" Would you feel better if I lie beside you until you go to sleep?”
I nodded. Carefully. No dignity, no pride.
He stretched out beside me and put an arm around my waist and gathered me close. It felt so-o-o-o nice. Except . . . “You’re—”
“What?”
“Nothing.” No need to point out that he was shaking. He probably already knew. And I understood. I’d been a wreck, when he’d been injured and no one was sure he was going to live.
He buried his face in my hair. “You’re all right,” he whispered into my ear. “You’re all right.”
I laid my hand on top of his. “We’re both all right,” I said. “We’re both going to be fine.”
I’d never liked the idea of the bond. It was, I thought, an unnecessary chain. Two professionals shouldn’t need it. And it wasn’t right, to link the life of one person to another so thoroughly. Neither of us were careless with our safety, but accidents happened. One person shouldn’t have to walk around knowing that at any moment they might die because their partner has. It wasn’t right.
And yet . . .
At least he couldn’t leave. No matter what I did wrong, he couldn’t leave. "

― , The Hero Strikes Back (Hero, #2)