Page 169 of Ly to Me
“Hungry?”
“Starved,” she replied as I got closer, following the shuffling of branches and the barrage of colors swarming in the air. They congregated around her every time she entered the Sanctuary—now called Lyra’s Haven—fluttering their vibrant wings, landing on her shoulders and hands as she worked.
She didn’t know a lot about the plants, but after a few months, she’d become a natural. I planted my palms on her waist, the sunshine smell enveloping me as I bent into her neck and kissed her softly.
“I brought lunch.” I lifted a basket and swung it in front of her.
“In here?”
I shrugged as she turned to face me. “Why not?”
She found the loopholes of my jeans and slid her fingers into them. “Was kinda hopin’ we could go home for a little while.”
I looked down at the dirt covering her shirt and knees, my dick not giving two-shits but dammit if feeding her hadn’t become my normal. “Go wash up real quick in the bathroom down the hall. I’ll set this out so we can eatfirst.”
She smiled, and as she hurried away, I watched her movements. Lyra moved differently now. The shift in her hadn’t been sudden like I pictured the day I ended his life for her. It had been slow, but steady—like her caterpillars and chrysalises that turned into the beautiful butterflies flying freely above us.
Over time, it was clear she felt safe. At peace, like she deserved. She moved like the air supplied her with the life she’d been missing for years. Most of her life, really.
She sauntered back in and eyed the basket still in my hand.
“Looks like you’ve been real busy,” she teased, taking the basket from me as she laughed.
And thatlaugh.
That laugh was all I needed to know that she was the only one I wanted in this world. As long as Lyra Roland was by my side, I’d feel whole. As long as I had her, I needed nothing else. I was hers, and she was mine—just like it should’ve always been. She was my entire world, and for once, I had my world right where it should’ve always been—
Home.
