I grimace. “Okay, that was not my best insult. But in my defense, Farrah was going through a no cursing stage.”
“You know, I’ve been wondering for a long time. What were you going to call me?” He trails his fingers up my arm, nearly making me lose my train of thought.
“What do you mean?”
“You were going to call me a better name, but Rysden cut you off. I want to know what it was,” he says with a wicked smirk. “I have a feeling I’m going tolovethe name you were going to call me.”
I feel my face flush. “I don’t remember.”
He coaxes me closer. “Yes, you do. What was it? Harper?” He puts his hand behind my back and runs his hand up and down my spine. “The name, Harper.”
I lean back and look him dead in the eye. “I was going to say King Stick Up Your—,” I pause, grinning. “You know what.” He stares down at me and then throws his head back and laughs. “You can’t tell me you enjoyed our interaction; you were so angry. And that couldn’t have been fake.”
“Oh, it wasn’t fake. I really was angry; nobody had ever talked to me that way. That was what was so intriguing about you. You made me crazy and yet fascinated me at the same time, which was infuriating.” He smirks. “Pretty sure nothing has changed in that regard.”
“Thank you,” I say and give him a small bow. A massive yawn slips out, and he tugs me close.
“Come on. You need sleep.” He puts a hand on my lower back and keeps it there the entire walk back to my room. Surprisingly, it doesn’t bother me. In fact, I find myself almost leaning into his touch, which is shocking, to say the least. When we stop at my door, I open the door and step inside. It doesn’t surprise me that he follows me.
“Thank you for my room, the books, everything.”
He stares down at me. “You’re welcome. Get some sleep, Harper.”And then he leans close and kisses me lightly on the cheek. “Dream of me tonight; I’ll be dreaming of you.” He closes the door behind him, and I think I stare at the door a good five minutes before I finally move.
Somehow, I stay awake long enough to bathe, change into nightclothes, and then finally pass out on the bed. I’m slow to wake up the next morning; my body is sore from riding all day yesterday. I finally manage to drag myself out of bed and get dressed for the day and make my way to the kitchen in sort of a daze. I push open the door, and my stomach growls loudly. I’m busy making a plate and don’t hear the kitchen door push open. Not until there’s suddenly a hand at my stomach do I realize Rauk is in the kitchen with me. “Morning, Gorgeous,” he says, leaning forward and dropping his head close to my neck.
“If you keep me from eating, I might stab you,” I grunt.
I can feel his body shaking. “Okay, Stabby.” When I turn and see him laughing, I glare at him. I start to walk away from him, but he snags me around the waist again and pulls me close. I don’t tense this time, and it surprises me. “Since when did you get so touchy feely?” I ask.
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to have permission to touch you any time I want.”
“And you have that permission now?” I challenge.
“I don’t know. Do I?” he challenges right back. He turns serious. “Does my touching bother you?”
I meet his gaze and shrug. “I’m not sure yet; I think you’ll have to keep testing it out.”
When the full impact of my words land, his lips turn up into acarnal smile. “I love testing things out.” He reaches for me, but I spin out of his grasp.
“But if you try to touch me instead of letting me eat my breakfast...”
He grins and lifts both hands. “I would never get between my girl and her food.” His words hit me so hard, I swear I can feel their physical impact on me. “Harper?” he asks, all trace of teasing gone from his voice. “What is it?” His hand is at my elbow again.
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“No, don’t do that. If we’re going to make this work, and we are, we have to be honest with each other.”
I take a breath and look up at him. “I’ve just never been anybody’s...anything before. It’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid.” He pulls me close and lifts my chin, so I’m looking directly into his eyes. “You’ve been my girl since the moment I met you; I was just waiting for you to realize it.” He leans forward slowly, giving me plenty of time to pull away and then kisses me softly. Once, twice, three times. A voice clears, and I jerk back.
“It’s about time,” Elowen says with a smile as she walks over to her prep counter.
I feel like her words should embarrass me, but they don’t. They just help make everything feel real. When I lift my head, Rauk winks at me. I smile and carry my food over to the table and start eating. Rauk slides into the seat next to mine and drops his hand onto my knee, squeezing gently. I smile as I take another bite of my food, suddenly glad that I took a chance returning here. This is where I belong, and this is where I’m going to stay.
Chapter 55
A Few Weeks Later
