Cody
Four days later
She’s safe.
She’s safe, and she’s alive, and she’s home with me.
She kicked Kitty’s ass and saved all of the people living in that house, and she did it without waiting around for anyone to rescue her because my girl is super fucking brave. That’s Lana. She’s an angel of courage.
“I’m glad you’re all right,” Gerald says. We’re all sitting in the living room sipping cocoa. There’s petal juice in mine, and if I know my father, he’s got it in his, too. To my surprise, I feel more uneasy about the entire situation than Lana does. She seems calm, really, and reasonable.
Me?
I’m going crazy.
“Me too,” Lana says. “To be honest, it all really did happen so fast. I’m still kind of…I don’t know…processing? I guess that’s the word I’m looking for.”
“It’s been a rough week,” he says. “You’ve been through a lot.”
“I predict many tears in your future,” I tell her gently. Lana shoots me a surprised look, but I shrug. “Your emotions are going to catch up with you at some point, love, but we’ll both be there for you.”
“Of course we will,” Father says. “But,” he winks at Lana. “I think Cody here is going to be there for you in a way that I can’t.”
“What?” Lana asks, blushing furiously.
“Goodnight, you two,” my father says, and then he leaves the room quickly.
Lana stands and looks around, as if she can’t quite believe what just happened.
“Does he think we’re going to sleep together?” She asks me.
“Do you care if he does?”
“Well, no,” she says.
“You’re blushing,” I point out the obvious, and I lean back comfortably on the sofa. I look at Lana as she paces back and forth in front of me for a long minute. She’s still as beautiful as when she arrived on Sapphira, although she’s a little bruised now. She had some minor injuries after her big fight that were healed quickly with the right topical medications, but the bruising will last for a little while.
Still, it doesn’t detract from her beauty at all, and it doesn’t make me want her less. If anything, I want this tough, strong woman even more. I want to take care of her, to worship her. I want to make her feel like she’s the most beautiful woman on all of Sapphira because to me, she is.
To me, she’s the most wonderful creature to ever exist and I plan to spend the rest of my life showing her just that.
Am I moving too quickly?
Probably.
Definitely.
It feels right, though. It feels like this is where I’m meant to be: sitting guard over a beautiful woman who didn’t need to be rescued. She didn’t need me to save her from Kitty. No, Lana did quite well saving herself, but she’s letting me look after her now, and that means the world to me.
I sat with her every day she was in the medical unit. After the incident, Kitty was arrested and she, along with Harper, will be punished in accordance with Sapphiran law. For their crimes against the people of their home planet, for their crimes against Lana and her father, they will be punished.
“Good,” I say. “Because it’s been a long week, Lana. I would like nothing better than to help you forget, even if it’s just for a little while.”
A look of relief crosses her face, and I kiss her softly.
“Please, Cody,” she says. “I’m so tired. Father is gone and now my best friend is, too. The worst part is that our friendship was all a lie,” she says. “And I don’t know how to feel about that. I don’t know what to do with the fact that she was going to let Harper take me out simply to kill people from our planet, simply because they hate us.”
“He was from your planet, too,” I shake my head. “He lived his entire life on Alipoiaen, as far as I can tell.”
“The purpose of a rebellion isn’t usually for good,” she whispers. “Even if those involved thing it is.”
I look at Lana, and I’m caught off guard once more by just how brilliant she is, by just how smart and sweet she is. She’s sassy and brave and adorable. I can’t resist kissing her anymore, so I do. I just pull her into my arms and I kiss her and kiss her and kiss her. Lana relaxes instantly, and she kisses me back eagerly, hopefully.
She kisses me like this is where she wants to be for the rest of her life, and that feeling fills me with excitement and happiness. Content, I realize. I feel content. For the very first time in as long as I can remember, I don’t feel like the entire world is going to end just because I found someone I liked. I’m not filled with the dread and the terror I expected when this moment came. Instead, I just feel like a man who is being fully loved and adored.
It’s a wonderful feeling.
“Come to bed with me,” I murmur.
“What are you asking me?” Lana pulls away and looks up at me. She reaches for my cheek and she touches it gently, smiling at me. “Are you asking what I think you are, Cody?” Then she kisses my cheek and whispers in my ear, “Be bold.”
“I can’t live without you,” I tell her. “I need you.”
“My room or yours?” She giggles, and she jumps up, into my arms. Lana wraps her legs around me and I pull her closer, kissing her eagerly. The staff has gone home for the night, so there’s no one around to notice as we make our way quietly out of the living room and up the staircase to the second floor. I hold Lana, carrying her as we make our way to my wing. “Hey,” she looks up suddenly. “Wrong direction, baby.”
“We’re going to my room tonight,” I smile, kissing her.
“Oh,” she squeaks, and suddenly, my princess is the one who looks a little bit nervous.
“You’re incredible, Lana. You know that, don’t you?”
She stops kissing me for just a moment and snuggles against me, resting her cheek against my chest.
“I love you, Cody,” she tells me, and my heart suddenly soars, flying higher than it’s ever flown, and then we get to my room.
“I love you, too, Lana.”
Then I push the door open, and we go inside.