The first light of morning spilled across the war chamber,highlighting the scattered silks and rumpled sheets in gold. The air was still as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Caroline stirred first.
Her eyes fluttered open slowly, lashes brushing against his bare shoulder as she breathed him in cedarwood, smoke, something warmer she hadn't named yet.
Casimir's arm was wrapped around her waist, his hand splayed protectively over her stomach, his body curled against hers like a shield. She didn't move because the warmth of his skin and the steady rhythm of his breath grounded her in a way she hadn't felt in weeks.
They had crossed a line last night. There was no going back now. No safe distance. No turning away from the truth they'd both hid beneath rage and pride.
She shifted slightly, pressing her forehead to his chest.
He stirred with a low sound, somewhere between a sigh and her name. "Still here?"
"I thought you'd leave me in the night," she murmured.
