Page 59 of The Echo of Forever

The mattress dipped, and I let her pick how close she wanted to be; my baby didn’t disappoint, pressing herself against my side and pushing her head into the curve of my shoulder.

“You smell so good,” she murmured, drawing in a deep breath.

I closed my eyes and savored the moment.

“Oh yeah?”

She shifted and nestled closer, her breath warm against my neck. I could feel the tension in her body gradually releasing as she settled in.

“Mmhm. Like vanilla and bergamot.”

I pushed my fingers into her hair and massaged her scalp where I knew the pain was centered. The side she’d been favoring in the kitchen. Her soft sigh told me I’d found the right spot.

“The vanilla was your idea,” I whispered, dropping my free hand to her waist. “And I fucked with the way you stuck your nose in my neck every time we shared space.”

Forever smacked her lips against the base of my neck and then…kissed the spot.

“Can you hold me tighter?” she asked, kicking a leg over mine. “I had a long two days, and you’re making me feel better.”

I shifted and rolled to secure myself between her thighs, positioning us so that she straddled me from the side. Our arms moved in sync, mine around her waist while hers looped my neck.

“This okay?”

She nodded, and my heart settled a little more. The longer she was in my presence and arms, the steadier it beat.

“I missed you,” I confessed, eyes closed to focus solely on her gently breathing me in.

There was no need for a reply, just her like this and more often.

“I read our messages,” she replied, curling her arms tighter. “Started off great until I realized I’m a stranger to our connection. I vented my frustrations out on those doctors, but they were only doing what was ordered.”

I nudged her head back until our eyes met in the dimmed room.

“What exactly was ordered?”

“All of them said the same thing. They suspected I might have a mild traumatic brain injury but were instructed to keep this from meandmy family.”

Mmm.

“Did they say who?”

She burrowed her head in my neck again and took a deep breath.

“Only that it came from the top andnotfrom my father. I can’t fathom him not knowing at leastsomething.”

Neither did I.

Eliel had enough power to be in the know.

“It’s okay,” she murmured, already sounding half asleep. “I left my calling card for a reason. Some things can’t be ignored, and my dragonfly is one of them.”

I pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. She muttered something unintelligible and was out for the count right after.

The irony wasn’t lost on me.

After all this time apart, after everything I’d done so far to prepare for her return, she’d come to me because I was the onlyone who could ease her pain. Not because she remembered us, but because her body knew what her mind couldn’t recall.

And here I was, knowing sleep was finally in reach with her here, but unable to do so. I didn’t fear a fucking thing but losing my wife again, so while she was in my arms, I planned to revel in it.