Rhett returned when the sky began to lighten.
A warmth spread through Sage's ribs before any sound reached her ears. Not silence, but nearness - something humming just beneath the air between heartbeats. It swelled, slow then sudden, like sunlight breaking behind closed eyes. Distance thinned. His steps drew tighter to hers. Speed built with each breath.
Barely a sound came from the camp when she reached the gate.
A pale hush covered the woods before sunrise. Between trunks, fog drifted slow - thin as old lace. Not far inside, Sage held still, though the animal beside her pulled ahead, drawn by heat now moving in from the lower sky.
That was when her eyes landed on him.
