“The ruse,” he murmured, his lips close to my ear.
Then, in full view of the healers and the few curious onlookers still lingering nearby, he bent and pressed a kiss to my temple.
The contact was feather-light, maddening. A calculated gesture meant to sell a lie, but my pulse thundered like it didn’t know the difference.
I should’ve shoved him away. Instead, I let my hand rest against his heart, steady and strong beneath my palm.
He’d carried me into this disaster; he might as well carry me up all those cursed stairs too.
Fieran carried me into his room.
“No,” I murmured. “I’m not going to sleep in your room.”
“Well, you’re not going anywhere else,” he told me sternly as he settled me into his bed. It was an exceedingly comforting bed; I debated arguing with him more even as I curled one arm around a soft pillow. “I need you rested, healed, and back to your usually dangerously clever state for the next trial.”
“Dangerous forwho?” Gods, he was right that I needed to sleep, not talk. The healing left me in such a dizzied haze. I almost felt fond of him.
“Me, mostly. You’re a danger to me, Cara.” He pulled one of my boots off, then the other.
“You can call me by a nickname again if you manage to come up with one that’s not stupid,” I murmured.
“Difficult. You’re too sharp for something sweet, too reckless for something respectful.”
Funny how it sounded like he’d thought about it. “Kiegan calls me kitten.”
“Is that so?” His voice was suddenly cold. But he still came to my side. I wasn’t sure what he was doing until something warm, soft and damp slid over my skin, cleaning away the blood and dust.
I grinned. “You’re not really jealous. I’m just a mortal. You’re a god.”
“Is that so?” Same words, but this time he spoke them with an entirely different tone, arch and amused.
“You think you are. Make yourself useful and hold me again.”
“We shouldn’t make a habit of that, menace.” Despite what he said, the bed shifted under his weight. Then he gathered me into his arms, pulling me close.
“That’s not very nice.” I threw my leg over his again, molding my body to his.
“Neither are you.” He shifted around, and I groaned in protest at the feel of his muscles flexing beneath me when I just wanted to be cozy. “All right, complainer. I’m trying to get a blanket over us both.”
“Your nicknames really do stink.” I yawned, fighting off sleep even though I knew I needed it, as a warm, soft blanket weighed us both down. “You should ask Kiegan for help.”
“Say his name one more fucking time while you’re in my bed.” But his hand teased over my hair, brushing it back from my face.
“What else have you been thinking of?”
“Mine.”
I let out a short, sharp laugh that roused me a little from my daze. “Never.”
“All right,Never.”
“That’s the stupidest of all,” I mumbled into his chest.
He turned his face toward my temple as if he were going to kiss me, even though there was no one in the room to fool. But it must have just been my imagination, and there was no reason for my disappointment.
His breath stirred my hair. “We’ll see.”
Thirty-Seven
