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“There!” she called to Levi, pointing at the shack.
Levi brought the hover cart to veer toward the shack and parked in one of the larger patches of scrub behind the building. Cora saw that although the shack’s front door was boarded up, it had a back door, which was already partly ajar and hanging crookedly on one hinge.
She tried to get out of the vehicle on her own, but Levi stopped her immediately.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he told her, holding up a hand. “Don’t even think about it.”
Cora gave him a smirk. “I’m okay, really,” she said, but Levi was already slipping his hands under her and lifting her effortlessly from the cart.
She didn’t fight it. In fact, she loved how gently he cared for her, how tender he was at the same time as being strong. She felt small and precious in his arms, and as he brought her toward the shack, she looped her arms around his neck.
Levi pushed the door open with his back, and despite the dilapidated hinge, it swung open with relative ease. Not much was inside—just the remains of a kitchen, a rusted bed frame, and a dusty mattress. But they didn’t need much else.
Levi laid her down gently on the mattress, and despite the less-than-idyllic surroundings, Cora got a strange flash of Levi carrying her over a threshold and laying her down on their wedding night.
She didn’t know where that image had come from, just like she didn’t know for certain if Levi reciprocated her love, but it seemed right with every fiber of her being. If anything, it bolstered her resolve to stick by Levi no matter what.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he knelt down on the floor beside the bed. He let his hand rest on hers as he spoke.
Cora smiled. “I’m okay. Still a little groggy, though,” she admitted, clasping his hand.
“Can I check you over?” came the next question. It was said so gently and with such care that Cora thought she could almost cry, or throw her arms around him, or dance and kiss him.
Instead, she just nodded.
Levi started by letting her hair spill out from the ribbon that was tying it. The movement hurt her head a little bit, though, and Levi must have caught her wincing.
“Does that hurt?” he asked.
Cora nodded, and he gently tilted her head forward to check for injuries.
“I can’t find any wounds, which is good news. I think your turban probably gave you enough padding,” he told her, laying her head back down gently.
He checked her neck and arms, and the sensation of his fingers running over her skin ignited something between desire and gratitude in her.
When his hands reached her chest, she thought her heart might burst from love for him. She managed to sit through the rest of his examination without giving in to her mounting passions.
“You seem to be okay,” he told her with a grateful smile. “Apart from the headache, I couldn’t find any injuries. Thank the gods you run as quickly as you do. As long as you don’t have any other pain, I think you’re very lucky.”
As she looked up into his eyes, she couldn’t help but smile.
“I think I am, too,” she replied, and they both knew she didn’t just mean her injuries.
Chapter 24
Levi’s heart raced as he looked down into Cora’s eyes and thought of how close he came to losing her. Now that she was there in front of him, he remembered the vow he made to himself when he feared he had lost her forever without her knowing exactly how he felt.
Technically, he had told her already. But if she was aware of it, it was only subconsciously. He needed her to know as fully as he knew. He was nervous, but it didn’t stop him from doing what he knew he had to do. He owed it to her.
What he felt for Cora was entirely new, and he wanted to get everything right when he conveyed his innermost self.
“I can’t believe all we’ve made it through together,” he told her, squeezing her hand again.
Cora smiled. “We’re an amazing team. And we’re going to take down Umbrosis together. I know it. Speaking of which.” Cora raised her wrist.
She tapped on the comm, and a small holoscreen appeared. Flicking through, Cora brought up a couple of files, and as Levi peered at them, a broad smile crossed his face.
“I didn’t get the chance to show you everything,” she told him. “But those files I got from the ship’s computer are exactly what we’ve been looking for.”
