Page 372 of Once Upon a Fable

How fucking lucky was I?

A meal.

A meal shared by two people I loved.

A meal that hopefully symbolized something new.

CHAPTER FIVE

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I WOKE TO A noise.

Sunlight blinded me from the glass roof of the conservatory, hinting it was early afternoon. Memories of the past few hours came back in pieces.

Sharing a meal with Kas and Jareth. The strained small talk between people who had far too much heaviness to speak about light. And the inevitable exhaustion that ensured we all slinked away to find somewhere to sleep once our stomachs were full.

Kas had waited until Jareth had left the room. Neither of us had asked where he’d sleep, and he hadn’t volunteered that information. I didn’t know how successful I’d be at relaxing with him in the house, but Kas had pulled me into a hug and held me, distracting me from everything else but his smell, his heat, his nearness.

A simple, wonderful hug that I didn’t think he’d ever be capable of.

He’d grunted as if shocked he’d done such a thing.

As if a hug was a different language he’d forgotten how to speak.

I melted into him.

All my worries and struggles—from every day since I’d found this valley—went up in smoke thanks to his incredible arms around me.

I’d been hugged before, but I’d never felt how I did in Kas’s arms.

I felt...treasured.

Wanted.

Worshiped.

I’d hugged him back, binding my arms around his waist, the chain belthe wore digging in my skin.

We’d stood like that forever.

Both of us swaying with tiredness.

I wanted to go to bed together. To sleep in his arms and wake up to his kisses. We needed to talk. Tonight felt different. It felt as if he was finally ready to face what he was dealing with, and I didn’t want to let that gift go.

But when he’d pulled away and kissed me gently, his eyes were black with pain and weariness. Whatever mental wounds he still had from his concussion had pushed him past conversation.

If he didn’t sleep, he’d black out. And if he blacked out, who knew if all this incredible progress would be deleted.

I wanted him too much to push him too hard.

I could be patient now that he’d given me a glimmer of hope.

I’d placed the remaining painkillers into his fist and tugged him toward my blankets in the conservatory. But he’d pulled against my invitation, giving me a heart-breaking smile. “I promise you, I’m ready to face what I’ve been running from. I want to ask what happened between us in the library. I want to know what happened in the bath we shared, seeing as I still can’t remember. I’m ready to be with you, Gem. But...I still can’t sleep with you.”

I’d opened my mouth to argue, but he merely pressed a finger to my lips. “I don’t want to hurt you. And after tonight...after Jareth’s return and everything else, I can’t guarantee your safety.” His eyes had been so gentle. The kindest I’d ever seen.

Whatever had switched inside him made faith blaze bright in my chest. It promised that all my struggles and trials where this man was concerned were justified. He wasn’t just beginning to live again, he waschoosingto.