Chapter 28 Humble Abode #2
“My home is your home.” He shrugged, lifting his hand towards the hallway.
“My bedroom is the one on the left. The washroom is there at the end of the hall.” Turning, he started towards the kitchen.
“I have been gone a while, so my supplies are low, but we should have enough food for tonight and the morning. I can go into town tomorrow to pick up more provisions.”
“I am sure whatever you have is better than what we’ve been eating,” she laughed. “Let’s go see what we can scrounge up.”
Alex
Alex stood, stretching her arms over her head as a yawn cracked her face.
Her belly was full, and for the first time in weeks, she would be able to sleep in a bed.
She didn’t know how she would repay him for his kindness, but she would.
Davin had excused himself earlier to go ready the bedroom for her.
She had offered to take the couch, but he had insisted that she use the bed.
She wandered down the hallway, noticing a door to the right that he hadn’t mentioned.
She could hear Davin moving inside his bedroom farther down the hall.
Glancing in that direction, she paused before reaching a hand out and grasping the doorknob.
It didn’t turn. That was strange, and Alex wondered what could be so important to cause Davin to keep a door locked in his own home.
“Don’t.” Davin said, his voice firm.
Alex jumped, embarrassed to be caught snooping. She dropped her hand. She’d never heard him speak to her that way.
Davin just stood staring at her, not saying a word, his expression unreadable. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft. “The room is ready for you. I am going to do some things before I turn in for the night. I will see you in the morning.”
“Where are you sleeping?” Alex blurted, not thinking.
“I will be sleeping on the couch tonight.” His lips tipped into a small smile. “I know the princess needs her beauty sleep.”
Alex stared at him for a moment, not rising to his bait with the princess comment. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch, Davin. It is barely big enough for me. Let me take it. You sleep in your own bed.”
“No.”
His tone broached no argument. Alex argued anyway.
“I can’t have you sleeping on that couch after we have been traveling nonstop for three weeks.”
“Are you asking me to join you in bed, Alex?”
Davin took a small step towards her, his voice full of questions, desire lighting his eyes. Alex’s stomach clenched, but she instinctively took a step back.
“I am..” her voice barely above a whisper, “but only for comfort purposes. I am not ready for anything more.”
She watched the desire fade from his eyes, but he didn’t drop her gaze. Relenting to her request, he sighed. “I will stay to my side. Try not to snore though. I need my sleep.”
“I do not snore.” Alex said, indignantly.
Davin let out a laugh, warmth and relief spread through Alex’s body.
Turning away, she stalked towards the washroom, needing some space.
Having changed from her leathers, she donned the shirt that he had left on the basin for her.
For a minute, the soft material felt like pure bliss against her skin, but then his faint scent of juniper and honey enveloped her, causing liquid heat to pool between her legs.
Something about him made her want things that she could never act on.
Memories of nights wrapped in his arms for warmth, breathing him in, stole her breath.
She needed to leave at first light. She was afraid of what would happen if she remained much longer.
Davin
Davin stood watching her for a moment before stepping away. He walked a few paces before stopping in front of the other door, gently brushing his fingers over the wood. Sadness crashed through him. The memory took over, slamming into his mind like a wave, with no way to protect himself from it.
There she was, her red hair cascading down her back, her cheeks pink from exertion.
Paint splattered her clothes from where she had been working on the nursery.
She stood, her head thrown back as she laughed, hands threaded in his hair as he knelt at her feet, his face pressed against her barely rounded belly.
The baby kicked him. Jerking back, he laughed too, before springing to his feet.
Lifting her, he spun in a circle. His family.
Everything that was right in his world was there in that one little room.
The Gods had brought her to him, had blessed them with the tiny babe growing in her stomach.
He had never been happier. “I love you, Nila,” he said, raining kisses on her face.
Her eyes, bright with tears brought on by her laughter, crinkled.
“I love you too, Dav.” Stilling, he held her in his arms, one hand cupping her belly.
“I can’t picture a world without you in it.
The two of you.” She smiled up at him, going up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his mouth.
“I would never leave you for all the realm, Davin Monroe. You are stuck with me. Us.” The last word said as she placed her hand atop his.
His eyes glistened with unshed tears. He furiously blinked them away.
“But you did leave. Both of you.” He murmured.
It never got easier, the pain he felt when he thought of them.
It had been two long years, and it still felt like yesterday that she was in his arms. Shaking his head to clear the memory, he turned and walked away, down the hall to the washroom, quietly shutting the door behind him.
After finishing his business, he slipped back into his bedroom.
The bed was large, and Alex looked tiny curled up in the center of it, the blankets tucked in around her.
Davin noticed that she had changed out of her clothes, putting on the shirt he had left out for her.
Her day clothes draped over the wooden chair in the corner of the room.
He hadn’t even noticed that she had changed, consumed as he was by his memories.
She was the first woman to be in his bed since Nila.
He had slept with women since her, but never in his home, his bed.
Slipping out of his shirt, Davin slid beneath the blankets, making sure to keep distance between himself and Alex.
Rolling onto his back, he threw one arm over his head, staring at the ceiling.
Alex let out a tiny whimper, a shiver traveling her body, leaving goose flesh in its wake.
Davin glanced over at her. She sometimes had nightmares.
More than once, she had called out in her sleep, unable to hide her pain.
Her face was pinched in misery as she slept.
Reaching out a hand, he brushed her hair away from her face.
Her expression smoothed, as if his touch chased her demons away.
She moved, rolling into him, pressing her body against his.
Her face now rested on his shoulder, hand splayed across his chest. Davin sighed, but wrapped his arm around her, pulling her more firmly against him, his other hand coming up to cover hers on his chest. Closing his eyes, Davin let his thoughts drift.
His last thought was of her, the smell of her hair, the storm clouds in her eyes, before oblivion pulled him under.