Page 79

Chapter 17

Jude’s eyes flickeredopen, and he inhaled. He could smell hot spices in the air.

Turning on his side, he found his small bed empty.

He rolled off the bed and pulled on his pants, a grin spreading across his face when he saw Octavia standing naked in his kitchen, her back to him as she stirred something on the two-ring hob. That was something he could get used to seeing every morning.

He walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist before pressing a kiss on her bare shoulder. The sight of her made him as hard as he’d been when he’d worked on her muscles.

She glanced at him and grinned. “You shouldn’t have let me sleep so long. We missed the briefing.”

“You needed it. Besides, if anything important had happened, we’d have been informed.” His fingers traced circles on her bare stomach.

Octavia rested her head against his chest for a moment before grinding black pepper into the powdered egg scramble she was making. “I hope this will do. You don’t have much food in here.”

“I only use this place for sleeping,” said Jude. “But whatever you’re doing, it smells amazing.”

“Overcooked powdered egg will never be amazing.”

He smiled as she finished seasoning the food. This felt like a normal day, a day he wanted to repeat a thousand times and never get bored of it. He could wake up and find his woman making them both breakfast. They’d eat, then go back to bed and lose themselves in each other’s arms for a few hours. They wouldn’t have to think about fighting the State, or staying alive, or whether they should risk going outside.

“Do you have any plates?” asked Octavia.

“I’ll get them.” Reluctantly, Jude unwrapped his arms from around Octavia’s waist. He pulled out two white plates and set them on the counter.

A small smile played across Octavia’s face as she dished up the food.

Jude felt the same tug of happiness. Maybe they could pretend nothing bad was happening on the outside. They could live together in glorious isolation, fucking, feeding each other, and pretending the State were nothing but a nightmare.

He held on to the dream for a few seconds. It was his new favorite dream.

Octavia passed him a plate before walking to the side of the bed and sliding into a shirt and pants.

“I won’t object if you want to eat naked.” Jude sat on the edge of the bed, a plate in his hand.

Octavia grinned as she sat next to him. “I think we both know where that will lead to if I do.”

“Which isn’t a bad thing.” Jude tasted the powdered egg. “This is good.”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You can cook me breakfast next time.”

“I’d be happy to cook for you.” He shoveled in more egg, his stomach growling with hunger.

Octavia let out a quiet sigh. “I hate to spoil the mood, but we need to plan our next move against the State. And we need to know what happened in the briefing. Won’t Danni be angry we weren’t there?”

“She knows we needed downtime. Despite how hard she tries, she’s not a monster. The others will be working on it.”

“I still think we can make use of my networks,” said Octavia. “There are people out there hiding from the attention of the State. We can get them on board.”

“That’s worth considering.” Jude felt reluctant to lose the happy space they were in, but knew they had to focus back on the State.

“We can’t fail at this,” said Octavia. “A multi-pronged attack could be what we need to disable the State. We’re not the only ones fighting against them. There are small pockets of resistance growing everywhere.”

Jude nodded as he took their empty plates to the counter. He walked back to Octavia and took hold of her hands.

“The people I have links with trust me,” said Octavia. “They hear me every day. If I go on air and tell them what we’re planning, I know they’ll help.”

Jude detected concern in Octavia’s voice. “There’s a problem?”