Quinn
When I woke up, Tobias held me so tightly it seemed like nothing could ever come between us. One strong arm wrapped around my waist, the other draped over my upper arm, and his chin rested protectively atop my hair. His chest gently rose and fell in time to my own breathing.
The white band scarred around his neck greeted me as I opened my eyes, the reminder of what he had been through stark against his skin in the early morning light. It brought a tightness to my chest—a flash of rage mixed with a possessiveness that made my blood run hot.
I contented myself with brushing a light kiss against the center of his throat before leaning back just enough to see his face.
While I would have to wake him soon, the clock on the wall showed we had a little time left before the lab opened.
We didn’t have long before we needed to return to the real world…
but I planned on making every minute count.
Besides, it was rare to see him so peaceful, so unguarded.
He looked painfully young like this, his face more relaxed than I had seen it in years. Dark hair fell into his eyes, mixing with long lashes. His mouth twitched slightly, like he might smile in his sleep, a ghost of that dimple forming before it disappeared.
I could happily stay in this bed forever, if it meant keeping him here with me.
His breathing hitched, a frown crossing his face. Tobias didn’t open his eyes as he said, his voice husky, “Go back to sleep, Maris. You need all you can get with how long I kept you up last night.”
I started in surprise. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I was,” Tobias grumbled. He pulled me closer, pressing his lips to my forehead.
I happily snuggled into him, breathing him in. He traced a finger down my spine, kneading circles into the dimples on either side of my lower back, and I let out a contented sigh.
There was something here that felt fated, though I knew better than to say the word out loud just yet. He might have given in to the pull between us, but given how long he avoided so much as touching me after what he had been through…
If he didn’t realize what we were, he would in time. But I couldn’t help but push. “Do you remember that night before your birthday. The one where we almost…”
His fingers paused their lazy paths along my back, his voice a low rumble as he said, “I remember.”
For a heartbeat, he’d almost been mine.
We had almost kissed, just that once. On his Seventeenth…right before I thought I lost him forever.
I pulled back, lifting my chin to face him. “I thought I built it up in my head, that moment you leaned in. I closed my eyes…and the next second you were gone.”
We spent the day of his seventeenth birthday together, along with Eva.
They were both annoyed that they had to go home early for a family dinner on their big day.
Eva had gone inside, but Tobias had lingered, all nervous laughter and hopeful smiles.
Then he invited me to come back over that night—after the dinner that instead turned into death and disaster.
I could still picture the way his cheeks flushed when he had haltingly added, “There’s no one I’d rather spend my birthday with, Quinn.” Could still see the way he stepped closer—too close to be friendly—intention in every line of his face. My eyes had fluttered closed, waiting…
“That moment has haunted me ever since.” Tobias’s hand resumed its wandering, stroking down my side with a sweet sort of adoration. “I told myself that I’d kiss you that night, when you came back. That I should wait for the perfect moment, only…” A soft sigh. “Obviously things didn’t go to plan.”
“Only took almost a decade to remedy.”
Tobias leaned in, a slow smile curving his lips. “I don’t plan on wasting another second.”
My eyes fluttered closed, wanting to live in this moment forever. When he kissed me, it was soft and thorough and almost lazy like we had all the time in the world.
He pulled away, that lopsided smile still on his lips. It brought me back to high school lunchrooms, weekend training sessions, and summer shenanigans swimming in the lake behind my house. All that time spent together, and I knew even then I would never get enough of him.
I wanted to lose myself in him. But as much as I wanted to forget the next words out of my mouth, they were necessary. Reluctantly, I forced myself back to reality. “The lab opens soon, and I could use something to eat after that…workout.”
Tobias’s smile was pure sex. “I was thinking of something I’d like to eat, too.”
I sucked in a breath as he lowered his head, his lips grazing the point of my ear. A shiver ran through me as he breathed against it, before moving lower, nipping at my neck. His hand squeezed my ass, shifting me closer…
Guilt popped that happy bubble like a knife.
Eva was comatose and waiting for me to cure her and here I was, thoroughly satiated and in bed with her brother.
The weight of everything I still needed to do pressed on my chest, even as reason reminded me that anxiety was useless—not when we couldn’t get back into the lab until it opened.
Tobias seemed to sense the change in me. “Was that…I’m sorry if I—”
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” I said quickly, touching his cheek.
He nuzzled his head into my hand, his stubble rough against my palm, and I felt my worry recede just slightly.
“In fact, it sounds like the perfect way to spend the day once we cure your sister. But we don’t have time…
she doesn’t have time for us to be…” I swallowed, unsure how to define exactly what we were doing. “We should get back to work.”
I hated the way the happiness in his eyes dimmed, the breadth of what we had left to do chasing the smile from his face too.
“I know the weight of the world is on your shoulders right now,” Tobias murmured.
“But you can let me share that burden, Quinn.” He looked down, forehead creasing.
“I know I haven’t been there for you for a while now…
but you can trust me to bear whatever it is you need from me.
” His throat bobbed. “Whatever this is can wait until our task is done, if that’s what you want. ”
I searched his face, but it was once again unreadable. “Is that what you want?”
“No,” he said quickly. “Of course not, you’re—”
I cut him off with a kiss. For one precious minute I let myself get lost to it.
He kissed me like it was the last time—slow at first then deepening, the desire and promise of it all-consuming. Our tongues battled for dominance as his hand fisted in my hair. I sucked his lower lip into my mouth before releasing it with a pop.
“Talk it through with me,” he said, breathing hard. “Is there something you need to do right now, or do you just feel guilty for letting yourself be happy?”
I blinked at him. “I’m…”
With the progress we made yesterday, there wasn’t anything I could do until the lab opened. Even if I got there early, the doors wouldn’t open until the cleaning cycle finished. And with a viable cure, all that was left to do was determine dosages and…
Tobias pressed a kiss between my brows, the tenderness of the gesture leaving me winded. “Out loud. I can see your mind working.”
“You’re right,” I said softly. “I’m just…anxious. And feeling more than a little guilty about how happy I am right now.”
The real, full smile on Tobias’s face took my breath away. “Let’s get ready then. Though I can think of something I can do to help with that anxiety, if you’re willing.”
“I wouldn’t mind some company in the shower,” I said suggestively. “We do have some time before we can get in the lab, after all. Especially if we eat breakfast on the walk over.”
I squealed as Tobias scooped me from the bed, letting the sheets fall to the side. He smirked down at me as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I can work with that.”
?
My hair was a wild, untamable mess when we reached the iron door to the lab a minute before it opened.
It was hard feeling put out about the lack of time I had to get ready when it had meant one of the best orgasms of my life against the shower wall as Tobias murmured praise into my ear.
Yael, Pari, and Rivan were thankfully already gone, the breakfast laid out in our shared space picked over by the time we got dressed.
After how loud we had been, I doubted I would’ve been able to look any of them in the eyes, no matter how thick the walls were.
I needed to focus. And yet, I found myself replaying what we had done to each other amid the steam on repeat as I got to work.
My hand wrapped around my throat at the heat rising there.
I could still hear Tobias’s groan into the curve of my neck drowning out the cascade of water.
And feel the slight soreness where he bit down as his release spilled inside me…
“You’re blushing,” Tobias murmured as he handed me a fresh vial. “Penny for your thoughts?”
That damn dimple flickered in his cheek. If his self-satisfied smirk was anything to go on, he already knew.
Dolion raised an eyebrow at us from where he had been jotting down notes, having arrived not long after us. But he merely asked, “Any luck with tracking down Silvius? I heard there was some activity yesterday.”
Tobias’s jaw flexed; any hint of levity gone at the reminder. “Another dead end, I’m afraid.”
“We did figure out how he was likely entering the Enclave,” I said absentmindedly as I focused on a measurement. “The tunnel system below the castle is pretty extensive.”
Tobias shot me a warning look that I ignored. He might not trust Dolion, but I did. Whatever Tobias’s issue was with him, we wouldn’t be where we were in our research without Dolion’s help.
“I didn’t realize they were sending healers to do reconnaissance now,” Dolion said, his tone deceptively mild. “Glad to see you made it back safely. I heard there was an overzealous water wielder?”
I nodded even as I tried not to remember how close I had been to drowning. Strange to think how much had transpired since then