“I want to hold you. Besides, I’m a grown man. I don’t need to lie around in bed when I feel fine.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I forgot, you’re a big, bad, macho man. Stop moving! If you want to hold me, I’ll lay down with you.”
Before he could protest, she eased down beside him, gently laying her head on his chest. His arms wrapped around her and she felt tears press against her eyelids again. She tried to sniff them back, not wanting him to know she was crying, but of course he noticed.
“Tarun, baby, what’s wrong?”
“You can really ask me that?”
He froze, and when he spoke, his voice was alarmed. “Shit, did you get hurt in the battle, too? Fuck, I should have realized. Where at? How bad?”
“No, I’m fine. I had some claw marks, but they’re long healed. I was just worried about you. You were out for so long, and I didn’t know if you’d ever wake up. I thought I was losing you.”
He exhaled, his breath ruffling her hair. “I’m sorry I worried you so much, but I promise, I’m okay. Like Noah said, there’s no way in hell I’d go anywhere now that I’ve finally found you.”
Easing up on her elbow, she gazed into his eyes before kissing him softly. “I love you, Luke.”
“I love you too, baby. So much.”
“You’d better not ever scare me like that again.”
“I’ll do my best. Don’t look like that. I’m an Enforcer, remember? We’re some of the best, but I can’t promise I’ll never get hurt again. But I can promise I’ll try not to, and that I’m okay right now. I really am.”
Heart easing as the knowledge that he really was okay sank in, she laid back down. It was still fairly early in the evening, but exhaustion was hitting her hard. She guessed maybe that was normal after a battle like that, followed by so much worry.
She was going to have to work on her endurance so she could get used to it. Fighting, that was. Not the worry. She never wanted to feel that again.
A knock came on the door and she looked over to see Blake sticking his head in. Relief was stark on his features when he saw that Luke was awake.
“Thank God you’re awake,” he said, moving into the room. “You had all of us worried.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s up? Noah was just in here checking on me from the last little bit I heard. I figured he would have told y’all I was still out.”
“He did, but I just finished getting the pride locked up and wanted to check on you myself.”
Luke let go of her and sat up, ignoring her protest. “What happened after I was knocked out?”
Tarun scowled. “Do we have to do this now? You had a serious injury, Luke—”
He faced her on the bed, his eyes intense as he searched her gaze. “Tarun, I promise that I’m okay. Listen to my voice and you’ll hear the truth. I’m fine. A little tired, but that’s expected after a battle. I don’t hurt at all. My head was a little tender when I woke, but even that’s faded.”
Frowning, she picked through every statement, every nuance in his voice and words, but he was right. There was nothing but honesty in his voice. “Fine,” she replied grudgingly, waving a hand between them. “Talk away.”
Luke smiled, nearly drowning in love for the woman sitting in front of him. She was one hell of a firecracker, and he knew she’d always keep him on his toes. Life with her would never be boring.
Even after she knew he was telling the truth when he said he was fine, she was still letting him know just how upset she was that he wasn’t following her instructions. Her hazel eyes were narrowed and she had her arms crossed, her fingers tapping against her arm.
His mate was one hell of a woman.
She knows how close you came to death, his lion said, sounding tired. It was all I could do to repair the damage to your skull. If you were human, you would have died a few minutes after your head hit the floor.
Shiiiiit. I didn’t realize it was so bad.
Why do you think it took so long for you to wake up? It took that long for me to heal you.
In that light, Tarun’s reaction didn’t seem extreme at all. Leaning in, he kissed her passionately, and when he pulled back, he could tell he surprised her.
Clearing his throat, he turned back to Blake. “Okay, so talk to me.”