Page 60 of Savage Princess

It’s dark out when I wake up, the sheets soaked around me, and the glow of a light coming out of the bathroom. For the first time since I passed out in the car, I feel mostly alert.

“Elena?” My voice comes out as a weak croak, but she must have heard me anyway, because the door opens immediately, and she steps out. She’s wearing small, tight shorts and a tank top, and my body reacts in ways that it shouldn’t be able to after what I’ve been through.

“Oh god, Levin!” She crosses the room in a flash, at the edge of the bed, as she presses her hand against my forehead. “You’re awake. Oh my god, you’re awake. I—”

Her voice cracks, and her eyes well up with tears, spilling down her cheeks in a flood as she sinks onto the edge of the bed, staring down at me as if she’s never seen me before. “Oh my god, I thought—”

“I know.” I reach up, trying to wipe away some of the tears to stem the tide. “I did too. But I’m awake now.”

“How do you feel?” She looks at me, her hand pressing against my cheek, my neck, my bare chest. I’m in nothing but my boxers, and I feel faintly cold.

“Like shit,” I tell her honestly, and the laugh following it sticks in my throat, which feels dry and sore. My voice sounds like it’s scraping over sandpaper. “But I seem to be alive. Thanks to you.”

“I didn’t think–I wasn’t sure–” Her teeth sink into her lower lip, and I see fresh tears well up. “I’m so glad you’re awake.”

Her hand wraps around mine, squeezing it, as if she wants to hang onto me. As if she can’t bear to let go. And right now, with all my defenses down and having come so close to death—the closest I’ve been in a long time—I don’t want to let go of her either.

“I was going to get in the shower.” Her cheeks flush faintly. “Do you want to—I could try to help you, if you think you can stand up. It might make you feel better.”

I nod slowly. Even the slightest movement sends a ripple effect of aches and pains through me, but a shower sounds like exactly what I need. I have no idea how long I’ve been lying in this bed.

“Almost a week,” Elena tells me when I ask her, sliding an arm under my shoulders to try to help me sit up. “You had a fever for most of it. I tried to get as much water and soup into you as I could, and these antibiotics I had—”

“Is that what those were?” I bite back a groan as I sit up, feeling everything in my body complain at once. “I remember you giving me pills. Where in the hell did you get antibiotics?”

Elena’s face pales a little, and I look at her curiously. “What’s wrong?”

“You’ve missed a lot,” she whispers, and I can hear that she’s trying to make a joke and failing miserably. Whatever happened, it clearly bothers her.

“Elena, what’s going on?”

“I—” She swallows hard, reaching for pillows to stack them behind me. “When I was getting us away from the hotel—I killed someone, I think.”

“I remember the gunshot. And what felt like you running him over. Elena—”

“Ikilledsomeone.” Her voice trembles. “And then—”

“You didn’t have a choice.” I reach for her hand, wrapping mine around it, squeezing gently. “I would have died if you hadn’t gotten me out of there. You’re the reason I’m still alive.”

“The antibiotics—” Her lips press tightly together, and I see the sheen of tears in her eyes again. “The man I got them from—he tried to attack me with three others. I had your gun. The one in the jacket. And I—”

“You killed them, too?”

She nods, tears spilling down her cheeks again. “They were going to—I just started firing at them, and then—”

“Hey.” I reach for her with some difficulty, pressing my palm against her cheek as I turn her to face me. “You did the right thing, Elena. Not because of the medicine, but because men like that—they deserved what they got. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“A lot of people wouldn’t agree with you.” She sniffs back the tears. “But I couldn’t let them—and you needed the pills. I didn’t want you to die—”

“You did the right thing,” I repeat insistently. “Fuck what anyone else thinks. Elena—you know who I am.WhatI am—what I’ve been. Did you really think I’d give a shit that you killed the man who tried to kill me? That you shot men who tried to extort and assault you?” I slide my fingers under her chin, tilting it up so I can look her in the eye. “I’m fuckingproudof you, Elena.”

She smiles weakly. “I thought you might say that,” she whispers.

It takes everything in me to manage it, but as she looks at me with that small, watery smile, I can’t stop myself.

I lean forward and kiss her.

Everything fucking hurts, except that. Her mouth is as warm and soft as I remember, and she lets out a small gasp as my lips brush against hers, her hand coming up to touch my face.

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