Page 240 of Scarlet Wars
Precise.
Deadly in its efficiency.
And in its stupidity.
By the timeCaden and I portaled back to my room, the sun had already dipped low, bathing the walls in soft amber light. It softened the edges of everything, made the world feel quieter, slower, like it had shifted into a gentler gear just for us.
Caden collapsed onto my bed first and tugged me down with him before I’d fully finished changing for the night.
He wrapped himself around me from behind, his chest pressed to my spine, his legs tangled with mine like he had no intention of letting me go anywhere. His breath ghosted over the back of my neck, the kind that only came after hours of relentless planning, hard choices, and holding too much together for too long.
I nudged him gently with my elbow. “You okay?”
He hummed into my shoulder, the sound vibrating through me. “Mm. Tired.”
I smiled to myself. “Did the great Mister Colt underestimate what it would be like to really fight for this relationship?” I teased, wiggling my ass back just enough to make my point.
“Trust me, Nightcrawler.” His hand slid along my waist, splaying across my stomach as he pulled me closer. “There’s nothing I’d rather fight for.”
The words lit something disgustingly mushy in my chest. “I know,” I said quietly. “This is worth it.”
“Weare worth it,” he corrected, pressing a slow, smug kiss to the curve of my neck. “And once we’ve dealt with these fuckers, there’s nothing stopping us from building whatever comes next.”
He tucked his face into my hair. “Right before we make a baby that saves the rest of our kind.”
A laugh slipped out of me, quiet, disbelieving, a little breathless. “Already preparing to be rather demanding parents, are we?”
“Not demanding,” he said calmly. “Just parents.”
I rolled over to face him, our noses nearly brushing. His hair was a slight mess, his eyes soft in a way that made something embarrassingly tender curl in my chest.
“Today was…” I searched for a word that didn’t sound too fragile or too enormous. “A lot.”
His hand came up to cup my jaw, thumb brushing along my cheekbone in a slow, grounding sweep. “Areyouokay?”
I let my forehead fall against his. “Better than okay,” I whispered. “I’m…happy. And that’s only because of you.”
He went still for a fraction of a second.
I pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. “Every time the world falls apart beneath my feet, you make me feel like I can survive anything. I’ve never had that before. So…thank you.”
The words came out clear and steady, raw in a way that made my own chest ache.
Caden went rigid.
His hand cradling my jaw stopped mid-stroke, thumb freezing against my cheekbone like someone had cut the world’s sound. His gaze locked onto mine: darker, but more open than I’d ever seen it. There was no shield. No sarcasm. No walls. Just him.
Then his mouth parted.
Slowly.
Like he was about to give me something he’d been holding in his teeth for months. Something fragile. Something alive. The kind of truth that rewrote people.
“Emma,” he murmured, voice rough, reverent. “I fucking lo?—”
His Nexus detonated with light.
A flash of blue drops burst between us, buzzing so sharply the vibration trembled through the mattress.
