“Hush, you. Come on, we need to get dressed.”
Daemon groaned as he slipped out of her and fell onto his back, his arm slung over his eyes. Turning, Auraelia crawled over to him, her hair skimming his chest and causing his skin to pebble.
“I’m going to shower.” She waited until he peeked out from under his arm. “If you’re a good boy and get up, maybe I’ll let you join me.”
Fire blazed in his eyes, a mischievous smile tugging on his lips. “Trust me, Princess. I’mup, alright.”
Auraelia squealed as Daemon reached for her, and she hurriedly skittered off the bed, heading for her bathing chamber.
She should have been focusing on so much—her brother’s healing, her people rebuilding, the impending war with her cousin—but she wanted to stay in her blissful bubble with Daemon a little longer.
She had just turned the water on when Daemon’s heavy steps filled the room, and his arms snaked around her waist. He twisted her around, his lips crashing into hers as he slowly backed her beneath the streams of water that had barely begun to warm.
“Have I been a good boy, Princess?”
Auraelia smirked against his lips and slid her hand down his body until she found what she sought. “There’s nothing‘boy’about you, my love.” She tightened her grip and slowly worked his length.
“Damn right.”
It had been another hour before they finally made it to Xander’s rooms, but the immense relief she felt when she saw him walking around his sitting area—well, it was morepacingthan walking—was a weight off her shoulders.
He was well and truly alright.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Xander barked once the door was closed behind them.
“They were…preoccupied, Xan.” Piper chimed, her lips folding in on themselves as she attempted to stifle a laugh.
“What’s that supposed to—” he cut himself off, a flush coloring his cheeks as his eyes flicked between his baby sister and the man who had been warming her bed. Groaning, Xander pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re lucky I don’t hate you, Daemon. Or you’d be dead.”
“Xander!” Auraelia admonished, but even she couldn’t keep the smirk from her lips.
Daemon chuckled and crossed the room with his hand extended toward her brother. “I completely understand. I’d be the same way if my sister liked men.”
Xander’s gaze hardened slightly as he swept an appraising glance over Daemon, locking their hands together in a grip so tight that their knuckles began to whiten. The air in her lungs froze, and time seemed to still as the two most important men in her life stared each other down. Auraelia didn’tneed herbrother’s approval, but she wanted it, andhavingit meant more to her than she could express. So relief flooded her veins when his lips tilted into a friendly smile.
“Now that…whateverthatwas…is over, can we talk about what happened last night?” Piper asked from where she sat on one of the couches. She was completely at ease in Xander’s space, sitting cross-legged on his couch with her boots left haphazardly on the floor in front of her. As Auraelia looked around the room, little pieces of her best friend stood out like red poppies poking their heads out of a blanket of snow.
It was nothing extreme, just little things that meant Piper spent more time in Xander’s suite than she had previously known. Her favorite novel lay open on the small table by the windows next to a set of empty plates. Her cloak and gloves from the night before were draped over an armchair, and there were other little odds and ends scattered around the space leaving a slightly feminine mark on an otherwise masculine room. The sight warmed Auraelia’s heart. They deserved each other. Deserved to be happy…she just wished they would get out of their own way and see what was standing right in front of them. Take the leap over the proverbial cliff and fall into the happiness that they both craved. Though having just decided to letherselfgo careening off the same cliff, she couldn’t very well blame either of them for being cautious.
Drawing a deep breath, Auraelia took a seat and prepared to fully explain the previous night’s events, but Daemon responded before she had the chance to.
“I thoughtyoufilled him in last night?” The joking lilt to his voice had her head canting to the side, her gaze flicking between her friend and the man perched beside her. When Piper’s cheeks flushed slightly, Auraelia widened her eyes at Daemon, but he merely raised his brows and shrugged in response, a sly smirk making its home on his lips.
What the hell did I miss?
Before she could ask the question aloud, Piper answered Daemon’s. “I intended to. But—”
“I was asleep,” Xander supplied, filling in the remainder of Piper’s sentence as they shared a look.
Clearly not buying anything either of them said, Daemon quirked a singular brow, crossing his arms over his chest as he took them in. “You wereasleep?”
An awkward silence blanketed the room as Auraelia’s gaze traveled from one person to the next. She was obviously out of the loop onsomething, but now was not the time to dig into whatever secrets her friend and her brother were trying—and failing—to hide.
“Whatever this,” she gestured between her three companions, “is, can wait. We need to figure out what our next steps are.”
Piper and Xander visibly relaxed and released a synchronized sigh.
Sinking into one of the chairs that made up the small sitting area, Xander rested his elbows on his knees and steepled his fingers in front of his face, his gaze intent on Auraelia.
