NICOLE
The first thing I'm aware of is the weight. Not just of the heavy duvet, but of him. Kenji is wrapped around me like a particularly possessive, human-shaped vine.
It's been three days since the… the war. Three days since he came back bloody and broken. And for the past two, since we haven't been going to Apex, he's been like this. Unyielding.
He's asleep behind me, his breathing a slow, steady rhythm against my back. One of his arms is draped heavily over my waist, his hand shoved up under my sleep shirt, his palm a warm, possessive weight cupping my bare breast.
It's not sexual, not right now. It's just… ownership. A constant, physical check that I'm here.
I need to get up. My bladder is insisting. And I'm starting to feel stiff from lying in the same position for so long. Carefully, I try to pry his fingers loose. I barely get one fingertip lifted when his whole arm tightens, pulling me flush against his chest. A low, sleep-rough grumble vibrates against my spine.
