Chapter Twenty-Four
Tank
She was stirring.
I’d stayed awake through the night, ignoring the ache in my ribs where that branch had caught me.
The pain was a distant thing, manageable, nothing compared to the contentment that filled me as I watched her sleep.
The bear rumbled his agreement, pleased that our mate was safe, pleased that she was resting, pleased that for once we could be what she needed instead of what the situation demanded.
She’d been so drained that she’d barely moved for hours.
Her breathing slow and deep, her face relaxed in a way I rarely saw when she was awake.
The worry lines that had become permanent fixtures between her brows had smoothed out.
The tension that she carried in her shoulders, in her jaw, in the set of her spine, had finally eased.
In sleep, she looked younger. Softer. Like the girl she might have been if the world hadn’t demanded she become a queen.
I’d held her the entire time. Hadn’t wanted to put her down, hadn’t wanted to break the contact that felt so essential to both of us.
Even injured, even exhausted, holding her felt more right than anything else I’d ever done.
The bear rumbled in contentment every time she shifted closer, every time her fingers curled tighter in my shirt, every time she made one of those small, trusting sounds in her sleep.
This was what I was made for.
Not the fighting, though I was good at that.
Not the berserker rage that lurked in the depths of my soul, even though that had its uses.
This. Protecting her when she needed someone she could trust to do that.
Being the shelter she could rest in when the storm became too much.
Being strong so that she could be soft, even if just for a little while.
The room Fizzle had led us to was simple but comfortable.
A large bed with soft sheets that seemed to be made of something between silk and cloud.
Warm light filtered through windows that looked out on something I couldn’t quite identify.
Something in between sky and forest. A swirl of colors that shifted and changed the longer you looked at them.
The Fifth Court was a strange place, neither fully real nor fully dream, and I’d stopped trying to make sense of it hours ago.
Her eyelids fluttered. Her breathing changed, shifting from the deep rhythm of sleep to something lighter, more aware. And then her eyes opened, those beautiful brown and gold eyes that made something in my chest ache every time they looked at me.
“Hey,” I said softly, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she snuggled closer, pressing her face into my chest with a small sound of contentment that the bear absolutely preened at. She fit so perfectly in my arms. Like she’d been made to be there. Like we’d been made to be together.
“We should just stay in bed,” she murmured against my shirt. “Ignore the world for a while. Pretend it’s just us.”
I smiled, though she couldn’t see it. “Is that what you want?”
“This almost feels like normal life.” Her voice was wistful, dreamy, still half-caught in sleep.
“For a moment, I just want to pretend. That the outside world doesn’t exist. That all the problems are waiting for someone else for a change.
That we’re just... two people. In love. Without the weight of an entire realm on our shoulders. ”
I tightened my arms around her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. The scent of her filled my nose, familiar and perfect, and I felt something in my chest ease. “Then you can stay here as long as you want. I’ll fight off anyone who tries to interrupt us.”
She laughed softly. “My hero.”
“Always.”
She tilted her head back to look at me, and I could see that she did feel better. The exhaustion was still there, lurking at the edges, but the desperate depletion of the night before had faded. Six hours of sleep had done what we’d all hoped it would.
“How long was I out?” she asked.
“Six hours. Give or take.”
She started to push herself up, that determined look coming into her eyes, but I tightened my grip, holding her in place.
“What are you doing?”
“Reminding you,” I said calmly, “that we’re pretending the world outside the door doesn’t exist right now.”
She laughed, the sound bright and warm in the quiet room. “Tank…”
“The others are with Damon. Fizzle is handling whatever is going on with this place. For right now, all you need to do is rest and recover.”
Her eyes searched my face, looking for something. Permission, maybe. Or reassurance that it was okay to not be strong for a few more minutes.
“Do you really want to spend this rare moment of solitude resting?” she asked, and there was something in her voice. Something that made the bear sit up and pay attention.
I raised an eyebrow, keeping my expression carefully neutral. “What could you possibly mean?”
She answered by kissing me.
Her lips were soft against mine, tentative at first, questioning.
But when I responded, when I let her feel exactly how much I wanted this, the tentativeness melted away.
She kissed me deeper, her fingers curled in my hair, as her body pressed against mine with a need that set every nerve ending on fire.
I rolled us gently, settling her beneath me on the soft mattress, careful of my weight.
She was small compared to me, delicate despite the power that lived beneath her skin, and I never forgot that.
Never forgot that this woman who could command armies and reshape the world still fit perfectly in my arms.
“Are you sure?” I murmured against her lips. “You were exhausted…”
“I’m better now.” She pulled back enough to meet my eyes, and I saw the desire there, clear and unmistakable. “And I want this. I want you.”
The words sent a shudder through me. Want. Such a simple word for such a complicated feeling. But with her, it wasn’t complicated at all. With her, everything was clear.
I kissed her again, slower this time. Taking my time. There was no rush, no danger pressing at our heels, no battle waiting to be fought. For this moment, this precious stolen moment, we had all the time in the world.
My hands found the hem of her shirt, and I looked at her in question. She nodded, lifting her arms so I could pull it over her head. And then she was bare beneath me, skin like silk in the soft light of the room, and I had to stop for a moment just to look at her.
She was so beautiful it made my chest ache. Not just physically, though she was that too. But the entirety of her. The strength and the softness, the power and the vulnerability, the queen and the woman all wrapped up in one impossibly precious package.
“You’re beautiful,” I said, because it was true, because she needed to hear it, and I’d never get tired of saying it.
She flushed, her cheeks going pink. “Tank…”
“Beautiful,” I repeated, lowering my head to press kisses along her collarbone. Each kiss a promise. Each touch a vow. “Strong. Brave. Everything I never knew I needed. Everything I never thought I’d have.”
My lips traced a path down her body, mapping every curve, every hollow, every place that made her gasp or sigh.
I took my time, memorizing her reactions, cataloguing what made her breath catch and what made her fingers tighten in my hair.
We had all the time in the world right now, and I intended to use every second of it making her feel cherished.
The Spring magic that we shared hummed between us, a golden warmth that seemed to grow brighter with every touch. I could feel it in my chest, in my blood. The bond that tied us together in a way we were always meant to be.
She tugged at my shirt, and I sat back long enough to pull it over my head. Her hands immediately went to my chest, fingers tracing the lines of muscle, and the scars I’d collected over the years. Her touch was reverent, almost worshipful, and I caught her wrists gently.
“This is about you,” I said. “Let me take care of you.”
“Tank, you’re hurt…”
“Not enough to matter.” I kissed her palm, then her wrist, then the soft skin of her inner arm. “Let me. You spend so much time taking care of everyone else. Let someone take care of you for once.”
Her eyes softened, the last of her resistance melting away. “Okay,” she whispered. “Okay.”
The Spring magic wrapped around us both, warm and golden and growing stronger with every passing moment.
I could feel the bond pulsing with it, feel the connection between us strengthening with every touch.
We were tied together in ways that went beyond the physical, and this act only deepened those ties, wove them tighter, made them unbreakable.
When I finally settled between her thighs, when I looked down at her flushed and wanting and so impossibly beautiful it made my heart ache, I paused. I needed her to hear this. Needed her to understand.
“I love you,” I said. The words came so easily now, naturally, like breathing.
It was hard to believe that I hadn’t spent my entire life telling her.
“I love you more than I have words to express. More than I ever thought I was capable of loving anyone. You changed everything for me, Alyssa. You gave me a home. A family. A reason to be more than just the berserker everyone feared.”
Her eyes went bright with tears, but she was smiling.
That beautiful, radiant smile that made everything else in the world fade away.
“I love you too,” she whispered. “So much, Tank. So much it scares me sometimes. I didn’t know I could feel this way.
Didn’t know anyone could make me feel this safe. ”
I’d never get tired of hearing those words from her lips. Every time it sounded better than the first. It was a gift I’d never take for granted.