They broke apart slowly, and even then Derek didn't let go of her face.
His eyes were already moving, dropping from her mouth to her throat to her arms, taking in every inch of her. He turned her wrist over. Found the burns the shadow net had left across her skin and his jaw tightened.
"They hurt you."
"That's nothing." Kira caught his hand before he could go further. "Derek, look at me. That's nothing."
He wasn't listening. His palm settled flat against her stomach, and she felt him go completely still.
"They're fine," she said quietly.
A sigh went out of him then, and for a second he closed his eyes and simply breathed.
He wanted to pull her into his chest and stay there. He wanted the world to hold still for thirty seconds so he could feel her actually breathing against him, feel her heart going, prove to himself she wasn't something he'd conjured up out of three days without sleep. He wanted it badly enough that it took real effort not to.
