Chapter 27
Hours later, I finally crawled into bed with Teddy curled up beside me.
I closed my eyes and let my mind drift. Dinner had been unexpectedly…
nice. Things with Bastian had been awkward after our sexual activities in the pool.
But after his waffles and then our day at the library, we seemed to have reached a new normal.
Maybe…
Vivi’s words played over and over in my mind. What if Bastian and I didn’t take this chance? What if two years from now, I was stuck in a loop, always wondering what might have been? What if I regretted passing up the best sex of my life?
And I would regret it.
Something curled low in my abdomen, raking delicate claws over my insides.
Bastian had already given me two orgasms, and they’d been beyond the best thing I’d ever felt.
Better than anything I’d had with Luke times a million.
I thought of Bastian in his goblin form, his head between my legs, his pointed ears peeking out. Heat sprang to the surface of my skin.
Not for the first time, I wondered what sex would be like with him in that form.
I knew without a doubt that it would ruin me. Utterly. Did I want to be ruined?
A faint sound came from outside my room’s sliding glass door.
The back of my neck prickled and I went utterly still. My gaze darted out to the back yard patio. I stared into the dark, taking slow, deep breaths.
After a few moments, I closed my eyes again. But the sensation returned, stronger this time. It wasn’t like when Bastian stared at me. It felt…invasive. I had half a mind to throw the covers over my face and sink deeper into bed.
Except, a shadow stirred just beyond the patio. My heart rate ratcheted up. I took a deep breath, gripping the top of the comforter. The shadow moved again. It was definitely too tall to be an animal.
“Fuck this,” I whispered. Sliding out of bed on the opposite side, I raced from my room. My breaths came shallow as I sprinted silently up the stairs.
I tapped on Bastian’s door before pushing it open. “Bastian!” I hissed.
Shadows swarmed around me and I yelped. They fell away instantly. “Fuck, Elle. What are you doing?!” I caught glimpses of darkness retreating along the walls.
“Don’t turn on the light,” I gasped out a second later.
Silence, and then he was beside me. I couldn’t see much, but he was naked except for a pair of boxer briefs.
“What’s the matter?” He hooked a finger under my chin, lifting my face.
“Someone's out there.”
He went still. “Outside?”
“Near the patio,” I clarified.
“What did you see, exactly?”
“A shadow? Like, a person-sized shadow. I thought I was just imagining things but…”
“But…?”
“It walked by my patio doors, Bastian,” I hissed.
“You sure?”
“Sure enough that I’m not freaking sleeping down there tonight.”
He exhaled. “Stay right here. I’ll be back.” A leather baldric appeared across his bare chest. He drew a sword from it and strode from the room.
I stared after him, mouth hanging open. “Wouldn’t a gun be more efficient?!” I whispered, taking several steps after him.
“Too noisy. Stay there—the house is safe.” I froze, mid-step, then retreated back into his room.
I ran to the window and looked out, searching the yard.
A moment later, I spotted Bastian prowling around his property.
He froze, hesitated, then turned and started off in another direction.
After a minute, he disappeared around the side of the house.
My chest pounded as I waited. What if it was Luke with the harp? What if this was a trap?
“Fuuuuck,” I breathed, my skin prickling. I took a step away from the window, then waited.
It felt like an eternity, though in reality, it was probably only a few minutes.
Bastian appeared in the room and flicked on the lights.
I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the brightness.
It took a moment to really sink in, that I was in his room.
The sword—a freaking sword—was sheathed at his back.
He was in a pair of sweatpants now, but no shirt.
The leather baldric crossed his bare chest.
I swallowed hard.
His jaw was tight. His gaze settled on me and he seemed to relax. “You okay?”
“Me?” I all but squeaked. “You’re the one who went out there. You didn’t find anything? I swear I saw—”
“He was already gone.”
“He?”
Bastian stalked across the room to the window, looking out before he turned to me. “I smelled him. That fucking asshole came onto my property. Left his fucking scent everywhere.”
My limbs went cold. “Luke?”
He gave a jerk of a nod. “He walked right past your patio doors.”
My stomach bottomed out. “He could have…”
“No, he couldn’t have,” Bastian snarled, turning to face me. “A measly fucking human can't break through the magic on those doors.”
I opened and closed my mouth. “What if he’d been out there with the harp, Bastian. We need to be more careful. He has an entire arsenal of artifacts now.”
“He’s a fucking human, Elle.”
“With powerful artifacts, Bas!” I all but shouted. “You need to be careful.”
He took a slow, steady inhale. “I’m going to find this piece of trash, and I’m going—” He stopped himself, hand clenching into a fist. His chest rose and then fell. “Let’s go to bed.”
I hesitated, then nodded. As if I could sleep after a thing like this. “I’m not sleeping downstairs tonight.”
He nodded, his expression softening. “There’s another guest bedroom down the hall. No bathroom but—”
“I’m… I don’t really want to be alone right now,” I managed, my cheeks flushing red.
He sighed, ran a hand over the shaved side of his head, then jerked his chin in a nod. “You can sleep in here. I don’t bite.”
Heat shot through me, remembering how he'd made me come with those gentle bites. Poof. Just like that—my fear was replaced by reluctance. I licked my lips, glancing at the bed. It was just a bed—for sleeping, of course. “Uh. Yeah, sure. As long as you don’t mind.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “You can be my first.”
“Your first? Human?”
“No, my first-first,” he said. “I’ve never allowed other women into my bed, Elle.” He’d been calling me Elle, I realized. “It seems you’re full of firsts, for me.”
What was that supposed to mean? I certainly wasn’t the first woman he’d touched or gone down on. And while I was the first human he’d indulged in after having sworn them off, I wasn’t technically the first where that was concerned, either. So…first what?
Meow.
We both looked toward the doorway. Teddy sat there, watching us.
“No fucking way. That cat is not sleeping in my room.”
“Oh, stop. He can come in.”
“No, he can’t.”
“Bas,” I whined. “It’s Teddy. He doesn’t have to sleep on the bed. But come on, he doesn’t want to be alone either, do you, Teddy?” The words came out in a baby voice. Bastian made a groaning sound and I knew I was close. “Please?” I pouted and batted my eyelashes.
“Ugh. Unbelievable.” He stalked across the room, throwing back the covers. “Fine. But no bed, Cat. You sleep on the floor.”
I rolled my eyes and slipped beneath the covers. Bastian kept to his side. He propped himself up on an elbow, looking down at me. “You good?”
“Yep. Think so.”
He plopped back onto his back and the lights went out. Meow.
“Teddy,” we both said at the same time. I snickered. “Go lay down, Teddy,” I added. Teddy was silent after that. But that didn’t stop Bastian from muttering something about stupid cats under his breath. He probably wouldn’t admit it—ever—but something told me Teddy was growing on him.
I turned onto my side facing Bastian, then closed my eyes.
Sleep felt a long way off. I turned back onto my back, and then a few minutes later, my other side, facing away from Bastian.
A soft groan sounded and then hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me against a firm body.
“If you don’t stop squirming, sugar, we’re going to have problems. I can’t get any sleep when you’re flopping around like a fish out of water.
Stay put.” To emphasize his point, a thigh wedged between mine, and his arms tightened, holding me in place.
“Are you… Are you spooning me?”
“That’s what it looks like,” he said.
Just to test him, I pressed my hips back against him. He growled in my ear. “Elle,” he warned.
“What? I’m trying to get comfortable. You’ve got me in a vice grip.”
“I’ve got you right where I want you. Now go to sleep.”
I rolled my eyes, not that he could—
“I can feel you rolling your eyes. Stop. Go. To. Sleep.”
I snickered. He was trying to sound forceful, but I felt the underlying tension in his words.
If we didn’t sleep, other things would happen, and he was trying hard to ensure that wasn’t the case.
Fine. I’d let him have this one. But… I couldn’t promise I’d hold myself at bay for long.
He’d gotten to have his way with me, and I had yet to have my turn.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm the emotions swirling through me.
Bastian’s arms were warm around me. Despite being nearly pinned, I felt safer than I had in…
as long as I could remember. I might have had a fancy techy-magical security system around the house, but around my body, I had an even stronger protection.
And in this moment, it felt like nothing could possibly touch me—not even Luke.