Chapter Five
The drive retracing their tire marks was hazy, lost as she was in her post-orgasmic bliss with the man she loved behind her.
As if she rode home on a magic carpet, the bike kind of steered itself to the compound and through the gate.
Was it good for him? Yeah, he came but he was so quiet. And she’d wanted to kiss him, explore his body, and he’d turned her around and took her from behind. Which she came from. For the first time, ever, in her entire life. She’d always thought it was a myth but it evidently wasn’t and holy fucking shit his cock was huge and he’d fit perfectly inside her after he’d stretched her out.
And what about his realization they were on his bike?
He hadn’t really said a word about it yet and she’d been nervous for months.
Had she overstepped her bounds more than she should have? Yes.
Was he planning on being mad at her as soon as she stopped the bike? She didn’t know.
Could they have sex again, for like, the rest of their lives? Doubtful, but damn she wanted him again already.
Taking a stuttering breath, she geared down, and nibbled the inside of her cheek as they passed beneath the tree-lined canopy covering the main road. Pulling into the hangar to park the bike, the thrum of the engine rumbling beneath her died as she killed the bike and removed the key.
The helmet slipped from her head and she self-consciously checked her hair, even though he couldn’t see her. Old habits die hard.
“Thanks for getting me out of here.” Titanium’s voice rumbled through her even more than the engine’s purr. “I needed it more than I was willing to admit.” He extended his hand to her, helping her from the bike, and he continued to hold it as she led them from the hangar.
She’d held it before but this time it felt totally different.
And he didn’t pull away.
“You’re welcome. Maybe you’d like to go out again sometime.” Her heart jumped into her throat and she had to swallow it down again. Putting herself out there wasn’t normally her style, but with Charles she really couldn’t help herself. “Maybe tomorrow.” They exited the hangar. “Let’s head to Poppy’s house so we can get Annie.” Picking up their fur baby felt a whole heck of a lot like a date. She’d already put out and wondered what would come next.
“I’d like that very much.”
Her heart skipped a beat and a smile tilted her lips.
“Not tomorrow.”
Her smile faded and she tried to keep from feeling deflated but couldn’t get it accomplished. “Why, what’s happening tomorrow?” They approached Poppy’s door and she raised her hand to push the doorbell.
“I’m having surgery to try to restore my eyesight.”
Her finger mashed the button by sheer gravity alone and then she stared at Charles in bewilderment.
The door opened and Annie bounded out. She licked Raine’s hand and then went and stood by Titanium as he felt around for her harness.
“Hi, you two.” Poppy smiled at them both. “Have a good time?”
Totally reasonable question and Raine couldn’t get her vocal cords to cooperate. Charles answered something, he might have given a dissertation on time travel but her mind was firmly on the cluster he’d dropped in her lap.
No clue how long Raine stood there, glaring at the man she’d come for. Begged to make lo—fuck her. Not a word could she utter to his niece and eventually Poppy closed the door with a bit of a smirk and Raine immediately lit into him. “Fuck you oh so much too.”
His eyebrows scrunched down in total confusion as he took a couple halting steps. “You’re mad.” Not a question.
“Duh.”
“Why would you be mad? Help me out here. We had a really nice time, I thought.”
“You’re having a complicated surgery to try to recover your eyesight and you tell me nothing about it. Nothing?”
“I just did.”
“You’re shitting me, right?”
“No?” Totally a question.
“You’re such an intelligent man.”
“Doesn’t sound like a compliment. And I’m pretty sure there’s a—”
“But.” Yes, she talked over him as she finally got her feet unstuck and they continued toward the main building where they both lived. “How do you not see why this is a major deal? I’m with you all the time. I’m responsible for some of your care, even if it’s minimal at this point. You should have told me. I could have been doing research. I don’t even know what’s happening tomorrow.”
“Cornea transplant to repair the corneal scarring. Then a new bioimplant to repair the retina damage.”
“Don’t know who’s doing the surgery.”
“The inventor of the implant. Dr. Fontaine out of France. Merc was there getting him today, along with all of his staff and the equipment he needed.”
“What’s the success rate?”
“60% on the transplant. Unfortunately, there isn’t any long-term studies done on the new implant yet. The technology is incredible but the longer I wait the lower the rate of success.”
“What are your aftercare requirements?”
“Bandaged for a few days for everything to heal and then we’ll be able to see what happens.”
Rapid fire, he answered all of her questions and it reminded her again how capable he was. Yet, she didn’t want to be reasonable. She wanted to be hurt and angry he didn’t trust her so she went with it instead.
“We could have discussed it and who knows, I might have had something worthwhile to contribute.” She’d planted her fists on her hips at some point. No he couldn’t see her, but it didn’t matter much. She was rocking the pissed off female and ran with it.
His eyebrows scrunched down again when he realized she wasn’t walking with him. Totally lost, he faced her again. “Why do you care?”
Her jaw fell open. Then flapped a couple more times as if she were a sucker fish on the side of a fish tank. What could she say to him to make him understand? What words could she use to knock some of the stubborn ass male out of his head?
Coming up with something was moot point when she punched him in the arm instead. Hard.
He went completely still.
Mortified doesn’t begin to describe how she felt about hitting him, but OMFG dumbass male.
Then he smiled. Huge. “You hit me.”
“You deserved it.”
His hand landed on her shoulder and then he grabbed her around the waist and hauled her closer to plant a kiss on her mouth.
Her heart thudded away in her chest as he palmed her ass.
His cock grew harder as he kissed her again.
She moved her mouth away. “Are you serious? Physical violence turns you on? I didn’t peg you for a masochist.”
He smirked again and tugged her cheek around for another kiss. “Dominant Alpha male all the way, baby.”
She melted at the pet name, but she couldn’t let her guard down around him.
They started walking again and she tried to find her mad but when he kissed her everything else disappeared. He held her hand again and they walked to the house and in through the front door. He removed Annie’s harness and she ran off toward the kitchen where her dinner was waiting for her.
“I’m—uhh—sorry.”
“For what?” She blinked a few times and focused on his face. She could have sworn he was already focused right on her and she shivered beneath his watchful attention. Blind. And there was no doubt he saw more of her than anyone else ever had.
“Not telling you about the surgery.”
She nibbled her bottom lip and fidgeted with the bottom of her shirt until she folded her arms to keep the nervousness to a minimum. If the surgery were successful he’d be able to see her. As in, really see her.
As excited as she was for him she couldn’t help but be equally as petrified he’d truly be able to see her for the first time.
What if she wasn’t pretty enough?
What if he really liked blondes?
What if her boobs weren’t big enough?
What if…
What.
If.
“Will you forgive me? I’m having a really hard time reading you at the moment. Can you talk to me? Please.” He kind of growled the last word and she snorted. His shoulders relaxed at her laugh and she couldn’t help falling a little bit more for him.
“It’s your body. Your decision. I wish you would have discussed it with me so I know how I need to prepare, but I can understand not wanting to put it out there. It’s a big step.”
“Huge.” He kind of breathed the word and for some reason tears filled her eyes.
Freaked out by her uncontrolled show of emotion she moved around him and wiped her eyes quickly.
“Where are you heading off to? It’s still kind of early. Thought maybe we could—uhh—chat for a while. We don’t have to be out of here ‘til nine tomorrow morning to get to the private surgery center.”
“You need to get a good night’s sleep before your surgery.” And I’m planning to pace the floor and worry all night, which you totally don’t need to see or be aware of. And I totally didn’t do the same thing for months when you were recovering from each surgery. Totally not.
“But—”
“Beauty sleep for you. I need a shower.” Actually I don’t, ‘cause I want to sleep with your scent on me for the rest of—ever. “Sleep good, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow. And thanks for tonight. It was—awesome.”
She stumbled up the stairs and made her way to her room. Planning on taking a shower occupied her brain as she tried to block Charles from her thoughts.
Less than two minutes after she closed the door to her room, it opened again.
Charles stood there with Annie by his side. “Bed.” His voice filled the space and Raine looked at the bed and then over to him.
“What are you doing?”
Annie was already leading him around the room until he stood beside the bed. He removed her harness again and she shook from nose to tail, then sat on her haunches to wait for something.
Titanium set the harness on the end table after he found it, then proceeded to remove his clothes, one deliciously revealing article at a time, his wraparounds, and then—his legs. He sat on the end of the bed and thought about it for a minute but then he took them off and leaned them against the night stand.
“Excuse me. What are you doing?”
He made quick work with her pile of pillows and then slipped between the sheets. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Annie, who was supposed to be on her side of the girl power resistance, hopped up on the end of the bed, turned a couple circles then plopped down at the foot of the bed.
Happy as can be.
Both of them.
“No, it’s not obvious at all since you’ve never actually been in my room before and you and your fur baby made yourselves at home.” Titanium’s borrowed shirt peeked out from beneath one of the pillows and she snatched it up and shoved it in a drawer.
“We’re sleeping.” He turned on his side to face her even though his lids were closed.
“And why the hell are you doing it in my bed? The operative two words there were ‘my’ and ‘bed,’ in case you missed them.”
Moving his cheek against the pillow was endearing and wonderful. “I don’t want to be alone tonight and I’m hoping you feel the same way. You tell me differently and I’ll go. Immediately. But the sex we had out there tonight has totally thrown me for a fucking loop. And you too, if your raspy voice or the tremors running through your body on the way here were any indication. So get naked and get in bed. I’m not ready to walk away yet.”
The “yet” was hard to hear. As if it were inevitable. Only, she knew what he was talking about. Knew what he said was true and he was right. She didn’t want to be alone and the only person she wanted to be with was him.
Being brave and reaching for what you wanted always started with a single decision. Only one. So she took a deep breath, stripped, turned the lights out, and got in bed. Slipping beneath the covers reminded her of sex. Scooting against his body reminded her of sex. His arms winding around her reminded her of sex.
She expected him to accost her for more sex.
Only, he didn’t. Instead, he made a simple request. “Will you take your hair down?”
Took her several tries to get words out. “It might get tangled around us when we s-s-sleep.” Stuttering. Awesome.
“I should be so lucky.”
Well—fuck. How he could unplug her cranium with a handful of soft words she had no idea, but she decided to run with it and stop thinking.
Mostly.
As she sat up, she pulled the covers away from both of them which gave her an opportunity to stare at him unabashedly. Yes it was dark, but fuck. He was yummy with a capital, I’d like another round, please.
He pulled her into the shelter of his arms and held her tight. He ran his hand down her hair and tucked it between them.
Snuggling into her he relaxed which wasn’t at all what she expected him to do.
“Relax. I’m not fucking you. I’m gonna hold you until you fall asleep.”
“Why?”
He hugged her. Breathed her in. “To say thank you. For everything.” His nose touched her shoulder and then so did the stubble on his jaw. “For the ride. For my bike. For letting me share a piece of you. Thank you.”
A few words was all he said. And it completely sealed the deal on her loving him. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. Knowing tomorrow could…would change everything if he was able to see. But she could love him tonight. Love him how she’d always wanted to.
Took her a few minutes to relax into it, but when she did, it was like death by chocolate—well. Death by sexy man and worth every moment.
“I have a question.”
“Okay. I think.”
“You like yellow flowers.”
She smiled in the dark. “Yes, I do. And that’s not a question.”
He pinched her on the butt until she eeked and rolled onto her back to protect her posterior. “I’m getting to it, Ms. Lack of Patience.” He moved her and settled her against his chest. This time with her cheek on his pec and her arm around his waist.
She threw a leg over his thigh and a hand over several scars on his chest. He stiffened. “Get over yourself. Newsflash. I actually already know you don’t have legs.”
A momentary pause seemed to stop time and then he lifted her chin and kissed her. Not a hard kiss. Not possessive or harsh.
It was sweet and gentle. “How do you do it?” he breathed against her lips.
“What?” When she puckered her lips, their mouths brushed across each other again and she kissed him this time. “Tell you the truth instead of sugar-coating it?”
“You don’t treat me any differently than you treat anybody else here.”
“Or course not. Why would I?”
He kissed her again and again, cradling her face. It was one of the most special moments she’d ever had with him. Which said something, especially after their bike ride earlier.
He didn’t answer her question but she assumed it was rhetorical anyways.
Petting her spine and feeling his chest against her was like nothing she’d ever had before. It was personal. Intimate. Addictive.
“Why yellow? Why not pink or red or a rainbow of colors?”
Of all the questions he could have asked, flower color wasn’t even in the top one thousand she would have guessed.
“Umm…” She laid down on his chest.
“Umm? Really? From the woman who always has something to say I get an umm? Then I definitely want to know the story behind it.”
“That’s just it actually. There’s quite a story behind it. A roundabout family story. Kind of sappy. Probably wouldn’t do anything for you.”
Silence greeted her and nerves quivered in her stomach. Had she offended him? Was he already contemplating leaving? Was there something she—
“I’m the one who has bagels delivered to you every month from Buffalo.”
Boom!
Pretty sure the equivalent to an IED detonated beneath her feet. Good thing she’d been laying down or she’d have fallen over wherever she’d been standing. Getting up on her elbow to stare down at him in the near blackness, she could barely make out his grin. Brushing his hand up her body until he palmed her cheek, he chuckled. “Knew you were staring at me.”
“What bagel place?” Maybe he was bluffing, because she’d shared her bagels several times with him, even though they were worth their weight in awesome.
He pulled her down for a kiss. “Bagel Jays.”
“Holy crap. You’re my bagel fairy?”
“Oh, hell no. I’m no dainty fairy with wings and shit. I’d much prefer some other kind of manly description. But I am the one supplying your bagel habit.” He seemed to concentrate while she tried to remember how to speak and pick her jaw up off the floor. “Bagel wish fulfiller? Bagel Pusher? Ehh. I’m sure we can come up with something.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t smoke pole and I don’t have a magic wand so I don’t want to be called a fairy. Duh. And you’re glaring at me now.”
“Yes, because you know that’s not the answer I’m looking for so try again.” Apparently he was much better at hiding things than she ever gave him credit for. And she already gave him a lot of credit. She was privy to a lot of his secrets.
He sighed theatrically and brushed his hand up and down her arm, twining his hand with her fingers. “Because I heard you on the phone one day in the hospital. You were talking to a friend and said something akin to the fact you’d napalm a third world nation for a bagel from there. Figured if you were willing to go to those lengths I could spring for a few bagels for you each month.”
“You’re…” She laid down on his chest and tried not to tear up. She wasn’t a crier. At all. Yet, he made her emotional. Had from day one. “I don’t know what to say.”
His other hand kneaded along her spine, making her muscles feel warm and tingly. “Tell me you’ll find some other, more befitting title, than bagel fairy and I’ll keep you in bagels for the foreseeable future.”
She kissed his skin softly, sweetly, with more emotion than she’d intended but she couldn’t help it. “I thought all this time it was somebody from in New York who sent them.”
“Disappointed?” His voice was low, quiet, and his fingers on her skin stopped moving.
She shook her head against his flesh and looked up at him. “Extremely happy, Charles.” Her fingers traced his brow, his cheekbones, his angular jaw.
He nudged her a bit with his hip. “Now it’s your turn. I outted myself as the Bagel Philanthroper. No! The Benevolent Benefactor of the holed pastry. Damn that one’s good. So you have to tell your story.”
“What do bagels have to do with me telling my story? It has nothing to do with flowers or the color yellow.”
“You’re a smart girl. Can’t you see? You can’t tell me I won’t get a sappy story because I’ve been sending you one of your favorite foods for years without you knowing. Sappy should be my middle name, don’t you think?”
“It most definitely is.” She cuddled a tiny bit closer and giggled. “I wanted to hear you say it, oh ye giver of yeasty treats.”
“Now you’re talking.” He gathered the covers a bit higher on them both and got settled. “Okay. I’m ready. Yellow. Where does the story start?”
“A New York state prison in 1943.”
“You’re shitting me?”
“Are you planning to interrupt after every sentence, Charles?”
“Don’t think so. Probably not. Maybe. Nope. All ready. I won’t interrupt again. And it totally wrecks me when you call me that.”
“What? Your name?”
“No one else calls me Charles. I’d gut anybody else who tried it. When you do it? Yeah. Wrecks me.” He shook his head. “Okay. Ready now.” He acted as if he zipped his lips, locked them and threw the key away.
Raine couldn’t speak after his declaration of what she did to him, so she bit her cheek instead and closed her eyes to try to concentrate. His subtle cologne was much more delicious as she focused on it. She took a deep breath and tried again.
“It’s a story told to me by my grandfather years and years ago. About him and my grandmother, on a bus traveling from New York all the way to Florida. Now, you already know I was raised by my grandparents.”
“Parents died in a car accident when you were two. You were in the car and somehow survived with no injuries.”
She swallowed, thankful he’d stated it so plainly. It was a part of her but it didn’t define her. “My grandmother had two character traits she lived by and you could bet money on. She didn’t know a stranger and she couldn’t stand to see anyone upset. So on their way to Florida, she’s getting to know all of the other passengers and there’s this man sitting in a row by himself. He looked sad so my grandmother had to fix him.
“She sat next to him, chatted him up, tried to get him to talk but he wouldn’t open up at all past his name was, Jaxson.”
“She give up?”
“Shut your mouth. Of course not. She talked to other people, took a nap and tried again. She told him things about herself and Grandpa, and they were all passing around a bottle of wine and they all started talking about where they were coming from and heading to. It got to this man and my grandmother encouraged him to share with them.”
“And he was coming from prison?”
“Exactly. Specifically, the Attica Correctional Facility about thirty miles from Buffalo. He’d been there for six years since 1943. He had made some mistakes and was extremely poor, so he paid for them dearly.”
“Damn. That’s super max. He really must have fucked up. And where was he trying to get to?”
“That’s just the thing. His answer wasn’t totally up to him. His answer was he could be heading home or nowhere.”
“Pretty big either or.”
“Huge. He tried to stop there I’m sure, but knowing my grandmother, letting that be the end of the story wasn’t happening. So eventually he continued. He’d written his wife a letter a few weeks after his intake but it went unanswered. He wrote her another one. And another one. One a week for the entire time he was in there. Yet they all went unanswered.”
“Fuck.”
“Communication was so different then and it’s not like he had any money to figure out what was happening with his wife. So he kept writing to her. Told her he was truly sorry for everything and taking her for granted. Taking his freedom for granted. He wanted to make amends when he got out. He wanted to be with her and love her for the rest of her days. So he spent his years in prison wooing her again. Telling her what he loved about her. What he missed. What he wanted for them and for their children if they were ever lucky enough to have some.”
She bit her lip and rubbed her cheek against his chest. Knowing the end of the story didn’t matter. Goosebumps still danced up her arms and down to her feet. Titanium held her close and kissed the top of her head.
“What happened? Did he ever hear from her?”
“No. Not a word.”
“In all that time? Nothing?”
She shook her head again. “No. So several weeks before he was released, he wrote her one more letter. He told her he wanted to come home. To love her forever and make all of the time and distance between them disappear. If she could find it in her heart to forgive him, he’d spend the rest of his life making her the happiest woman alive. And apparently there was a tree at the edge of town. A huge tree. And since he didn’t know exactly when he would pull into town, if she wanted to try again he asked her to tie a yellow ribbon around the tree so he’d know she still loved him and he could come home. He’d get off the bus and find her and they’d work out the rest in person.”
Falling silent, she wondered again at the heartache he must have gone through those years and then during those final weeks, and on his trip. What he must have thought. Hope is a dangerous thing.
Titanium kissed the top of her head. “And what if there was no ribbon? What if the tree stood bare when he pulled into town?”
“He told my grandmother he’d love his wife until the day he died, but he’d let her go so she could be happy. All he wanted for her. Happiness.”
“Sounds like he learned a helluva lot.”
“More than most,” she agreed. “Everyone on the bus listened to his story and then realized they’d all be there to witness the answer. The next town they would come to would be his. He told them there was a hill leading into town. As soon as they crested the hill they’d be able to see if there was a yellow ribbon telling him he was home. And if there was no ribbon he’d stay on the bus until he wanted to get off. Probably wherever the end of the line was. And he’d start over again. A new life. Heartbroken.”
“Talk about a fork in the road.”
“Can’t imagine what he thought. What he worried about. So many what ifs. Years of them. Everyone kind of fell silent and a couple hours passed. Then they started seeing signs for Rembrook. Forty miles. Fifteen miles. Two. My grandfather said my grandmother sat with the man the whole time and held his hand. Didn’t say a word. Probably the longest she’d ever been silent her whole life.”
“And the hill?”
Raine loved hearing the excitement in Charles’ voice. “Right where he said it would be. When they started up the hill, everyone fell silent, leaning forward to see the tree as soon as they could. See if the woman he loved so much and was so devoted to was as wonderful as they all hoped. Cresting the hill, he told me time stopped and then almost instantly there was the tree. A sycamore tree he said. Huge. Thirty foot tall. Covered in yellow.”
Charles sucked in a deep breath and exhaled roughly. Raine rubbed his side and tried not to get emotional. “Fabric, ties, ribbon, and lace everywhere with flowers laid beneath at the trunk. My father said the young man broke down and wept in my grandmother’s arms. And the joyous cacophony raised by the rest of the passengers was loud enough to wake the heavens.”
They were silent for a minute. A beautiful shared silence.
“And the man? What of him?”
“Grandpa gave him a kerchief and someone else gave him an extra bottle of wine and someone else suggested taking some of the yellow flowers to give his wife. He dried his tears, thanked them and they all wished him luck. In no time, he’d gathered his small suitcase and last minute gifts and walked out of the bus. He picked a small collection of flowers and walked into town.”
“And no one knows the outcome? No one knows why she never answered?”
She shook her head and petted his chest, incredibly comforted by his heartbeat beneath her cheek. “No. The bus pulled away. My grandmother returned to her seat beside my grandfather, and they all watched the young man until he was out of sight.”
“What a story.”
“Quite a love story. He had no other plan because everything else was second best next to her. A pure kind of love? And a single ribbon wasn’t enough for her to declare her love. She needed to cover the tree in love so he would come home.” Tears slipped free. “That’s why I love yellow flowers.”
He hugged her, shifting around a bit to hold her closer.
After a few seconds, when she didn’t realize how close to sleep she was, he whispered, “Thank you for telling me.”
With a smile she reciprocated. “Thank you for listening.”
A few minutes later she came to again. “Hmm? Did you say something?”
“Was your grandmother’s name, Sadie?”
Yawn. “Yes.” She tried to open her eyes but her eyelids wouldn’t cooperate. “How’d you know?”
“It’s your middle name and I took a guess. There’s power in a name you know.” He kissed her head again and tucked the covers around her. “Trying to put your pieces together. Oh, and I have a proposal.”
Her heart squeezed hard in her chest.
“A bet, actually.”
She relaxed again, trying to be nonchalant about his use of the word “proposal”. “What kind of bet?”
“If I win, you have to dress up in a sexy nurse’s costume.”
“What? You haven’t even told me what the bet is, yet.” Though, the fact his cock twitched made her pussy tingle.
“Since neither of us is real familiar with this whole dating…thing, if we should get to the point where we… Uhh…” He ran a hand across his hair. “Well, I mean if either of us felt like saying…”
Raine blinked, opening her eyes in the dark even though she couldn’t see much. “What, Charles?”
His exhale hit her forehead and then he sucked in another breath as if he were about to go underwater. “I think maybe we need some incentive to say the L-word if it ever comes to that. Oh shit, that makes it sound awful. Abort. Nevermind. Forget I said anything.” He rubbed her arm vigorously, maybe trying to erase what he’d said.
Emotion clogged her windpipe for a second, but she got past it. The fact he was even thinking along those lines affected her so much more than she wanted to admit. Anything could change after he had his surgery and Lord knew he already had enough on his plate. Laughing, she squeezed him tight and decided to play it off as if it were not that big a deal. “You’re totally on. If I win, I want you to wear nothing but your dog tags and dress hat while you give me a full body massage. With a happy ending.”
“Fuck. You are totally my kind of girl.” He tilted her head up and kissed her. Hard. One more kiss, and then he held her close. “Sleep. I’ll wake you in a little while.”
“Wake me for what?”
“To take you in the middle of the night. Several times.” The husky timber of his voice kicked up another round of, oh my Lords.
She moved a tiny bit.
“I need to be inside you. And you need sleep. So I’m—”
Her hand found his cock. Hard. It was wet at the tip. She squeezed and he groaned.
After taking a breath, he continued. “Compromise. You sleep for a little while and I’ll wake you with my cock, my fingers, or my tongue. I haven’t decided which yet.”
She bit her lip, suddenly not so sleepy. “Or we could—”
Her hand was removed from his shaft and he held it to his chest. “No. Sleep first. That’s an order.”
“I don’t take orders from you.” She yawned again and relaxed against him, already tingly wondering how he would wake her.
“And you’ll never let me forget it will you?”
“Not on your life.” She laughed.
So did he.
Annie’s tail thumped on the bed.
It almost felt like home as she fell asleep.
Almost.