FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

Bonus Chapter Two: The Wedding Night Part II

THIRD PERSON POV

He was a married man.

This was the first truth to manifest in Hunter's mind when he awoke. Turning his head to his right, sleeping by his side, he beheld the proof. Fern...his wife...his everything. Having cocooned herself in a fetal position with the comforter tucked under her arm, she laid in perfect view of the sunlight's morning rays flooding through the window. The sergeant's dark eyes softened as he sighed with relief.

It had not been all a dream.

He reflected on their night of passion. The sensual euphoria. The undying trust. The effortless connection. The conclusion...in which Fern dozed off on his bare chest, his heartbeat pulsating underneath her glowing cheek. His strong arms had swallowed her warm body as tight as he could without disturbing her.

And all was right in his world.

She deserves everything she dreams, and someone who can grant her those dreams. Since no one in this galaxy knows all what she longs for, I will become someone who can.

Lifting his upper body and leaning his face on his propped hand, Hunter watched the gentle rise and fall of his wife's chest, the left side of her face submerged into the pillow and billows of raven hair curtained the rest of it and buried her bare shoulders. Scoffing softly through his nose, he reached out his free hand and gently brushed the wavy strands away, tucking them gently behind her ear. His fingers relished the feel of her smooth skin against his as his thumb stroked over her brow, then across her cheekbone. A peaceful expression glowed on her unblemished face, liberated from all the stress wrought by the reality and consequences of their former struggles.

As deep, tranquil sigh exhaled from her nose as Fern squirmed in her sleep, shimmying her whole body down while nestling her mouth deeper into the pillow. Hunter's index finger proceeded to lightly trace over her widow's peak, down her hairline, loop around her ear, and glide along her angular jaw. She did not stir under his touch. He dipped his knuckle along her neck and finally, faintly outlined the white scarring across her right collarbone with his fingertip. He could still hear her, feel her. Her body laughing and crying underneath him.

The back of his fingers travelled down her toned bicep, then trailed back up with their firm pads. He watched her fingers react by tightening their grip on her pillow. Her knees climbed in farther up her naked body; she'd grown the habit of sleeping in a fetal position ever since she and Omega shared a room up in the gunner's mount. Hunter recalled a time where Fern would sleep in the oddest of positions, arms sprawled above her head and her feet propped up on some flat surface, in the strangest of locations when they were cadets and partnered together in the beginning of the war.

Seemed like ages ago...

Realizing how far they have come and where they've wound up beyond all odds almost brought tears to his eyes...

Carefully, he extracted her fingers from the fluffed cushion, and brought them close to him, inspecting their slenderness and short, yet fine nails. Closing his eyes, he folded them over his own hand and pressed the most tender of kisses on each knuckle, relishing their warmth. He then flipped her hand over, pressing his thumb into her palm before planting his kiss on it, his lips lingered on the warm skin.

"Mmm..." Fern hummed.

Hunter chuckled through his nose and leaned over her, kissing her lips. When he pulled away, he nearly sputtered with laughter, covering his mouth to prevent himself from doing so when he saw her lips puckering in her sleep for more. He obliged to her mesmeric request, pecking them softly. A satisfied moan reveled from her nose.