I woke to warmth and shadow. Eirseth’s body was curled around mine, one arm slung heavy across my waist, the other bent beneath his head. His skin radiated heat like a banked fire, and I could feel every slow inhale against my back, every subtle shift in the press of his fingers over my ribs. His breathing was slow, even. The tension he carried like armor was gone in sleep, softened into something almost human.I didn’t move at first. I didn’t want to disturb it—this rare stillness, this moment suspended between night and waking. I just let myself feel it. The weight of his hand. The warmth of his breath feathering against the curve of my neck. The faintest brush of his lips near the crown of my head, like a kiss placed there quietly, reverently, before sleep took him.The room was dim, lit only by the soft flicker of a wall sconce that threw long, golden shadows across the stone walls. The air was warm, laced with the faint, earthen scent of him—like sun-baked cedar and something old
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