(Isla)
I woke up warm.
That was the first thing. The particular deep warmth that wasn't about the room or the covers but about the bond sitting between us the way it hadn't sat all day. Quiet. Present. Not pulling. Just there.
I lay still and let myself take stock before I opened my eyes. My body felt different. Not wrong. The opposite of wrong. Like something that had been wound too tight had finally been allowed to release.
I opened my eyes.
Caius was watching me.
Not with concern. Not with the careful attention he used when he was assessing something. Just watching the way he watched things that mattered to him, present and unhurried, giving me time to arrive fully before he said anything.
"How long?" I said.
"Two hours," he said.
I looked at the window. The light had changed.
