I've been staring at Grey's sleeping face for a while now. Laying on the floor next to him, I'm watching him like an obsessed stalker, but it makes a nice backdrop to the whirring thoughts flitting through my mind which is stuck in overdrive.

Grey's eyes flicker and he takes a sharp intake. He must be having a nightmare. I wonder if we'll ever enjoy an uninterrupted peaceful night's sleep or does our future hold only disrupted nights in which we wake panting and sweating with fear.

I almost lift my hand to stroke his creased brow, to see if his tense face relaxes under my touch I stop myself. It's too early for me to start blurring the lines of what I want and what will happen.

Grey's eyes open and I'm surprised by the flutter of warmth inside me. I thought I would never get this again: to wake up next to him.

Grey stifles a yawn. "How long have you been awake?"

"Not long."

"Did you have another nightmare?" Grey looks upset as though he hoped his presence would eliminate any further nightmares. Trauma isn't that easy to vanquish. It latches on and embeds itself. I'm starting to think it will never let go.

"No." I smile gently. "I only had the one. It's a first. I can't remember the last time I woke naturally."

Grey frowns and I don't like that he's upset. I don't want to ruin this little bubble we're in, even though I know it can't last.

"The one nightmare wasn't even that bad." It was. I don't remember the details but the agony, the fear, the screams and the weight of near-death pressing downwards left me gasping for air. Grey's warms arms and soothing voice had allowed me to return to sleep which was a first. Another first I can add to the list of Grey's doing.

"I know you're lying," Grey says, propping himself on his elbow, he frowns at me.

"That's probably because you have the same nightmares as me." I close my eyes.

Grey brushes a strand of hair away from my face. "I may not be able to stop them but I'll always be there when you wake, to hold you and remind you it's over."

"That sounds like a promise you can't keep." I smile sadly and open my eyes. He's looking down at me, his eyes filled with so much emotion that for a moment, I believe it's a promise he will keep.

Lowering my eyes, his shirt is askew and I notice a new Birth Brand between his collar bones. A Birth Brand which contains the new shimmering gold flowing inside.

I lift my fingers and trace the numbers. "They updated your Birth Brand. Why haven't you had it removed?"

"I was told you can't because the new Birth Brands are poisonous," Grey says.

"You get an electric shock and then the poison enters your bloodstream. It's not a pleasant sight," I whisper, remembering Max, the blood, the violent shaking.

"Sounds like you're talking from experience?"

"I stayed with a family and the son tried to remove his Birth Brand. I dug it out when I found him but he nearly died," I shudder. "When did they put it in?"

Grey shrugs and slumps down onto his back. "Not long before they left."

"Why would they do that?" I look at him questioningly.

"I don't know." He runs his fingers through his hair. "I was watching you hanging, Jeremiah was speaking to you and you looked like you were shouting at him then he left. Moments later, Officials had me pinned down on the floor and all I kept thinking was Jeremiah was going to return and do something to you in your room but I wouldn't know what because I couldn't see you." Grey voice is hoarse. "I tried to fight back but they knocked me unconscious and I woke hanging from the ceiling again with a new Birth Brand."

He's shaking slightly. We both are, and I'm thinking we should only revisit those horrific memories briefly. Tiny snippets so we don't drown in them.

I brush my lips against his jaw. "I missed your smell."

Grey chuckles. "Is that all?"

"Your lips too." I trail a pathway of kisses until our mouths meet.

"I'm starting to think you're only with me for my body," Grey murmurs against my lips.

"What can I say? It's a good body." I grin.

Grey kisses me hard. Our mouths mould together and I feel myself falling for him again but I'm scared. Scared this will be taken away from me again.

"Cady, what's wrong?"

"I can't lose you again, Grey."

"You never did. Physically we may have been separated but I was yours. I always will be, in this life and the next."

Laughter erupts from my mouth and I straddle him. "You know you turn me on when you make cheesy comments like that."

"Romantic, not cheesy." Grey looks pained for a minute. "You really need to stop wriggling like that because I'm trying to take things slowly but you're making it very hard."

"Maybe, I don't want to take it slowly." I grin.

"Nor do I." Grey grabs me and spins us so I'm on my back and he's pinned my hands beside my head. "But the next time I get you naked, it will not be when we're locked in an empty room which Terrell could walk into at any moment. I want to take my time so I can show you how much you mean to me."

"Sounds like fun," I whisper.

"It will be more than fun." Grey brushes his lips against mine. "I'll also be more careful. I promise."

"So no more impregnating me?" I joke but it's too raw and the words choke out as my throat tightens.

Grey grimaces but he stays in place, his body cocooning me in desire and safety; a strange combination which has become so normal when I'm with him. "Not until you want me too." He gives me a mischievous grin. "Until then, it will be purely for pleasure."

"I can't wait," I say softly.

"Right now, you need to distract me, because if you didn't already know, you're really hard to resist."

I laugh and push him in the chest gently. He rolls off me and onto his side. I turn to face him. "I baked a cake for the first time a few weeks ago. It was meant to be a carrot cake but I forgot the carrots."

Grey's lips curl slightly at the edges. "Did it taste nice?"

"No idea. No one was brave enough to eat it but apparently, I have a rare baking skill; I can both simultaneously burn and undercook a cake."

"Sounds like a unique skill. I wouldn't expect anything less though. You are unique."

I chuckle. "Cheesy Grey is out in full force today."

"You mean Romantic Grey."

"Romance is overrated. I prefer the cheese."

"Of course you do." Grey grins.

I smile at how relaxed he looks and before I can stop myself, I say, "I really have missed you. All of you."

Grey tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and his fingers linger on my neck. "I missed you more than words could express."

Author's notes
Do you use the word cheesy? I couldn't think of a good equivalent... Is there a better word? Xx