Chapter TWELVE-KIAN

Leaving Arliss in my cabin wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be.

Okay, that’s a lie.

It was fucking brutal.

But I did it.

Mostly because if I didn’t, I was going to crawl right back into that bed, bury myself in her all over again, and forget that the rest of the world existed.

And that wouldn’t be fair.

Because work is work, and even if my entire soul is currently curled around her like a protective shield, I still had shit to do before I could get back to taking care of her the way I want to.

The way she deserves.

Still, I left.

And not because I wanted to.

But because I needed to earn that moment when I walk back in there and find her awake and glowing and maybe even a little sore from what we did last night.

Gods, last night.

She looked so damn good lying there.

Perfect, really.

All sweet and soft and flushed, tangled in my sheets like she belonged there.

Like she was born for that bed, for that room, for me.

Her scent lingers everywhere.

Ours, now.