“That’s cool,” Ezra said and went back to devouring his sandwich.
He gave Lilith a tiny bit of the roast beef, and she ate it with great dignity, but he limited what she got since deli meats were high in sodium. Raum was watching with a tiny smile, and Ezra found himself blushing a bit, not used to people noticing him in favorable ways.
The sandwich gone, Ezra rolled up the wrapper, and Raum held a hand out and Ezra gave it over, their fingers brushing the tiniest bit. Ezra was very conscious of the fact that he was probably a mess—he had pushed himself too hard, and he didn’t even realize he was that close to the edge until he passed out. What functioning adult with their shit together did that while doing what was technically their job?
“Did I hit my head?” Ezra asked as Raum threw away his trash for him. He was afraid of reaching up and messing with his hair, figuring it was already sticking up everywhere.
“Nope, you were caught before you hit the floor,” the professor told him, eyes crinkling. “Exhausted from magic depletion. I figured the couch would be best. Your soldiers agreed.”
“Not my soldiers,” Ezra groaned as he carefully stretched his arms, thinking he should probably get up and do something.
“Sit there and relax,” Raum gently ordered him. In a weird twist, perhaps due to his very real exhaustion, Ezra’s back wasn’t put up by it at all—he in fact toed off his boots, and curled back up under the blanket and cuddled his familiar to his chest when she adroitly leapt into his open arms.
Lilith’s purrs rumbled through his chest, and she started making biscuits on his arm, eyes closed to a mere slit as she watched Professor Sexy fuss around in his office. Ezra tried to get his brain working, but he was too worn out to expend much effort on it. The world wasn’t ending—at least in this tiny corner of it—so he could take the time to get his energy back. His eyes kept wanting to close and stay that way, but he was reluctant to take too much advantage of the kind man and his very comfortable couch.
“You caught me?” Ezra asked out of the blue, squinting at Raum through his messy hair. Too much effort to wipe the hair back from his eyes.
Raum was in the process of sorting through a stack of books, reading the spines before either packing them into a large leather backpack or putting them back in a stack on the desk. He smiled at Ezra over his shoulder, a tail of long, honey-brown hair having slipped from the messy bun on top of his head, long enough to hang well past his shoulders.
“I did. Glad I was close enough, too, since these floors are hard and unforgiving, and I’m not a healer. Not that kind of fae, sad to say.”
“Thank you for catching me,” Ezra said in a small voice, embarrassed but also grateful. “And sorry you had to catch me.”
“Why are you sorry? I’m not.” Raum turned enough to face him directly, and his expression was open and patient, eyes warm and curious.
Ezra blinked at him, a bit lost, then made himself think about an actual answer. “I guess I’m sorry I put you in a position to take care of me? Most people get annoyed by me.”
Thick brows lowered over those warm eyes, and Ezra bit his lip, unsure if he’d angered Raum or perhaps confused him when his expression then evened out and the sexy professor shook his head with a faint sigh. “Kindness is never a burden. Nor is compassion. I’ll accept your thanks, but not the apology.”
Ezra opened his mouth, perhaps to argue, but a quick glance from Raum had him snapping his mouth shut and he settled back into the cushions, Lilith’s purrs growing louder. Raum smiled at him, eyes twinkling, and Ezra felt a hint of a blush creeping over his cheeks. He had no idea when he last blushed like a teenager with a crush.
And he had a serious crush.
Lilith thankfully distracted him from his feelings by nipping one of his fingers, and he twisted enough to see a fancy clock on a bookshelf, revealing the time. “Shoot. It’s been hours.” He groaned softly, not wanting to get up, but Lilith needed to relieve herself.
“What’s wrong?” Raum asked, closing his backpack and setting it beside the door.
“Lilith needs her litter box, and we’ve been here all day. We should probably go,” Ezra knew he should get up, but his head felt heavy, and his entire body was sore. The boost from thesandwich and soda was helping, but that was no replacement for depleting himself down to nothing.
“Your soldiers are arranging for some access passes into Special Collections; they'll be back in a bit,” Raum said. “Miss Lilith, would you like an open window to some hedges? We’re on the first floor and there’s a window right outside my office she can hop in and out of, maybe two and a half feet from sill to ground.”
She squirmed a bit, and Ezra opened his arms, his familiar leaping to the floor and prancing to the door, meowing loudly. Raum laughed and opened the door wider, following right behind her as she left the office, tail up and curled at the tip.
Ezra lay there on the comfortable couch and tugged the blanket a bit higher, all but rubbing his face in it. He listened to Raum open the window, talking to Lilith the entire time, like she was a person and able to answer him. Her happy chirps and the soft thump of her jumping to the sill and then the ground told Ezra everything he needed to know about who Raum Nórsson was as a person.
His crush was going to get even bigger. He was in so much trouble.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
RAUM
The cat was sweet, and she had no reaction to the sudden appearance of the window in the wall next to his office door. Nothing changed too much, a simple ripple in reality. It took minimal effort to adjust the thickness of the wall and have a window crafted into existence overlooking the decorative hedges lining the exterior of the library. This side of the building faced a blank wall on the nearest building and was a dead space in terms of landscaping—no foot traffic. He felt it a reasonable risk to take, considering no one went back there except to mow the grass.
Lilith hopped outside to do her business without complaint. Her happy chirps had him chuckling, and she alighted back on the windowsill once she was done, meowing for pets. He scratched under her chin, the thin, coarse hairs on her narrow face a bit different than he was expecting, but he wasn’t put off by her strange appearance. The guard hairs were a light gray color, the thin undercoat black, and the effect was striking.
She was soft and clean, and her purr was incredibly loud, a deep, happy rumble that charmed him down to his toes. She was an affectionate cat and her aura pulsed with serenity andcuriosity, matching the inquisitive appearance lent by her large eyes and triangle ears.
He saw why the Lykoi were called werewolf cats, and wondered how actual werewolves felt about the comparison.
