Page 114 of Knight’s Dominion

Did he like it? When she touched his wings?

She did it again, nuzzling his jaw, pressing her mouth to his ear so he would hear her. “I’m here, baby. I’m here.”

He shuddered again, his fingers twitching at his side. His eyes stayed closed, but one strong hand grabbed her wrist, tugging her closer and knocking her off balance. She fell beside him, landing on his wing, and tried to scramble away, but his grip tightened. Even unconscious, his instincts reached for her. He wanted her right where she was.

Grace was on her side, and she pressed into his, not giving him any of her weight but letting him feel the warmth of her body, the beat of her heart. The grip on her wrist finally eased and he relaxed.

“You scared me in that warehouse,” she said, even though he still wasn’t conscious, hoping that the sound of her voice would help like Jack said. “Don’t ever do that again. You’re mine, do you hear me, and I’m not losing you yet. I can be just as stubborn as you, and you don’t have my permission to leave me.”

She pressed a kiss to his throat, and started humming again, a tune she hadn’t thought of in so long she was surprised she still remembered it. The words of the song her mother had sung to her when she was small came back to her, and she sang them to her mate, a sweet little song about love and family.

The wing she was lying on, his uninjured one, lifted, curling around her, cocooning them both in warmth and softness. She glanced up, but his eyes were shut, his face relaxed in sleep.

Grace didn’t move. She stayed right where she was, where Chaos needed her to be.

Chaos blinked several times, trying to shake the fog from his head. He was hot, his skin tight, and there was a familiar ache down to his bones. His body was working to fix the damage that had been done.

A soft sound had him glancing down.

Grace was plastered to his side, her face against his ribs. One of her hands was curled at her side, the other arm under her head. Her brown lashes rested against her cheeks, and there were dark smudges under her eyes.

Memories came flooding back, or maybe they were dreams?

No, he still felt her touch, could hear her soft voice. It had happened, all of it.

Grace had washed him, had talked to him, sung to him. Fuck, his gut clenched. No one had ever done anything like that for him in his long life. Taken care of him like that.

She wriggled, made a small sound, then her eyes snapped open, like she sensed him watching her.

“Chaos, oh my God, you’re awake.”

She didn’t move. It was like she was afraid to, like she’d been still for so long, it was instinct not to.

So she didn’t hurt him.

“Grace…” His voice was raw, like he hadn’t used it in a long time.

“Shhh.” She lifted her hand carefully, and then gently, so very gently cupped his jaw, thumb gliding over his beard, while staring into his eyes. “Don’t try to speak.”

“How long have I been out?” he croaked.

“Five days.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “That long?”

“You lost a lot of blood…you were so…broken. Your body had a lot of work to do.”

“You’ve been here with me the whole time?” He knew it was the truth, remembered coming in and out of consciousness now. Remembered her slight weight there beside him, always beside him.

Her cheeks turned pink. “I mean, I got up to eat and use the bathroom when you’d, uh…let me.”

“Let you?”

“You held on to me, curled your uninjured wing around us.”

He looked at her, took her in properly. Her cheeks were pale, her hair loose and a little wild, like she’d showered then let it dry lying right here. She was wearing one of his T-shirts, and when she carefully slid an arm around his waist, looking up at him with concern, he could see she was thinner. He curled his arm around her waist as well and hauled her up and on top of him.

She cried out, trying to wriggle away.