Chapter 40 #3
“Then fuck me already,” I beg, breathless, desperate to see his hard length.
His eyes darken as he looks down at me. “I’m going to go easy on you. For tonight.”
I nod. “Okay,” I whisper.
And then a rapid, frantic knock sounds on the door, and we both whip our head in that direction.
He doesn’t act. Instead, he stands over me, running a hand down his face with a sigh. “No,” he mutters to himself.
Our eyes lock. “They can get fucked,” he says, still standing over me with no intention of moving.
But the frantic, impatient knocking resumes, and we hear Raef hollering on the other side of the door. “Dammit. I’m sorry,” he says as he turns and grabs my dress off the floor, holding it up for me to step in.
Reluctantly, I jump up and shimmy into it with his assistance. Then he quickly throws his shirt back on.
“What!” he spits out with impatience as he yanks the door open.
Raef and Meela pile into the room in a rush, pushing Daegan aside as they shut the door behind them, filling the center of the small space.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asks as he spins around, facing them with his back to the door.
“Ellyar soldiers, looking like they’re on a mission,” he explains as he catches his breath. “Can’t return to our room, saw them checking into the one right between mine and Meela’s. They could see us.”
“People know we all left the castle together,” I say. “Why should we hide.”
Meela shakes her head. “There were several pairings of them checking into rooms. They were all in full armor, looking like they were searching for something, or… someone.”
“Shit,” Daegan mumbles.
“Yeah. So uh…” Raef looks around as if he’s assessing the space. “None of us are leaving this room tonight. Sorry.” He flashes us a wide, unapologetic smile.
No one looks amused by this except for him.
“Great…” I say, meeting Daegan’s gaze. He looks like he’s reluctantly accepted the interruption to our night.
“So, um…” Meela starts, eyeing the bed and then my state of disarray with mild disgust. “I’m just going to sleep on that rug over there…”
“Oh, stop,” Raef drawls. “It was just some light fucking, you’ll be fine. You girls take the bed.”
“We did not—” I start to argue before closing my mouth. We did do something involving bodily fluids, but we didn’t get that far.
Meela eyes the rug, then the bed, conflicted. I know her. She’s more of a princess than me. She won’t sleep on the floor. “Fine,” she concedes.
Daegan rolls his neck in circles and stretches his arm out as he eyes the floor. There are a few extra linens folded on a shelf, which he grabs, then he spreads it out on the floor right next to the bed. I guess he’s not letting this setback keep him from sleeping beside me.
Meela excuses herself to use the bathing room, and we’re left in the room with Raef, who sits in a chair in the corner and busies himself with sharpening a knife.
Daegan approaches me, his warmth quickly filling my space, and boxes me in against the wall. His hands move to my waist as he wraps his arms around me. He doesn’t care about Raef seeing us, apparently.
He leans in and whispers in my ear. “I’ve been fantasizing about all the things I want to do to you for weeks. One more night won’t kill us.”
Leaning back, he looks down at me with a heated gaze, the ghost of a smile touching his lips. I smile, nodding in agreement. He places a quick kiss on my lips, rubs his fingers delicately along my sides, then turns and joins Raef in the knife sharpening party.
I sit on the bed and watch them while we make small chat.
When Meela finally emerges, she eyes them, then sits beside me on the bed. Everyone looks tired.
“What about Rhydra and Gaethri?” I ask.
Raef shrugs. “They had already gone to bed for the night. We need to be up early to try to find them before the elvish guards.”
“Okay. We should probably get some rest then. It’s late.”
Everyone agrees, dousing most of the remaining lights and trying to get comfortable with our arrangement.
Raef takes a spot on the floor at the end of the bed, and Meela lies on her back beside me, closer to the wall. We look at each other for a moment and smile. It’s not so bad, being here with everyone I care about.
I turn over, closing my eyes, when a warm, rough hand reaches for mine and holds on. My heart tugs in my chest as my eyes get heavy, but I have no intention of letting it go.
Meela’s breathing gets slower and deeper beside me, and so does Raef’s.
Despite my heavy eyelids and the exhaustion settling in after the last few days, I can’t drift off to sleep just yet.
I don’t think Daegan is sleeping either.
I try to let go of his hand so I can try something, but he doesn’t let me.
So I keep hold of it as I climb out of the bed and onto the floor, curling against his body and pulling his arm around me.
“It’s not comfortable down here, you should go back up on the bed,” he whispers in my ear. His hot, minty breath sends pulses of heat through me.
“I don’t care,” I whisper back.
His arm tightens around me in response, and we fall asleep just like that.