Page 39 of This Is Love (The Light to My Darkness 3)

Nut stopped nibbling mid-bite.

"Rodent?" Bastian said. "That's a little harsh. Although he is in desperate need of a good bath."

Nut threw the remaining piece of grape at Bastian's cheek.

Bastian laughed. "You know I'm just kidding with you," he said and patted the squirrel's head again. "Besides, Nut's distraction also allowed me to get you this." He pulled out the golden fabric that the merchant had been trying to sell her.

"But I...I didn't pay for that."

Bastian winked. "It can be our little secret." He pushed the fabric into her hands. "It really does match your hair perfectly."

The dark room suddenly felt stifling. Their eyes locked. No one had ever looked at Oriana the way Bastian was staring at her. It made her heart race. And her palms felt sweaty. This was how she desired for Rixin to look at her.

"I should probably get back," Oriana said. She pressed her lips together, wondering why she had broken the spell. Bastian was making her incredibly nervous.

He took a step back from her, pushed a tattered curtain to the side, and looked out the window.

Oriana smoothed out her skirt while his eyes weren't trained on her.

"It appears everything has settled down. You should be safe to go." He turned back toward her and gave her another charming smile.

"I don't know how to thank you." She looked down at the cloth in her hands, unsure whether a thank you truly was in order. He was a thief. A thief who had saved her life. With a smile that could light up this dark room.

"No need to thank me. It was my pleasure, my lady." He winked again and jumped onto the window sill.

"But..." began Oriana. But before she could say another word, he was gone.

The push and pull in Scarlett’s favorite story reminded me of my relationship with Penny. In our case though, it truly felt like she had saved me. Not the other way around. I smiled as I watched the two of them. The two women in my life that had saved me from the hell I had been living.

Penny was great at reading to Scarlett. She changed her voices depending on the characters, which always made Scarlett giggle. But tonight, it had just put Scarlett fast asleep.

“You’re better at that than I am,” I said.

She looked up. “At reading? I highly doubt that.” She closed the book but still continued to stroke Scarlett’s hair.

“At reading out loud. The voices you make.”

For a moment she looked embarrassed. “What, you like my suave thief voice?” she said deeply.

I laughed. “Not as much as your princess voice.”

She smiled. “Well that’s good. Or else I’d be worried about what kind of kinky things you were into.”

“Nothing quite that kinky.” I walked into the room and pulled my shirt off over my head. I forced myself not to smile when I caught her staring at me undressing. Such a simple act seemed so normal a few weeks ago. And now there was a newness to it. She wasn’t used to seeing me like this. It would take time for us to find our normal routine again. Time for us to remember what normalcy even felt like. I was okay with that. I paused before pulling off my jeans. If there was even a part of her that still wanted to take things slowly, I wanted to respect that. Even if we had already sped things up quite a bit earlier tonight.

I grabbed a pair of pajama pants from the closet and gestured to the bathroom. “I’m going to finish getting ready for bed. Feel free to keep reading if you’d like.”

She didn’t look up at me. Instead, she buried her face in the book. And a few minutes later when I reemerged her body was curled around Scarlett’s and her eyes were tightly closed. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to look like she was asleep or if she was just so happy to be back in Scarlett’s good graces.

I climbed into bed, trying not to disturb her. It had been a long day for both of us. I understood if she didn’t want to talk anymore. But as soon as the covers shifted she opened her beautiful blue eyes. “I really am sorry, James. For everything.”

I stared down at the two of them. A smile was stretched across Scarlett’s face, but my dear wife looked full of apprehension.

“Baby, how many times do I have to tell you that you have nothing to be sorry for.” I reached out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear and her face melted into my touch.

“When I couldn’t remember our past, it felt like a bolt of electricity shocked me every time we touched,” she said. “Like my body was trying to tell me how perfect we were together.”

I smiled. “And you don’t feel it any longer?”

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