by Isadora Hart
"I want to be here."
"You need a bed."
"And I need to deal with the press at some point. Speak to Miranda. Speak to the director." She groaned. "There's so much to do."
"You don't have to do any of that until you're ready." He would have kept her away from all of it if he could. She'd almost been killed—all of that could wait as long as it needed to. "For now, just sleep."
"I'm not sure I can."
"If I wasn't so fragile I'd say you could get into bed with me, but I think you might disrupt some stitches."
She gave him a half-smile. "I'm not doing anything to risk making you worse again." She stood up. "You're right, though. I've been awake too many hours. I'll try and sleep for a few."
He watched her hobble to the doorway and exchange words with Krix before his eyes slipped shut. She was right—they'd deal with the hard questions later. Right now he was content to know that it was going to work. No matter how they figured out the logistics, he knew it was going to work.
It had to when he was this in love with her already.
27.
VIKRAM
It was a month before Vikram was released from the hospital. His medication kept him feeling good, but he couldn't even get out of bed to go to the toilet until the second week. Miranda had really done a number on him.
Cassie spent most of that time by his bedside, either reading to him, working on job applications, or just chatting with him.
It was the third week when there was a knock on the door and his sister, his brother-in-law, and their gaggle of kids stood there.
He beamed, but it turned into a groan when two of his nephews immediately jumped onto the bed with him. Cassie was standing up with wide eyes and about to pick them up and put them on the ground before she caught herself.
Mircea scowled and picked her kids up herself, hoisting one under each arm and putting them on the floor. "I told you not to jump on your uncle," she chastised.
They pouted. "I forgot."
"I forgot, too."
"Don't worry about it, kids," Vikram said, though his voice was strained as the throbbing began to die down. "I'm just a bit fragile right now."
Mircea came and wrapped a loose arm around his neck, kissing his cheek. "You look rough," she said.
Rostas shook his hand. "She's not wrong. What happened? We didn't get many details."
"Just work. The standard. Someone was finally faster with their gun arm than me." He spared the details for the kids, who were all now perched on the end of his bed, somehow fitting five bodies around his legs. "How did you know I was in here?"
"Cassie got in touch," Mircea said, smiling at her. "She explained what had happened and said she just wanted us to know."
Cassie's cheeks tinged pink. "I wasn't trying to guilt you into coming all the way over here or anything," she said, scratching the back of her head.
"Not at all." Mircea extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you in person, by the way. It was only a short phone call but it meant a lot that you thought to let us know."
"It's nice to meet you, too. Oh! Do you want to sit down? I should go and find some more chairs. I can steal some from somewhere."
She was still limping, and winced a little as she stood up. Vikram hated that he couldn't rush to her side and support her—it had been one of the most frustrating things of his life being stuck in the hospital bed.
Mircea took the seat Cassie had vacated, and watched her leave, too. "It's nice of her to stick around, and to get in touch with us. She said you weren't her bodyguard anymore."
Vikram's lip quirked. "She's my girlfriend."
Two pairs of eyebrows shot up. "Really? You've got a girlfriend? I thought you were married to your job."
At least that meant the story of his lack of professionalism hadn’t reached Suytov. "I'm not a workaholic—"
He was cut off by a squabble at the end of the bed, and one of his nephews being pushed off the bed and onto the floor. Shouting began and Mircea sighed, grabbing the instigator and putting him on her lap. "Stop being a nuisance," she chastised. "We're here to see your uncle. Behave."
Cassie returned carrying two chairs, barely covering the pain Vikram knew she must have been in. Rostas was immediately moved to action. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I should have come and helped you," he said, taking a chair and settling down into it. "I didn't mean to be rude."
"Don't worry about it, it's no bother." She hovered before sitting down, looking unsure of whether she should let them have more time alone or not. Her hands were laced together in her lap, thumbs twiddling.
Vikram wondered for a moment if he'd done the right thing by telling his family the truth. They still hadn't talked about the big things, about the logistics of their relationship. Cassie had been so annoyed at her director's handling of what had happened that she'd quit in a fit of rage and told him exactly what she thought, so she was out of work. Vikram wasn't going to be well enough to get back to guarding anyone for another six months, at least, and even then he wasn’t willing to give up Cassie to get his job back. Who knew what was going to happen when they both had full time jobs and couldn't just lay around enjoying their honeymoon period.
"So you were paying my brother to guard you," Mircea said, turning all her attention on Cassie. "You must be pretty important." She'd gone from friendly to interrogator in a heartbeat.
"Oh, not at all. I worked for a charity, we went to a conference, and my boss got assassinated, and so they paid for me to have some protection."
Mircea's face fell. "I'm sorry, I didn’t realize."
"Someone you know got assassinated?" his eight-year-old nephew Massis asked, ears perking up. "That's so cool." He jumped off the bed and bounced on the spot.
"Massis," Rostas hissed. "That's very rude."
Cassie just laughed. "It's not as cool as on TV."
"I want to be just like Uncle Vikram when I grow up. I can get into gunfights and knife fights and fist fights."
"You want to be just like Cassie, then," Vikram said. "She's the one who saved me."
"You did?" Massis clearly fell even more in love with her. She scratched the back of her neck and it drew attention to the wound stitched up on her arm. "Are those stitches? That's so cool. Were you shot?"
"Leave the poor woman alone," Mircea said. "What happened to Uncle Vikram and Cassie was very upsetting."
He pouted. "But I just want to know what happened. I never get to see Uncle Vikram."
"You'll be seeing more of me," Vikram promised. "We'll be moving home in a couple of weeks." It was temporary, but they'd both agreed they'd rather go back to Suytov than Luseck Six.
"So Cassie is coming, too? Is she my aunt now? When can I ask her about being shot?"
Cassie was bright red.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Vikram said with a chuckle, wishing he could move properly so he could reach out and give his nephew a ruffle of the hair. "But yes. Cassie will be there."
They talked for hours after that, and when everyone loosened up a bit, Cassie fit right in with them. Mircea softened and stopped interrogating, and Cassie relaxed, and they got on like a house on fire. It was a weight he hadn't even realized was on his shoulders lifted as he watched them laughing together, ribbing him.
Another bullet point on the list of things perfect about her.
By the time Mircea stood up and stretched and said it was time they got going, Cassie was sitting with his youngest niece asleep in one arm and Massis bouncing on her good leg asking her questions about what it was like to be in a war. Mircea seemed happy that Cassie let him know just how awful it was and how he shouldn't want to go to war at all.
"We've got a hotel on the planet, just for the night. We'll be in to see you tomorrow before we head home," Mircea promised, kissing him on the cheek. Then she gave Cassie a hug after taking her children back. "It was great to meet you. I can't believe my brother has finally got a girlfriend, especially one so gorgeous."
"Don't
make me sound like too much of a loser," he muttered. It was always like being taken back to his teenage years when Mircea was around.
Cassie just laughed and hugged Mircea back. "I'm so glad you came to visit."
When they were gone, Cassie clambered into bed with him. They couldn't cuddle properly, and not being able to fuck her was agonizing, but she could at least sit with her arm and leg pressed against his, their hands entwined. "Your sister is nice, I like her a lot," she said.
"I'm glad. I didn't know you'd rang."
"I had a feeling from what she'd said she was planning to visit. I thought I should let it be a surprise."
"The best surprise."
"I didn't think you'd tell her about us."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know. It still kind of feels like we're living in this little hospital bubble."
"I don't think we have anything to worry about when we're out of the hospital. In fact, I think things are going to get a whole lot easier when I can finally touch you again properly."
She grinned, and nibbled on his earlobe. His dick was hard instantly. "I'm definitely looking forward to that."
He groaned. "This place is torture."
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 conv
inced 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.