Every defense she’d built around her heart to keep it from shattering was gone.
Piper’s arms wrapped around her shoulders in a tight embrace. “He’ll be fine. He’s a stubborn ass; he’s not going to let a little blood loss beat him.”
Though Piper’s voice quavered, her words brought a little bit of light into the darkness. When she retracted her arms, Auraelia stood, leaned over to place a kiss on her brother’s brow, and whispered, “Don’t you dare leave me, Xander. Ineed you. Piperneedsyou. I’ll bring you back and kill you all over again if you break my best friend’s heart.”
When she straightened once more, she turned to Daemon and extended her hand. “Take me to my room?”
Daemon’s hand was warm against hers as he laced their fingers together. Pulling her to him, he swept the loose hair fromher face and smiled. “I would take you anywhere as long as I got to be with you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Daemon
Daemon would never outgrow the feeling of having Auraelia in his arms. As soon as they’d returned to her chambers, Auraelia slumped against him. Her eyes were half-lidded as she attempted to stifle a yawn.
“You need to sleep,” he said softly, soothingly as he stroked her hair.
Auraelia groaned and buried her face into his chest, her voice muffled as she spoke. “I amnotgetting into my bed like this. I need to bathe first. But… I’m just sotired.”
She couldn’t fight the yawn that escaped with the tail end of her statement any more than Daemon could fight the chuckle in his throat. “I can help you if you’d like.”
Even with her eyes heavy from exhaustion, there was no mistaking the quizzical look she gave him as she tilted her face up toward his.
Daemon laughed and shook his head. “I have no ulterior motives, Princess. I swear it, by my goddess and yours.”
Her eyes narrowed a little more as she contemplated his words, but eventually, they rolled to the back of her head as she nodded.
Helping her to the seat at her vanity, Daemon removed the dagger he’d strapped to her thigh and placed it on the seat next to her. When he moved on to her boots, carefully unlacing each one before setting them aside, Auraelia ran her fingers through his hair.
“You should get on your knees more often.”
Her words were slightly slurred from exhaustion, but he could still hear the smile in her voice. And though he knew he shouldn’t—and it would undoubtedly backfire on him—he couldn’t resist playing along.
Daemon looked up at her through his lashes and let his smirk shine through. “I don’t get on my knees for just anyone, Auraelia. But I would gladly make my home at your feet.”
Even with the sly smirk on her lips, a rose-colored flush crept across her cheeks, and as he ran his hands up her thighs to her waist, it deepened to a rich crimson.
Daemon held her gaze as he rotated his hands inward to unlace her bodice, her breath hitching as his fingers skimmed her breasts.
Fuck, this was a bad idea.
He had zero intention of taking this further than flirting. Hell, he’d had zero intentionofflirting. They were both tired, but Auraelia was so far past exhaustion, so far past the ability to give informed consent, that it would feel like he was taking advantage of her if he pushed this too far. And that was something hewouldneverdo…regardless of how many times she bit her lip—which was becoming more frequent with the more clothing he removed.
When she was down to her undergarments, Daemon gently lifted her from the seat and brought her into her bathroom.
It was bigger than her previous one, and instead of a skylight above the bath, the wall next to it was full of opaque, colored glass, which cast a rainbow of colors across the floor as the sun shone through.
After setting her on a tile next to the tub, he turned on the shower to let the water heat before he helped her into it.
When steam began to roll out over the top of the glass surrounding the stall, Daemon knelt in front of Auraelia and swept the hair from her face. “Do you think you can handle a shower by yourself?”
Sitting up straight, Auraelia fixed him with a hard stare. “Iama grown woman. Of course, I can.” But when she went to stand, her knees buckled, and she reached out to cling to him. “Okay, Iusuallycan.”
Daemon chuckled and placed a chaste kiss on the crown of her head. “I’ll help you into the shower. Just rinse off as best you can, and then we’ll get you into the bath, okay?”
Memories of helping her bathe after her mother’s death resurfaced, and he had to fight to keep the smile on his face.
This is different; she’s just tired.
