The dipping of the mattress woke Noara up and she turned over to see Arcann getting out of bed. She watched him stand and stretch in the dim light of her room with a soft smile. She was amazed how far they had come, she was sure she had experienced the whole spectrum of emotion she was taught didn't exist regarding him in the last few conscious years of her life.
Wariness when they met, surprise when he helped her kill his father. Confusion when he turned on her, shock and depression when she learned what his imprisonment of her had cost her. Anxiety when they met on Asylum, terror when he almost killed her. When she had learned more about him, spoke with Senya, her feelings turned to pity, sympathy – no one deserved to live in Vitiate's shadow. Empathy and compassion made her want to save him, the way she had tried to save all her enemies over the years. Despair came when he ran away from her after being healed on Voss.
Hope when he returned and fought at her side on Zakuul.
Hope that led to trust.
Fondness.
Affection.
Love.
The label on their relationship had evolved similarly. Acquaintances. Enemies. Allies. Companions.
And, as of the night before, lovers.
Now she was lying in bed so enthralled in the way his back muscles flexed as he moved she didn't realize he was getting dressed until he pulled his tunic on.
Startled, and suddenly very scared about why he was leaving before she – or even the sun – was up, she jolted into a seated position. Had she done something wrong? Had he changed his mind? Her now awake mind was quick to conjure up reason after terrible reason he would be slipping out of her room at half past three in the morning.
"Arcann," she said, her voice thankfully steady enough not to reveal how her heart was pounding in her ears. "What are you doing? Are you sneaking out on me?"
He froze, one boot halfway on his foot, at the sound of her voice.
"Arcann?" she asked again when he didn't respond. She shifted herself across the mattress to stand up, wrapping the loose sheet around her to ward off the chill in the air. Once covered she crossed the room to where he was standing to reach out to him. When her hand brushed his shoulder, he dropped his boot and turned around.
He looked down at her intently for a long moment, his flesh hand rising to brush her cheek gently.
"I am sorry," he said, his voice rougher than normal from sleep, "I didn't mean to wake you. I thought it would be best if no one saw me leaving your room."
Noara mirrored his gesture, her right hand cupping his scarred cheek.
"Oh Arcann," she sighed, "you don't need to do that."
"The others may not understand, I don't want to cause you anymore trouble."
She turned her head to press a kiss against his palm, "I don't need them to understand, or their approval for that matter. This is about us and how we feel about each other."
His brow furrowed as he frowned down at her, "are you sure that's wise Noara?"
She smiled at his use of her name, something that would take a while to get used to. Before now it was always "Outlander" or more recently "Commander". Her actual name in his voice was thrilling. With her hand still cupping his cheek she pulled him down into a kiss.
"Since when has wisdom had anything to do with love?" she whispered against his lips before dropping the sheet. It pooled around her feet, leaving her naked in front of him.
He leaned back just far enough to take in her appearance and smiled that faint smile that gave her butterflies in her stomach. She watched his gaze move, taking her in from head to toe and back up again.
"You're so beautiful," he said softly. "Will I ever deserve you?"
"You already do Arcann." She ran her hands across his chest and smirked up at him, "now are you planning to leave me out here in the cold, or can we go back to bed?"
He shook his head fondly at her thinly veiled proposition and pulled her close to his chest.
"We can't have you catching sick, now can we?" he asked before picking her up and returning her to the bed. He dropped her onto the mattress, from just high enough that she bounced a little. It made her giggle and he made a note of that for the future. She scooted over to her side of the bed, leaving room for him to join her after he finished undressing.
When he slid under the blanket she pressed herself against his side, head lying on his shoulder and arm wrapped around his torso. She sighed contentedly when he pressed a kiss on the top of her head and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Arcann was still awake when she fell asleep, mulling over the way his life had once again shifted drastically. When he had approached the Commander, Noara he corrected himself – she had asked him to call her by name – with his gift and his confession of his admiration, his affection for her, he never expected that she would respond in kind.
Not only had she returned his feelings, she had welcomed him into her life and her bed. Both were things he never dared dream possible, not with his past.
She is too good for me, he thought, but I will do everything I can to ensure she never regrets giving me this chance.
Content for the moment with his resolution, he brushed aside his anxieties about the rest of the Alliance's reactions (he had not yet even dared to consider what his mother might say when she found out) and let himself drift off to sleep with the woman he loved finally in his arms.
An actual dream come true.