never.”
I sit up, wrap my arms around her back, and fuck up into her, making her cry out. The sound tears something open in me.
She rides me harder, her body a blur of heat and motion. Sweat slicks our skin. Her tits bounce with each thrust. Her nails rake my shoulders.
And then her pussy clamps down on me, spasming in waves.
She breaks apart with a sob, collapsing against my chest.
I thrust up a few more times, chasing that edge.
And I come with a roar, hips jerking, cock pulsing deep inside her.
We collapse, tangled, panting.
No words. Just breath.
And the soft rhythm of two hearts finally at peace.