Page 65 of So Bleak

Faith leaned her head on David’s chest and closed her eyes, savoring the sound of his heartbeat. She sometimes thought that her entire life was one bout of stress after another, but when she was in his arms, as close to him as anyone could possibly be to another person, all of that stress just melted away.

“At the risk of ruining a very romantic moment,” he said, “May I just say that you are absolutely incredible in bed.”

She smiled and patted his stomach. “That doesn’t ruin the moment. It just means you’re a man.”

He chuckled and said, “You sure make me feel like a man.”

“You are. I don’t know why you have trouble believing it.”

“It’s not that I have trouble believing it. I just can’t believe you’re mine.”

“Believe it,” she said.

He laughed again, and Faith opened her eyes. “What’s so funny?”

“I kind of expected you to say something like, ‘I’m not yours, I belong to nobody.’”

She rolled her eyes. “When have I ever said anything like that?”

“I don’t know. I just thought that since you’re a strong independent woman you’d have something to say to that.”

“Strong independent women don’t need to remind people that they’re strong and independent. Besides, I’ve chosen to belong to you. That makes me strong and independent enough to select the man I want. And you”—she lifted her head up and kisses his chest—“manly enough to have convinced this strong independent woman to become yours. Not to mention the fact that I have you utterly wrapped around my finger, which is pretty affirming too.”

“You do,” he agreed. “Heart, body and soul.”

She laughed and rolled out of bed. “You’re going to have to work on not being so syrupy, though.”

“I can’t help it,” he said, his eyes traveling languidly over her as she pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. “I’m a lover, not a fighter. Being macho doesn’t come easily to me.”

“I’m not saying you have to be macho. Just don’t put me on a pedestal.”

His brow furrowed. “Where is all this coming from? Is everything okay?”

She giggled and kissed the tip of his nose. “That’s another thing you need to work on. Not everything I say has hidden meaning. To be clear, I respond better to honesty than I do to embellishment. Telling me you love me is good. Telling me you’d cross a thousand deserts and battle a thousand demons to find the last rose on Earth just for the privilege of giving it to me is not good.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he replied, “because we’ve already established I’m not a fighter, so demon-fighting is out. That’s your department.”

“So if I’m attacked by demons, I need to save myself?”

“I mean, I’ll try to save you, but I think we both know I’m not gonna do much.”

She laughed and shoved him playfully. Then the image of him in the hospital bed after West’s attack flashed across her mind, and her smile faded.

“Uh oh,” David said. “Hey, come here.”

She shook her head quickly. “No, I’m fine.”

“Come here,” he said, pulling her close and wrapping her in his arms. “I’m here, Faith. I’m okay. I’m not going anywhere.”

She closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest again. Slowly but inevitably, the sound of his heartbeat drove away all of her fear and all of her anxiety. She took a deep breath and released it in a contented sight. “See, this? This is good.”

“Damned straight it is. Besides, Turk can protect both of us.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, he can. Unless the bad guys have doughnuts.”

“Doughnuts?”

“Yeah. He loves doughnuts.”

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