Epilogue
CASSIE
Cassie had gotten absurdly used to Vikram being in the hospital.
It was an easy routine to be in. They'd sit and talk and joke with no pressures on them. She missed the physical intimacy, but she could live without it. The absence of the anxiety was what made all the difference. There were no worries because there were no expectations. It was just them.
He was bed bound for a month before they deemed him ready to be released, and Cassie knew it wasn't a coincidence that he was finally released the day after the police investigation was officially closed and Miranda was charged. Not that she could blame the IU officers for not wanting them to relocate to Suytov, which was a two day journey from the space station.
Krix had kept her up to date with all the proceedings, and she now knew the entire web that had led Miranda into Qugrom’s path. Her mom had a rare heart condition that needed expensive medicine, so she’d taken the information they had to Qugrom in exchange for money. It had spiraled out of control after that until Miranda was pressured to attack Cassie, not just to sell information.
She hated that she felt sorry for Miranda, even after everything, and she wasn’t looking forward to seeing her again at the trial.
She didn’t have an ounce of sympathy for Qugrom, who had lost everything when it had come to light. He’d never sit in a jail cell, he was too wealthy to be punished properly, but his life had changed forever. She’d accepted it as being enough.
It all meant that Vikram was well on the mend by the time they were on the road, and he didn't need help to walk or excessive amounts of medication.
All the anxiety came rushing back as soon as they left the hospital and started their journey back to his home, though.
Everything was suddenly real again.
She had job interviews coming up. His suspension had ended while he was still unwell, and there was no reason he couldn’t go back to work in a few months. They'd be across the galaxy from each other, and she wasn't sure she could be away from him for a night, never mind weeks or months at a time.
She chewed her bottom lip as she sat and watched them get closer and closer to Suytov. The ship was on autopilot, but she couldn't bring herself to stand up and crawl up beside Vikram where he was laid on the bed waiting for her.
She was scared this was where everything started to go wrong.
She waited until she could hear his soft snores before going next door and curling up beside him. She kept avoiding him like that until they were back on Suytov and excitement about seeing his home won out.
"You should let me drive this last little bit," he said, hands on her shoulder as they entered Suytov's atmosphere. "I know it off by heart."
She resisted the urge to tell him he wasn't healed yet, and vacated the driving seat. She'd never liked flying, and was content to watch his face brighten as he took control of his ship. She should have been looking out of the window, admiring the planet she'd been longing to see since he'd first mentioned it, but she was enamored by him. His shining eyes danced with joy as they came into land, and his back muscles tensed under his tight shirt as he moved his arms.
It was such a long time since she'd been able to touch him properly.
She was bouncing on her heels as they left the ship, and stood for just a second to take in the scenery. She couldn't see another house for miles. Endless green fields full of wildflowers and overgrown grass stretched for miles, and a small stone house stood just in front of them, the walls covered in a plant with lilac leaves. "It's beautiful," she breathed.
"It's our home."
He took the lead, then, lacing his fingers through hers and urging her down the gangway. He had a set of keys swinging on his left hand.
She peered over his shoulder as he unlocked the door and then followed close behind as they went in. "It'll be dusty," he warned.
"I don't care about that. I just want to see it. Is there any thing you want to hide before I start snooping?" she teased.
"Go wild.”
She didn't even attempt to be polite as she peered into every room in Vikram's house. She picked up photos from when he was a kid, opened his wardrobe and was surprised that he owned casual clothes, and even stuck her nose into his shed filled with rusting farm equipment.
"It's perfect," she decided after her examination.
It was nothing like she'd expected, all cozy and personal, and yet it was Vikram all over.
She'd been there five minutes and it already felt more like home than her apartment on Luseck Six.
Vikram leaned against a wall in the kitchen, and raised an eyebrow at her. "We get a lot of spiders."
She beamed, and stepped into his embrace. "It's a good job I've got a big hunky spider-killer for a boyfriend, then."
He laced fingers through her hair and kissed her. What started as a peck quickly deepened when Cassie wrapped her arms around his neck.
She was wary of pressing herself against him like she wanted to. All his wounds were on his chest and stomach, and she settled instead for dragging fingernails down his back and nibbling on his bottom lip.
"Fuck, I've missed this," he moaned, thumbs massaging her neck where he held her.
"Can we go to bed?" she asked, fingers hooked in his belt loops.
"I'd carry you there if I wasn't so pathetic right now," he growled in her ear.
She linked her fingers through his and led him toward the bedroom. She'd been sure to remember where that was as she'd nosed around. "I guess that means I get to be in charge."
In the bedroom, she gently urged him down onto the double bed and lay beside him, tangling their legs together but still wary of his chest. They kissed deeply, and she didn't care that she couldn't touch him everywhere. This was the closest they'd been in weeks and she craved every intimate inch she could get to.
She ran nails down his bicep, curled her toes against his shin. His cock was hard against his pants and she rubbed it through them, torn between wanting to explore everywhere and needing him inside her right now.
But then she looked around at the bedroom and knew that they at least had a week before her first interview, with nothing to do but lay in bed with each other, getting familiar with each other's bodies again.
She had his belt and pants undone in seconds after that realization. He was hovering over her, but she gently pushed his shoulder until he was on his back. She straddled his hips, lacing her fingers through his and pinning his hands above his head. "I'm in charge," she reminded, before kissing her way down his neck and sucking on his skin, leaving tiny red marks that she'd admire in the morning.
Vikram buckled underneath her. "If you keep teasing me I'm definitely going to rip stitches fucking you against that wall."
There was a glint in his eye that convinced her he wasn't entirely joking, and so she pushed his pants down with her feet and pumped his shaft a few times. He arched his back as she took him in hand, and her own pussy was throbbing with the need to have him inside her.
She couldn't believe this was only the fourth time they'd been together. Her body craved him like they were long lost lovers separated for years when they'd barely known each other a month.
She had no idea what it would be like when they hadn't seen each other for months on end because of work. She'd be crawling up the walls ready to jump him.
She began to lower her mouth to take him between her lips, but Vikram was impatient. He grabbed her hips and sat her down on his cock. As much as she wanted to tease him, she felt so stretched and full she began to ride him. She rolled her hips against his, at a loss for where to put her hands in case she touched a wound.
Her hands ended up behind her head, but Vikram had no such qualms about touching her. His hand delved beneath her shirt to pinch her hard nipple beneath her bra, and she moaned, coil in her stomach tightening. She'd masturbated, stuck in her hotel room by herself at night, but even that touch alone was a thousand times better than the orgasms she'd brought herself to. Being with Vikram was like being complete.
He watched her with smoldering eyes, but they didn't make her self-conscious as she rode him gently.
His eyebrows pinched, and she hadn't had time to ask him what was wrong before he'd sat up and forced her onto her back. "I want to fuck you," he said, wrapping her legs around his hips and driving into her in a quick stroke.
She moaned loudly as he hit just the right spot inside her. "You're injured," she tried to say as his hand reached between her legs and rubbed her clit.
"Fuck being fragile," he growled, hips slamming against hers as he fucked her in earnest.
Riding him was fun, but it was nothing compared to this. He was feral, taking out all the sexual tension that had built as they sat in that hospital bed teasing each other to the point of insanity over the past few weeks. His eyes were black with lust, and his fingers would leave bruises where they held her hips.
"Oh, fuck," she cursed, arching her back as he rubbed her so softly it should have been making her quiver. "Vikram."
"Come for me," he told her between ragged breaths. "I want to watch you come for me."
His teasing pace on her clit was somehow enough to bring her over the edge, and she screwed her eyes shut as every muscle spasmed with euphoria. "Fuck," she repeated, a prayer on her tongue. "I have no idea how you did that."
He came apart with her, spilling deep inside her, and then rolling off and breathing hard.
"That was totally worth the amount of pain I'm in right now," he said with a grin on his face.
She swatted at an uninjured arm, laughing too. "Just don't properly injure yourself. I'm not going back to that hospital under any circumstances."
"I'll let you tease me next time," he promised, wrapping an arm around her waist and letting her curl into his side. "But after months of torture I couldn't not fuck you like I've spent countless nights dreaming about."
Her cheeks were warm. "As long as you haven't ruined your stitches, I'm definitely not complaining."
"You seemed distant flying here. I thought you were going to hate the house."
"I already love it here," she admitted. "I could imagine myself spending every day for the rest of my life here." Her, Vikram, a couple of kids. Family outings to go and see Mircea. Exploring all the nooks and crannies of his old stone house. "It's the leaving here and working that I'm worried about. I just want it to stay like this forever."
"I wanted to talk to you about that," he said, rubbing circles into her hip with his thumb. "About what's going to happen when I'm healed."
His tone was so serious so sudden that goose bumps spread across her arm and she was almost glad she couldn't see his face. "What are you thinking."
"I'm thinking I'm going to quit my job."
She sat up to look at him, to make sure there was no pain or doubt in his face. "What? But you trained for that for so many years."
"And then I found something more important."
She knitted her eyebrows, though. "We can make it work with you working. I'm sure we can.”
"My boss made it clear it was you or the job. I'm not planning on becoming unemployed, but I'm trained in combat, and you're applying for front line positions in charities that are working in war zones. I want to do that with you."
"It doesn't pay well," she warned. She knew he'd been on good money with the security firm. "And it's hard work. It's horrible, sometimes."
"I have a house and plenty of savings. The most important thing to me right now is being with you. Working with you would make me happy. Besides, I doubt anything is going to be more traumatizing than seeing you fight with Miranda."
She dared to smile. "You really want to do this?"
"I've spent weeks thinking about it. I didn't want to mention it and get your hopes up until I was sure."
"I can't wait for you to get better. I want to jump on you and kiss you everywhere right now."
He laced fingers through her hair and kissed her, soft and slow. "I love you."
She kissed him deeper. He was already hard. "I love you, too."