Page 160 of The Delta's Rogue
My smile and playfulness fade as my attention switches from him to the door. The shackles brainwashed into my mind tug me backwards and towards the bed—towards my place.
“Is that okay?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t have suggested it if it wasn’t.”
I give him a soft, weak smile. “I’ve missed being outside,” I admit. “I miss the freedom the vast, open sky offers.Y las estrellas. The stars. I’ve missed the stars.”
“Entonces te daré las estrellas.”
He opens the door, and we walk through the house so he can give me the stars. He keeps his hand wrapped around mine the entire way. We follow the same route he took this morning, only this time I walk on my own instead of him carrying me. The house is quieter than it was this morning too, now that everyone is asleep in their rooms or back at CrescentLake for the night.
When we reach the deck, Sebastian plops onto the cushioned couch my dad sat on all morning. He relaxes into a reclined position, and before he can summon me to join him, I lie down against his chest.
He chuckles softly and removes the blanket from where it’s tucked beneath his arm, unfurling it and laying it over our bodies.
That’s when I realize it’s a navy-blue blanket—the blanket from my tent that I left behind with him.
“It’s the only thing I kept, aside from the red fabric,” he says.
I stare in awe at the thinning and fraying fabric covering us.
“I washed it on a sanitizing cycle several times before using it, but I always imagined I could smell honeysuckles embedded in the fibers,” he adds.
A smile spreads across my lips. “Well, now it will have my scent again.” I curl myself up within his arms as he embraces me.
The worries and stress of everything we still need to face drift away into the midnight sky, and we lie in a calming, comfortable silence under the stars.
Together.
The sun rises, crestingover the jagged mountaintops on the horizon, greeted by the chirping of birds throughout the expansive forest. Sarina sleeps soundly within the safety of my embrace. She passed out not long after I wrapped my arms around her last night, falling into a deep and restful slumber as I held her all night.
At our feet is a snoring Cav, curled into a ball on top of the blanket. His lilac tutu swishes in the morning air, and his whiskers flutter with each of his heavy exhales.
Even though I didn’t sleep at all last night—I stayed awake in case Sarina had another nightmare—and even though the patio couch was extra crowded due to our sleepover guest, I’m the most rested I’ve been in a long time.
All because of her.
“What’s that goofy smile for?”
Sarina’s groggy voice draws my focus from the trees. She stretches on top of me, pulling the blanket tighter around herself against the chill in the spring morning air.
I adjust my body beneath her and smooth her hair away from her face as I gaze down at her. “Good morning, Little Rogue.”
She props her chin on my chest and rolls her eyes. “I don’t think you can call me that anymore. You know very well I am not and never have been a rogue.”
“Would you prefer something else? Perhaps…‘Little Princess’?”
Her nose wrinkles. “Please don’t.”
“Or maybe ‘Little Alpha’?”
She sighs and props herself up on her elbows.“‘Cariño’ es perfecto, Sebastián.”
She thinks “sweetheart” is perfect. But I have one more suggestion up my sleeve.
I nod and lick my lips before offering it. “How about ‘my queen’?”
Her head angles to the side, her lips twitch, and she traces the crown above the S on my T-shirt. “I suppose I could get used to that one.” She scoots so her face hovers an inch away from mine. “But only if I can call you ‘my king’.”
