Page 60 of Human Reclaimed
The sentiment would have felt foreign on my tongue just weeks ago, but now the words flowed naturally. I meant them completely.
Olivia nodded, checking the IV bag hanging beside my bed. “Well, whatever it was, it worked. You can go home once this bag is empty. It’s about two-thirds done now. But I want you to rest for at least a day. Doctor’s orders.”
“I’ll make sure he follows your instructions,” Talia said, squeezing my hand. “He can be stubborn, but I know how to handle him.”
We all laughed, and the sound felt healing somehow. When had I last laughed so freely before Talia came into my life?
“We’ll leave you two alone,” Aeon said, his hand finding the small of Olivia’s back as they moved toward the door. The gentle gesture between them—so natural and so human—no longer seemed like a mystery to me.
When the door closed behind them, I turned to Talia, noting the redness around her eyes still.
“I noticed you were crying when I woke up,” I said softly. “Was it because of my recording on your datapad?”
She nodded, her lip catching between her teeth. “Yes. It was beautiful, Rune. And devastating—thinking I might have lost you forever.”
“Do you want to know if I still feel those things?” I asked, my heart accelerating despite knowing the answer with absolute certainty.
“Yes,” she whispered.
I brought her hand to my chest, pressing it against my heartbeat. “Every single word,” I said firmly. “Especially about you being the best thing that has ever happened to me and loving you completely—more than I ever thought possible.” I paused for a moment, staring deeply into her eyes. “I might’ve been created to be a weapon, but you’ve helped me become a man.”
The last drops of the IV solution finally trickled through the tube in my arm. Talia had watched my IV with fierce concentration for the past hour. She hadn’t left my side since I’d awakened.
“That’s it,” she announced, her fingers already working to disconnect the tube using her battlefield triage skills. “Let’s get you home.”
Home. The word resonated differently now. Before Talia, my quarters had been merely functional—a place to recharge between missions. Now it held something else. Possibility.
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, feeling a momentary weakness that annoyed me. “I’m fine,” I insisted when she reached to support me.
“Sure you are.” She slid under my arm anyway, her body surprisingly strong against mine. “Let the war hero lean on me just this once.”
The walk through the colony was mercifully short. Night had fallen, and Planet Alpha’s moons cast silver-blue light across our path. Beyond the buildings, the jungle’s nocturnal symphony had begun—the strange clicking insects and distant calls of creatures we still hadn’t fully catalogued.
Once inside my quarters, Talia guided me to sit on the edge of my bed and then moved to the adjoining bathroom.
“I’m running you a bath,” she called over the sound of rushing water. “Doctor’s orders.”
“Olivia didn’t mention a bath,” I remarked, enjoying the domestic sound of her moving around my space.
“No, but I’m prescribing one.” She reappeared in the doorway, her smile soft but determined. “You smell like the medical bay antiseptic.”
I watched, transfixed, as she approached and began untying my boots. Something profoundly intimate about the gesture struck deeper than our physical encounters had. She continued upward, helping me remove my shirt with gentle efficiency.
“Stand up,” she instructed, and I obeyed without question. Her fingers worked at my belt and then my pants until I stood before her, completely exposed.
“Your turn,” I murmured, reaching for her.
She allowed me to undress her, my movements slower and more deliberate than hers had been. Each inch of golden skin revealed felt like a gift. When she stood naked before me, I felt a surge of possessiveness that I would have once considered a programming error. Now I recognized it as something deeply human—the fierce, protective instinct of a man for his woman.
“Come on,” she said, leading me into the bathroom where steam rose from the tub. She helped me in first and then slid in behind me, her legs cradling mine and her chest pressing into my back.
I sighed as the hot water enveloped us, easing muscles I hadn’t realized were tense. “This feels…”
“Good?” she supplied, her lips brushing my shoulder.
“No. Perfect.” I leaned back against her, surrendering to her care. The sensation was still new to me—this willingness to be vulnerable. Before her, weakness had seemed unacceptable.
Her hands moved over my chest, tracing the scars there. “How are you feeling really? The truth.”
