Chapter 284: Intimacy

LUMINA I woke to the sensation of being watched. Not the uncomfortable, predatory awareness that had haunted me since discovering the nightwalker's presence, but something warmer. Safer. I blinked my eyes open slowly, adjusting to the soft morning light filtering through our bedroom curtains, and found Xenois propped on one elbow beside me, his gaze fixed on my face with an intensity that made my breath catch. "What are you looking at?" I asked, my voice still rough with sleep. His expression softened, something raw and vulnerable flickering across his features. "The prettiest thing ever," he said quietly. "I can't believe I almost lost this. Lost you. All because of my stupidity in allowing Sophia back into our lives." The words hit me square in the chest, unexpected and disarming. My marriage to Xenois had been rocky for months now----years, if I was being honest with myself. The Sophia situation had been the breaking point, the final straw that had shattered what little trust remain