Chapter 29
Warmth chasesaway the cold of the nightmare I’m deeply embroiled in. I will it to stay, to keep me feeling the semblance of peace that it offers me. My body jolts as my back hits a comfortable surface, and the warmth disappears, leaving me bereft of the safety it was offering me.
Blindly, I reach out, trying to bring it back to me. My hands brush up against something, and I grasp it, pulling it closer, and whatever it is comes without a fight. The weight settles next to me, causing me to roll into it as its vast weight dimples the surface of where I’m lying.
“Goddess,” a sweet, masculine voice coos, making my insides all mushy. It takes me a minute to place the voice, but when I do, a sleepy smile curls my lips as my eyes flutter open. That’s when I realize the warmth, the safety, comes from Luka himself. My demigod. My soulmate.
“What time is it? How long was I out?” Instead of moving further away like I know I should, I burrow myself deeper into his large chest, fisting his shirt.
“Not long. Only about an hour. Thaddeus just left, so I thought I would put you in bed where you could be more comfortable.”
“Mmmm,” I hum, my eyes closing once more. “That’s nice.”
Luka rumbles a laugh, shaking the entire bed. My eyes pop back open—more awake and alert this time around—to a pair of stunning navy ones. He smiles a boyish grin down at me when he sees me staring. “See something you like, goddess?”
“Mhmm.” There’s nothing about this man that I don’t like. He’s tall, handsome, sweet, and so completely different than what I thought when I first met him. Yeah, I thought he was drop-dead gorgeous then, but I also wasn’t going to touch him with a ten-foot pole. It’s crazy how much things can change in such a short period of time. But these are things I wouldn’t change now for the world.
He’s mine, and I’m his. Irrevocably. The fates deemed it so when they exchanged parts of our souls so we could find each other in this life. And hopefully in the next. If there is such a thing.
My stomach chooses the inopportune time to grumble, pissed that I haven’t eaten since breakfast. I really need to make sure I get food in my system so I don’t backslide into where I was after the whole mall incident. Since last week, when Luka coaxed me off the grounds of the academy, I’ve been able to eat more, sleep better, and just live the way I should have been if that whole thing had never happened.
Luka chuckles as my stomach voices its displeasure, and it’s a no-brainer what it’s saying. “Don’t move, goddess. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” I expect him to get out of bed and grab something from the small kitchen, but I blink, and he’s gone. Almost like he was never there in the first place.
Shit. Am I hallucinating? Did I hit my head harder than I thought?
My fingers shake as I reach out to touch the indention in my bed. The spot is still warm, and I blow out a breath that the whole interaction wasn’t something I cooked up in my head.
I could totally see that conversation going well.
“Where’d you go?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You were in bed with me and never came back.”
“Okay, crazy pants. I’ve never been in your bed.”
I snort at my own thoughts. Crazy pants would be right.
The longer I wait for Luka to return, the more I start to fidget in bed. So I sit up, scooching back to rest against the headboard, and look around my bedroom. Small pinpricks of light break through where the curtains meet, chasing some of the darkness away, but not a whole lot. My brows furrow. I never close those; I wonder if Luka did.
Luka pops back in unannounced, his hands laden with greasy take-out bags. A scream lodges itself in my throat, momentary fear bubbling in my veins as I clutch my chest, breathing deeply until I can battle it away.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
I guess the saying is true for demigods, too.
“Fuck, Lu. You scared the shit out of me.” He laughs as he places the bags on the nightstand, rifling through them. “I swear to god, I’m going to get him a freaking bell,” I grumble with a huff.
His hands pause midair, and he slowly turns his head toward me with his brow raised. “A bell?”
Oops.
“Nuffin, muffin.” I shake my head, refusing to admit that I wanted to tie a bell around his neck the very first day I met him because he scared the crap out of me that day, too.
“Oh. Oh, no, no, no, sweet cheeks.” The food becomes an afterthought as he prowls toward the bed. “Tell me.”
“Nuh-uh.” I roll my lips between my teeth, determined to keep that embarrassing thought to myself.
His knees hit the bed, and he crawls across the surface, eying me like a lion would its prey. “That’s not going to work for me.”
“What are you going to do about it?” I raise my brow, trying and ultimately failing to stifle a giggle.
Ever heard the saying, don’t taunt the bull unless you want the horns? It’s a good piece of advice that I should learn myself.
“This.” Quicker than a flash of lightning, he snatches my ankle and drags me across the surface until I’m underneath him. He pins me to the mattress with his considerable bulk, a certain appendage standing at half-mast, and telling me he’s enjoying this little game, too. I have to say, this doesn’t seem so ba— His fingers dig into my ribs, tickling the ever-loving hell out of me. My happy laughter bounces around the confines of the room as I try to get away from him, but he refuses to let me go.
No matter how much I fight, there’s no way to break free with him pinning my lower half to the bed.
“Uncle! Uncle!” I cry, out of breath from laughing so damn hard.
Luka drops his elbows on either side of my head, holding himself in push-up above me. It’s hot as fuck to see how much strength he has to be able to pull that off. I know that if it were me, my arms would be quaking by now, and I’d probably end up head-butting him.
“So, goddess, you ready to tell me about this bell?”
Fuck.
“Fine.” I give an exaggerated sigh. “I just said that they needed to put bells on you supernaturals so we could hear you.” I shrug my shoulders as well as I can. “Y’all are so dang quiet, so easy fix.”
Luka gapes at me, his eyes darting back and forth between mine. He sputters a laugh before saying, “You’re joking, right?” My lips purse, and I shake my head. It would be an opportune time to say nope and pop a p for extra emphasis, but I’m kind of enjoying the fact that I’ve made him so flabbergasted.
The silence stretches on, bordering on uncomfortable now that he doesn’t seem to know how to reply. Taking a chance, I blurt, “Stay the night with me?” before covering my face with my hands, no doubt turning as bright red as a tomato.
Strong fingers grip my wrists, pulling them away from my face until all I can see is the man on top of me.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” Luka sounds so unsure of himself, of us, and of what I want. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to fall asleep in his arms tonight.
“Yeah,” I whisper shyly, trying to duck away and hide how that admission makes me feel. It’s a big step for me, for us. There’s no telling how the night will fully play out, but if an opportunity presents itself, I’m not going to deny it.
I want him with every fiber of my being. And I don’t think it’s the mate bond pushing for it, either. It’s all me.
“Okay, I’ll stay,” he murmurs, nudging my nose with his. “As long as the headmaster isn’t going to start shit with you over it.”
“Pfft.” I blow a raspberry. “It’s rare I see the overgrown rock bird anyway. If he has a problem, he can take it up with me later. Or, you know, never.”
Luka smothers a laugh. “Did you just call the headmaster a rock bird?”
“Mhmm. Yep. But you forgot the overgrown part.”
“Oh, my bad, goddess. An overgrown rock bird. I’m almost afraid to ask if you have names like that for the rest of us.”
I squint up at him, debating if I want to go down this rabbit hole with him. Ehh, fuck it. “Maybe… How about I tell you over dinner?” My stomach gurgles in agreement at my words.
“Deal.” Luka sits up, pulling me with him. He manhandles my body with ease, settling me against the headboard once again before snagging the lukewarm grub and laying it out before us.
“Ta-da!” Luka throws up jazz hands, wiggling his fingers over the spread of food resting between us. I grin, and my mouth waters when I see cheeseburgers and fries, and a quick look at the greasy bags confirms my suspicions that they’re from the same restaurant we ate at a few days ago.
“Bon appetit.”