Grabbing her hands that lay in her lap, I threaded our fingers together. “We can talk about everything tomorrow. You look exhausted and like you’re going to fall over any minute.” I was sure she could hear the concern in my voice as I suggested, “Let’s get you settled into your room, okay?”
Now that I could focus my attention on her, I realized how inept I was at taking care of her. I was kicking myself for not showing her to her roombeforegoing to Amelia and Steele. She’d sat here soaked from the rain, and she was shivering before my very eyes.
“Are you going to get me settled in as well?”
The sarcastic tone of the convict thinned my lips into a grimace. I had so many fucking questions about him and wasn’t sure that I wanted the answers to any of them quite frankly.
I tugged her from the barstool and toward the stairs, and she stooped to grab a duffel bag that I’m sure she was keeping the dagger in along the way. I went with the simplest answer that avoided acknowledging his oddly phrased question. “Yeah. Everyone has their own room. Follow me and I’ll show you to them.”
Ronan called out for the creature, “Come on, Niz.”
I couldn’t help but crack a smile as the little wyvern let out a huff of air and curled up on the back of the couch like a house cat. I guess he’d be fine there.
As I focused on the warmth seeping into me from where Kieran’s hand rested in mine, I realized I hated the idea of letting go and leaving her in a room away from me. For the first time, I hated how big this house was. However, it beat all of us having to share a room or her choosing to share a room with someone other than me.
I eyed Ronan as we climbed to the second floor. He’d been polite enough and definitely had possession of all of his marbles unlike Bastian. Although I didn’t like the way he tried to possessively touch Kieran while speaking with me earlier. He was clearly trying to claim a stake in this battle, but I couldn’t see how he’d ever come close to the undeniable spark that drew Kieran and me together. Our force was magnetic and all-consuming.
I was certain she’d realize eventually that there was no one for her other than me.
Gesturing to the two rooms on either side of the small living room on the second floor, I announced, “You guys can pick from either of the rooms here. The shared bathroom is through that door in the middle. It’s always stocked with the basics, so you should have everything you need. I’ll bring a spare change of clothes down for you both.”
I was shocked as Ronan clapped me on the shoulder and thanked me before dropping a kiss to Kieran’s forehead as I had done earlier. “You know where to find me if you need anything, Beauty.”
A blush stained her cheeks, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the kiss or his words, but I didn’t fucking like either option.
Bastian approached me, and silly me thought he was going to do the same as Ronan, but no. Instead, I found myself ducking to avoid his pursed lips that were aimed atmyforehead. On reflex, I shoved his shoulder to hold him back from me as I pulled away from him. I gawked at him as I asked, “What the fuck, man?”
Kieran giggled at my side, lifting her hand to try to muffle the sound but failing.
Bastian blinked at me, startling the shit out of me as his eye color changed from crimson to purple to blue with each blink.
“I thought it was rude of Ronan to skip over you and only give Kieran a forehead kiss!” he rebutted, a defensive tone clear in his voice. “But fine, enjoy not sleeping well tonight without one.”
Her giggles turned into full-blown laughs that made me smile despite my confusion over the current situation. Bastian’s eyes began to glow brightly as he looked at her with a fondness in his eyes I hadn’t seen before.
Had he only done that to make her laugh?My brows rose. If so, I clearly had more than just Ronan to worry about when it came to claiming her affection.
The Caster kissed his fingers before blowing it at Kieran, who reached out to grab the kiss from the air and pulled it to her chest, still giggling at him.
Well that wouldn’t do.
With the two new men in their rooms, I pulled Kieran to the third floor, where there were three bedrooms. While I hated the thought of putting her near Steele in the bedroom between ours, I begrudgingly accepted that it would be where she was the safest now that Amelia had given him orders. While I was proud of my combat abilities, Steele was the one person I had never been able to best.
Walking her to the bedroom door, I opened it up and gestured for her to go in.
“You have an ensuite bathroom, so you’ll have full privacy here,” I explained, walking in behind her as she glanced around.
The walls of the bedroom were painted in varying shades of beige, creating what I hoped was a warm and inviting atmosphere. The curtains framing the windows were a sheer white fabric, allowing natural light to filter in and brighten upthe room during the day. A few simple decorations, like white artwork, hung here and there on the walls.
As she walked around, her hand snaked out to touch the fake petals of the white roses that sat in a vase on the bedside table.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed out before sitting on the edge of the bed. “Thank you for everything, Gabe, really.”
I stared at her for a moment, wondering if she realized this was the bare minimum of what I would give her if I had the world at my fingertips.
Clearing my head, I gave her a nod and bid her goodnight. “If you need anything at all, just let me know. I’m in that first room in this hallway, Little Star. I’ll see you in the morning.”
My steps felt heavy as I forced myself to leave the room as my thoughts turned sinful from seeing her on a bed before me. There were many, many better ways I could think of using the bed with her besides sleeping.
